The Relationship Between Mother and Daughter in James Cain’s Mildred Pi

The Relationship Between Mother and Daughter in James Cain’s Mildred Pierce I have always been of the belief that in order to truly love, hate must exist within the core of the relationship. Nowhere in modern fiction is this dictum examined more accurately than in the novel by James Cain, Mildred Pierce. Looking at the concept in a familial context, James Cain has created two well-developed characters, Mildred Pierce and her daughter, Veda, that not only emphasizes the nature of mother-daughter relationships, but looks at how love and hate permeates the very essence of the relationship. The Irish poet Thomas Moore once described the fascination of these violently fluctuating emotions, â€Å"When I loved you, I can’t but allow/ I had many an exquisite minute/ But the scorn that I feel for you now/ Hath even more luxury in it† (Tresidder 57). While reading Mildred Pierce, I was reminded of my own mother’s relationship with her daughters. One of my sisters, Leslie, in particular, hated my mother in youth. It was strong emotion to extinguish, especially in those formative teen years, but because life is dominated with experiences, things in which we learn from, later one comes to understand the nature of their hate and love and begins to properly delineate the truth of each. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see this in Mildred Pierce and Veda’s relationship. The reason for this is twofold; one, it is the element of obsessive love that fosters a breakdown in the natural boundaries that exist in a parental relationship. Secondly, it is the need by Mildred to seek the unrealistic approval from her daughter, Veda, which further exasperates the boundaries, almost wiping them completely away. We see these elements of obsessive love, ... ...essive love for Veda; her need to gain acceptance and approval from this undeserving daughter that leads her catastrophic collapse. For Veda, it is her spiteful and vindictive nature to exact pain from those she holds in contempt. One needs the other in order to bear witness to the conclusion of their story. Love and hate rules in Glendale. Work Cited Cain, James. Mildred Pierce. New York: Vintage Books. 1989 Firman, Dorthy. â€Å"Healing the Mother/Daughter Relationship.† Mother/Daughter Relations 8 Dec 02 http://www.motherdaughterrelations.com/article.html www.motherdaughterrelations.com/article.html Phillips, Shelley. Beyond the Myths. New York: Penguin Books. 1996 Tresidder, Megan. The Secret Language of Love. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 1997 Vial, Veronique. Women Before 10 a. m. Photograph. New York: Powerhouse Books. 1998

Business Plan for Sushi Restaurant

Business Plan for Oyi-Shi Sushi Restaurant By: Hongying Cai Cover Letter: Dear Investor: You’re looking at a business plan for one of the finest and best Sushi restaurant what will take place in down town Manhattan. The restaurant is specifically located at the Ground Zero, where back in the old days, the finest place. Right now the government is rebuilding the World Trade Center, which means wealthy people are coming back to down town Manhattan. This is a great opportunity to start a restaurant around the area, since the population will significantly increase due to the rising of a 105 stories skyscraper.Oyi-Shi sushi restaurant is design for consumer to have a relaxed and pleasant environment for brunch, lunch, happy hour, and dinner. We serve variety style of Japanese sushi, Such as Aburi Sushi, Gunkan-Maki, Maki Sushi and Nigiri Sushi, Plus different selections of beverages. Oyi-shi restaurant will be able to occupy over 40 guess, and a Bar, which will accommodate 15 peopl e. Executive Summary: Sushi restaurant industry had grown enormously in United State during last decade. As of now days, there are approximately 30,000 throughout 50 states, There are over 200 sushi restaurant located in New York.The purpose of this business plan is to find investor or a partner to start off the business. Oyi-Shi Sushi Bar and Grill is a high-end sushi restaurant and bar located at Ground Zero, Seeking to provide customer with a pleasant environment for dinning or happy hours. Plus we would like to satisfy customer with our descent sushi catering and variety selection of sushi styles. Company Back Ground Oyi-Shi sushi restaurant Inc. is a New York base corporation, Will be register under the State of New York. Restaurant is initially found by HongYing Cai, and seeking to have a partner. Mr. Cai will obtain 55% of the business.There are overwhelming competitions in restaurant business. In New York City, there are over thousands of restaurant serving different food or caterings. Another obstacle for sushi restaurant is raising price in seafood. According to IBIS World, sushi restaurant industry is facing a decline in revenue of 3. 