Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Personal Audit & Development Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Personal Audit & Development Plan - Assignment Example Dear Mr. Cudjoe, I came into contact with your company’s advertisement for a Marketing Executive in the Nigerian Yellow Pages and given my in-depth academic and professional knowledge in market management, I was prompted to apply. I have provided a full list of all relevant experiences and skills gained through my years of academic and professional life. Through these years, I have gained superior competence in areas of analytical thinking, market research, customer relations, cross-cultural integration, creative thinking skills, manipulation of situations to finding lasting solutions, data handling skills and ability to use a variety of computer programmes and software. What I find particularly interesting in this job is that it meets my very professional aspirations and objectives of taking up a market management position at a top multinational company and I am hopeful this is the time to exhibit what unique qualities I have to offer. Such a highly competitive position would therefore help in bringing out the best in me as a person. Over the past years, I have proven myself to be an excellent executor of duties, especially those that focus on the growth of a group and I am sure it is time to expand my expertise to this new group, which is your esteemed company. As a creative thinker, I shall bring to the fore of the company competitive creative thinking skills that is directed at finding alternative solutions to problems and applying the very best of interventions to solving problems.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Review of Karl Marx’s Capital (1867)

Review of Karl Marx’s Capital (1867) Review of Karl Marx’s article Capital Capital, published in 1867 instantly made its mark as one of Karl Marx’s most ‘detailed critique of economic life.’ (Rivikin Ryan, 665, 2004) In his article, Marx not only highlights that we ‘fetishize the objects that appeal most immediately to our senses’, (Rivikin Ryan, 665, 2004) but he also argues that we ignore the real exploitation of the workers who provide these commodities on the marketplace. In his article, Marx illuminates how the capitalist economic system structures human society. One of the ideas that he puts forward is how the relationship between ‘satisfying human wants’ for the value of a commodity contrasts with the invisible exploitation of labour. He states that man easily ‘changes the forms’ of the commodities in order to be ‘useful to him’, therefore demonstrating how the bourgeoisie owns the means of production thus highlighting how they are only interested in producing the maximum surplus value to suit their needs. Furthermore, Marx describes the capitalist as an ‘enigmatical character’ which further suggests they have the power and control over the world’s natural, economic and human resources to take advantage of the product of labour, as soon as it takes the ‘form of commodities’ which is of high value. Another idea put forward by Marx is the contrast between the social relations and the technical relations of production. Firstly, Marx states ‘their own labour is presented to them as a social relation’ which is of importance as it means it is the people who are associated to a relatively stable economic structure. However, Marx goes on to say the producer’s labour only exists ‘between the product of their labour’ which implies it is now the people that relate to objects; thus highlighting how the result of production determines your social class. In addition, he states that the qualities of the products of labour are ‘perceptible and imperceptible’ which links back to the idea of how we are not only ignorant to the producers of commodities but this opens up to the alienation of social relations. Following on from this idea, the social relations become less apparent as Marx argues that the value relation between the products of labour has ‘no connection with their physical properties’. Marx’s idea of commodity fetishism is highlighted here as it transforms how the production of commodities and money are exchanged in the market trade through secretly hiding the fact that someone was exploited to produce that value of commodity. Furthermore, Marx continues to illuminate the human alienation of the capitalist structure as he states man is drawn into this concept by ‘the fantastic form of a relation between things’. Marx believes that through reification, these commodities now seen as objects obscure the economic exploitation of the labourer’s (subjects) wages and the new value of product created by the worker themselves. In his article, Marx cleverly underpins how we are ignorant to the inefficient and exploitive system with the analogy of the ‘act of seeing’. He argues that from the ‘external object to the eye’, we see an ‘actual passage of light from one thing