The Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Women - Essay Example She begins to critically examine her life and her relationship with men and the people around her. At some point, she considered divorce, and this would have not only affected her but also their daughter. This play thus helps to remind the audience that although one might appear to lead a happy and comfortable life, problems in marriage can make life bitter. Friends and family play a vital role in resolving such domestic problems. The intent of this production, in my view, was a good idea. This play speaks to everyone; the married and the unmarried. It helps us examine our families, our actions and how best we understand the people around us. There are two main issues raised in the play that make it important and applicable. First, through the life of Heines and the unfaithfulness of her husband, the play reminds us of the importance of safeguarding marriages and building strong family ties. The suffering brought to Haines through her husband’s infidelity is traumatizing. The play further highlights the need to solve domestic or marital problems without taking rush decisions. Secondly, the play helps us re-examine the role played by our friends in our lives. In the play, Selvia knew that Heines’ husband had an extramarital affair yet she did not inform her friend about it. She instead spread the rumor among other women. This play thus allows the audience to examine whether or not to keep some of their friends. In particular, this play reminds us of the role friends play in marriages. Overall, the play challenges and provokes the audience. The intention is to make people examine their behaviors, beliefs and their general view of life. This play succeeds in provoking us into asking ourselves questions regarding our lives, and how we treat those around us. After watching the play, I believe that the play achieved its purpose. First, in a good play, characters need to portray the events as real as they possibly can. In this play, the characters portrayed

Japanese political culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Japanese political culture - Essay Example The political system is segregated into three major divisions; the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The legislative arm that is, the national diet supersedes the decisions of any other branch of the government. It is mandated in making constitutional amendments as well as passing the laws that govern the overall functions of the government. For one to be eligible to hold a position in the diet, the minimum age for joining the House of Representatives is 25 years while for joining the House of Councilors id 30 years. Nevertheless, the cabinet of ministers has the powers to dissolve the House of Representatives before their full term, while the house of councilors remains unaffected and can only be dissolved upon completion of its six-year term. In addition to the legislature, the cabinet also has powers to control the entire executive function of the government. It is headed by the prime minister who has the jurisdiction to appoint and dismiss ministers. He state ministe rs have chosen from the national diet their independence in making decisions is compromised. However, the Japanese constitution clearly states that cabinet should act autonomously for the purpose of ensuring quality service delivery to all people and not for certain interest groups. Therefore, the jobs of ministers and all other public servants are not affected by changes in political situations. The public service has to be vetted before assuming any responsibilities. Notably, the cabinet has 11 ministers who are deputized by two other officials.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby has captured people who wanted and defined the American dream. The American dream according to Americans after the World War I is to earn money and get everything they want without exerting too much effort, being successful without doing actual work. Jay Gatsby has successfully achieved the American dream; he gained his success and fortune out of crime; he was prominent and well known among the socialites. Jay Gatsby had it all; all except the girl he loved. The value of Americans has changed after the World War I. People became greedier, people wanted everything without exerting an effort, so much like those who went to parties organized by Jay Gatsby. They acknowledged the wealth of Gatsby without thinking where and how he got it, all they knew was that he was a powerful person and they should join him in order to be powerful and successful. The ideal of having the American dream in the Victorian Era was to be an individual and to discover what ones purpose is different from the dream Americans dream after the World War I. People were willing to let others sacrifice in order for them to get what they wanted. Fitzgerald is trying to show his readers through his novel that the moral of Americans had changed and that their values were different from the past. He showed what