4% each year. However there are still opportunities for sushi restaurant business. The project for rebuilding World Trade Center will have a significant increase of population in down town Manhattan. With increase in population there is a need for food. Management Team: Overall restaurant will be managed by HongYing Cai.I have over 7 years of working experience in restaurant industry. Plus majority of my relatives are restaurant owner, they can give me advises on managing the restaurant. For chief, I will hire 2 Japanese sushi chief, who had at least 5 years of experience on making sushi catering, plus 2 sushi helpers, with at least two year in experience. We’ll hire 7 waiters or waitress. 3 of them will doing daily shift, 4 of them will have the night shift, each of the waiter or waitress need to be very polite to the customer and fluent in English, bonus if speaking other language, Japanese or Chinese is preferred.Financial Plan There are no loans make in the starting of the business, all capitals had came from founders and the partner. General assumptions of Federal tax rate are around 33%, and sales tax rate is around 5%. These tax rates are fixed for all 5 years projection. We also assume that the average sales of the restaurant increase about 15% each year. We also Assumes that the operating cost is around 45% of the good sold. |Year 1 |Year 2 |Year 3 |Year 4 |Year 5 | |Sales |$1,440,000 | $1,656,000 |$1,904,400 |$2,190,060 |$2,518,569 | |Operating Cost |$648,000 |$745,200 |$856,980 |$985,527 |$1133356 | |EBITA |$792,000 |$910,800 |$1,047,420 |$1,204,533 |$1,385,213 | |Tax, Interest rate and |$300,960 |$346,104 |$398,020 |$457,723 |$526,381 | |depreciations | | | | | | |Net Profits |$491,040 |$564,696 |$649,400 |$746,810 |$858,832 | Capital Required Oyi-Shi sushi restaurant will star t off with $400,000 capitals.Following table will show how this capital will be used: |Project Start off Cost | | |Initial Lease Payment and Deposits |$50,000 | |Working Capital |$150,000 | |FF&E |$50,000 | |Leasehold Improvement |$15,000 | |Security deposit |$10,000 | |Opening supplies |$15,000 | |Company vehicle and lease deposit |$40,000 | |Marketing budget |$50,000 | |Miscellaneous and Unforeseen Cost |$20,000 | |Total |$400,000 | Marketing Plan The Objective of this marketing plan is to maximize the visibility of the business in the surrounding area. By doing so, I will use a number of marketing strategies that will allow the Sushi Restaurant to easily target men and women within targeted market. These strategies include traditional print advertisements and discounts offered as a part of a grand opening campaign. Below is a description of how the business intends to market its services to the general public.The Company also intends on hiring a local public relations firm that will promote reviews and articles about the restaurant, its cuisine, and relevant hours of operation and pricing. I will invite local food critics to the Company’s Sushi Restaurant location in order to generate positive publicity about the restaurant. The Company will maintain a sizable amount of print and traditional advertising methods within local the local market to promote the sushi and Japanese cuisine products that the Company is selling. At the onset of operations, the Company will distribute an expansive number of coupons for lower priced fare within local circulars Location Analysis I had picked area around Ground Zero, as the location of the Oyi-Shi Sushi restaurant.Primary reasons are rebuilds of World Trade Center. According to the Port Authority of NY and NJ, this newly raising skyscraper is five major skyscrapers at downtown Atlanta, providing Class A Office space. Plus there will be world’s most significant memorials and museums, which means there are good amount of tourist. Reports from Port Authority of NY and NJ also indicated there will be 250,000 people and over 200,000 commuters using the World Trade Center’s transportation hub. Manufacturing plan In order to provide customer with the best food, I decided to import the seafood and other goods needed to serve the customer every 3 days. I will have 3 big refrigerators to store these goods.Each of the refrigerators will be store with different goods, for example, all seafood will be store within one particular refrigerator with temperatures under the control to make sure the condition of the seafood is in good standing. Appendix â€Å"Sushi Restaurants in the US Industry Market Research Report Now Available from IBISWorld. † PR Web. April 12, 2012. December 10, 2012. http://www. prweb. com/releases/2012/4/prweb9393316. htm â€Å"Sushi. † Wikipedia. December 15, 2012. December 15, 2012 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sushi â€Å"World Trade Center: A Roadma p Forward† The Port Authority of NY and NJ. October 2, 2008. December 15, 2012. http://www. panynj. gov/wtcprogress/pdf/wtc_report_oct_08. pd

