Electrochemical cell lab Aim Essay Example for Free

Electrochemical cell lab Aim Essay Aim :- To find out the feasibility of a redox reaction by looking at the cell potential of the reaction . Quantitative observation The table below shows the values of cell potential that were recorded when the experiment was performed Reaction Cell potential (ÂÂ ±0.01V) CuSO4 and ZnSO4 0.99V CuSO4 and AgNO3 0.64V Ag 1.39V Qualitative Observation Reaction Obsevrations CuSO4 and ZnSO4 Copper sulphate turns from clear to blue , whereas zinc sulphate remains colorless CuSO4 and AgNO3 Copper sulphate is blue in color , silver nitrate is colorless Ag Data processing Experiment 1 Zn(s) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) Cu2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) - Cu (s) Cu2+ (aq) + Zn(s) - Cu(s) + Zn2+ (aq) Experiment 2 Cu(s) - Cu2+ (aq)+ 2e- (aq) Ag+(aq) + e- (aq) - Ag(s) Cu(s) + 2Ag+ (aq) - Cu2+ (Aq) + 2Ag (s) Experiment 3 Zn(s) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) Ag+ (aq) + e- (aq)- Ag(s) Zn(s) + 2Ag+ (aq) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2Ag (s) The table below shows the literature values for the respective cell potential Reaction Cell potential (ÂÂ ±0.01V) CuSO4 and ZnSO4 0.34V CuSO4 and AgNO3 0.46 V. Ag 1.10 V Error percentage = (|difference between the literature and experimental value|)/(the literature value )x100 = (|0.34V 0.99V|)/(0.34V) x100 = 191.17% We can similarly find the error percentages for other cell potentials also The table below shows the respective error percentages of each of the cell potential Reaction Error percentage CuSO4 and ZnSO4 191.17% CuSO4 and AgNO3 39.13% Ag 16.36% Theory Electrochemical cells In an electrochemical cell, electricity is produced through chemical reactions. There consist two electrodes: the negative electrode and the positive electrode. At the negative electrode

The Contemporary Issue Of Bullying Education Essay

The Contemporary Issue Of Bullying Education Essay The contemporary issue I have focused upon in this assignment is Bullying. This is a prevalent issue in todays society. I feel this is of great importance especially with the concerns arising from recent research into the effects of bullying. This research indicates that bullying can have social, physical and psychological effects on students as well as on their academic success. What is bullying Bullying is a social phenomenon that is not easy to define. It is a behaviour that can be either be physical/verbal or direct/indirect. A bully is defined in the dictionary as a person, who hurts, intimidates or persecutes someone who is perceived to be different or weaker. The Government defines bullying as Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally. Dan Olweus a leading expert in this field has a similar definition to the governments and he asserts that A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative action on the part of one or more other student (Olweus, 1993 p.9) The most widely used definition however is one that is developed by Olweus ( 993) and extended by Whitney and Smith (1993, p.7):We say a child or young person is being bullied, or picked on when another child or young person, or a group of children or young people, say nasty and unpleasant things to him or her. It is also bullying when a child or a young person is hit, kicked, threatened, locked inside a room, sent nasty notes, when no- one ever talks to them and things like that. These things can happen frequently and it is difficult for the child or the young person being bullied to defend himself or herself. It is also bullying when a child or young person is teased repeatedly in a nasty way. But it is not bullying when two children or young people of about the same strength have the odd fight or quarrel. Different type of bullying The word bullying is used to describe many diffident types of violent or intimidating behaviour. Bullying is certainly not easy to classify but here are the main types that have been identified. The first is verbal bullying which is the most common bullying according to research. Childline reported that 56 percent of children that rang about bullying called about verbal bullying. This type of bullying includes name calling and gossiping. Name calling is the most prevalent form of bullying according to most studies. One child in the Childline research for 2007/08 stated I am being bullied at school and feel no one likes me. I am always running to hide or cry on my own because Im called names and am pulled at. I feel suicidal but I wont do it. The second is physical bullying which involves the use of physical force such as hitting and pushing. This type of bullying is considered to be direct because it is intentionally focussed at the victim. In 2007/08 Childline reported that 53 percent of children and young people that called about bullying reported physical bullying. It can be identified through physical signs such as bodily harm although physical bullying does not always mean injury. Physical bullying can be a way of trying to humiliate the victim and show power over them. The third is indirect verbal bullying and this kind of bullying involves hurtful and untruthful comments behind the victims back. It can include spreading of rumours, letters or notes or even graffiti. The last is Cyber-bullying which is the newest form of bullying identified and has become a concern in recent years. This is a technology-enabled bullying and involves bullying by means of chat rooms, instant messing, mobile phones or even emails. Research initiated as a part of the DCSF cyber-bullying campaign highlighted that thirty four percent of 12-15 year olds reported being subject to cyber-bullying. Similarly research carried out by Goldsmiths College for the Anti-bullying Alliance found that twenty two percent of 11-16 year olds had fallen victims to cyber-bullying. Prevalence Various studies have been undertaken on this subject but because of the subjects sensitive nature it is hard to determine solid, valid and reliable statistics. The research being completed however does highlight the true extent of the bullying problem in the classroom setting. Bullying is a contemporary issue with the first national survey on this subject being conducted relatively recently. Kidscapes conducted the national survey between the years of 1984 and 1986 using a sample of 4000 children ages 5 to 12. The survey revealed the extent of the problem. The survey showed that 68% of the children had been bullied at least once, 39 percent had been bullied at least twice and 0.5% of those children felt it had affected their lives that substantially that they tried to commit suicide. Recent research also suggests that the problem is still prominent in the school setting. According to one recent study, one-fifth of primary school pupils and a quarter of pupils in Year 8 perceived bull ying as a big problem in their school. A later report by ChildLine showed that 15 per cent of primary school children and 12 per cent of secondary school children said they had bullied in the last year (ChildLine2004). In another study, 50 per cent of severely bullied boys said that they bully others, as did 33 per cent of severely bullied girls. Childline the national helpline for children received between the months of April 2000 to march 2001 almost 20,300 calls from children and young people concerned about bullying. Kidscape another helpline believes it receives more that 16,000 calls from parents each year concerned about their children getting bullied. Research has also suggested that Cyber-bullying which is the newest identified form of bullying is becoming a major problem. The number of Cyber-bullying cases is on the rise (Noret and Rivers, 2006). A study by National Centre for Social Research released to coincide with November 2009 Anti-bullying week revealed that Cyber-bullying is now one of the commonest forms of bullying in school. The Longitudinal study tracked 15,000 pupils who had their 14th birthday in 2004. The research also pointed out that 47% of 14-year-olds, 41% of 15-year-olds and 29% of 16-year-olds reported being bullied. Disabled children and children with special educational needs were also found to be more likely targets. This coincides with other such research that shows SEN children or children with disabilities are 2 to 3 times more likely to be bullied (Smith, 2007) The Longitudinal study also showed that children who reported being bullied went on to achieve on average 2 GCSE grades lower then children who were not bullied and were more likely to drop out of education at 16. This research is worrying and provides evidence of the detrimental effects bullying can have. Effects of Bullying Bullying can have all sorts of effects on children so it is important that bullying is tackled head on. The DfEE states that The emotional distress caused by bullying in whatever form be it racial, or as a result of a childs appearance, behaviour or special educational needs, or related to sexual orientation, can prejudice school achievement, lead to lateness or truancy, and in extreme cases, end with suicide.'(DfEE, 1999: 24-25). Vernon Coaker the schools minister also asserted at the event for Anti-Bullying Week that Bullying, in any form, should not be tolerated. It can destroy lives and have a lasting impact on young peoples confidence, self-esteem and emotional development. Research has indicated that bullying can not only effect academic achievement, it has also been linked with low self-esteem, anxiety, impaired concentration, truancy, depression and suicidal thoughts. Kidscape performed the first ever survey of adults with the aim of finding out if bullying had any lasting effects. The survey which was funded by the national lottery and proved that being badly bullied as a child had knock on affects. 