Ford Motr Company Essays - Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company

Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Elizabeth Haskins Strayer University Instructor: Dr. Yohannes Abate Leadership and Organizational Behavior ? BUS 520010VA016 August 7, 2011 Abstract This case focuses on the challenges Alan Mulally (Mulally); CEO of Ford Motor Company faces to implement a new beginning for Ford. Upon Mulally?s arrival, Ford was on the verge of a financial collapse, reporting a $12.6 billion dollar loss in 2006 and a $2.7 billion dollar loss in 2007. Bill Ford hired Mulally to lead the company as he felt that only an outsider could take the extreme steps needed to save the company from financial failure. In a strategic move to ensure Ford maintained its independence and sensing a recession as well as not to be forced to accept a government loan , Mulally borrowed $23 billion against Ford?s assets. This was a strategic move in the hopes that Ford would maintain its independence. This case study will highlight the challenges faced by Mulally, his management and leadership style and what changes were implemented into the organizations culture to ensure its success and place in the car industry. Introduction Mulally moved to Ford in September 2006. When starting at Ford, he had not engineered, designed or built any cars. He came from the defense industry. Previously, he had been employed with Boeing since 1969. At Boeing, he held a number of engineering and program management positions, making contributions to the Boeing 727, 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 projects. (Wikipedia, 2011). He was known at Boeing for enriching Phil Condit's (Chairman and CEO of Boeing) "Working Together"-philosophy through and beyond the 777-program. Mulally had no previous experience in sales arena and he certainly was not known, as the quote goes, as a ?Detroit car man," much less a car man at all. What was clear was his ?results oriented" leadership style. His management style is invigorating, reliable and authoritative. His leadership style is what brought him to Ford. As an intelligent leader, with little or no car experience, he defers to Ford?s design experts, on the ins and outs of the product lines. On the big questions of the company's past misfortunes, mistakes and where the company wanted to go in the future, was in now going to be driven by Mulally, his leadership and management style, and desire for success. Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership as described by Noel Tichy (Hellriegel and Slocum (2011), who has studied many outstanding leaders, describes leadership in these words: Leadership is accomplishing something through other people that wouldn?t have happened if you weren?t there. And in today?s world, that?s less and less through command and control, and more and more through changing people?s mindsets and hence altering the way they behave. Today, leadership is being able to mobilize ideas and values that energize other people. (p. 4). Leadership is vital to an organization as successful leadership implements decisions successfully. Successful leaders influence the judgment, outlook, attitude, and behaviors of others. Leaders put in place a path for those to follow, they help employees to see the future, not just the past or the present, but what lies ahead, they assist employees in setting goals for what they can achieve; they support, encourage and motivate team members. Successful leaders can transform an employee from a worker simply completing assignments to a valuable team member. Leadership skills can help change an employee?s mentality by instilling an ownership attitude. Employees who believe they have this type of ownership relationship with the organization will find ways to improve their attitude, motivation and productivity. Without successful leadership, on conflict exists. Successful leaders energize people toward a common goal. Leadership will result in high levels of unity, commitment, trust, loya lty, motivation, and consequently high performance in the organizations environment. Discuss Mulally?s leadership style at Ford Motor Company and provide examples of how his actions fit this style. Arriving at Ford Mulally dived in head first, interviewing dozens of employees, analysts, and consultants, and filling those five binders with typed notes. His extensive research and investigation allowed him to develop a point of view about the auto industry which would frame his decision-making process. Mulally?s style was to focus on the Ford brand (nobody buys a