George’s first diary Essay

We’re here now, at the ranch. Our new home, for the time being anyway, until Lennie messes up again! He’s always messing up, losing us our jobs! Stay here, and save the money here instead of always being on the run. He made us lose our last job. That’s why we had to leave. You see, Lennie loves soft things; he loves to stroke them and hold them. One day he saw a girl with a soft dress on. Of course, the first thing Lennie does is touch it. The girl doesn’t realise how stupid he is, (and simple) and thinks he’s going to rape her and she screams. Lennie, being the idiot that he is just holds on and rips the dress! So, that leads to us being chased by a lot of angry people! Now we have to start all over again. If only he weren’t with me. Aw hell, I can’t say that. He’d die without me. And I don’t reckon I’d be doing that great without him either. Who would I have to talk to? Well anyway, on the way to the ranch, the bus driver, being a lazy bastard, wouldn’t take us all the way. We didn’t want to walk all night so we stayed in the brush until morning. It was just a little clearing in the woods with a stream running through it. I told Lennie that if he got in trouble he should come there. Its safe and hidden away so I could easily find him! But if it comes to that, if he messes up again. I’ll kill him, I’m sure I will. I’ve had my full of him and I don’t think I have much patience left! Oh yeah, he made me tell him yet again about the house we’re gonna get. Him and his rabbits. He always makes me remind him about our house and his damned rabbits! I love thinking about what our life will be like too when we get the house but he drives me crazy, having to remind him every two seconds. The thing I’m most looking forward to is not being told what to do. Being my own boss! I can’t wait. We met our workmates today. They seem okay. We got a nigger working with us too. Haven’t met him yet. There’s a guy called Candy. He’s pretty old and a right gossip. Seems nice enough though! The boss seems okay too. Candy says he’s real generous! Though how much I can trust what he says, I don’t know! Curley the boss’s son, on the other hand, he’s horrible. Reminds me of a troublemaker and all the other workers seem to agree! He took one look at us, especially Lennie and started to make trouble. I don’t like the look of him, I just don’t know what I’m gonna do if he starts any trouble. Lennie’s dangerous. This Curley’s married too. Met his wife! A right piece of jailbait if ever I seen one! Lennie liked her. I’ll have to make sure he stays right out her way. She gonna cause us trouble otherwise, I can feel it. Met Slim too. Hell of a nice guy, he is. Seems well respected too. Real nice. I do like having nice workmates but it is worrying, knowing that there’s an evil bastard lurking ’round too! I’ve a bad feeling ’bout Curley, its real bad. George Georges second diary Dear Diary, What a heck of a day! It started off so well. I knew that Curley would be trouble, I said it. He ruined what could’ve been a good day. Started off well. Got to know Slim a little, or, well, he got to know me better. There must be something good about Slim, I must have sensed it ‘coz I told him things ’bout Weed and ’bout the house we’re saving for. He understood Lennie didn’t mean no harm in Weed. He’s fair and knows a ‘nice fella’ when he meets one. He also has a dog. It had pups so I got one for Lennie. Aw, he was so pleased. Petting it and hugging it. I’m a bit worried that he’s gonna pet it too much. Lennie just don’t know his own strength Goddamn it! I felt so sorry for Candy today. You see, he’s got a dog too, but his is old and tired. It’s like Candy’s best friend. Well, Carlson started complaining about the smell of him (the dog) then started talkin’ ’bout shooting him, putting him out of his misery he said. I suppose I agreed at the time but seeing Candy’s face was enough to change anyone’s mind. Slim suggested he have one of the puppies but I’m not sure whether he decided to. Well anyways, Lennie and I thought we were the only ones in the bunkhouse, where we sleep. The others went off to see Curley have a pop at Slim; he thought