Strategic business management planning

Strategic business management planning Introduction In this assignment I will be aiming to access, in a critical manner, the classic and contemporary models, concepts and tools in business strategy and planning. I will also be evaluating the methods used by organisations to identify their goals and values. I will be doing the above two in reference to the British bakery chain Greggs plc. 1) Manning (1988:27) made a set of assumptions about the contemporary concept and ideas of strategy, and in relation to Greggs plc they are: The strategy Greggs develops must be designed in order to allow the organisation to deal with an uncertain future. The strategy developed designs a restructuring process instead of a plan per se. The rules of competition with other bakery must be inherent in the strategy. Inspiration and imagination of Greggs allow better performance for them. Synthesis is the most important skill for Greggs. All discussions in the Greggs board room are followed by measurements, which in turn is managed. ‘Transformational is an executive management tactic. This involves combining Greggs organisational strategy and target with their initiatives for the employees, process and technology. This tactic helps in supporting the business strategy and achieving the long-term goals. This tactic is achieved by combining different areas of people, process and technology, and trying to achieve specific targets together; this involves changing appearance, shape and form, and also through new technology, business models and management practices. Incremental is a gradual increase by a certain (or fixed) amount. E.g. Greggs experienced the opposite of incremental (a decrement) as it had a gradual decrease in its profit margins from 2009 to 2010, and then continuing to 2011. However, they also had an increment as sales increased on a fixed percentage of 2.1% year on year. 2) Greggs uses various methods, as shown above, to achieve their targets. As a modern day organisations, it is fair to evaluate the success of those methods for Greggs. The strategy Greggs developed a few years back has surely failed to ensure it was designed for an uncertain future. This is evidenced by their fall in profits from  £52 million to  £48 million; they were not able to prepare for a future they were not sure of and thus had to face consequences. On the other hand, if Greggs initial strategy was to increase sales then they have indeed succeeded as they have experienced increases in sales of 2.1%. But, even so Greggs can still be taken to be a failure as it failed to increase profit. Therefore we can conclude the success of their strategies depends on exactly what they were, but either way Greggs have faltered. Transformational is visibly used by Greggs. This is evidenced by their use of newsletters to increase communication between employees; this will allow staff, starting from those in the lowest level to those in the most influential position, to be aware of the organisations target, as well as staying updated on any happenings around any other departments. This in turn will aid in motivating and inspiring staff to work harder together towards the common target. 3) The main differences between prescriptive and emergent theories in relation to Greggs plc are: Prescriptive approach, as used by Greggs, will be systematic and based upon pre analysis of future happenings in the bakery industry. But, emergent, in contradiction to that is, unplanned and develops over time as Greggs continually keeps adjusting to the changing business environment in the bakery market. In prescriptive, the executives of Greggs set the objectives, and design the organisation strategy. But, in the emergent approach, managers at any level (e.g. managers of local branches) are capable of having an input in setting the objective or strategy. The prescriptive approach supports analysis of the situation in the bakery market as a strong base for competitive advantage. But, the emergent approach supports Greggs expert knowledge as the basis for competitive advantage. The logical and analytical approach of the prescriptive allows Greggs to predict and revise their strategies in order to take advantage of any new opportunities that may come up. One example of this approach (in relation to another company) is when EasyJet correctly predicted and lowered their cost in order to gain an advantage in the cost-conscious European market. Whereas, the emergent approach allows a more creative and responsive strategy which can be well suited for a hyper-competitive and unpredictable business environment (as that in the food market). Examples of organisations (other than Greggs) that dont tie themselves to pre-designed objectives and strategies include big names such as Microsoft and Apple In todays organisations, like Greggs, the emergent approach would have a bigger relevance. The reason being the prescriptive model doesnt allow the contemporary style of allowing employees at the lower levels to make contributions to the decision made. As a result of such an approach employees become less motivated. 