This I Believe Essays

This I Believe Essays This I Believe Paper This I Believe Paper This I Believe: Isabel Allende: In Giving I connect with others. This Chapter really stuck out to me; by reading I found a lot connection. â€Å"In Giving I Connect with Others,† the title speaks for itself, but to elaborate and go in-depth, the writer Isabel Allende had a 28-year old daughter who was very sick, went in a coma and later past in 1992. Losing her daughter in her very arms was difficult for her. While in her process of grief she reflect over her life, she came to the understanding that she was still the same person she had been 50 years ago. She still had the zeal for life, falls in love easily, craves justice, and ferociously independent. Her daughter Paula lived a life of service. She spent her days volunteering at several facilities. She spent eight hours a day, six days a week helping women and children. She never had the money, but she needed very little. Paula’s passing was a very hard time for her mother to cope with. She had to let go of everything that might reminded her of daughter; everything from her voice, laughter, appearance, and also her spirit. Losing Paula was a cleansing experience for Isabel, she was forced to get rid of excess baggage and kept only what was essential and important. Paula taught her mother Isabel a very valuable lesson â€Å"don’t get so attached to anything†. I personally learned a lot from this chapter. I am always willing to help others in any way that I can. I always volunteer when there is an opening. So far I have volunteer in various locations such as Valley Rescue Mission, Feeding the Homeless, Clothing Bank, Teen Challenge, and etc. Growing up I have always learned that it is better to give than to receive. Because when you give to someone out of the goodness of your heart, you never know how much you’re giving meant to them. I am always cleaning out my closet ready to give to Goodwill and the Clothing Bank. I have always been taught that when you want to give something away, put yourself at the other end, if what you’re giving does not look presentable then don’t give it. Giving to the less fortunate is always heartwarming for me. I always love to see the smile on their faces when they receive. The term â€Å"Giving† doesn’t necessarily mean giving material things; it can also mean giving intellectually. Sharing your knowledge with others can also be helpful. For example, if you have more about a specific topic or subject and someone is struggling with that same area that you are proficient with, the best thing to do as a loyal person would be to help that individual and feed them with the same knowledge that you have so they can gain more understanding. There are many ways go give. The bottom line is when we give out of love and compassion the thought of receiving a â€Å"prize† or a â€Å"thank you† back should not matter. The prize should be the impact you made on the less fortunate and the happiness that you brought to them. Isabel said in the chapter, â€Å"what is the point of having experience, knowledge or talent if I don’t give it away? Of having stories if I don’t tell them to others, of having wealth if I don’t share it? We all have a lot to give; we cannot have that much inside of us that we refuse to share with others. Through giving we meet others; we connect with other people that we never knew existed. I am always ready to give to anybody, I never look for a thank you in return as long as they are happy and satisfied, that is all that matters to me, putting a smile on someone else’s face is the only thing that matters. â€Å"In Giving I Connect With Others. †

Alternative Dispute Resolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alternative Dispute Resolution - Assignment Example Mediation and arbitration are applicable in different scenarios and have a number of advantages and disadvantages as the discussion below portrays. Litigation refers to the use of courts in resolving conflicts. An aggrieved party initiates the process by reporting a matter at the law enforcement agencies who in turn investigate arrest and prosecute the suspect. The nature of litigations varies depending on the rules and laws in every jurisdiction. Litigations are systematic and strive to uphold justice for both the victim and suspect. Ligations are appropriate in a number of circumstances. They are useful in high stake cases. Political conflicts, murder cases, defamation and economic conflicts among companies always end up in courts owing to the intensity of the conflicts and the seriousness of the damages that victims incur from such cases. Key among the advantages of litigations is the fact that the proceedings are systematic. As explained earlier, litigations begin with investigations (Kerley, Joanne and Paul 78). In every stage, the law enforcers among other parties involved such as the prosecutors must always uphold the di ctates of the law that help protect the interests of both the victim and the suspect. Proving a case beyond reasonable doubt makes litigations just and fair. The judges or jury must consider the evidence and the witnesses’ accounts as they make their determination. Miranda rights and the right to appeal help enhance the quality of the justice system since it provides both the victim and the suspect with a number of basic privileges that enhance the exhaustively of the investigations and the quality of the court proceedings in order to improve the quality of justice. In case a defendant is not satisfied with the ruling, such individuals have the rights to appeal the rulings and the courts of appeal must institute appropriate benches and rehear the cases. Despite the numerous advantages,

Food truck- Entrepreneur Interview and Reflection report Essay

Food truck- Entrepreneur Interview and Reflection report - Essay Example The entire process of learning involved with this module has made me to discover the possibility of effectuation as a suitable tool for advancing on entrepreneurial career, as well as providing important suggestions on how to come up with entrepreneurial skills (Price Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, 2000). To start with, we are going to have an over view of Tullee’s restaurant which is a Caribbean restaurant located in the northern side of London. It was started in 2008 by Glen Watson who would like to expand the business so as to earn more income. Some of the segmented customers who buy from the restaurant include the local people most of them being working class. Other customers included those who came regularly came for lunch. After careful analysis we realized that most of the restaurant restaurants do not sell Caribbean food and this made us to start serving this food. In order to be competitive, our main focus was on the quality and the prices of food. The business intends to use social media as a way of connecting with the customers. Online orders will also be used where customers can make online orders through their mobile phones. Since the original owner of the restaurant used to have only one supplier, we intend to have several of them so has to increase the supplies. In order to attract new customers, we will provide best offers like price reduction and after sales service to win customer loyalty. For the case of customers who have been loyal, we will use them as referrals who will recommend us to other customers. We will also profile our cost structure appropriately so as to reduce costs as much as possible so as to maximize profits. Most of our valued resources will include: suppliers, employees and customers. According to Baron (2012), learning and reflection is a very important process in life. It