46% nearly half of the survey population contemplated suicide compared with 7% of those who were not bullied. Most of the adults surveyed had little or no help at the time of the incidents. Tackling school bullying The Government in recent years has emphasised that tackling the problem of bullying is a main priority of theirs. The Government in 1999 said it was a legal obligation for all schools to have an anti bullying policy in place. Legislation places a duty on the head teacher to enforce an anti bullying policy and states that schools must encourage respect for others and prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.  Government guidance additionally states that the policy should be reviewed annually and that every member of the school community (including children, young people, carers and parents) should be involved in this review. Each school is in charge of designing their own policy with the help from Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The DCSF help schools to design strategies and effective anti -bullying policy to tackle bullying head on. They do this by providing very comprehensive guidance documents and have regional advisers on hand who have expertise in this area to help implement their guidance. Schools have a legal obligation to ensure measures are in place to address bullying: Head teachers must enforce a policy as a preventative measure against bullying in accordance with the Human Rights Act 1998. The Standards Frameworks Acts (1998) states that all schools are required by law to have an anti-bullying policy. Schools have statutory liability regarding behaviour of pupils under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 : the head teacher shall determine measures to be taken with a view to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ be encouraging good behaviour and respect for others on the part of pupils and, in particular, preventing all forms of bullying among pupils. Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that bullying policy should be in place in each school and every child should know what to do if they find them self in the situation where they are being bullied. Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 states what is required of the governing bodies in relation to the wellbeing of the pupils in their school: The governing body of a maintained school shall make arrangements for ensuring that their functions relating to the conduct of the school are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at the school. The Education Act 2002 lays down out two aims for the national curriculum, whereby schools must make sure that it provides opportunities for all pupils to learn and achieve and promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. The DfES circular, Social Inclusion: Pupil Support Circular outlines government expectations and the legal duty of head teachers with regard to bullying The National Health School Guidance asserts that it is necessary that schools have a policy and code of practice for tackling bullying, which is owned, understood and implemented by all members of the school community and includes contact with external support agencies. Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 schools are required to promote race equality. Childrens Act (2004) sets out five outcomes that professionals should work towards. These are to; Be Healthy; Stay Safe; Enjoy and achieve; Make a positive contribution and Achieve economic well-being. Safe to Learn: embedding anti-bullying work in schools is the new overarching anti-bullying guidance for schools which was introduced in September 2007. The safe to learn guidance includes advice on bullying. In addition to this Ofsteds framework for inspecting schools states that inspectors must assess and give an account on the magnitude and degree of bullying, racism and other forms of harassment. They must also report on the schools successfulness at dealing with bullying incidents and look at the schools relations with parents. Schools are not immediately responsible for bullying that takes place outside of the educational setting but their anti-bullying policy should make it known that steps are in effect to respond to such incidents. The Government publicised two anti-bullying guidance documents on 15 April 2009. These documents gave advice on how to tackle bullying outside of the classroom setting. Versions of the guidance documents were also for local authorities, youth workers, college staff, play workers, transport providers and childrens homes. Despite all of this there is no law which states that Scottish schools must have a specific anti-bullying policy. However there have been documents such as Action Against Bullying distributed to Scottish schools in 1992 that recommend that they should implement a policy. Scottish local authorities have approved of this recommendation but it isnt really enough. Other available help As well as the legislation and guidance documents there are other avenues of support and guidance. Schools for one can pledge their allegiance to tackling bullying by signing up to the Anti-bullying charter whereby there can self-assess their bullying policy. An anti-bullying week is also held every year by the Anti-bullying Alliance The anti bullying Alliance was established in July 2002 by NSPCC and NCB, it has combined 68 organisations into one association. Their aim is to reduce bullying and create a safe environment for which children can study. Anti bullying weeks aim is to raise awareness of bullying and the issues that surround it. This years Anti-Bullying Week was focused on tackling cyber-bullying. Sue Steel, National Manager of the Anti-Bullying Alliance , said on the 2009 anti-bullying week that: It is very encouraging that the Government is doing so much to make Anti-Bullying Week a real success. We all need to work in partnership to ensure children, young people and their parents are aware of the risks of cyber bullying and know how to prevent it There are also various websites to help both parents and adults such as the DirectGov  website which has plenty of advice for young people concerned about bullying. Parentline Plus has a helpline for parents, provides support through the Be Someone to Tell webpage and a website for parental advice on dealing with bullying of their child. A comprehensive list of organisations that provide both help and support concerning bullying is available in Annex  I of the overarching Safe to learn guidance. Developing a whole-school approach The whole school approach is recommended by the DfES and works by engaging involving the whole school community from pupils and teachers to staff, carers and parents. This approach works by involving everyone and creating a framework that endorses shared beliefs and values that help to counteract and reduce bullying effectively. The framework sets out steps to advise and manage incidents of bullying. The DfES recommends launching this whole-school policy in four phases: awareness and consultation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The policy should aim to: Ensure that the whole school community understands bullying and what is meant by bullying. Make it understandable that bullying will not be accepted inside or outside of the school setting. Create an effective system to deal with bullying incidents that enables children to easily report bullying occurrences. Ensure that all incidents reported are investigated seriously and the measures in place are acted upon in response. That clearly defined procedures are in place. Provide a systematic method of recording incidents that take place this in turn can help in evaluating and reviewing policy. Have a peer support programme in place. Continually review procedures and policy and keep the whole school community informed of any changes or revamps. Anti-bullying Policy Case Study In my small case study I looked at 3 anti-bullying policys for schools in the Surrey area. I would first like to note that out of the 5 websites I viewed, two did not have any anti-bullying policy online. Anti- bullying policy should be readily available for the school community and should be online for easy access for the whole school community. I will address the schools as A, B and C. School A had a very comprehensive Anti-bullying strategy in place using the whole school approach. It clearly defined anti-bullying procedure in place for children staff and parents using headings such as guidance for children. The Policy included an effectives system clearly stating each stage of procedure and using the no blame approach. School A also asserted that all incidents would be recorded and used in further cases if needed. The use of a peer support strategy was also in place which seems to add to the policies effectiveness as these systems have been found to be effective in reducing the negative effects of bullying for victims. This policy was said to have been reviewed in 2009 and was to be reviewed on a regular basis which again seemed excellent practice. School As policy was seemed precise and effective using the whole school community and in doing so promoting a shared set of values and beliefs. The fact it is reviewed on a regular basis makes sure the policy is fresh and effective. This school also had regular newsletters with any new updates on anti-bullying strategies or changes in policy these were in turn clearly published online. School Bs policy had a clear precise definition of bullying but however it was not as comprehensive as School A. The policy did show the procedure in place and stated the support in place for children; it however was aimed at staff and parents only and did not involve the whole school community. The policy had clearly not been reviewed in some time as it was dated May 2005 which is nearly 5 years ago and seemed outdated and forgotten. School Cs policy was just appalling; it consisted of a paragraph about the definition of bullying and a list of behaviour codes. It did promote a shared value on the expected codes of behaviour but no set clear process in place for dealing of bullying for staff, children or parents. Is the governments strategy working? There is not much in the way of research into this field and whether anti- bullying policy is effective or not. Bullying has decreased slightly since the previous year which could be a reflection of the change in government policy and promotion of peer support but really it is not a decrease in incidents. I conducted a small scale survey of 8 teaching assistants and teachers in schools around the UK to find out whether they felt the government were doing enough in relation to bullying. U.K  government is doing enough for schools in  relation to bullying  How do you feel about this statement?   