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory In the past decade of increased globalization and diversity, business across borders has increased. Although cross border business faces a lot of challenges not only from the political and socio economic paradigm but also from culture (Porter, 1990). National culture has gained importance, as it is significant in managing global operations. Multinational business strategy research has long acknowledged the importance of national cultural characteristics as determinants of management behavior (Cheng, 1989; Rosenweig and Singh, 1991). So now, what is culture? It is true that no two human would know the same things but they often have great deal of knowledge in common. This common knowledge or collective memory to a large extent make people work together, communicate and live together. This forms communities and if shared among enough people in a country, its characteristics are called national culture. The common knowledge constitutes one of the elements which make national culture uni que (The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 2nd edition, revised and updated, by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., and James Trefil, is reviewed). There are a lot of theories that attempt to explain culture like the ones proposed by Fons Trompenaar, 1993; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, 1961, Edward T.Hall but Geert Hofstedes Cultures consequences has been remarkably influential and his work has provided the foundation for many studies on, intercultural relations (Hart, 1999), cross-cultural management control systems design (Harrison McKin- non, 1999), international business research (Chandy Williams, 1994), and psychology (Baskerville, 2003; Oyserman, Coon, Kem- melmeier, 2002; Schimmack, Oishi, Diener, 2005; Triandis, 2004), most often seeking to determine how differences on cultural dimensions (i.e., power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity) impacted work related values and behavior. (National Culture, Leadership and Citizenship: Implications for Cross-cultural Management, p 78) According to Geert Hofstede the culture is defined as collective programming of mind and explains that it lies between human nature on one side and individual personality on the other (Hofstede, 1991). Hofstedes cultural framework has been applied in a wide variety of contexts and his work has gained great support and is of prime importance to many researchers in various disciplines. As stated by Baskerville, Cultures Consequences demonstrates an average of 94 citations per annum in the last 18 years. Part of this level of usage appears to reflect efforts of researchers unaware of debates concerning the legitimacy of Hofstedes dimensions (R.F.Baskerville, 2003). So huge is the acceptance of hofstedes work. Geert Hofstede an expert of studies in culture from Netherland developed a cross- culture model. The five dimensions of culture are defined as follows Power Distance: the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Hofstede, 1991: 28; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Uncertainty Avoidance: intolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity (Hofstede, 1991: 113; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Individualism versus Collectivism: the extent to which individuals are integrated into groups (Hofstede, 1991: 51; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Masculinity versus Femininity assertiveness and competitiveness versus modesty and caring (Hofstede, 1991: 82-3, 1998b; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401) (McSweeney, 2002) Hofstede defined culture as a Collective programming of mind, his concept of culture promotes an image of the individual as merely a passive carrier of a predetermined cultural template (Ailon, 2007; Ailon -Souday Kunda, 2003). As much as Hofstedes work has been universally accepted as I was researching I came across a number of critics for his work (e.g Galit Ailon (2008); R.F.Baskerville (2003); McSweeney (2002)). It was then it dawned on me the validity of the theory that even I had used in my graduate dissertation like an unquestionably acceptable principle. As G.Ailon (2008) stated it is not he (Hofstede), the individual, who is of interest here; instead,the discursive practices that governed his text that predominated and ran through him (Foucault, 1972: 139)that are of interest. So here I am going to critically evaluate his theory within a certain degree of my personal understanding of it although heavily relying on the articles of McSweeney and Galit ailon. A significant aspect of national culture research of Hofstede is the transparency with which he related the cultural dimensions with other studies of country or national differences for the purposes of making international comparisons. Each of the dimensions of index was compared to seven other national measurements: GNP, latitude, economic growth, population size and growth, population density and organization size. So the socio economic data used by him does describe cultural dimension rather the historical origins of nations. (R.F.Baskerville, 2003). His study comes to show that a nations attributes are