Essence of concept of integration to fair-mindedness Essay

Essence of concept of integration to fair-mindedness - Essay Example From the research it can be comprehended that, In spite of its significance, executing fair-mindedness sometimes presented enormous challenges to the employees: that is, the nature of intellectual approaches or practices that were supposed to recommend a new applicant for recruitment despite the lesser qualifications of candidates who had been on the waiting list for many years. Concept integration was a challenging task as to the ‘amount’ of each concept should be incorporated in an effort to execute fair-mindedness between applicants who had had immense experience but inferior training and those that were highly trained but had limited experience to show. In view of this, there are several philosophies on fair-mindedness that cast grievous misgivings on its essence as a rational virtue. Regardless, its essence is enticing to contemplate as basically in line with situations revolving around intellectual disagreement, resistance, challenge, or row, and essentially, to si tuations revolving around a disagreement between an individual’s morals, on opposing a position based on logical reasoning as to who should get the green light to join employment. Diestler suggests a fair-minded individual essentially moves beyond his or her own doxastic inclinations in order to offer a fair judgement to the logical opposition. This presented immense challenges to the management team of which I was part of, especially when decision-making was required. Although, fair-mindedness is an essential quality that the organization leadership attempted to uphold, tremendous pitfalls such as balancing the the employment opportunities between poor and rich neighbourhoods presented gaping pitfalls which the management had to tread carefully to maintain professionalism in the organizations who absorbed their workforce from our company; and proper balancing of employment opportunities across the country’s major socio-economic demographics. Fair-mindedness used to be quite involving: for instance, while a modification of the conflict of dealing with only the local employees and employers resulted in acceptable outcomes, especially among individuals who felt they were excluded from the exercise, the organization made it clear that in intended to include human resources from other countries as a strategy of expanding its operations globally within the next decade. While serving in the organization, concept integration manifested in the organizational leadership when different pressing issues relating to employment such as gender, race, qualification, disability, and employee experience was looked into from different perspectives. The recommendation of qualified candidates was based on the monetary loses or benefits that an issue could result in, such as taxation issues, bond issues, rent, and pension schemes. Additionally, the management team explored the long-term expenditures that organizations may

John Stuart Mills Ethical Theory Of Utilitarianism Philosophy Essay

John Stuart Mills Ethical Theory Of Utilitarianism Philosophy Essay John Stuart Mill believed in an ethical theory known as utilitarianism and his theory is based on the principle of giving the greatest happiness to greatest number of people, Mill support the pursuit of happiness. On the other hand, Kant who believed in an ethical theory known as Deontologist and he believes that only principle of actions matter and moral decisions should be made based on one duties and right of others. Utilitarianism believes the morally right actions are those actions that maximize the pleasure and minimize the pain. Utilitarianism thinks the consequence of an action justifies the moral acceptability of means taken to reach that end and the result of actions outweigh any other considerations. In other words, they believe that end justifies the means. Utilitarianism believes an action is morally right if it results in pleasure; whereas it is wrong if it gives rise to pain. Utilitarianism believes sacrificing one man to save thousands is okay because you maximize the happiness of whole community or the world. For utilitarianism consequences of actions matter, so right action maximize the amount of happiness. Utilitarianism does not consider personal relationship. For instance, there is fire and in this fire there is your son and a person who can cure cancer who will burn to the death, utilitarianism will say save the person who can cure the cancer because he will save all patients who have cancer and it will maximize the happiness in the world. According to utilitarianism, it is out duty to help people without worrying about consequences, for example, Mills thinks we should do charities as much as we can without having affected or damage on ourselves because giving charity will give maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Millà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ethical view links happiness with morality because it makes sense with common beliefs about morality for example utilitarianism backs up murder is wrong. There are few act that are not good according to utilitarianism such as selfless act, for instance beating up wife gives pleasure to men where wife is selfless so this act is not morally right and good for utilitarianism. Sometimes utilitarianism require us to commit morally reprehensible acts for instance, there is a terrorist who has a nuclear weapon aimed at your city and at the same time you have access to the child of insane terrorist, you can torture the child so you can get the terrorist to stop his action. In situation like this, utilitarianism might say to torture the child so you can save the whole city even though it is not morally right to torture small child. I think the major problem with utilitarianism in defining ethics as either happiness or pleasure is that happiness is a moral duty and it is not morality in and of itself. While pleasure is not a moral duty but rather a biological command to seek that which pleasure us, for example drugs, sex, music can give us pleasure but they have nothing to do with morality or ethics. On the other hand, Kant believed in an ethical theory known as Deontology; that focus on the concept of duty rather than on any concept of right or wrong. His theory emphasize on the type of action rather than consequences of that action. Kant believes that moral decisions should be based on one duties and right of others and we should act morally regardless of consequences and act is considered moral if it is done for the sake of duty. For instance, a homeless man with brain damage in accident is brought to hospital and doctor realize that he does not have any families but deontologist will save man life as it is his duty to treat a patients. Utilitarianism might say let man die and use his organ to save as many people as possible to maximize the happiness of the world. However, according to deontologist allowing the man to die would not make that decision justify. Kant believe that well being of each person should be an end to in itself and we should never treat someone as simple a means but always as a means to an end. According to Kant, moral rules are commands and it is demanded by reason and free person acts on reason and does not pay attention to influences that are nor rational. For example, there should not be any exception to moral rules or laws, therefore, it is wrong to kill people in all situations even in self defense that apply to everyone in every situation. Kant believes that consequences do not matter because act of our consequences are not always in our control and things do not turn out, as we want. However, we can control our motives and the motives to what is right gives an act its moral worth. Kant believes we should use our morals as a guide when making decisions, for instance, there are four patients in the hospital that needs different organ to survive, and a regular person comes to the hospital for regular check up. According to utilitarianism, it is better to sacrifice one man to save others because it will maximize the happiness but deontologist will say it is immoral to kill an innocent person to maximize the happiness and we should not use person as a tool. Another difference between these two theories in situation like lie, Kant believes we should not lie in any circumstances because it is morally wrong and to lie it will make a person a means to an end which is not good. However, utilitarianism will say that it is okay t o lie if it maximizes the happiness.