Strongly Agree     0     0%     Agree     1     8%     Neutral     2   17%     Disagree     5   42%     Strongly Disagree     0     0%   The results show that 42% disagreed with the statement that the government was doing enough in relation to bullying, 17% were neutral and 8% agreed. This survey just indicates that people within the school context feel more can be done to stop bullying. One participant even stated There are anti bullying programs in place at schools but the children often do not come forward. The Government could work with the schools to make it easier for children to come forward. Bullying UKS CEO, John Carnell was reported saying These figures are disgraceful and show that the government and schools are just not getting to grips with this problem. Bullying UK was founded 10 years ago and the problems we are seeing now are the same ones we saw 10 years ago. Day in, day out, year in, year out, we are receiving exactly the same complaints from desperate parents and children and its a scandal that there is no government funding for the vital work we do which we know saves suicidal childrens lives. In the Childline case notes one counsellor asserts I dont think things have changed, and when you ask the children whether there are anti-bullying policies the children say yes, but it still makes you powerless. The frustrating thing is that we still receive so many calls about bullying What can schools do to tackle bullying? Research has proven that the whole school approach is the most effective strategy and recommended by the DfES. The whole school community should be involved in devising and implementing an anti-bullying policy. It requires everyone to maintain and advocate the standards in the policy and act promptly when incidents occur. This approach promotes shared values and beliefs and enables a clear understanding of the acceptable standards of behaviour. In Wales, Lambert, Scourfield, Smalley and Jones (in press) found a significant association between lower levels of bullying, and pupils reporting that the school had clear rules on bullying. The law does state that behaviour policy should be publicised to the school community once a year although really it should be communicated a lot more then this to refresh minds. Research has indicated that just having an anti-bullying policy alone is not enough. In order for a policy to be effective it needs to be efficiently implemented, reviewed and evaluated constantly. As for instance one study found that school-wide policies decline in effectiveness over a 2-3 year period, after which time bullying increases (Sharp et al, 2002). Smith states Bullying is an ongoing problem, so a one-off effort over a term or a year without continuation will have little or no lasting impact (Smith, 2004, p101). Bullying policy should be reviewed regularly and the whole school community should be involved in and notified of changes. Children should have a say in the policy as suggested by the DCSF. There are guidance documents such as the Anti-Bullying Alliance resource Are you talking to me?: Young Peoples Participation in Anti-Bullying. It is important to engage children and incorporate their ideas in the anti-bullying policy allowing them to be an active part of school life. There are a range of suggested classroom activities to encourage pupils to discuss anti-bullying policy. The Government has recently made PSHE lessons compulsory and these are a perfect platform for discussing bullying and anti-bullying policy. The need is to have a comprehensive anti-bullying policy and strategies in place. Not every school has a policy that is comprehensive and covers the extensive bullying types. For example, Adams, Cox Dunstan (2004) reported that out of 19 schools surveyed in the UK none of them specifically mentioned sexual orientation in the anti-bullying policies. What can the government do to tackle bullying? There are a range of things the government can still do to tackle bullying. A statuary duty should be made on schools and education authorities in Scotland to have anti-bullying policy in place. Scottish Schools are not legally obliged to have any policy or strategy in place to counteract bullying. Wales should also have regional advisors like England to advise schools about the effective strategies against bullying including best practice and how to create all an effective anti-bullying policy. The government should also find a way of assessing anti-bullying policy in each school as having this policy in place does not mean it is being implemented properly or carried out in the School context. Finally awareness should be raised on the newest forms of bullying such as cyber-bullying this should also be reflected in relevant policy. PSHE lessons can help raise this awareness and I feel bullying should become a compulsory topic allowing the school to discuss not only bullying in general but their own anti-bullying policy and practice. Conclusion After examining the research, articles, statistics and other information it does become apparent bullying has ever so slightly demised in the last few years but not really enough. This tells me that the government initiatives and policies have had a small effect in reducing bullying. The big problem with the anti-bullying policy is that each school has to devise the policy and implement it, which means the policys effectiveness can range dramatically between each school. If the government is to succeed at cracking down on bullying significantly I feel it is necessary to do the research and implement the same effective policy in each school. It may be useful for the Government to examine leading countries in the fight against bullying. The government also needs to listen to the people that this problem effects and find out their views on the policy that stands.

Economic Globalization And Offshore Sourcing Management Essay

Economic Globalization And Offshore Sourcing Management Essay In tune with increased economic globalization and offshore sourcing, global supply chain management is becoming a vital subject for many businesses and Somerset Furniture is one of the companies facing the challenges when set up its global supply chain. The business strategy constitutes overall direction to achieve corporate objectives and goals in long term, but supply chain strategy focuses on driving down operational costs, streamlining procedures and maximizing efficiencies. However, most companies have wonderful business strategies but most of them are unlikely designed a seamless supply chain strategy which can result in great failure when doing business overseas. In this case study, Somersets current approach to manage its supply chain resulted in poor business performance, the visible hazards and other negative factors frustrated Somerset included poor logistics management, ineffective order system and inventory management as well as inconsistency of product quality. In adopting a value chain, Somerset must incorporate and execute a robust supply chain management strategy for best-fit suppliers selection, further establish on how to work with supply partners, distributors, suppliers, customers or even customers customers as a way to remain competitive. Otherwise, the company will not survive. As the marketplace changes rapidly and becomes very competitive, it is critical that Somerset reinforces existing relationships and work together internally and externally. That being said, a well-practiced supply chain strategy results in value creation for the whole organization. In a nutshell, supply chains have shifted from a cost focus to a customer focus, until currently to a strategic focus, scrutinizing the success of a strategy is just as good as the companys capabilities to fully and properly execute all. A great supply chain strategic approach, connected with operational excellence, can provide success for not only the company in crisis but also its partners and customers. 