culturally influenced. And most of the critiques have remarkably questioned the simplest of facts that many have failed to think. As Mikael Sondergaard puts it , most of the debate on hofstedes work has been on the following aspects of his study: surveys are inappropriate instruments to measure culture unit of analysis of nations is not the best unit suited for studying culture One company cannot provide information about the entire nations culture IBM data is old and obsolete Four dimensions cant tell the whole story (http://geert-hofstede.international-business-center.com/Sondergaard.shtml). I am going to be discussing the above mentioned in detail now, though Hofstedes work has entailed substantial contribution in the field of cultural studies there are some pertinent issues that leaves doubt on the validity of the typology produced by him. It is not possible for national culture to be uniform, there is considerable diversity. An assumption of a homogeneous culture can only be made by assuming that culture is coherent, pure, stable, and nothing external like other cultures and non cultural factors influence a national culture.(McSweeney, Forthcoming) Which is hard to believe in reality because when a number of cultures and subcultures co-exist it is impossible for it remain independent and completely uninfluenced by the other. Otherwise we have to consider cultures as being tough enough to withstand any attempts to change them. Some of the issues are discussed in the due course. The surveys were the backbone of the study. The surveys were carried out on 40 IBM subsidiaries around the world between 1964 and 1973 and used about 117000 questionnaires. Most of the researchers state that a survey is not an appropriate instrument for accurately determining and measuring cultural disparity. This is especially apparent when the variable being measured is a value which culturally sensitive and subjective (Schwartz, 1999). Two surveys were carried out and results are a combination of responses from both the surveys. A closer examination revealed that not all questionnaires were used and that the average number per country was small and sometimes evens a minuscule. In only six countries () the number of respondents were more than 1000 and in Pakistan was only 70 The narrowness of the Hofstede surveyed research population radically compounds the scale problem (McSweeney, 2002). This leads to a doubt in the statistical integrity of the results obtained from the survey. A s Schwartzs (1992) puts it that one cannot derive the normative ideals of a culture from the average of individual responses (p. 51). The PD (Power distance) index was based on three questions in the IBM questionnaire. The first question was a five point scale , and it asked how frequently in their experience employees were afraid of expressing disagreement with their managers and second and third questions asked about their preferred leadership style (autocratic, persuasive, consultative, and democratic) and the style that closely matched their boss. G.Ailon (2008) states that in each stage of the research process an attempt of neutralization is visible. This begins with the standardized uniform questionnaire that has been used worldwide. In effect, how- ever, uniformity was, meant ot direct respondents in the paths determined by a Western, managerially oriented research team. The questionnaire coerced a western axis of comparison on non-western cultures. It had a egalatarian portrayal of western culture and ignored racial and colonial inequalities and defined racial power distance under uncertainity avoidance. Th is fact, enabled a country like South Africa due to apartheid to be represented in the sample by white respondents only whether partial in terms of population sample, questionnaire content, or both, it constituted a political act that, however unwittingly, neutralized racism and colonialism by excluding them from measurement.Hofstede also tried to neutralize certain aspects of the dimension by universalisation, stating that Hierarchial inequality is something we inevitably find, the essence of organsation and so the choices given on the questionnaire was already based on the notion of its universal inevitability thereby trapping the respondent in an invisible way to positively answer the neutrality and inevitability of the managerial power.(G.Ailon, 2008).Though they had choices , and their answers did vary, these were again manipulated and labeled in such a way that hofstede tried to expropriate the meaning of the answers from his respondents, claiming, in so many words, that anyth ing they said proves his point-using their voices to turn his hypotheses into axioms (G.Ailon, 2008). The large power distance in France and Belgium (which were exceptions in Nordic, Anglo, Germany) he attributed to the cultural inheritance of Roman empire, likewise the small power distance in Pakistan he attributes to their Islamic religious background and belief that all are equal in the eyes of god. He used such exemptions to justify his claim that small PD countries are economically developed, large PD countries are less developed or developing.