to another’, which implies the exploitation of labourer’s is not invisible; but we just choose not to see it as we live in a controlled society. In his article Marx demonstrates a contrast between the social and technical relation production and from this light analogy we can argue that there is a need for social dependency that capitalism feeds off; in order for economic power to overrule all political and social activities. Furthermore, the value of capital would deteriorate if labour is removed from the workplace, thus highlighting how the bourgeoisie are in effect dependent upon the proletariat labour-power. In his text, Marx also puts forward a philosophical concept which brings about the theory of alienation of the capitalist system. The analogy of the ‘mist-enveloped regions of the religious world’ is a highly effective idea as it illuminates that Christianity and the concept of God estranges the natural characteristics of our human desires. Marx essentially made use of Charles de Brosses concept of fetishism through his The Cult of Fetish Gods (1760) which suggests a materialist theory of the origin of religion which developed the idea of commodity fetishism. Marx gives reference to ‘men’s hands’ which arguably suggests that the whole system is corrupt as commodities are seen as more valuable than the labourer who produced it. Marx concludes with ‘This I call Fetishism’ which emphasises and summarises how unfair and corrupt the capitalist system works. Word count: 748 Marxism applied to Raymond Carver’s poem Shiftless There are many subtle concepts of Marxism found in Raymond Carver’s poem Shiftless, published in 1985. The first few lines highlight the idea that everything is masked in the capitalist system of control. He states the people who were higher up the social ladder ‘were comfortable’ (1) who were fortunate to live in ‘painted houses with flush toilets’ (2) and ‘drove cars whose year and make were recognizable’ (3). From the description given, the materialist goods illuminate the idea of conspicuous consumption; they purchase these costly good and publicly display them to impress people with their wealth of economic power. Furthermore, this idea of ‘painted houses’ could be symbolic for the fact that commodity fetishism is active as it shows these material commodities are of greater value than those who produced it. Also, ‘painted’ links in with Marx’s idea of how we are ignorant to acknowledge the exploitation of labourer’s. These material goods also link in with Marx’s idea of ‘satisfying human wants’ from his chapter on Capital. The consumer aspires to have the best of the best commodities in order to gain social, economic and cultural prestige. Marx argues in his chapter on The German Ideology that ‘those who lack the means of production are subject to it.’ (Rivkin Ryan, 2004, 656) This means depending on where you stand on the ladder of the capitalist system, you are put in a social class depending on the amount of means of production. Carver continues with ‘The ones worse off were sorry’ which links in with Mar x’s theory of how the working class are exploited and it further attacks the unfair capitalist market system. Carver gives reference to ‘strange cars’ and ‘dusty yards’ (5) to juxtapose the material goods in the first three lines. The poet cleverly shows the distinction between the value of commodities and the social classes in just one line. This links in with Marx’s alienation theory of the effect of the capitalist production on labourers. These material objects are there in the poem so that the reader can identify the clear contrast in social class; however those who are subject to it are under the false consciousness as it is the way a capitalist society works. According to Bertell Ollman, he argues that all classes are under some form of alienation, but it is ‘the proletariats affliction is the most severe.’ (Ollman, 2014) Following this idea, we can see the contrast of material commodities given in Shiftless, which highlights the exploitation of labour. The reference to ‘dusty yards’ suggests the capitalist system dominates the history of class struggle and the poem reflects the poverty that the proletariat undergo. In his poem, Carver cleverly represents his own opinion of life to mock the capitalist system of control as he stats ‘My goal was always / to be shiftless. I saw the merit in that.’(8 9) The poet Jim McGarrah states that ‘This constant state of flux and the battle for economic stability began to take a toll on Carver’s personal life’ (McGarrah, 2009) which highlights the domineering effect of the capitalist control. The idea of ‘doing nothing’ (11) links in with Marx’s view of ideology and how ideology is part of everyday reality. Terry Eagleton, a literary theorist, argues that ‘people invest in their own unhappiness’ (Eagleton, 1991, 13) which suggests why Carver experiences simple activities in the poem. The word ‘Spitting.’ (15) is positioned on its own to perhaps emphasise how this shiftless behaviour is seen to be more appealing than being a subject to an exploitive system where commodities are of m ore value. Marx uses a philosophical analogy of how the natural characteristics of human behaviour is estranged due to them being subjective to an ideological apparatus of a higher system; God in the religious world. Carver challenges this interpellation procedure by stating in the final two lines ‘â€Å"Don’t I know you?† / Not, â€Å"What are you going to be when you grow up?†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Carver highlights how controlled society is as everyone believes they have to be ‘something’ or ‘someone’ in order to attain social prestige. The pressure of a good reputation and a social status is what forces us into the idea of having to have the best commodities that we either buy or own in order to communicate a sense of social prestige. This poem highlights Marxist theoretical concepts in order to highlight how exploitive, alienating and inefficient the capitalist system is. Word count: 740

Friday, October 25, 2019

Inhumanity of Mankind in Othello Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inhumanity of Mankind The inhumanity of mankind is displayed all throughout Othello. In every act and scene it is the main underlying theme from the simplest of degrading comments from Brabantio to the complex schemes thought up by Iag...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Calox Case

Business Marketing CALOX CASE Section 1 Overview: The main player is Mike Brown who is the international sales manager for Calox Machinery Corporation. Brown’s situation is to decide between staying with his current New Zealand distributer Glade Industries or to switch to Calox New Zealand, Ltd. The main player for the new company is Geoff Wiggins who created G. W Diggers which he then sold and is now called Glade. Mr. Wiggins is now in charge of the new company Brown is highly considering to switch to. * Decision on which company to go with.Glade has â€Å"gotten its act together† offers a new team of 3 sales executives opposed to Geoff Wiggins â€Å"one man show† * Legal risks * If the new company fails than Calox is basically screwed. Section 2: Since both companies are battling for your business then a smart marketing ploy would be to try to get the best deal/package out of them. See what each company is willing to do so you keep them around. Alternating the prices to benefit your company and see which one is willing to accept. Give Glade a call and have them pitch to you how they’re new team is going to increase sales and how they plan to market.Wiggins on the other hand resume speaks for himself but you can call him and ask how can he market better than Glade’s 3 members. Lastly, another option would be favorable contract negotiation. Try to get a guarantee that the distributer will remain in business with Calox for x amount of years and see who’s most willing. Section 3: facts 1. After Colax sent a letter that they were dropping Glade, Glade came back saying the restructured their sales staff with 3 new skilled employees and have already commenced targeting Wescot’s (major competitor) employees.On the other hand Mike Brown met face to face with Geoff Wiggins. What Brown got out of the interview was that Geoff is very affable, technically knowledgeable, and an excellent marketing person. Also Geoff founded what is now Glade and during his reign had about a 50% share of the New Zealand market. 2. Legal risks- â€Å"sole distributer agreement† is what Glade and Colax had. However, in the case it is unclear of the potential severity of the legal risk. If the relationship is terminated and Glade sued than the amount of the case would probably be 10,000.With that being said it’s still a problem and it isn’t guaranteed they won’t get sued for a lot more. Section 4: My recommendation to this case is to switch with Mr. Wiggins company. Clearly, Glade is in a downfall. Their company is a mess and can’t market Colax’s products effectively. Wiggins on the other hand knows the market extremely well. Colax has had business with him in the past when he originated what is Glade’s today. During Wiggins reign he had about a 50% share of the New Zealand market. Once Wiggins left Glade, the company has been in a downwards spiral.For these reasons I would terminate my agreement with Glade give them their 60 day termination notice and then sign the deal with Wiggins. The legal aspect of it is tricky. But, after reading the case and what the lawyers said was there was not really a probable claim since the agreement was signed when Wiggins was in charge and Glade’s was called G. W. Diggers. The lawyers are not a 100% sure but they are likely that Colax could be threatened to pay approximately 10,000 dollars. With all this being said, Wiggins and Calox New Zealand, Ltd. would be the move I would recommend. Case closed! Enjoy your Labor Day vacation Mr. Brown.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Is Deception Justified? Essay