1. Introduction Somerset Furniture is an established ornate residential home wood furniture company with over 50 years history in USA, renowned for producing quality and affordable furniture with a practical range of innovative design. To cope with the fast growing U.S. market, Somerset has developed its marketing strategy by introducing new product lines every few years and successfully gained creditable reputation during the last half of the twentieth century. The company was a pioneer in furniture manufacturing processes and in applying TQM principles to furniture manufacturing. However, Somerset soon faced with thorny problems emerging in mid-1990s, such as stiffer competition, high labour rates, diminishing profits. As a result, the company downsized the domestic manufacturing facility and labour force through outsourcing several internal furniture product lines to China manufacturers, this led to be very successful in reducing costs and increasing profits initially. By 2000, Somerset closed entire manufacturing facility in the United States and outsourced all of its manufacturing to suppliers in China and then set up global supply chain, at which a series of chain-reacting problems raised and affected business. The primary focus of this paper is to find out outsourcing solution and rectify the global supply chain strategy to be very competitive. The evaluation of Somersets approach on managing current supply chain both from strategic and tactical viewpoint will be addressed in Chapter 2. The subsequent Chapter 3 and 4 respectively describes the new strategic supply chain approach and then explains the transformational requirements for changing Somerset supply chain effectively and efficiently. The conclusion will be made in Chapter 5 outlining the study points for readers. Evaluation of Somerset Furniture Companys Approach to Managing Supply Chain from both strategic and tactical viewpoints. Somersets Existing Global Supply Chain Process Map Figure 2.1 Somersets Global Supply Chain Logistic Flowchart Source: Adapted from Fawcett, Ellram and Ogden (2007, p.218) Foreign Competition While Somerset formulated a good strategic marketing plan for continually launching new product lines every few years during half of the twentieth century, simultaneously, experienced the positive effects of applying the TQM in its furniture manufacturing and popularly is known as high-quality yet affordable wooden furniture provider in domestic market. However, since the mid-1990s, the company suffered from the stiffer competition, high labour rate and decreasing profits. To get out of this situation, Somerset started outsourcing several furniture product lines to China that helped benefit from cost-effective and reduced operating costs. Another strategy was reducing the manufacturing facility and labour force, to keep the low costs in line with the pace of outsourcing. It was very successful initially in reducing costs and increasing profits for the company. By 2000, Somerset decided to set up global supply chain and closed entire manufacturing facility in the United States by outsourcing all of its manufacturing to suppliers in China. Shipments of Raw Materials and Inconsistency of Product Quality Somersets global supply chain facilitates the wood shipments from the United States and South America to manufacturing plants in China. This shipment itinerary takes a long time to arrive China, therell be unexpected delays for processing shipment which incurs customer complaints and orders cancellation. Despite of long shipping time, the costs of shipment to the final destination and the raw material from US and South America are apparently high that reduced the profits. As the manufacturing plants employed Chinese workers to produce products by hand in China, it will cause discrepancies in product dimension and quality. Customers would ask for exchange or refund as the quality is not assured by hand-made. Poor Distribution Network and Transportation Management The finished furniture products are shipped by containers from Hong Kong or Shanghai to Norfolk, Virginia, once arrived, the containers are transported by truck to Somerset warehouses in Randolph Country, where all of retailers stores located and installed the furniture to prevent from damage during transport. Ineffective Order Management It is found that therere some critical flaws exist internally within Somersets global supply chain on its order processing and fulfillment system. Somerset processes orders weekly and biweekly and it takes 7-14 days to developing demand forecast and 12 -25 days for processing order which amount totally 22 to 45 days for purchase order to eventually complete. It requires another 60 days to produce product by hand when going into production. Poor Transportation Management As required by Chinese logistics, all finished furniture items have to be transported from the manufacturing plants to Chinese ports, which can take up to several weeks depending on trucking availability and schedules. Since 9/11, random security checks of containers will delay shipment for another one to three weeks and the trip overseas to Norfolk takes 28 days. Hence, from China to Norfolk port, it can take more than two months delivery time. Thereafter, clearing US customs can take another one to two weeks before local workers take another 1-3 days to unload containers and transfer the furniture onto truck to Somersets warehouse in Randolph County. Ineffective Inventory Management The variability of supply chain estimated is up to 40% for schedule deferment. Due to Somersets innovative conception to introducing new products frequently, it resulted in substantial excess inventories left over in warehouse where the obsolete furniture occupy precious space and increase high disposal and storage costs. Somerset proudly stands behind its products and customers can get a warranty period of 1 year from the date of purchase. It brought a serious problem for parts replacement, because China supplier is only able to provide these parts which are in production, but most of the parts are not produced anymore after 1-year guarantee period. Poor Product Quality Although quality auditors are employed by Chinese suppliers to perform quality audit every few weeks, Somerset still encounters several quality issues. Consequently, Somerset has to inspect every piece of furniture it receives from China due to retailers and customers complaints. 3. Development Justification of New Strategic Supply Chain Approach to be used by Somerset Foreign Competition Owing to fierce competition, Somerset has to close its entire US manufacturing facility and outsource all of its manufacturing to China to reduce costs and increases profits for the company. Outsourcing has become a common strategy that is adopted by all US companies and managing supply chains has now become a trend due to globalisation. It is felt that Somerset should have an outsourcing strategy which will continue to evaluate alternate low-cost furniture manufacturing plants around Asia or other regions. Depending on just low-cost China manufacturers which product its products by hand may not be a viable long term solution for its overall corporate or supply chain strategy. 3.2 Shipment of Raw Materials Consistency of Product Quality Somersets shipment of wood from the United States and South America to manufacturing plants in China is a costly and time-consuming process. Raw materials should be sourced from within China or from neighbouring countries around manufacturing facility to ensure low cost and better efficiency in materials movement. The China manufacturing plant produced all furniture products by hand, which is not only time-consuming, taking 60 days to finished the production, but also cause inconsistency of products quality. It is thus recommended that China manufacturing plant be ISO9000 certified, to provide Quality Assurance and invest in partial or fully automated machine to manufacture some of these furniture products so as to cut down the production lead-time and provide better consistency in products quality. In the meantime, the leader should take action of outsourcing another manufacturer in China to replace the current one, because the current plant may not have enough capital to purchase all necessary expensive equipment. Furthermore, the conversion from undeveloped factory to a qualified lean manufacturing facility cannot take place in one day since it is viewed as a long term transformation. Therefore, Somerset should outsource the production base to other China furniture manufacturing facilities, which comprise the following competencies: Lean manufacturing system implementation Lean manufacturing results in significant cost savings over a two to three year period. Specifically, manufacturing companies report significant reduction in raw materials, in-process inventories, setup costs, throughput times, direct labor costs, indirect labor costs, staff, overdue orders, tooling costs, quality costs, and the cost of bringing new designs on line (Swamidass 2002) ISO9000 certification Flexibility (refers to modification, design, machine, production lines and time flexibilities) Capacity (in terms of space, labor, equipment, IT and materials) 3.3 Better Distribution Network Transportation Management According to Chopra Meindl (2010), with regards to movement of products from factory to customer, there are six distinct distribution network designs for company to select one of them, as shown below: Manufacturer storage with direct shipping Manufacturer storage with direct shipping and in-transit merge Distributor storage with package carrier delivery Distributor storage with last-mile delivery Manufacturer/distributor storage with customer pickup Retail storage with customer pickup Somerset can select one of above distribution network to help in improving its distribution