A Comparison of Fahrenheit 451 and Dover Beach Essay -- Ray Bradburys

Fahrenheit 451 is a well-written book that tells a story of a dream world and one man who wakes up from that dream. Montag, the protagonist of the story, brings home a book of poetry one day and begins to read the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold to his wife and her guests. Many critics think that Bradbury picked this poem because it paralleled life in his book. The poem Dover Beach can be compared to Fahrenheit 451 because both pieces of writing talk about themes of true love, fantasy and allover hopelessness. One of the ways Fahrenheit 451 can be related to Arnold’s Dover Beach is by connecting the absense of true love in both of them. Throughout the book, Montag slowly realizes that he does not truly love his wife Mildred. In the beginning, Montag believes that he truly loves Mildred. However, as the book goes on, he meets Clarisse, and begins to change his way of thought. He slowly begins to wake up from the dream world that he is living in. As he begins to know Clarisse, he slowly realizes that Mildred does not share the same deep passion for life that he does. At the beginning of the Sieve and the Sand, Montag frantically reads books to gain more knowledge. Mildred complains and kicks the books around, showing that her and her husband are growing apart. At the end of the book, Montag is talking to Granger, and says "... Even if she dies, I realized a moment ago, I don't think I'll feel sad (155)". This shows that Montag does not care for his wife as much as he th ought he did before. In the poem, Arnold states "†¦a land of dreams ...hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light". The world in Arnold’s poem is a land of dreaming. While people are dreaming of true love and joy, there is none in the real world that you live in once you wake up from the dream. Once the â€Å"confused alarms of struggle and flight† wake you up, you realize that the world is really void of love and happiness. The world in Arnold's poem is a world parallel to that of Bradbury's: Both are worlds that do not contain love or light, as much as people in them would like to believe otherwise. Both Fahrenheit 451 and Dover Beach are pieces of writing that deal with lands of fantasy. The true world that Bradbury lived in while writing Fahrenheit 451 was one of real books that peop... ...e, because the laws of the universe don't let it out. Similarly, the hopelessness of the human race is shown through the fact that it goes through its life cycles, yet humans know what they're doing and try to fix it. Even though it does not work, that is their cry for help, just as the Sea of Faith cries out to be released from its tides. Writers often use other works in their books to back up what their writing is trying to prove. Ray Bradbury uses the ideas in the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold to support the idea that his book shows the absence of true love, the existence of fantasy worlds, and the reality of hopelessness. Both the book and the poem show that the world is a land of fantasy where things are not always as they appear, and that as much as they want to do something, the nature of people can hold us back from doing things. Both Dover Beach and Fahrenheit 451 show worlds of beings that are trapped in a cage and forced to live a certain way, as much as they don't want to. As much as human beings today don't believe this can happen, if we give into the natural way of humans, we may just follow the same path that Bradbury's people did.

Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom Essay

The Board of Education and Administration of Holland Elementary School have agreed on a decision that will come into effect at the beginning of the Fall 2013 school year. As well as introducing many of our newly acquired teachers to the classrooms, we will also introduce a new artificial intelligence that our students have never experienced before. This will come in the form of robotic instructors who will assist our current teachers with their work and teach other lessons on their own. This may come as a shock to some, but I am extremely confident in this decision. Artificial intelligence coming to the classroom this year will have a positive impact on our school system with increased teaching strategy to achieve a higher level of learning. Robots with artificial intelligence teaching students in the classroom is something that may seem to some like a science fiction fantasy, but the reality of the matter is that robotic helpers, teachers, and playmates are part of a booming technology that has already started flourishing in other countries. Articles from the New York Times have informed us on the hundreds of robots South Korea has already hired to assist teachers, and teach certain subjects on their own (Benedict Carey and John Markoff Students, Meet Your New Teacher, Mr. Robot Para 10). The robots they use are usually computer screened faces with bodies that have arms and legs, allowing them to be entirely mobile on their own. The robots use motion tracking and speech recognition to act human like. This makes them able to engage people in conversation, play games, complete simple tasks, and teach simple skills to others (Carey and Markoff Para 8). Adam Sneed, a researcher for The Future Tense Program explains in his article Coming Soon to a Kindergarten Classroom: Robot Teachers how robots give realistic human-like responses to social cues given by people in their surroundings (Para 6). They also understand the concept of personal space, and when approaching people, they know to stop before anyone’s personal space is invaded (Carey and Markoff, Para 19). The robots are programmed to act as if they have feelings similar to those of children. If the robot is damaged purposely by the students, it will begin to cry. Children react to this by feeling very sorry and backing off right away. If the robot continues to cry, the students offer it peace as they would with another child. Experiments that have shown this in the past are a display of the strong bond students can make with the robots (Carey and Markoff Para 25). Robots with artificial intelligence can engage children through many ways that are subconscious to humans. They hold eye contact with the children and use physical rhythm to stay involved with them. For example, if a child is swaying from side to side, the robot will start to sway as well. The robots mirror the children as a game to connect with them, gain their friendship, and build a sense of trust. If a student lifts his or her arm, the robot will lift their arm as well. The robots will also play vise-versa, letting the children mimic their moves (Carey and Markoff Para 4). Robots also show a large understanding of tasks that are explained to them. In a study done at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a robot was told where certain objects belong in a classroom and then was instructed to put them all away. When the robot came across a toy that it was unsure about, it stared at the toy in hesitation to pick it up. The robot’s instructor asked if it had any questions, and the robot replied by asking where the toy belongs. When it was explained that the green toy belongs in the g reen bin, the robot nodded its head, put the toy in the bin, and said â€Å"makes sense† (Carey and Markoff Para 45-47). This is an example of how the robots that will be incorporated into our classrooms can expand their knowledge and learn from the students to help them improve their teaching. Artificial intelligence is such a large benefit to our students because of all the good teaching qualities the robots have been programmed with that not all human teachers possess. These qualities include encouraging, non-judgmental, infinitely patient, and comforting. Our robots would never get mad at a student for something, and they will never yell at a student or make his or her feel bad for thinking incorrectly. James Marshall Crotty, co-founder/peripatetic publisher of Monk Magazine has recorded in his article Why Kids Prefer Robots to Teachers and Parents that students feel more welcomed and accepted because of this, allowing them to feel more room for guilt-free error. This will eliminate the social boundaries that often keep students from being creative so they will be able to be themselves with much mo re confidence and learn in a more proficient mind set (Forbes Para 7). Robots are able to detect when children are not engaged in the learning, and they are also able to understand signals that children subconsciously put out when they are confused or have a question they are waiting to ask, in which case the robot would offer them the chance to ask their question (Carey and Markoff Para 52). These are all very important skills that are necessary for an instructor to have. The new robots will be an extraordinary help to our special education program which includes mostly students with Attention Deficit Disorder and Autism. Sneed explains how robots will help our students learn social and cognitive skills in a way that is less intimidating to them than through human contact. At times when children with Autism are shy and will not communicate with other people, the robots are able to bring them out of their shell and teach them social skills (Para 5). The robots also provide the students with certain therapies that help their disabilities such as repetitive tasks and imitation. The robots are able to keep any student on task just as efficiently, if not more than human teachers, which is something that will benefit everyone (Carey and Markoff Para 20). Robots are especially good at teaching subjects such as foreign language. In a study performed at the University of Southern California, a robot was used to teach the Finnish language to a group of preschool students. It would pick up objects and say what they were in Finnish, and use productive teaching strategies such as games and repetition to help the children retain the information. When the study was finished, all of the words taught by the robot were significantly imbedded into the children’s memories, while the words they learned from multimedia tapes or other sources were not embedded well at all. This is due to the cognitive engagement, patience, and encouragement the robots provide for the preschoolers. Many different experiments such as this one show that robots’ teaching strategies impact students at about the same level as human teaching strategies (Carey and Markoff Para 21-24). Experiments are performed all over the world by many different specialists who study robotics, and anyone can see, their data concludes that artificial intelligence has a positive influence on the learning levels in a classroom. Specialists have also taken into account the feelings of children who have had the opportunity for artificial intelligence to become a part of their lives. Studies reported by Crotty show that a majority of students are pleased to have a robot to study and play with (Para 2). Robots are able to make games out of children’s homework, and the knowledge they gain from their assignments is portrayed as fun, giving them incentive to get their work done as well as possible. This is very helpful, especially for children who are discouraged in school and have low self-efficacy (Crotty Para 4). The robots are viewed by the children as friends and as very helpful companions. A quote from an article by Rendeiro Fonesca in United Academics Magazine brings us into the life of a boy who had artificial intelligence assisting him at home as well as in school: When I get home, my robot helps me with my homework. My mother and father came in and said no video games now, homework first, but when they saw that I was already finished and had done everything correctly, they were glad that I had made friends with the robot. It could do everything—play soccer, build Legos, read, do math, write, and all the movements a person can make. Since my parents really are always at work a lot, they can’t always help me or play with me or cook something. Now the robot helps them with that.† —Boy, 9, Germany. (Fonseca Robots in the Classroom Para 4) According to this article, children see their robots as reassuring, helpful, encouraging, and as a very big influence to help them with their learning. They often feel more comfortable being their true selves around the robots than they do with a teacher they are unfamiliar with, which helps to be creative in their work when the robots are around (Fonseca Para 10). They also encourage children to be proud of themselves, which gives them incentive to show their parents and human teachers how well they are doing with the instruction given by the robots (Crotty Para 6). While we understand that robots teaching children in the classroom is viewed as unnatural by many, we ask for your cooperation to please understand the significant advancement in technology that has occurred in the past ten years. In Crotty’s article, he also explains how technology is viewed through the eyes of children as something very human. It is a major part of our culture, and young students don’t know of any life deprived of the conveniences technology has given us (Para 4). Robots seem strange and unfamiliar to us, but every new technology appears this way when it is first introduced. The introduction of artificial intelligence to the Frenchtown Elementary School District will lower our budget by decreasing the amount we will be paying in teacher salary. It will bring new learning opportunities to our children, open up a new kind of culture into our lives, and provide excellent assistance to our special education teachers, as well as general classroom lessons. With this addition to our curriculum, the administration hopes to achieve higher state testing scores, and higher overall levels of learning and motivation. Works Cited Carey, Benedict, and John Markoff. â€Å"Students, Meet Your New Teacher, Mr. Robot.† The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 July 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2012 Crotty, James Marshall. â€Å"Why Kids Prefer Robots To Teachers And Parents.† Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 03 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. Fonseca Rendeiro, Mark. â€Å"Robots in the Classroom.† United Academics: Connect Science and Society. UA Magazine, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. Sneed, Adam. â€Å"Coming Soon to a Kindergarten Classroom: Robot Teachers.† Slate. The Slate Group, 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