4) There are three types of goals. They act together to form the overall organisation goal. The three goals in relation to Greggs plc are: Strategic Goal (the targeted position Greggs intends to be in the future), Tactical Goal (the targets set for the most important departments within Greggs), and Organisational Goal (specific results expected from a certain department, groups or individuals). Goals help in designing the actions to be taken, and works best when clear choices exist regarding the future. But, in may not work properly if Greggs restructures at a fast rate. Every organisation has its own values, including Greggs. This values shape the Greggs culture and working environment. It helps in setting goals in line with the culture, and in increasing performance in key areas such as quality and customer service. Peter Druckers Eight Content Areas in Developing Goals are: Marketing Innovation Productivity Physical and financial resources Profitability Managerial   performance and development Worker performance and attitude Public responsibility One of the most important problems with goal and value setting is the failure of Greggs to think strategically. A common problem that occurs is that planners (i.e. the executives at Greggs) confuse organisational efficiency with organisational effectiveness. In doing so, they only look at internal matters and how to make things slightly better than they currently are. Ultimately, they end up without having solved potential threats, and without using their strengths to gain advantage. Steps to a progressive strategic thinking (in other words settings goals and values) are: Select the strategies that Greggs wants to implement. Strategies must focus with the restructuring of Greggs, as this aids in directing and sustaining changes. Strategies must be designed in order to allow adaptation to unexpected results. Use brainstorming techniques to allow fellow planners to contribute. While developing the strategy the planners (the executives at Greggs plc) must think whether it will allow a change in the organisation, as well as it was whether it was actually a strategic activity. Reconsider strategies that have failed in the past. Make sure to avoid conflicting strategies. Also, Greggs must take the following into considerations to ensure their strategies, targets and values are truly effective and dont contradict each other: The most important issues always present the most complicating problems. Therefore it is advisable to concentrate more on such matters. Continually question every idea to ensure clarity. Each of the strategies must be associated with currently running programs. 5) Stakeholders in Greggs plc have different interest, some of which are conflicting and some of which are in agreement. Examples of agreement include high profits (which leads to high dividends and job security), interest in growth and prosperity, etc. Examples of conflict include wage rises (which results in a decrease in dividends), growth of the organisation at the expense of short term profit and local community, etc. It cannot be taken that stakeholders have equality in terms of power and influence. Stakeholders can exert influence by disrupting and causing uncertainty in Greggs plans. However, Governments, community groups and managers can also exert influence; government can indirectly through the use of taxation, community groups through protests and violence, and managers as they make decisions and therefore hold extensive power. In conclusion, even though stakeholders on paper have greater influence and power, other individuals or groups can exert influence through indirect means and methods. However, if conflict or disagreement exists between stakeholders, than proportionality in the ownership of the company comes into effect, as those with the largest share are the most influence. 7) Strategic intent is the reason behind the existence of any organisation like Greggs. It forms a clear path to achieve the vision of the company. It helps to prioritise and concentrate on the important issues. The means of strategic intent are the following: A properly designed strategic intent allows development of strategies and setting of targets. Inspiring people by making targets a valuable asset. Encouraging participation and contribution. Careful direction of resources. Emphasises on building new resources. Strategic intent has certainly been used by Greggs in restricting their organisation. They have ensured participation, efficiency of resources and have developed a well thought strategy. This is clearly visible as their number of sales as increased in the past years. In conclusion, strategic intent is indeed a successful theory as seen by the success of Greggs due to their implementation of it. Mission statement states the importance behind the existence of Greggs. It explains the basic expectations, and the primary values of the company. The statement should be brief, to-the-point and easy to understand. Also, it should showcase the uniqueness of the organisation. Vision statement is how the organisation wishes to be in the future, in other words its future position. 8) Mission intent is a description of the role the organisation plays in serving their stakeholders.It provides a framework upon which strategies are formulated. The means of mission intent are the following: Produce a mission statement that is feasible and clear. A statement which is inspiring and credible. A statement which is unique and analytical. Greggs mission statement is â€Å"Making a difference to the lives of people in need in the heart of Greggs local communities.