network. Choosing the manufacturer storage with direct shipping will help to eliminate the movement of furniture from Somerset warehouse to retail stores. This will have the advantages of better customers experience and lower inventory costs. Installation of hardware can therefore also be done at customers house instead of at retail stores. However, it has the disadvantages of higher transportation costs (because of increased distance and disaggregate shipping) and requiring investment in information infrastructure to integrate manufacturer and retailer. Another improvement in transportation is to eliminate export of raw materials from US to China by sourcing these materials from China or its neighbouring countries. This not only saves transportation time but also costs of materials. Purchasing department of Somerset will thus have the task to source for these new raw materials around Asia. 3.4 Effective Order Management The order processing and fulfillment system in Somersets global supply chain is too long and it is suspected that Somerset and Chinese manufacturing plant may not have the necessary information technology to enable the rapid sharing of demand and supply data. Per Harrison Hoek (2002), they mention that integration of demand and supply data so that an increasingly accurate picture is obtained about the nature of business processes, markets and consumers, can provide increasing competitive advantage. Figure 3.1 shows a conceptual model of how supply chain processes (supply, source, make, distribute and sell) are integrated together in order to meet end customer demand (cited by Harrison Hoek 2002, p.14): Figure 3.1 Integrating demand and supply chains Source: Harrison Hoek (2002, p.14) Another solution is to ensure that Somerset utilizes software for order processing which will automatically route for approval and issue purchase order in an efficient manner. There should also be policy in place to ensure that the approval routes are short and approving manager does not take too long to approve it. 3.5 Better Transportation Management Apparently, the Chinese logistics arrangement, depending on trucking availability and containers, causes wide times variability in shipment of finished furniture items from China ports to Norfolk. It is really critical for Somerset to have a good logistics/transportation manager to understand the root causes, select work with the Chinese suppliers to reduce this time and wide-variability to avoid delay shipment to customers. Langley et al. (2009) recommends proactive management approach to identify and solve transportation problems by reducing the number of carriers, negotiating with carriers, establishing carrier contracts with prescribed service levels, and modifying loading procedures. Hence, Somerset can negotiate and establish new contracts with Chinese suppliers or carriers to ensure that the finished products can depart China ports consistently at a shorter lead-time. In fact, Somerset should establish contracts with all transportation modes to ensure the required transportation service level and lead-times predictability. Other means of improvement and cost-effectiveness can be done through consolidating shipments and monitoring transportation service quality. 3.6 Effective Inventory Management It is highly recommended that Somerset adopts Just-In-Time (JIT) and Lean thinking concepts, as discussed by Harrison Hoek (2002), that can reduce delay, waste and inventory costs. Long-standing approaches to material control, such as reorder point stock control (ROP), economic order quantities (EOQ) and material requirements planning (MRP) can be made far more responsive by the application of JIT principle whereas lean thinking seeks perfection by gradually reducing waste from each of below four areas: Specifying value from the customer perspective Identifying the value stream ( through time-based mapping) Making the product flow through the supply network (by applying JIT principles) Letting the customer pull (through pull scheduling) Somerset may also adopt vendor-managed inventory (VMI) where it takes responsibility for monitoring sales and inventory in the retailers process. This information is used to trigger replenishment orders. As VMI is facilitated by willingness to share data, the use of integrated systems, and standard procedures, it is made more difficult by such factors as long replenishment lead times, inaccurate data, and unwillingness by either party to invest in systems support. Murphy Wood (2008) highlights tracking technology, radio-frequency identification (RFID) to keep track of inventory, which can further improve the efficiency in the supply chain network. 3.7 Better Product Quality The fact that Somerset has to inspect every piece of furniture it receives from China proves that China manufacturing plant must be ISO9000 certified and implement Quality Assurance System in-house. In addition, this will avoid the need to get quality auditors who are employed by Chinese suppliers to perform quality audit. A Quality Improvement Team should be formed in the China manufacturing plant and be trained so as to improve quality on a continual-basis. Somerset can also assist in the implementation of lean manufacturing for its outsourced China manufacturing plant or introduce Lean Six Sigma methodology to effectively control the process for better consistency in products quality. The requirements for the successful implementation of lean manufacturing, as per Swamidass (2002), are: All levels in the plant, from the production worker to the president must be educated in lean production philosophy and concepts. Top management must be totally committed to this venture and provide necessary leadership. Everyone must be involved in the change, and the internal customer must be empowered to play a vital role in this evolutional process. Everyone in the plant must understand that cost, not price, determines profit. The customer determines price, the plant determines the cost. Everyone must be committed to the elimination of waste. This is fundamental for becoming lean. The concept of standardization must be taught to everyone and applied to documentation, methods, processes as well as system metrics. 4. Evaluation Transformation Required In order to change the Somersets Supply Chain Philosophy from its traditionally position of functional independence to an integrated single entity, top management of Somerset has to ensure that conflicting functional objectives along the supply chain are reconciled and balanced. According to Barnes (2001), supply chain management requires a new approach to systems: integration is the key. Somerset must better manage its supply chain effectively through adapting the six building blocks for effective supply chain management (Harrison Hoek 2002) as follows: Develop a supply chain strategy Elements to be incorporated are: Customer service requirements Plant and distribution centre network design Inventory management Outsourcing and third-party logistics relationships Business processes Organizational design and training requirements Performance metrics and goals Gather supply chain information Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to facilitate the flow of information across their organization Develop effective partnerships and alliances Collaborative approach with key suppliers and customers for better decisions in procurement, production, inventory and fulfillment. Pilot new supply chain solutions Piloting initiatives on a small scale reduces risk and can encourage buy-in from others within the organization or supply chain. Elements to be included in any pilot projects are: Involvement of key stakeholders, suppliers, customers and employees. Selection of scope and environment Identification of critical success factors Organise for supply chain performance Organisational change for cross-functional instead of functionally based structures. Develop measurement system for supply chain performance Cross-supply chain instead of function focused measures: On time in full, outbound On time in full, inbound Internal defect rates New product introduction rate Cost reduction Order to delivery lead time Fiscal flexibility Somerset can also consider the proposal by Heinrich Betts (2003) to transform companys supply chain into adaptive business network. This new business model joins companies as partners, into an adaptable and flexible set of business relationships such that each company is able to respond more swiftly into changing market conditions and leverage the networks cumulative ability to: Plan and anticipate demand and supply. Execute plans efficiently and effectively. Sense events that affect the plans as those events occur, and analyze them for impact. Respond to and learn from ever-changing business conditions. Somerset can then move to an adaptive business network in four steps, as in Figure 4.1: Figure 4.1 The Four Steps of an Adaptive Business Network Step 1 Visibility: Sharing of information with partner companies. Many routine business processes with partners standardized. Information posted for common view on portal. Greater insight into business process and data accuracy problems. Step 2 Community: Moving day-to-day transactions to the portal. Establishment of minimum and maximum control thresholds. Reduction of inventory. Time savings via mechanizing transactions. Step 3 Collaboration: Sharing of customer demand data with members. Targeted replenishment of supplies. Responsibility transferred to supply replenishment vendors. Ability to reallocate inventory to fulfill maximum number of orders. Step 