(Ailon.G, 2002). It emphasizes that those from small power-distance cultures are likely to accept responsibility, while those from large power-distance cultures are likely to be more disciplined (Triandis, 1993) The Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) index was based on three questions again and they were related to the frequency of nervousness and tension at work, the second was How long do you think you will continue working for this company? Please indicate the extent to which you personally agree or disagree . . . [that] company rules should not be bro- ken- even when the employee thinks it is in the companys best interest (Hofstede, 1980:76 -77, 405, 408 409). Hofstedes book states those in weak uncertainty-avoidance cultures may be very high in basic innovations, while those in strong uncertainty-avoidance cultures may triumph in precision manufacturing. (Triandis, 1993) Though Hofstede admits that better indicators could have been developed in ascertaining the UA, because it wasnt a familiar concept when they developed the IBM questionnaires, he very strongly and emphatically links a high UA to a number of socio-psychological tendencies. (G.Ailon, 2008) low UA, for example, is suggested to result from advanced modernization; older democracies; dense populations in poor countries and sparse populations in wealthy countries; tolerant religions that stress relativity; historical events marked by less legislation and more settlement of disputes by negotiation and/or conflict, as opposed to mere inheritance of developed systems of legislation; low mean age of population leaders; and smaller organizations (1980: 185). The suggested consequences of low UA include slower economic growth after World War II, weaker nationalism, less aggressiveness versus other nations, looser societies, stronger feelings of citizen competence, a casuistic approach to legal is sues, a stronger accent on lay competences as expressed by having more nurses per doctor, more religious tolerance, pragmatic or introvert meditative religions, rel- ativism, empiricism rather than theoricism in social sciences, more ambitious employees, managers who are more involved in strategy issues, and so forth (1980: 186-187). He is just forcing people to envision a world where everything is interconnected through simple logic (G.Ailon, 2002). At a point Hofstede states people from lower UAI cultures will tend to do better in cross-cultural contacts (1980: 398), I doubt this as it is something that is related to individuals personal communication skills and doesnt matter if he were from a country with a low UA index. Hofstede justifies the power of managers with a western background that they have a low UA and Small PD and so they are most suited for strategic and cross cultural management. So is that only the western managers have this skill which they imbibed from culture a nd their counterparts around the world lack this vital skill. (G.Ailon, 2008) The Individualism (IDV) index was based on work goal questions in which the respondents were asked to rate the importance of a variety of statements, in which high IDV were attributed to giving importance to doing a job leaving out personal and leisure time and, low IDV were attributed to having good physical skills and training opportunities at work. These tried to assess a person independence from organization and second to assess what the individual expected from the organization. (G.Ailon, 2008) As McSweeney put it power distance and individualism and collectivism were statistically identified by him only in nationally averaged data. At the level of individuals, they had near- zero inter-correlations (Bond, 2002; Schwartz, 1994) for those dimensions and thus no explanatory power at that level. Hofstede states that those from high-collectivism cultures may show employee commitment, while members of organizations from high-individualism cultures can profit from management mobility . Hofstedes book states that those from cultures high in femininity may be able to provide personal services, custom-made products, and be especially successful in biochemistry, while those in masculine cultures may excel in mass production, efficiency, heavy industry, and bulk chemistry; The masculinity index like the IDV was also based on work goal question and it attempted to measure the extent to which respondents endorsed ego goals (related to earnings and advancement) and social goals (related to cordial relations at work place and a friendly atmosphere). This index is based on the universal dissection relating to sexual character and goals, in which men are more assertive and tough and women are more nurturing and Tender. He states that the distribution of labor is affected by the goals of the organization. This according to me is true but he also goes to say that business organizations have goals of achievement which relates to the masculine index and it is not surprising they are run by men and their climate is set by men, which I as a girl would detest. Not just from a point of defending my own sex but from the common world examples, A study organized by