† It is a well-structured mission statement because it is feasible and very clear (to help the local communities), it is inspiring (helping others is always a motivating cause) and analytical (because it looks carefully at the specific needs of the community). And it certainly seemed to have succeeded as Greggs successfully raised money in aid of the local community, as well as ensuring to provide environmental friendly packaging for its products. In conclusion, the mission intent is an effective tool in creating a friendly and comfortable atmosphere and environment. It increases organisation profile and allows successful growth. Vision statement is a statement identifying what the organisation intends to be in providing its services and products. A well planned statement should be clear, realistic and should harmonize with the organisations culture and values. Greggs vision is â€Å"Our vision is to be Europes finest bakery-related retailer. Our purpose is the growth and development of a thriving business, operating with integrity, for the benefit and enjoyment of our people, customers, shareholders and the wider community.†It is a perfect vision statement as it is clear (grow into Europes finest bakery), realistic (it can almost be achieve as it continues to grow across Europe) and harmonize with the organisations culture and values (of support for the community). The fact Greggs clear vision has allowed it to become one of Europes biggest and fastest growing bakery shop, proves that vision intent is indeed an effective method. Objectives are targets that the organisation aims for in a certain time. The theory of objectives suggests they are: They are the basics of any plan. Policies are designed in order to achieve objectives. Setting objective is the responsibility the executives. It is common to have a set of objectives, rather than one single. Objectives are set in the short term, as well as long term. Objectives must be set in order to ensure they can be adjusted in the future if needed. The objectives must be feasible, realistic and operational. Greggs objective of being a ‘customer-focused business has certainly been a success, as seen from their increased sales and their growth. This proves that setting objective is indeed effective as it allows an organisation to meet their target in an organised manner. Conclusion: In conclusion, businesses now-a-days use all forms of models, concepts and tools, regardless of whether their classic or contemporary, to develop their strategy and plans, and do so in a successful manner so that the strategies and plans are both compatible for both the present and future situations that the Greggs might find themselves in. Also, the methods used by organisations like Greggs to identify their goals and values, are certainly effective and aids in developing and furthering growth for the company.

Melting Glaciers are Devastating for Wetlands Essay example -- Geology

Melting Glaciers: Great News for Titanic, Devastating for Wetlands Overview This essay is dedicated to the importance of wetlands and the impending danger of rising sea levels due to global warming. Historically we humans have taken for granted the numerous vital roles played by wetlands in our ecosystem and viewed them only as unpleasant and undesirable. So we have destroyed much of our wetlands, and now that we finally see how important they are we are going to lose what little wetlands remain to rising sea levels. What are wetlands? Wetlands are, quite simply wet lands. The word â€Å"wetlands† is the collective term for marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas. Here in Florida, wetlands are quite abundant. They can also be found in nearly every county and climactic zone in the United States. However, more than half of America's wetlands have been destroyed by man and his historically negative view of the vital waters. In general, wetlands are not very pleasant to humans to be around. Not only do they lack the beauty and grandeur of lakes, oceans and waterfalls, but they are also home to mosquitoes, flies, unpleasant odors and disease. Furthermore, wetlands tend to cover a large area that would be desirable to developers and farmers. Thus, wetlands were popularly and quickly drained and converted to farmlands or filled for housing developments and industrial facilities. Also, flood control levees and navigation channels have prevented fresh water, nutrients and sediment from reaching wetlands. This has converted many to open water. Some wetlands were even used as dumping sites for the disposal of household and industrial wastes! Today, both scientists and the government recognize the ma... ..., enhanced sedimentation, and enhanced peat formation. These measures must be taken seriously and immediately before we and our animals are paying the horrible price for our own irresponsibility! Back to Contents Resources Information from the following articles and web sites was used in writing this site: EPA Global Warming Site http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/ Facts About Wetlands http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/ facts.html GLY 1073 Electronic Tutor http://ess.geology.ufl.edu/ NASA Fact Sheets http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/ fact_sheets/earthsci/green.htm Titus, J.G., Sea Level Rise and Wetland Loss: An Overview http:// www.epa.gov/oppeoee1/globalwarming/reports/pubs/ sealevel/index.html Wetland Processes and Values http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu/info/ wetlands/funval.html Melting Glaciers are Devastating for Wetlands Essay example -- Geology Melting Glaciers: Great News for Titanic, Devastating for Wetlands Overview This essay is dedicated to the importance of wetlands and the impending danger of rising sea levels due to global warming. Historically we humans have taken for