4 Adaptability: Time required for many tasks greatly decreased. Many tasks completely eliminated. Inventory and working capital dramatically reduced. New alliances, products, and revenue opportunities possible. Source: Heinrich Betts (2003, p.80) Harrison Hoek (2002) illustrates a number of transitional forces that need to be harnessed to give momentum to the change project, as structured in Figure 4.2 below: Figure 4.2 Transition forces Source: Harrison Hoek (2002, p.267) These 5 forces are described briefly as follows: Viability of current performance level Consider in light of market changes such as: Demographics Time-stressed customers One-to-one marketing The marketplace becomes the marketspace Perceived pay-off benefits from targeted performance Reap the potential benefits of e-business and benchmarking of improvement projects to quantify the potential benefits of making a change. Belief and enthusiasm Ability of project manager to communicate belief in the change process with enthusiasm. Ability to manage change Ability to plan the change, organizing the resources needed to make the change and managing the application of those resources in order to achieve the necessary outcome. Ability to operate in the new environment People in the organization must have the right skills, tools and techniques to operate the new process. The management of the new process will require a new set of performance measures to be in place so that its efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed. Specifically, there are several action items that are required to progressively (from Stage 1 to 3) change Somersets supply chain network to be effective and efficient, as illustrated in Table 4.1 below: Table 4.1 Action Items Required To Change Somersets Supply Chain Network Item Action Item Action To Be Taken Remarks 1 Foreign Competition Outsourced to China manufacturing plants Re-evaluate its capabilitycapacity Done 2 Shipment of Raw Materials from US Source raw materials in neighbouring countries of China Stage 1 3 Poor Distribution Network Manufacturer storage with direct shipping to customers Stage 3 4 Ineffective Order Management Integrating demand and supply data using technology Stage 2 5 Poor Transportation Management Re-negotiate new contracts with all transportation modes Stage 2 6 Ineffective Inventory Management Implement JIT approach and pull system scheduling Stage 3 7 Poor Product Quality Get China manufacturing plant ISO9000 certified Stage 1 However, the implementation of change in business is often frustrating and difficult, particularly in supply chains as it has to be undertaken in a coordinated manner across and between several organizations. It is therefore important to gain agreement from the top level of all companies involved before wide-scale changes can be made. 5. Conclusion In this case study, Somersets approach to manage its supply chain resulted in poor business performance. The visible hazards and other negative factors frustrated Somerset included poor logistics management, ineffective order system and inventory management as well as inconsistency of product quality. In adopting a value chain, Somerset must incorporate and execute a robust supply chain management strategy for best-fit suppliers selection, further establish on how to work with supply partners, distributors, suppliers, customers or even customers customers as a way to remain competitive. Otherwise, the company will not survive. In addition, top management of Somerset has to lead and motivate not only all internal functional teams, but also external suppliers and partners, to work as an integrated entity in the new strategic supply chain network, so as to achieve the overall corporate objectives. In a nutshell, supply chains have shifted from a cost focus to a customer focus, until currently to a strategic focus, scrutinizing the success of a strategy is just as good as the companys capabilities to fully and properly execute all. A great supply chain strategic approach, connected with operational excellence, can provide success for not only the company in crisis but also its partners and customers.

Violence on Film Essay -- Film Review, Hollywood, Gunfigther

The Western stands as one of the great genres of Hollywood cinema, as it possesses the ability to transcend both time and subject matter. Accordingly, the types of themes which this genres addresses, such as romanticism, and American heroism, can still be seen as viable commodities within modern-day storytelling. However, while The Western has focused on various topics throughout its cinematic history, what ultimately serves as the primary critique of the genre, is the exploration of role of violence and aggression within society (Lusted 16). Furthermore, at the source of this examination is the â€Å"Gunfighter† Western, which centers the focus of the genre to a more individualized and intimate perspective. Accordingly, films such as Henry King’s The Gunfighter (1950) and David Cronanberg’s A History Of Violence (2004) can be observed as examples of this focus. However, while both King and Cronenberg successfully explore the concepts of violence and aggression within their time periods, when examined in terms of their overall effectiveness in exploring the necessity, and ambiguity of these themes, Cronenberg’s willingness to explore the possibility of redemption, is what ultimately makes A History of Violence a more effective and provocative film. As Lusted notes, the Gunfighter Western was one of the first of the genre to be interested â€Å"in the process of change† (Lusted 210). Instead of focusing on such themes as the collective effort of westward expansion, like many of John Ford’s Westerns (Schatz 70-71), the Gunfighter â€Å"turns the genre and its hero inside out,† (Schatz 71) and takes a more introspective look at how violence can be found at the core of social order. To do this, the focus shifts away from films that play on the ... ...oral world. Instead, by allowing the character to live, Cronenberg not only suggests that there’s moral grounding within the use of violence, particularly in terms of its supposed protection towards the progression of society, but also provokes the question,â€Å"just who are we rooting for in this film?† (Beaty 87). Not only does the film force the audience to think about the effects of violence, but questions whether we as an audience, like Tom’s family, can accept violence as an ambiguous method of social order. Ultimately, it’s because of this complex, evocative nature, and the fact that the film questions not only the morality of the characters, but the audience itself, instead of enforcing morality on its audience like in The Gunfighter, that the film succeeds in demonstrating the full specter of violence and aggression, both on screen and in society.

Essay examples --

Over het opeten van twee boterhammen doe je langer dan over à ©Ãƒ ©n. Je huiswerk maak je sneller als je niet tegelijkertijd tv kijkt. Een reclame die je dagelijks ziet, onthoud je beter dan een die je minder vaak ziet. Kijk nu naar 2 kinderen, waarvan de à ©Ãƒ ©n tweetalig opgroeit en de ander à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig. Het tweetalige kind heeft het dubbel zo druk, ook is het taalaanbod verdeeld over twee talen. Betekent dit ook dat meertaligen daardoor langzamer zijn in hun taalverwerving? Wat is het effect op de spraak- en taal ontwikkeling? Welke factoren hebben invloed op taalproblemen bij meertalige kinderen? Op al deze vragen zullen we proberen antwoord te geven in deze deelvraag. Wat is tweetaligheid? Tweetaligheid betekent het kunnen gebruiken van twee verschillende talen in diverse communicatievormen. Het komt niet vaak voor dat beide talen even goed beheerst worden, oftewel een gebalanceerde tweetaligheid. Meestal is er sprake van een dominante taal, deze wordt makkelijker gebruikt dan de tweede taal. Er bestaan twee verschillende soorten tweetaligheid: simultane en successieve tweetaligheid. Simultane tweetaligheid Er is sprake van simultane tweetaligheid als een kind twee (soms drie) talen gelijktijdig aanleert. Vanaf jongs af aan worden de talen aangeboden. Van beide talen moeten de woordstructuur, woordvorming en zinsleer worden verworven. In allebei de talen gaan kinderen door dezelfde taalontwikkeling als kinderen die à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig worden opgevoed. Simultane opvoeding vergt een bepaalde structuur van de ouders. In bepaalde situaties moet een bepaalde taal worden gesproken. Thuis bijvoorbeeld Engels en op school Nederlands. Successieve tweetaligheid Als een kind tot op een latere leeftijd à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig wordt opgevoed en dan pas in aanraking komt met ... ... in het onderwijs voorkomt. Vaak draait het in zulke gevallen om groepen die minderwaardig worden gezien in een samenleving, zoals Marokkanen in Nederland. Dit wordt ook wel subtractieve tweetaligheid genoemd. Dit houdt in dat een kind 2 talen kan spreken en gebruiken maar beide talen zijn van (te) lage kwaliteit. De andere vorm is additieve tweetaligheid, de eerste taal/moedertaal wordt op een voldoende manier gebruikt en daarom kan er een tweede taal aan worden toegevoegd. Op deze manier van het gebruiken van twee talen ontstaan positieve effecten. Doordat meertalige kinderen al vanaf jongs af aan zich veel bezighouden met taal en verschillen in talen, zijn zij zich er snel bewust van wanneer er bepaalde taalverschijnselen voorkomen. Zij kunnen dit verbinden aan verschijnselen die zij in verschillende talen kennen en daardoor leren ze de nieuwe fenomenen snel aan.