The Aesthetic Point of View Essay Example

The Aesthetic Point of View Essay Example The Aesthetic Point of View Paper The Aesthetic Point of View Paper The quest to substantiate aesthetics assessment has given birth to many philosophies in this field. This attempt has been dissected into multiple criteria such aesthetic concepts, aesthetic enjoyment, aesthetic experience, aesthetic value, etc. According to Beardsley, multiple points of view represent different value centered subjectivity. Beardsley with his flair in being open to including constructive criticism poses questions to his own definitions concerning the capacity-definition and he draws three problems with specific adjustments; the problem of falsification, the problem of illusion and the problem of devaluation. The problem of falsification leaves room for negative judgments to capitalize not absence of little value but great value in a work of proposed art. His vivid example of being under the influence of an intoxicated substance could alter the correct way of experiencing a work of art makes the point clear. ‘’But how can we explain the lowering of an aesthetic evaluation and still maintain that these evaluations are capacity-judgments? ’ asked Beardsley. This quotation refers to mood of critical thinking in his passages. The problem of devaluation captures the shift in ‘our value grades’ that is largely caused by enlargement of our experiences. So this ‘belated recognition’ opens an internalized evaluation of the grades and understanding of it. The Aesthetic Value ‘‘The aesthetic value of an object is the value it possesses in virtue of its capacity to provide aesthetic gratification when correctly and completely experienced’’ It can be said that in judging the value of a painting, a poem, a composition, a drama or a building the observer needs to comprehend and include that aspect of its quality (with which we judge it) which is due to its capacity to provide aesthetic enjoyment. It is interesting to observe how the definitions of ‘value’, ‘capacity’ and ‘aesthetic gratification’ pull in more observations given through out the text. But after the definitions, the subjectivity of the considerations rejected or accepted when certain judgments are formulated bring us to his next nexus of suggestions. Beardsley writes, ‘’A consideration about an object is relevant to the aesthetic point of view if and only if it is a aesthetic gratification ( formal unity and intensity of regional quality) are present in the object’’. So his examples of a painting being landscape painting being relevant to a judgment marginally contributes to the pre-conditions surrounding the painting like possibly sexual orientation of the painter, writer or composer. The suggestion that the judgment should be exclusive of the subject of the creation gives rise to how historical, cultural aspects of judgment makes subjectivity of the art work stronger. To take an aesthetic point of view requires more than appreciating the skills and interjects the recognition and perceptions. When the question of justification for adopting a certain aesthetic point of view is there, the conflicts with other equally able aesthetics arises. So according to Beardsley the modern approach to broaden the range of adoption by ‘increasing the amount of aesthetic value of which we can take advantage’. This brings us to the observational point of the central task in aesthetic education. He states that this is where there is a rift and observers torn between conflicting ways of redirecting taste. The argument against broadening the amount of aesthetic value tries to incorporate everything as ‘expressive and symbolic’ and the other being the way of love of beauty which he has mentioned is reformist by implication since it seeks a world that conforms to its ideal. But Beardsley’s understanding in how confrontation with these issues does not generate the scope for defining the possibilities and limitations of the aesthetic point of view leaves margins for more contemplation. His conclusion suggest that the conflict of values and the values used for the aesthetic point of view sometimes terminate adopting only one. And his most noble suggestion has been ’To adopt the aesthetic point of view is simply to seek out a source of value. ’ Conclusion The most interesting aspect in reading and trying to evaluate Monroe C. Beardsley’s proposals has been in his expansive adaptation to developments in the philosophical ideas given birth by criticism or change in new aspects of the art world absent from his original philosophy. There might have been absence of elements of feminism, fad fashion, movements but this so-called New criticism that he is supposedly underwriting does respect the art criticism in a positive light. References The journal of Aesthetics and Art criticism, Volume 63, Issue 2 ( p 175- 178) Quotes from, The Aesthetic Point of View Monroe C. Beardsley 1982.