his wife was with him. I notice he never seems to be able to find her, though she’s always lookin’ for him. So Lennie and I get talking ’bout our house we’re saving for. What we didn’t know was that Candy was there too! Well, I was a bit wary at first. Worried that he would tell the others but then he decided that he wanted to be part of it. Even said he’d put up over half the money we needed! It was great. In a matter of minutes we went from just talking about it, to it being a fast-coming reality! I told him to keep it to himself for the time being until we were ready. It was so exciting. Then, in come Curley and the others and Curley’s ready for a fight. Slim was shouting at him of sleeping with his wife. Anyways, dopey old Lennie’s still sitting there smiling away to himself about the thought of his rabbits, and Curley notices and thinks he’s mocking him and of course picks a fight. He starts punching poor Lennie, and Lennie having listened real hard to what I told him was not fighting back! After a while, I told Lennie to fight back. I couldn’t bear it. He was just yelping like a dog. Anyways, he got scared and just held on tightly to the closest thing at hand, Curley’s fist. He just wouldn’t let go. It was bleeding and everything. We got him off in the end and blackmailed Curley to say he got it caught in a machine. I don’t like this place. It smells of trouble. I can tell. George Crook’s diary Dear Diary, Here I am. Just another day of either being ignored or picked on ‘coz of me being a Negro. I hate this. Day in day out. It’s not fair the way I’m ignored. The others say I smell but I wash more than they all do. My back hurts too. Its seems like its getting worse every day. The liniment don’t seem to be much use either. They call me Crooks too. That ain’t my name. It’s not what my mother gave me and I don’t like it. I can’t say nothing though, I’m just a nigger they keep tellin’ me. I gots a room to myself and I have no one to talk to or play cards with. I’m not even allowed to borrow their cards to play solitaire. It smells in my room. All the shit is kept just under my window and on those hot days, the steam rises into my room and rests on my sheets ready to smother me as I go to sleep. I got another tellin’ off today too. Curley’s hand got hurt in a machine and the boss o’ course blames me. Likes I did it! Not that I wouldn’t mind ruffin’ him a little. He’s a nasty asshole and needs to be brought down a bit. I’d get hung if I did it so I s’pose I better leave to the white men! They all gone to the town today. Their regular Cathouse visit. I’d never be allowed in one of those, at least I don’t reckon I would. They never asked me to go with ’em so I never went. Just in me room, on me lonesome, rubbing me back†¦.. †¦.. Lennie and Candy jus’ been in here! I was a bit funny at first ‘coz I thought Lennie was coming for trouble but no, he said the others had gone and he had jus’ been with his pup. Him and his pup! Oh boy. He loves it so much but he’s not careful. Those big hands o’ his are likely to break that pup one day if he ain’t careful. Anyways, I said he could come in and we got to talking a little. He’s a bit slow. He don’t remember anything you tell him. Just talks ’bout George and his rabbits he’s gonna get when they get a house. He’s all set on getting a house. He wants to tend rabbits! Whenever the subject changed to something other than those rabbits, he went straight back to ’em like we’d been talking ’bout ’em all the time! He’s awful fond o’ that George one. I just said one tiny little thing ’bout George not coming back from town and he went mad. Like I jus’ told him someone had died or something. It took a while to calm him down. Then, Candy comes in too. He’s by my room and I ask him what he wants. I thought he may o’ been wanting to talk too but he was just looking for Lennie. He came in too, though. They talked to each other most but it was nice them just being there. Well, they were talking ’bout their house. Candy was gonna go there too. I thought that I’d ask if I could help. They wouldn’t have to pay me o’ course, just put me up, but before they could answer that bitch walked in. She’s trouble if ever I did see it. She asking ’bout Curley and where he’s at but she knows where! I don’t understand these white folk. Talk about them being so educated and well learned and they ask such stupid questions! Anyways, I asked her to go away real politely mind, the same way any of the boys round here say it when they know she’s looking for trouble. She does her nut and starts yelling ’bout needing people to talk to too! Then she starts telling me she’s gonna tell the boss I