the Finnish Business and Policy stated, Companies managed by women are on average ten per cent more profitable than those with a man as CEO. The study was conducted on atleast 14000 limited liability finish companies in 2003. (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Study+companies+managed+by+women+more+profitable+than+those+run+by+men/1135230562325). Even in a country like US which has a fairly good masculinity index of 62, You have companies form the fortune 500 like yahoo, pepsico, New York Times and Kraft foods that are run by women ceos so it doesnt necessarily mean one has to be a man to be the big boss. Though national culture is not theorized as the only culture or a totality of cultures, within a nation, but by definition it culturally distinguishes the members of one nation from another. (McSweeney, 2002). Hofstede says that each country has a unique culture. I would slightly differ from that opinion, because that sort of unique cuture may be attributed to the cultural heritage and aspects like performing arts that may vary from country to country uniquely but on the basis of individual attitude and behavior it seems a little irrelevant. If you take India for example, it is culturally diverse and it does have numerous subcultures but the attitude and behaviors differ so widely even inside a subculture. Hofstede states that National culture is said to be carried by all individuals in a nation (1980a: 38) or a central tendency (1991: 253). The IBM survey responses within each country were characterized by radical differences. This now leaves doubt on his assumptions of national culture as being same in all individuals in a nation. He assumed that the average tendency of the IBM employees responses as the national representative. There seems to be no valid reason to prove it due to the complete ignorance on the background of those interviewed, who mostly well educated, middle class The samples for his study was exclusively from a single company called IBM. A study fixated on only one company cannot possibly provide information on the entire cultural system of a country (Graves 1986, 14-15; Olie 1995, 135; SÃ ¸ndergaard 1994, 449). The responses were also from only the marketing and sales executives of the company for which Hofstede claimed they shared the same organizational culture as that of all the other employees of IBM. The cultures carried by each respondent are effectively assumed to be three exclusively non-interacting and durable cultures: the organizational, an occupational, and the national. He assumes there is only one IBM culture and not cultures, which, as it were, possesses all employees and every occupation has a common worldwide occupational culture (McSweeney, 2002). Furthermore, McSweeney also evidences Hofstedes blind assumption that every individual in the company had the same organizational and occupational culture regardless of the commi tment and loyalty each individual had to his organization and also the duration of service by the employee to the organization which are all factors that lead to the bond that an employee creates overtime with the organization he works for. Though after a few years Hofstede did acknowledge that there is a variety of distinct cultures within and between units of the same organization and also redefined his statement on organizational culture so his assumption made in the first study wouldnt be invalidated (McSweeney, 2002). It is not known if the factors he redefined are supposed to be self evident. Regarding occupational culture, as McSweeney puts it, Hofstede assumes that members of a single occupation around the world share the same occupational culture. Clarification regarding his acknowledgement of cultural heterogeneity in organizations is needed i.e. it lacks clarity. Another instance where we might raise a brow is authenticity of replies by the questionnaire respondents, thou gh the answers were confidential, the respondents prior knowledge of the end purpose of the survey might have influenced their answers so as to improve theirs or their divisions position (McSweeney, 2002). Yet hofstedes reliance on his supposition that the answers are immune to respondents gaming and were the pure outcomes of unconscious pre-programmed values (1980a,1991; Hofstede Peterson, 2000). Another aspect is the comprehensiveness of the questionnaire to elicit all the necessary inputs to assess a culture. As McSweeney stated in any circumstance the IBM subsidiary had many nationally atypical characteristics. When initially IBM had centralized control and its US ownership during a period in which foreign direct investment was comparatively new. In instances where working for high technology was rare in third world countries like Bangladesh and India than in an industrialized nation like United states. What happens when countries are integrated, for instance the integration of Hongkong into the Peoples Republic of China (McSweeney, 2002).Does the national characterization change? Does the attitude and behavior of people at work place change immediately? Do we immediately consider a nation with a larger sample to portray