Policing Levels, Roles, and Functions

As a Police Chief and seeing and experiencing a high degree of turnover in the department heads, and having to do a budget for the new fiscal year. This could be a trying time. Now the Mayor wants to hold a workshop with all the department heads and this is going to be tricky in getting everything done. The information that I will need to put together are:†¢Budget †¢Training †¢ManpowerIn addition, reports on crime and critical issues facing the city. Let us talk about the budget first! Here are the steps that I need to take: †¢I need to come up with a reasonable objective to the new fiscal year. As the Chief, I should have a preliminary figure and it should be realistic. I know that I can tweak it throughout the year. †¢I also know to consult other members of the department. For the reason that they know more about the day – to – day operation. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Analyze inflow. Realistic expectations of income require analysis of the preceding budge ts. Before inputting preliminary numbers, compare month – to – month, quarter – to – quarter, and year – to – year figures from the previous year.†(n.d., Withrow)†¢Analyze outflow. Determine the unexpected expenses that might have an important factor on the budget. For instance, anyone retiring, any layoffs, possible hiring, training and any cost training and equipment for new employees. In addition, is any office equipment in need of updating? †¢Now to prepare the budget. Before I do the final draft, I should consult with other department managers. For the reason it could have an impact on the budget.Budgets need to be adjusting in order to have everything you need to run an operation. Now let us talk about training. As more and more higher-level officers are approaching retirement age and are retiring early, this is a problem for many police departments. Some will ignore the problem or would not think there is a crisis. Now I need to implement a Succession Planning Program to replace those that are leaving. For the most part, I do  have a plan to replace people leaving the department, but I do not have one for supervisors and managers. â€Å"The successor program I need to develop are more critical path in replacing investigators, specialists, supervisors, and managers,†(June 2006, Michaelson). Usually the human resource is responsible for developing future supervisors and managers programs. It is to my benefit to help the human resource office in developing a new program for future leaders.We could â€Å"develop the necessary skills or competencies based experiential set of scenarios, assignments, rotations, mentoring and coaching opportunities, and evaluations not only to provide the candidates with this experience but also to enable the agency to gain the benefit from this experience and information.†(June 2006, Michealson). I can assign young officers with veteran officers and give them opportunity to carry out a few tasks:†¢Ã¢â‚¬ Plan an event †¢Write a training bulletin †¢Review and make recommendations to improve or update department policies or procedures†¢Conduct training †¢Conduct research †¢Write a proposal †¢Write a grant †¢Write a newsletter article †¢Manage a committee write a report on the committee's actions and recommendations, evaluate the committee's success, and make a presentation on the committee's findings. †¢Assess equipment and supplies, research replacement costs and options, and recommend replacing or updating them †¢Counsel peers†¢Become mentor to young officers and college students †¢Make a presentation to a local community group †¢Conduct a program evaluation with recommendations †¢Write contingency plans†¢Write after – action plans †¢Work on unit effectiveness report, to include use of statistical analysis †¢Review the department's and the jurisdiction's master plan †¢Review staffing and budget requirements for the current and upcoming fiscal year †¢Determine how staffing and budget will affect the role of Sergeants and Lieutenants.† (June 2006,Michaelson).Even doing this I cannot forget the responsibilities of the â€Å"individual preparation for leadership, which requires:†¢Undertaking a formal academic course of study †¢Taking a team leadership role in department activities †¢Participating and leading in civil opportunities, such as parent – teacher associations and civic clubs †¢Networking with peers †¢Engaging in intellectual discussion groups†¢Attending voluntary conferences and training sessions †¢Reading the professional literature †¢Studying national and local reports and analyzing the reports results †¢Using the Web as a resource †¢Serving as a guest lecturer in college class or accepting other speaking engagement †¢Engaging i n research and reporting the findings.† (June 2006, Michaelson).In developing all of this, I still need to have all of it documented. This way I have the accomplishments and failures of them. Then I can advance them as needed. If my police department ends up becoming short of officers due to them leaving, retiring, etc. I could implement a program called Part-Time Reserve Police Officers. â€Å"Their responsibilities would consist of:†¢City hall security detail †¢Police department lobby entrance staffing to assist visitors †¢Increased law enforcement presence during special events †¢Prisoners transport and guarding for court appearances, medical care, and interjurisdictional transports †¢Uniform patrol augmental when staffing shortages occur as a result of long – term illnesses, injuries, workers' compensation leave, vacations, training, and so on †¢Supplemental resource for section commanders when incidents or details develop †¢Resou rce for disaster  incidents such as floods.† (January 2012, Williams, Crowe, and Lowe)â€Å"PTR police officers have reduced employment costs because part-time employees do ot earn vacation or sick time, holiday pay does not apply, and health care and retirement benefits are not available. These officers are issued department equipment and are covered by workers' compensation insurance for work-related medical incidents.† (January 2012, Williams, Crowe, Lowe)Now for crime report and critical issues, my sergeants and lieutenants could give me this information. Therefore, I would do these things as Chief of police. In which the budget, work force, training, crime report and the critical issue report, would be met for the fiscal year and for the workshop.

Our Time Essay

In Mary Louise Pratt’s essay, â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone,† we are introduced to the idea of contact zones, autoethnography, and new ways of looking at common ideas. I wanted to see some examples of what she was really talking about. After reading John Edgar Wideman’s â€Å"Our Time† we can see that Pratt’s ideas and terms are accurate because they can be applied to this reading as well as others. â€Å"Our Time† is an autoethnography because it uses diffeerent points of view, not just oneself, to give information about someone’s upbringing and cultural growth. In Pratt’s essay, she often referred to the term autoethnography. These emerge from contact zones. Autoethnographies are used as a method to oppose the views of oneself that everyone else sees. For example, if there are people in your neighborhood that have a label on your home and family, you might go back and tell them how your life actually is. Mary Louise Pratt goes on to tell us that a contact zone is a place where people from different cultures and communities come together. Here, these different people share ideas and interact with each other. It is almost a type of hybridization. Multiple cultures or societies come together, and mash. They can join together, or exchange some values, or be overrun by one another. Within these contact zones, people are able to see the way others see them and interpret them. From there, they would be able to see themselves through different eyes, and from a different perspective. In relation, autoethnographic texts are â€Å"texts in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with repre sentations others have made of them† (Pratt 487). They are not texts written to Bolduc 2 explain how the writer sees themselves, but how they are seen by others. This is to maximize the credibility, and that there isn’t too much bias. Writers put together these texts from others’ understandings and viewpoints of them, as well as interpretation of others. Similarly, Pratt also refers to the term transculturation frequently in her essay. The definition of transculturation is when values or ways of life and habits from the dominant culture are passed down to smaller subordinate cultures. From there, those cultures choose what materials they would like to use as well as trying to  persuade the dominant culture to use some of their ideas. In Pratt’s essay, she uses Guaman Poma’s New Chronicle to back up her claims. She refers to the reading as an autoethnographic text. This text â€Å"involve[s] a selective collaboration with appropriation of idioms of the metropolis or the conqueror† (Pratt 488). In the New Chronicle, Poma’s story is written in two languages, Spanish and Quechua which is an Incan language. Spanish is considered the dominant language, or culture, whereas the Incan language is considered to be the subordinate language and culture. Poma writes his story from the Incan point of view where he attempts to rewrite history through their eyes rather than the Spanish. Transculturation