been doing bad things and get me strung up. I don’t want to be strung up so I shut up. Candy was nice though. He told her that if she did that he would stick up for me. I ain’t ever known anyone to stick up for me before. Candy then said, when she’d gone, that the boys were coming back. I told ’em they better go. I didn’t want all of those white fellas thinking they can bother me when they like. I gotta have some rights even if I don’t like ’em. I dunno. It’s been a funny day that’s all. I better get back to my liniment. That back o’ mine is just murder. Georges last diary Dear diary, This has been the worst day I’ve ever had and I don’t think I’m’ a ever gonna have a worser one. I had to do it. It weren’t nothing evil. I di’nt wanna hurt him. He was my only friend, more like family and I feel jus’ awful. If you coulda seen her, what he did. If only you coulda seen the other option he woulda had. Curley’s evil way. I suppose I woulda done the same in his place but Lennie di’nt do no harm. At least he never meant none. I feel awful, just awful. He never meant no harm. They may o’ been nice? No, that’s stupid talk. Tha’s the kinda thing Lennie woulda said! He’s a crazy bastard. I mean he was. Oh I feel awful. What will I do now? What can I do? I s’pose the only thing to do is to spend my money the way anyone else would, if they di’nt have a Lennie with ’em. We were just having a game o’ horseshoe. Lennie was in the barn with that damn pup I reckon. I’d left him in the bunkhouse but he ended up there. Anyways, we were all playing and I had no thought to what he was doing. The next thing I knew, Candy was looking all pale and calling me over to the barn. For a second I thought she was just resting. It was the look on Candy’s face that made me guess. I knew what he was thinking and I knew he was right. She was lying there, that good for nothing piece of jailbait, her neck all twisted and face down in the straw. Lennie did it. Crazy bastard. I knew he was the only one, but to think of it was killing me from the inside. I ain’t never felt that before. I suppose in the back of my mind, I always knew he would go too far, that he wasn’t safe and should not o’ been left alone. But I di’nt wanna think like that. Now I had to. From that moment I knew what I had to do and just set about doing it. I knew that I had to get to him before them. I told Candy to make out I never saw this and tell the others and then fetch me. I had to go to the bunkhouse and get Carlson’s Luger. I wasn’t completely sure why first but I realised when I saw him. Candy said he’d do that and I ran out. Next time I saw her ever’ one was there too blaming Lennie for ever’ thing. Curley was shook up and was ready to explode. He scared me looking like that but I had to keep my cool. I had to make it like I was on their side, out to kill for murder. That word sends shivers down me and I know I done it too now. Lennie always said we were the same. All of them ran to get guns to help out Curley. Two-faced that’s what they are. One minute they’re complaining about him and the next they are trying to be his best friend betraying their true friend. Oh I can’t blame ’em really if it weren’t Lennie I reckon I woulda done it too. Anyway Carlson never found his gun. They all thought Lennie had it. Only I knew that Lennie wasn’t so clever to think forward like that! Slim knew what I was doing though. He knew well enough. His face said he knew and was ready to do what he knew was best. I sent Curley in the other direction to where I knew Lennie was. He woulda gone to the brush like I told him too. He always tried to do what I told him. I ran off and found him straight. He was sitting there by the river and was talking to something. He kept saying sorry: Saying he knew I would look after him. He made me tell him about our house for what was to be the last time. I mentioned it, and, he heard it. I told him not to look at me. I was trying to be a man but I couldn’t control my eyes. I was shaking too. I don’t want to write his last moments. I don’t want to have this later and be reminded of the moment my life as I knew it ended. I want to remember Lennie as the Lennie I knew. Not the one I saw moments later. That Lennie will go from me. If I still believed in God (a part of me that was there but now has gone) I would pray to ask Lennie to forgive me but I know that he cannot be in my life because he let this happen. If Lennie was ever here and I could talk to him once more, I’d tell him that I didn’t mean what I said about not wanting him there. That now he isn’t, I feel lost. And last, that he was my friend; my best friend and I wish he was still here.