the national culture of two countries? Political influences and social institutions, law are the non cultural feature that influence culture in a large way and that Hofstede excludes and denies having a link with national culture. For example, Christmas was once illegal in England, during 1647, during which singing Christmas carols could end a person in prison for almost six months but it was later reinstated in 1660. Dont you think this must have has an obvious effect on the culture (mental programming) that children born and raised in that 22 year period developed. Though this is dated way before the study was undertaken I have quoted it as an example to say there might have been other consequences that might have likely influenced any cultural feature. Hofstede might acknowledge these as exceptions but they have to considered when drawing conclusions about a nations culture. Has Hofstede really identified all the primary cultural level dimensions? Many others like Schwartz have tried to identify some national cultures using different questionnaires and have produce very different descriptions. In fact Schwartz(1994) found seven cultural level dimensions which indeed was acknowledged by Hofstede as simply not being identified because questions related to those dimensions /descriptions were not asked in his survey. Hofstede gave a bipolarity to each of his dimensions for example the individualism and collectivism , but as Triandis (1994) puts it , the two can coexist and are simply emphasized more or less depending on the situation. But Hofstedes dimensions do not consider such co-existence and blindly ignores such important cultural qualities.(McSweeney forthcoming) Another obvious flaw I found on the credibility of his typology is his addition of the fifth dimension: Confucian Dynamism (1991) or long versus short-term orientation'(1999). He extracted this from a Chinese Values Survey (CVS) by the Chinese culture connection group which identified hofstedes fourth dimension (Uncertainty avoidance) as irrelevant to their population and downgraded it to a non universal dimension.(Bond,1988;lowe Oswick,1996).As stated by Mcsweeney(2002) from the wide literature of culture , it is still essentially a thing to be grasped and cannot be described by dimensions and units. Another consideration advanced by researchers is if Hofstedes model reflects the present day (Roberts and Boyacigiller, 1984; Sondergaard, 1994). Hofstede (1980a, 1991) assumes that cultural values are stable over time. But is his work out of date after thirty years? Hofstede claims to have identified entire nations culture and not that which is specific to workplaces (McSweeney, 2002) and Producers of scientific knowledge, it seems, not only misrepresent the Rest (the primary emphasis of postcolonial writing; e.g., Said, 1978) but also misrepresent the West. (G.Ailon, 2008) There is no denial that Hofstedes work has given substantive findings. His findings do tap some of underlying significance of nations culture. However interpreting them and using it to deal with other nations requires a certain degree of caution. Hopefully, these findings eventually lead to a valid measure that captures the richness of the various cultural dimensions and can be deployed at an individual level. Given the diversity of the world marketplace, it is essential for marketers have a proper measure of culture in order to understand consumer behavior. (Blodgett et al, 2008) As McSweeney puts it Hofstedes research can legitimately be called a cross-national opinion comparison only from the point that data from organizations in different countries were compared Culture is conceptualized as a force, as a determinant, but descriptions of it are based on analysis answers to fixed-choice questions.(McSweeney, forthcoming), which I think were manipulative enough (even if it wasnt in certain cases, they were justified by researcher to correlate with his findings) to extract the desired answers of the researcher. It was argued that what Hofstede identified is not national culture, but an averaging of situational specific opinions from which dimensions or aspects of national culture are unjustifiably inferred. Hofstedes claim to have empirically measured national culture differences relies on crucial but unwarranted assumptions. (Mc Sweeney, forthcoming). Hofstede has given bipolarity to each dimensions for example his masculinity and Femininity any culture will present a number of contrary adages (All good things come to those who wait and time and tide wait for none as a part of its repertoire (Mcsweeney, 2002) Hofstede miserably failed to identify that theses bipolarities could co-exist in any situation. Hofstedes replies to McSweeney were evasive and non-adhering to the main aspect of the critique. As G.Ailon (2008) put is If one accepts the framework, it basically follows that one must also accept the logic of the critique. Generalizations about national culture are no good. Him identifying a nations culture with the responses from a very small sample in each country (compared to the countrys population except for those 6 countries with more than 