is represented because he uses the main ideas from the dominant culture, such as Adam and Eve, and then in turn incorporates the Incan culture while pushing some of their ideas back on the dominant culture. This is where you see two cultures interact, and form very different cultures from their origina l state, but more similar to each other. On the same note, Poma writes the story based on representation others’ have made of them, and by incorporating both cultures, the story can be considered an autoethnographic text. Similarly, Wideman’s text can also be considered an autoethnographic text. We see both of these terms represented in Wideman’s â€Å"Our Time,† as well as the ideas from Poma’s story. Wideman does a great job of incorporating different idioms to represent Bolduc 3 himself, as well as his brother Robby, in order to paint an accurate picture of the community and culture in which they are each a part of. For example, in the preface, the terms â€Å"ghetto† and â€Å"gangster† are used to describe their black community of Homewood— which can be referred to as indigenous idioms. Indigenous idioms are the common way of speaking within ones’ own community. A quick example of this would be how some stated refer to soda as soda, or pop, or coke, while they are all referring to the same thing. In the text, the community of Homewood is considered to be the subordinate culture. This culture stems from the dominant culture of Pittsburgh showing how the story can be considered an autoethnographic text. This is because Wideman is using the autoethnography to sort of push back against the typical Pittsburgh  culture, and show people how it actually is. John and Robby’s family moved from the dominant culture to Homewood. Wi th them they brought ideas from both communities together creating a contact zone. Due to them growing up in a white community, Robby became intrigued with the black community from a very young age. This is because he grew up surrounded by whites who would never tell him about it. As he says in the text, â€Å"I decided I’d find out what it was all about. Didn’t care if it killed me, I was going to find out† (Wideman 678). This helps us see why Robby immersed himself in the culture of Homewood, while also getting in touch with Robby’s voice in the text. Because of Robby’s fascination, he gets sucked down a path of crime, which eventually leads to jail. On the other hand, Wideman finds himself more immersed in the dominant culture. He goes through a series of very fortunate events, leading him to becoming a successful, established writer. Both brothers grow up in similar communities but found themselves going down very separate paths, showing the diversity within the contact zone. Wideman’s goal in this story is to try and figure out why Robby and himself turned out so differently. Therefore, he wants to go through specific events in order to figure this out. He Bolduc 4 writes â€Å"Our Time† in a way that most readers are not used to. Instead of writing a basic story of his brother’s life, he instead incorporates himself into it, as well as his thought processes throughout. Because he writes his story based on his brother, parts of this reading can be considered ethnography. Ethnography can be defined as a text that is based on someone other than the writer, just as Wideman writes about Robby. Wideman’s goal is persuade us to find value is his project. Readers also mix his ideas with theirs, in which they develop their own ideas based on Widman’s story, as well as give feedback. This gives a sense of transculturation, because just listening to Wideman’s points allow us to adopt some of his culture. Wideman explains to us the different ways he thought about starting the story as well as certain habits he must overcome in order to make his project successful. He ends up starting off with a story explaining the death of his brothers’ friend, Garth who died of a disease because he did not receive proper treatment, due to being black. This can be considered a contact zone  because the dominant culture represents themselves as the superiors in this situation, showing the diversity of the contact zone. Not only does this paint a picture of the world they live in, but also gives us some back round on reasons why Robby ended up living a life of crime that eventually lead him to jail. Garth’s death shook Robby and his community. They knew he had been treated unfairly and because of that they had hatred towards the dominant culture. This could be a reason why Robby chose to rebel against it, and dive into the Homewood community and culture— which showed him the life of crime. Garth’s death is one of the many instances in which we see the community that the brothers lived and grew up in. Wideman writes this section using Robby’s point of view as a way to try and understand why Robby ended up like he did, which is an example of ethnography. For instance, Wideman shows Robby’s point of view when he describes Garth. Explaining that he â€Å"looked bad. Real Bad. Inchabod Crane anyway, but now he Bolduc 5 was a skeleton† (Wideman 658). Here, Robby is providing us with a description of what Garth looks like, but Wideman is writing it, making it ethnography since it is not from Garth’s person. Along with that, Wideman shares with us another moment in time which he considered starting the story from. His other way was with the day Robby was born. Robby’s birthday was surrounded by times of death and sadness. It was almost as if it was completely overshadowed by it, almost as if there was a low gloomy storm cloud above it. Wideman shows us the effect it had on his brother by saying that â€Å"Robby cried a lot on his birthdays† (Wideman 684). This instance could have a lot to do with the way Robby ended up in jail. He was never truly celebrated on his special day; instead it contained tears and depression. Wideman uses this as an example of the factors that lead to his life of crime. He uses his own view of Robby to portray autoethnography. He writes it so that we see the way others view Robby in this situation, as well as they way Robby feels viewed, and then puts it into his words. I wondered why he switches points of view mid story. But then I realized that the whole reason he included Robby in his story was to counter ideas about Robby, whether they be his own, or other people in town. By switching to Robby’s voice, it gives a different insight. One that Is from Robby, and this helps strengthen the  autoethnographic element by opposing whatever claims and judgments that Wideman or even the reader may have, and shows us how things actually are. Throughout the story we see examples of what we can call Indigenous texts, where Wideman is trying to connect to what Robby is saying. In order to connect with Robby in the way that he wants, Wideman realizes that he has to overcome some of his habits. The biggest habit he had to overcome was â€Å"listening to [himself] listen to him† (Wideman 672). He had the tendency to hear Robby in his words rather than really listen to Robby’s point of view, which is important in order to create and autoethnographic text. Therefore, when putting material together Bolduc 6 he had to focus on breaking this habit. He had to see Robby through Robby’s eyes in order to make his project successful, which he did. Another habit Wideman had to overcome was to avoid having his story sound poetic and fictional. He wanted us to truly hear Robby’s voice and get an accurate idea of his community, and to do that; he had to drop some of the fancy words and phases so it didn’t overshadow the true point of his project. A third habit he had to overcome was the feeling of guilt about success and luck he has received throughout his life. He questions multiple times in the text why they turned out so differently. He feels guilty that his brother ended up in jail and he turned into such a successful writer. In conclusion, Wideman shows his side of the story along with his brothers, creating a piece of writing that differs from what we may consider to be usual, or conventional writing. Wideman steps out of the norm by describing his process of writing thr oughout the story. By doing this, along with providing different perspectives, he was able to create an autoethnographic text while also incorporating ethnography. Also, by giving us a glimpse of different cultures and communities that they grew up in, Wideman was able to create transculturation as well as show us the contact zones that come up within the story. All of these ideas lead back to Pratt’s ideas of contact zones, as well as Guaman Poma’s New Chronicle, providing us with instances to portray Pratt’s significance as well as Wideman’s. Wideman’s goal was to show us the ways in which he and his brother turned out so differently, and I think he succeeded. He was able to verify Pratt’s idea of contact zones  and show us his personal experience of the diversity within them. Also, he was able to help us understand the background behind Robby’s life of crime and accurately show why they ended up on different paths. This is what made Wideman’s project successful. Bolduc 7 Works Cited Wideman, John. â€Å"Our Time.† Ways of reading. 9th ed. Editor David Bartholomae & Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 655-694. Print Pratt, Mary. â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone.† Ways of reading. 9th ed. Editor David Bartholomae & Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 655-694. Print