Free Essays on The Guest

The Road To Existentialism Isolation is a state of separation: a physical or emotional separation from one’s surroundings. In Albert Camus’, â€Å"The Guest† the main character is isolated in his environment as well as his relations with others that come into his life. The imagery and descriptive style of the story demonstrate the underlying theme of isolation, as well as the main character, Daru’s existential traits. The vastness and simplicity of the setting creates a perfect environment for an Existentialist: one who stresses the need for complete freedom and isolation from all that surrounds him. When the story begins, the readers are pulled into the â€Å"vast expanse of the high, deserted plateau† (1246). The region is described as â€Å"cruel to live in, even without men† (1298). The landscape consists of snow covered rocks and a dark, dull sky. Although Daru is a teacher, he is alone in his schoolhouse due to heavy snow. He takes comfort in his â€Å"white washed walls, his narrow couch, his unpainted shelves† (1248) which showcase the blandness, the coldness of his nature. Daru’s solitude is interrupted by a prisoner whom he must deliver to jail the following day. He does not seem threatened by having a murderer sleep near him, but more so by the fact that there is another being in Daru’s presence. He is hospitable and kind, yet keeps his distance from the prisoner and barely communicates with him. At night, Daru lies awake, in the silence that â€Å"seemed painful to him† (1252). On the day of their departure, Daru decides to let the prisoner take his trip alone. Although it appears that Daru has the prisoner in mind, he just yearns to go back to his solitude and not be forced with a moral decision and have the responsibility of delivering the prisoner. As Daru heads back to his solemn schoolhouse he â€Å"fe... Free Essays on The Guest Free Essays on The Guest The Road To Existentialism Isolation is a state of separation: a physical or emotional separation from one’s surroundings. In Albert Camus’, â€Å"The Guest† the main character is isolated in his environment as well as his relations with others that come into his life. The imagery and descriptive style of the story demonstrate the underlying theme of isolation, as well as the main character, Daru’s existential traits. The vastness and simplicity of the setting creates a perfect environment for an Existentialist: one who stresses the need for complete freedom and isolation from all that surrounds him. When the story begins, the readers are pulled into the â€Å"vast expanse of the high, deserted plateau† (1246). The region is described as â€Å"cruel to live in, even without men† (1298). The landscape consists of snow covered rocks and a dark, dull sky. Although Daru is a teacher, he is alone in his schoolhouse due to heavy snow. He takes comfort in his â€Å"white washed walls, his narrow couch, his unpainted shelves† (1248) which showcase the blandness, the coldness of his nature. Daru’s solitude is interrupted by a prisoner whom he must deliver to jail the following day. He does not seem threatened by having a murderer sleep near him, but more so by the fact that there is another being in Daru’s presence. He is hospitable and kind, yet keeps his distance from the prisoner and barely communicates with him. At night, Daru lies awake, in the silence that â€Å"seemed painful to him† (1252). On the day of their departure, Daru decides to let the prisoner take his trip alone. Although it appears that Daru has the prisoner in mind, he just yearns to go back to his solitude and not be forced with a moral decision and have the responsibility of delivering the prisoner. As Daru heads back to his solemn schoolhouse he â€Å"fe...