1000 respondents), and also using the questionnaires that werent created purely for research purpose is a very visible flaw. He tried to expropriate the meaning of the answers from his respondents, claiming, in so many words, that anything they said proves his point and used their voices to turn his hypotheses into axioms (G.Ailon, 2008) The analysis throws light on the dominance of western theories, regardless of intentions, it reinforces a certain set of values of managers, Westerners, Europeans while at the same time devaluing the Rest. Though he tried to compensate and praise the east by adding his fifth dimension. I would say Hofstede tried to provide like a Single Magical formula (Elman Service, 1968:409) and easily valued culture using statistics and scientific stamps and Xs and Ys. Just so that this would allow research to be completed more quickly and easily through employment of his prefabricated depictions of causal national culture. This actually in my view devalues culture that has a myriad of ethos. His employment of very unusually sophisticated statistical techniques in the late 1970s probably were a reason for his models legitimacy (Oyserman et al. 2002a, for an overview) To conclude, from what I infer from all the readings, more research is needed to give a tough measure of culture and also identify the shifting cultural maps which is greatly influenced by, and influences, globalization and technology, however this is difficult to achieve and may have temporal value due to the dynamic nature of culture. References: McSweeney, Brendan. (2002) Hofstedes Model of National Cultural Differences and Their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith a Failure of Analysis. Human Relations. 55, no. 1: 89-118. Ailon, Galit. (2008) Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Cultures Consequences in a Value Test of Its Own Design. Academy of Management Review. 33, no. 4: 885-904. 3. Blodgett,Jeffrey, Aysen Bakir, and Gregory Rose. 2008. A Test of the Validity of Hofstedes Cultural Framework. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 25, no. 6: 339-349 Baskerville, Rachel. (2003) Hofstede Never Studied Culture. Accounting, Organizations Society. 28, no. 1: 1-14. Testa, Mark. (2009) National Culture, Leadership and Citizenship: Implications for Cross-cultural Management. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1): 78-85. Jones, M. (2007) Hofstede Culturally questionable?. Oxford Business Economics Conference. Oxford, UK, 24-26. Triandis, H. (1993) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Geert Hofstede. , 38(1), 132-134. In my opinion Mikael SÃ ¸ndergaard on Cultural differences by Mikael SÃ ¸ndergaard.Available: http://geert-hofstede.international-business-center.com/Sondergaard.shtml, (Accessed:2009, December 27) McSweeney, Brendan. (Forthcoming) Dynamic Diversity: Variety and Variation Within Countries , 1-25.

The Old Man and the Sea :: essays research papers

Hemingway’s use of symbols and the metaphors beyond the symbols is phenomenal. Metaphors are an implied analogy that has an ideal that is being expressed and it also has an image by which that idea is conveyed. Establishing the similarities between the following dissimilarities is what helps to identify the metaphors behind the symbols in Hemingway’s writings. He uses things as symbols to help express the old man’s deep feelings in his journey through life. In The Old Man and the Sea the boy is brought to attention by the old man more than anything else in the story is. The old man, Santiago, thinks of the boy as the little boy that he used to take fishing and carefully watch over. Now that the boy, Manolin, has grown up, the old man still refuses to acknowledge his maturity. While the old man is on his lengthy fishing trip, looking for the greatest catch of all times, he finds himself delirious at times, wanting for the boy. On page 51, Aloud he said, â€Å"I wish I had the boy.† But you haven’t got the boy, he thought. You have only yourself and you had better work back to the last line now, in the dark or not in the dark, and cut it away and hook up the two reserve coils. That is one example of the symbol of the boy in this book. The boy is a symbol of youth, potency and hope to the old man in trial times. Santiago began to talk to the boy aloud at one point and he also wished several times that the boy could have been with him on his length search of the greatest catch of all. The fish withholds a great part in this book. The Old Man and the Sea is a book that’s about a small town where the residents revolve their lives around fishing. The fish is a symbol of beauty and it is a greatly admired creature to these people. An example from the book is on page 49. Santiago has been fishing for 84 days and decides not to return home without a fish on the 85th day. On the 85th day, alone in the boat, he manages to hook an enormous marlin, the biggest fish he's ever seen in all his life. The fish is larger and stronger than Santiago. Santiago's experienced fishing skills and his will to catch and survive push him to pursue the fish for many days and many miles out to sea.