Identify the Mission, Objectives, and Responsibilities of an Organisation Within It’s Environment Essay

An organisation is defined as ‘A group of people working together’ (Collins Dictionary 2001). An organisation is generally accepted as a unit working together to achieve the same goals. Concurring with this statement, Mintzberg (1997) defined goals as ‘the intentions behind decisions or actions, the states of mind that drive individuals or collectives of individuals called organisations to do what they do’. In order for an organisation to work, set guidelines have to be put in place for both short and long term aspirations, to ensure that the organisation is moving as a whole, a unit, to avoid separation, miscommunication, and misunderstanding. This can be achieved by administering a meaningful and worthwhile strategic plan consisting of a progressive, hierarchical set of aims. This will give each individual, as well as the organisation as a whole, a purpose. A set of aims can be as follows (Business Essentials 2010); An example of this would be my current place of employment. Their Vision Statement is as follows; ‘We are committed to providing a modern, efficient, and cost effective service focused on meeting our customer’s needs in a friendly , timely, and accurate manner, and will provide the necessary resources to enable achievement of our objectives. We will be readily accessible to everyone in the community to maximise social inclusion, minimise barriers to work and assist people to live in decent housing. We will process claims quickly and accurately, while actively reducing the incidences of fraud or error through investigation. Where fraudulent intent is proven, we will seek to apply appropriate sanctions as a deterrent against future activity. Where we seek to collect money, we will issue bills promptly and correctly. Where recovery action is required, we will act quickly, fairly, and impartially, but with due regard to social welfare and human rights of our customers.’ (Heather Tiso, 1995) However something so unobtainable may not be in the forefront of people’s minds. This is summed up in the following article statement ‘Mission statement in some companies has a huge influence in all management levels of the firm, but in others it is still just addition on the wall and usually what’s forgotten.’ Values of an organisation are more likely to be remembered, as they are more relatable to people within. The values upheld by the people within my organisation, are that of trust, respect, pride in work, ability to take ownership, two way communication – to give as well as to receive, to maintain excellent customer service at all time, to help each other out if need be, to feel comfortable and confident enough to speak up if they have any ideas for improvements, to strive for fairness, equality, and diversity, versatility, flexibility, taking responsibility for their own development, to be open minded as our line of service is ever changing. This encourages a culture of people that are able to pull together against constant adversity, and still achieve excellent results, as well as continually exceed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The key objectives of my organisation, can be broken down in to the following examples; †¢Operational Goal – to increase revenue (Objective – decrease number of incorrect subsidy claims by 10%) †¢Non Operational Goal – to modify behaviour of customers (Objective – to get customers to act and think in a productive manner) †¢Primary Objective – to maximise revenues with as little expenditure as possible †¢Secondary objective(s) – to maintain excellent customer service, to strive for 100% accuracy, to maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders. †¢Corporate Objectives – To increase customer satisfaction, to minimise risk, to ensure a glide path is in place for these objectives. †¢Unit Objectives – to answer all calls within 20 seconds, to deal with all work items with a turnaround of 9 days, to see all customers visiting the offices within under 5 minutes, to identify and understand our customer’s needs, to maintain a very high level of service, to develop personal/professional relationships with stakeholders. The influence of stakeholders Identifying Stakeholders is a process of integration within the said organisation. This can be summarised with a statement from a World Bank Group article – ‘All parties should be listed which are likely to be affected by the development, both positively or negatively, directly or indirectly.’ Stakeholders in our company are highly valued and important, and therefore our relationships with them are maintained to a very high standard. Our organisation has numerous companies identified as Stakeholders. This is not just on a professional level, as on top of Internal Stakeholders (i.e. staff) we recognise a number of Connected Stakeholders (customers, suppliers,) and External Stakeholders (local community, the government). Therefore, overall Stakeholder influence is vast, extending way beyond just making a customer happy. The knock on effects of the positive or negative experience of that customer may affect my organisation greatly. As different Stakeholders have different interests, it is not possible to focus on all of them at once with a blanket gesture in the hope of satisfying all their needs. Their needs have to be prioritised by looking at individual objectives, and balancing important/urgent needs with needs that would not have an adverse effect or affect relationships by waiting to be dealt with. Examples of Stakeholders in my organisation, are employees, customers, and the Government. As staff are immediately and intimately connected with the organisation, their influence is going to possibly be the strongest influence. It has been said numerous times that employees are the most influential. Motivated employees are highly likely to be more productive in producing work, ideas, and meeting objectives. Coincidently, the objectives of staff, are to be treated fairly, be given equal opportunity, be recognised for the consistently excellent work they produce when the odds are stacked against them, feel secure in their job and working environment, and have a sense that they are achieving. These objectives are met in the most part, however, as the organisation as a whole has a hierarchy , and it tends to be the senior managers setting objectives and deciding whether these have been met. This can lead to the human element being lost, and people judged by numbers, as other factors aren’t always taken into consideration. This can affect morale, but ultimately, our nee ds are met. Achieving objectives of stakeholders One of our Connected Stakeholders, our customers, are generally the focal point of our work. The bottom line, is customers want a service provided with their individual interests in mind, with the least possible output from them. The saying ‘The Customer is Always Right’, is incorrect in my opinion. The customer may not know what they need, they need to be asked open and closed questions in order to ascertain exactly what service they require. Customers wish to be heard, treated with respect, and for a positive experience with whatever organisation they deal with. The needs of our customers are met, as they are one of the most important stakeholders. Failure to meet these needs may result in loss of business, complaints, and repercussions from higher management if objectives are not met. The Government is an example of our External Stakeholders. This is due to the fact we are a public sector organisation, and a direct derivative of Central Government. The Government’s objectives are mainly that their Corporate Objectives influence our Unit Objectives, as well as Primary/Secondary Objectives. We meet the requirements of the Government by adhering to their laws, policies, procedures, and implementing them whilst maintaining a professional forefront to other stakeholders, such as the general public.