Everyone characterizes deception differently. One may view it as breaking the trust of a loved one and think of it as mere deceit. Others may accept deception as a way to gain/give happiness. Some may even think of it as part of life. More commonly, deception stands being viewed as hand and hand with â€Å"evil†, this includes, not only viewed by people, but also portrayed in movies and novels from all eras of time. Frequently feelings dealing with deceit –lying or jealousy- creates anger in an individual leading into irrationality. However, can a simple trick or lie for the sake of entertainment or flattery allow deception to be justified? Robert Southey once said â€Å"All deception in the course of life is indeed nothing else but a lie reduced to practice, and falsehood passing from words into things.† (Southey 133) If we look through the famous works of today, we notice deception is the major downfall of main characters or villains. In Shakespeare’s Othello the feelings of deceit and jealousy are prevalent throughout the play by Lago, which ultimately leads up to his actions against other characters of the play. However, many disagree with Robert Southey. A philosophy called utilitarianism refers to what is good for a human being. Therefore, according the philosophy of utilitarianism, if deceiving someone saves a life, or causes happiness to another, or others, then deception is justified. The only problem with this philosophy is, how can one measure one’s happiness against another’s misery? Assuming this deception backfires or the deceiver is not happy or is feeling guilty with the decei t. Lying and deception are extremely common when interacting with another person. Nearly everyday, either associating, or being in contact with another, one can expect to either witness or convey deception. â€Å"Deception can be defined as an intentional verbal message that does not honestly reflect an individual’s actual opinion† (Zuckerman, DeFrank, Hall, Larrance, & Rosenthal, 1979). Elias Conetti once stated, â€Å"Adults find pleasure in deceiving a child. They consider it necessary, but they also enjoy it. The children very quickly figure it out and then practice deception themselves† (Conetti, Elias, 1980) Deception may be not justified, but some believe deceit to be acceptable, for example mothers may lie to there kids to eat there vegetables or do there homework. However, the other forms of deception can cause harm to a person emotionally and thus shouldn’t be justified or accepted. Even if, the conveyor thinks he is morally just. Robert Rusking stated â€Å"The essence of lying is in deception, not in words† which means that lying is deception itself whether its trying to make your friend feel better on a bad day, or containing the intentions of being cruel. Deception is nothing other than deception, and shouldn’t be justified no matter what ethics. In a philosophy called Kantianism, developed by a German philosopher Immanuel Kant, the belief is that â€Å"People should be treated as an end and never as a mere means to an end†(Kant, Immanuel 1785 (Kant)). In other words, it is unethical to use people for your own personal gain because people are valuable in themselves. Assuming from the beliefs of Kantianism, deception is only justified if you justify your own deception in other words if you think you have the right to be told the truth, then you are also bound to tell the truth. In conclusion, to me I believe in the utilitarianism philosophy, because if deception saves a life, then the deception is a necessity. Everyday we are deceived, whether by phony politicians or lousy advertisements on TV. Some deception is cruel, irrelevant, and unnecessary, but some can really make someone or people happy. I believe that anything that helps humanity should be justified, but deception just for cruel or bizarre intention shouldn’t be. Therefore, I decided deception can be justified, but only for good intentions. Work Cited Page Mazur, Tim C. â€Å"Lying and Ethics.† Lying and Ethics. N.p., 2010. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"Utilitarianism.† Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals.† SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. . Canetti, Elias. â€Å"Quotation by Elias Canetti.† Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. â€Å"Essays.cc – Utilitarianism V. Kantianism.† Essays.cc – Utilitarianism V. Kantianism. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. . Aufderheide, Patricia, Peter Jaszi, and Mridu Chandra. â€Å"Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in Their Work [2009].† Center for Social Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. . Decaire, Michael W. â€Å"The Detection of Deception Via Non-Verbal Deception Cues – Law Library 1999-2001.† The Detection of Deception Via Non-Verbal Deception Cues – Law Library 1999-2001. N.p., 30 Nov. 2000. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. .