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics - Essay Example The people and neighbours nearby the plant were in great dilemma. The Corporation blamed the Indian workers and managers for such incident. Various cases were filed against the corporation and the chairman at Indian courts (Browning, 1993). In this paper, a study has been conducted based on the Bhopal gas leak disaster. One of the prime objectives of the paper will be to analyse the role of the former chairman of Union Carbide Corporation, Mr. Anderson regarding his fault in the dreadful explosion of MIC from the plant. The paper also deals with the stakeholder theory and corporate citizenship of the plant administered by Union Carbide in Bhopal, India. Furthermore, the paper will discuss about whether the corporation was successful or failed in their responsibility towards society. The stakeholder theory of the Corporation will also be highlighted by referring to the theoretical framework. 2.0 Is Anderson to blame at all for this accident? Union Carbide Corporation’s parent c ompany Dow Chemical Company is one of the biggest producers of chemical in the United States. The corporation is operating in various countries throughout the world. The plant had started its operation in Bhopal in the year 1969 with $25 million manufacturing facility. The plant was named as Union Carbide of India, Ltd (UCIL). Since its headquarters is in the US, technical and financial operations of the plant were performed in the US. Government of India also owned a certain part of the plant. Due to the incident of Bhopal disaster in 1986 as well as pressure from the US judges, the corporation approved to pay $425 million for the victims of the incident. Later the Union Carbide changed their opinion towards the victims. Mr. Warren Anderson, who was the chairman of the corporation, visited India after such incident and said everything would be done for the victims of Bhopal tragedy. He offered $1million for such dreadful disaster and to build hospital, orphanage as well as vocation al schools (Gupta, 2002). The incident was caused since proper safety measures were not adopted in the plant. The chairman was responsible to manage all the operations but he did not conduct them properly. The Carbide engineers were involved in the final design as well as construction of the plant. Due to possible limitation in the designing of plant such incident had occurred. There was inadequacy from the Union Carbide Corporation in safety measures, deficient in cooling facilities, defective alarm systems, poor maintenance and storage of excessive amounts of toxic materials. However, the corporation was not willing to admit their shortcomings and were rather blaming the workers for such damage. Various homicide charges were also filed against the top nine officers of the Corporation besides Chairman Anderson. In the US, the corporation had installed all the safety measures for the individuals working there. However, in one of the third world country, i.e. in India, Union Carbide did not adopt adequate safety measures for the workers in the plant (Browning, 1993). The deadly Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) was imported to India from the US in order to stimulate foreign direct investment. From that period onwards, the Bhopal plant

How Does The Rising Rate Of Inflation Bring Down The Prices Of Houses Essay

How Does The Rising Rate Of Inflation Bring Down The Prices Of Houses In The United States - Essay Example Since two-thirds of households in the US or even more have possession of the houses that they reside in, the weight of Owner–Equivalent Rent in the CPI is significant; it accounts for around 23.8% of headline CPI and around 30.8% of the traditional core CPI which excludes energy and food. The rents languished due to an increase in the sale price of houses in the recent years. Since the year of 2000, it can be found that OER has increased approximately 26% while the government’s price index of existing homes has increased 80%. This indicates that the sale prices of existing homes and new homes rose by 5% or even more per year faster than rents since the twist of the millennium (Cecchetti, â€Å"Housing in Inflation Measurement†). Consumer Price Index Levels (1950-2003): Source: (Cedar Spring Software, Inc., â€Å"Price Inflation†). The above chart indicates how the effects of continuous inflation build up over the years. It consists of the index values of C PI for the month of December of each year. The value of index of 180 indicates that prices have risen 80% which is measured from a â€Å"base of 100†. With the help of index values, one can determine that goods and services which cost $3,000 at the end of the year 1992 will cost $3,897.00 at the end of the year 2003. The supposed household cannot wait for the inflation to be at a normal level. They must make sure that their interest and income keep pace with the long-term inflation or else they would become poor (Cedar Spring Software, Inc., â€Å"Price Inflation†). Percent Changes in Inflation (1950-2003): Source: (Cedar Spring Software, Inc., â€Å"Price Inflation†). The above chart depicts changes in the inflation rate and not the actual price changes. A line that trends downward which is above... The researcher of this essay focuses on the issue of the connections between the inflation and housing in the United States. The researcher states that although inflation occurs regularly in the economic system, it becomes a matter of concern when it reaches at higher levels. The rate of inflation, that is discussed and analyzed in the essay provides the measure of price changes, which occur for many goods and services. When it comes to individual goods, the changes in the prices vary greatly. The prices of number of goods such as gasoline, health care, housing and automobiles have significantly increased during the last decades. On the other hand, the prices of the commodities such as computing power and calculators have decreased. Different methods are used to measure the inflation rate, but the most common approach to measure inflation in the United States is Consumer Price Index (CPI) which includes the steps, described in the essay. The researcher then focuses on the calculating of the real inflation rates in the United States and provides graphics and charts on the topic of Percent Changes in Inflation and Consumer Price Index Levels. It is then concluded by the researcher that the stock market and the housing market had gone down, thereby reducing the supply of money and creating a crisis of liquidity, thus sinking the United States into a deflationary period where the prices were in fact lower than 2008, reaching a deflationary short of -2.1% in the month of July of the year 2009.