Edward Albee’s “The Sandbox” Essay

The inability of people to communicate and loss of personal values can lead to dramatic effects. Edward Albee’s play â€Å"The Sandbox† is an example of modern American drama in which he demonstrates cruel relations in a middle class family, criticizing modern society’s decay. Within the story we see the dialogue between family members, a husband and his wife, who are awaiting the death of her mother. As the names of characters suggest (Mommy, Daddy, Grandma), the action takes place within the family unit. Notice that the names of characters are generic. In doing this, the author is trying to show that it can be any family members. The story shows their cold relations with and disrespect for their old grandmother. We see the money over the family values, so much in common with American society today. The story reflects the reality of the contemporary American family. This is often a common situation today: the children bring their old mother from her country farm to their big beautiful house in the city. They do it not for her pleasure, but for their own convenience. They care neither for what she thinks, nor her interests or values. Money is the most important thing to them. They think she does not understand things very well anymore because she is old, and old-fashioned. In reality she understands more than anyone can imagine. Finally, when the children tire of her, they take her to a nursing home, where she can wait for the end alone. In the story â€Å"The Sandbox†, the author makes a judgment about the younger generation’s attitude towards the older generation. The main theme of the story is the inability of people to communicate with each other, the emptiness of contemporary family life, and the meaninglessness of modern existence. The main characters play an important role in supporting the theme. As we see throughout the story, Mommy and Daddy are ignorant people. Mommy is domineering and cruel, while Daddy is passive and emasculated. He does what she says, followed by â€Å"Whatever you say, Mommy.† She shows no respect towards anyone, including her mother and husband. We notice when Mommy and Daddy speak to one another, that there is no warm and sincere relationship between them; she only married him for the money. They treat Grandma with politeness, yet at the same time with merciless detachment. They talk about her, but hardly to her. Mommy reveals no emotional  attachment to her own mother. Daddy at least worries that Grandma is uncomfortable, but Mommy shuts him up. The emotion of concern they display is more hypocritical than sincere. On the other hand, Grandma is sincere and even child-like, making her character admirable. All the same she is sharp-tongued and shrewd. This only adds to the complexity of her personality. From the beginning of the play, we see that the plot of the story is evident, due to the way Mommy and Daddy talk about Grandma, and how they treat her. However there is no clear climax or resolution to the story. Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma are symbols of poor relationships in the contemporary family unit. Mommy, Daddy and symbolize the future generation, while Grandma is an icon of the past. She tries to fit into and relate to the fashion of the new generation but at her age, she no longer commands the social weight. The new generation (Mommy and Daddy) do not want to accept her values and do not want her to be involved in their lives. The Young Man is presented in the story as the Angel of Death. He symbolizes today’s personal values, emptiness and lack of culture of the new generation. When he kisses Grandma, it symbolizes that the end is near. When she dies, she is going to take her values and traditions to the grave. The bareness of the stage suggests the society in which we live today. When Grandma buries herself using the pail and shovel, she represent one of the millions of people with values and traditions, who is tired of living in a society that is so empty of emotions. When she dies, it represents the passing of an age, one in which value and hard work were important. Mommy and Daddy represent the decadent way of life that replaces it. In this play, Albee tries to show the reality of today’s society, with its lack of compassion for individuals, regardless of age and the decline of culture and traditions that support it.