Free College Admissions Essays: Studying Criminology :: College Admissions Essays

I am Interested in Studying Criminology I am interested in studying Criminology, This is because I'm fascinated by Topics like why/what people commit crime, Drugs and Society, and in fact all aspects of crime interest me. Various career options attract me including Probation, and Criminal Psychology. The courses I have chosen are BSc (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice, and BSc (Hons) Psychology and Criminology. I know that I'll have to work hard to gain a Degree but I'm prepared to do whatever it takes, I work well under pressure. I have chosen Portsmouth university primarily because of the reputation its Criminology Department has, and also my partner is currently doing a degree at Portsmouth as are many of my friends so I know a lot about student life at Portsmouth. I can apply experience and personal skills gained in a variety of working and personal environments. I am finding the Access course very exciting, I love all the subjects, and it seems one subject would cease to exist without the other. I am particularly enjoying Sociology, as I was sixteen the last time I studied it, now I feel like I have a greater understanding of the subject. Psychology is a topic I have always followed. I'm enjoying Law, its such a diverse subject but I especially like Criminal law, the debates we have in the classroom really get me energized. I enjoy reading about crime; I am currently reading a book called Hunting Humans; which is various profiles of serial killers. I am an inquisitive person and also very suspicious, I tend to read between the lines, so its not surprising I love Psychological thrillers like "Seven" and "Silence of the Lambs".

Iroquois Clan – Essay

Iroquois Clan ANT 101 December 5, 2011 There are many different cultures, each having their own values, and rules. The Iroquois are an association of several tribes, of indigenous people of North America. The Iroquois have many different ways about their way of living such as rules involving marriage. What contributes to the way an Iroquois react and think? Is it kinship, religion, and beliefs, or is it something else? The Iroquois have a very well-known culture. Iroquois are indigenous tribes across North America. The Iroquois lived in longhouse, which are structures made to house the whole family in different sections (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Matrilocal, or post marital residency, was when the husband moved to live with the wife’s community (Nowak & Laird, 2010). In the Iroquois the eldest woman in her matrilineage had the most influence in decision making, and distributing the resources and property (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Iroquois selection of marital partners are chosen by kinship because, Iroquois marriage must be exogamous, meaning marring outside their lineage and clan (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Iroquois kinship program only recognizes two groups: The first is parents and siblings, which are too closely related to marry. The second group is potential spouses and in-laws (Nowak & Laird, 2010). In the Iroquois it is considered wrong to marry parallel cousins because they are too closely related. On the other hand cross cousin marriage is accepted and encouraged (Nowak & Laird, 2010). The Handsome lake religion combined traditional Haudenosaunee religious beliefs with a revised code meant to bring consciousness to the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, after a long period of cultural disintegration ollowing colonization. The Iroquois people believed that spirits changed the seasons. Key festivals coincided with the major events of the agricultural calendar, including a harvest festival of thanksgiving. After the arrival of the Europeans, many Iroquois became Christians. The Code of handsome lake outlawed drunkenness, witchcraft, sexual promiscuity, wife beating, quarreling, abortion, gay marriage, single parents and gambling. The Iroquois men were propositional on a balanced reciprocity. Iroquois could only trade with other tribes in the Iroquois confederacy. Items traded included surplus corn and tobacco, fur pelts, and wampum. Later, Iroquois received implements including guns and metal axes from the British, which made their work easier (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Their culture is matriarchal- they trace lines through Clan Mothers. This is in direct contrast to European society, especially at time of contact. Europeans were paternalistic- the fathers line. This would cause different reactions from other kinships. The Iroquois people have a lot of the same values, beliefs, and rules, as many Americans living in the current century. In my culture, it is not acceptable to marry close relatives including first cousins. The handsome lake religion is very much similar to the Christian religion. Kinship impacts almost each and every one of these behaviors. Iroquois have a very understandable and compatible way of living. But what makes them think and act the way that they do? I would have to say that the religion is a main point in the actions and reactions of the Iroquois. The other major point would be the matriarchal tracing of the clans. Nowak, B. & Laird, P. (2010) Cultural Anthropology. San Diego, CA Bridgepoint Education Inc. Retrieved from: https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUANT101. 10. 2/sections/copyright Your paper is well developed and follows the APA guidelines correctly. Your paper is well written with an effective analysis. You have addressed the topic and assignment. Your grammar is correct with well-constructed sentences. Your conclusion could be improved. Good job! You received 9/10 points for this assignment.