Health Care in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Care in the USA - Essay Example Authorities to transmit overt health messages, such as those for AIDS prevention, immunization, or family planning, may use the electronic media. Perhaps more significant are advertisements (for insecticide, beer, soft drinks, automobiles, powdered milk, cosmetics, and other items of commerce) and programmatic content depicting supposedly admirable people and their lives and activities. Emulation of such models may have rapid and profound health consequences, both good and bad. Moreover, decades ago, the medium is often the message, and the mere presence of the radio or television receiver may lead to significant changes in personal or group behavior, independent of the nature or content of the broadcast messages. Most commentators ascribe the great decline in mortality in countries like US that were developing during the 18th and 19th centuries to improved nutrition, water supply, excreta disposal, and housing; legislation to control employment of women and children; and public health services in the broad sense. There seems to be a common misconception in the world that Health Care Services in US have monolithic socialized medicine systems under which a person need only appear on a hospital doorstep to be showered with free services. Perhaps equally widespread is the idea, promoted by television pictures of starving hordes, "such is not the case in the United States, where not all Americans are covered by health insurance" (Shi, L. & Singh, D., 2004, p. 2). Neither of these extreme images is accurate. While often useful, comparative studies have their limitations. On a superficial level, comparative health services research can uncover statistics on the numbers of facilities, physicians, hospital beds, and so on; on money and other resources put into the system; and on the number of patient visits or immunizations given over a certain period of time. It can also illustrate certain structural relationships within systems, such as the organization of divisions of a health department or the regionalization of hospitals, health centers, clinics, and dispensaries. Pages of tables and charts can be prepared in such studies, but skill and care are needed to draw correct conclusions from these data. There are two basic problems: (1) what the data show and (2) what they do not show. "Health care is a continuously evolving process impossible to describe adequately in an instantaneous snapshot, any more than a single frame can exemplify a long and complex motion picture" (Frick, K., Jensen, P.L., Quinlan, M. and Wilthagen, T, 2000, p. 86). The fact that a system for health care exists does not necessarily mean that it functions according to design or that it is used, or used appropriately, by the people whom it is intended to serve. The official health care system is not necessarily the health care system, because it has several parallel systems. Persons may by necessity (= lack of access) or by intent (= distrust) circumvent the official system. Indeed, in some parts of the US only a minority of the population may make use of official health services, preferring to consult pharmacists, healers, or others whose services are not recorded on government charts and tables. Whereas the elements of a system, and the resources put into it, can be counted and described, t he output or product of the system, in terms of improved health, is impossible to measure and may even defy estimation. Attitudes, motivations, and policies cannot be indicated on an organizational

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Through these, the company has remained in position to control their finances, their demand, supply rotating around labor supply, the raw materials supply and even the supply to the market has remained controlled hence influencing the business and the company’s growth. The company dominates a value chain that with its Chandlerian model in industrial administration aspects. An integrated company has a high level of vertical integrity applicable in defining their brand to the market. The sector matrix through the dynamics held internally has grown to have a positive impact to the general performance of the organization. Their targets of mass markets and standardized products dominant in quality make them a company to reckon with in the automotive industry. Through these, the demand for the company’s products and their supply remains on a positive scale weighing well for the owners of the company. The positive results it boosts of result from these making it a good example for the case on sector matrix. A bad example on the sector matrix is that of the Lehman Brothers. A company that was closed down due to the poor management of their supply and demand factors. The failure of the company was leveled on the financial crisis that the world faced during the great depressions and financial turmoil experienced in 2008. The poor preparation effects and the failure to detect and proactively plan from down times also mark the company’s failure. The demand factor was handled well by the company. The challenges met that drew the company down included the supply effects. The failure to control and sustain the demand and the pressure exerted on the financial position of the company and the supply chain changes made the company close down. Aspects of sector matrix aim at controlling factors of demand and supply. The demand for the services that the company offered was high though at