granted the numerous vital roles played by wetlands in our ecosystem and viewed them only as unpleasant and undesirable. So we have destroyed much of our wetlands, and now that we finally see how important they are we are going to lose what little wetlands remain to rising sea levels. What are wetlands? Wetlands are, quite simply wet lands. The word â€Å"wetlands† is the collective term for marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas. Here in Florida, wetlands are quite abundant. They can also be found in nearly every county and climactic zone in the United States. However, more than half of America's wetlands have been destroyed by man and his historically negative view of the vital waters. In general, wetlands are not very pleasant to humans to be around. Not only do they lack the beauty and grandeur of lakes, oceans and waterfalls, but they are also home to mosquitoes, flies, unpleasant odors and disease. Furthermore, wetlands tend to cover a large area that would be desirable to developers and farmers. Thus, wetlands were popularly and quickly drained and converted to farmlands or filled for housing developments and industrial facilities. Also, flood control levees and navigation channels have prevented fresh water, nutrients and sediment from reaching wetlands. This has converted many to open water. Some wetlands were even used as dumping sites for the disposal of household and industrial wastes! Today, both scientists and the government recognize the ma... ..., enhanced sedimentation, and enhanced peat formation. These measures must be taken seriously and immediately before we and our animals are paying the horrible price for our own irresponsibility! Back to Contents Resources Information from the following articles and web sites was used in writing this site: EPA Global Warming Site http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/ Facts About Wetlands http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/ facts.html GLY 1073 Electronic Tutor http://ess.geology.ufl.edu/ NASA Fact Sheets http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/ fact_sheets/earthsci/green.htm Titus, J.G., Sea Level Rise and Wetland Loss: An Overview http:// www.epa.gov/oppeoee1/globalwarming/reports/pubs/ sealevel/index.html Wetland Processes and Values http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu/info/ wetlands/funval.html

Investigation Into The Theme of Entrapment in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932 to Austrian parents. She studied at the prestigious Smith College with a scholarship and in 1955 she went to Cambridge University where she met and later married Ted Hughes. Plaths life was one of success, and intense ambition and perfectionism. In an early journal entry, aged 16, she described herself as ‘The girl who would be God'. Her desire to be a perfect writer and a perfect woman is set however in her understanding of the constraints placed on women in the 50's. The early death of her father when she was just 8, and the combination of fear and adoration she felt towards him had an immense and lasting effect on her life, and subsequently he appears as a major theme in both her poetry and prose works. The Bell Jar was first released in England in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. It received lukewarm reviews with most critics highlighting the personal yet detached voice of novel. An anonymous review stated ‘it read so much like the truth that it is hard to disassociate her from Esther Greenwood, the ‘I' of the story, but she had the gift of being able to feel and yet to watch herself: she can feel the desolation and yet relate this to the landscape of everyday life'. This shows how the novel was seen to be autobiographical even before it was known who the author was, and before comparisons of plot construct and the life of the author could be made. This shows how the tone, which some may say is confessional, leads readers to analyse the work from a psycho-biographical standpoint. You can read also Analysis of Literary Devices of Jane Eyre Laurence Lerner equates the detachment, which the anonymous reviewer highlights, with Esthers neurosis deriving from her role as satirist of the world around her, and he sees her ‘Bell Jar' as one of a detached observer. Critics also compared it to JD Salingers ‘The Catcher In The Rye', because of the interpretation of it as a critique of college life and establishing identity, and also the existential undertones of the dominant voice are similar in both texts. Robert Taubman wrote in The Statesman that The Bell Jar was a ‘clever first novel†¦ he first feminist novel†¦ in the Salinger mood. ‘ Linda Wagner saw The Bell Jar as ‘in structure and intent a highly conventional bildungsroman ‘, or a rites of passage novel, with the construct focusing entirely on the: ‘education and maturation of Esther Greenwood, Plath's novel uses a chronological and necessarily episodic structure to keep Esther at the centre of all action. Other characte rs are fragmentary, subordinate to Esther and her developing consciousness, and are shown only through their effects on her as central character. No incident is included which does not influence her maturation'. Modern criticism also focuses on political and feminist criticisms of the novel. Alan Sinfield explores ideological intersections between society and the arts, and recognises Plath as critiquing the construction of gender role arguments, taken up by many contemporary feminist critics. Plath is seen as articulating many of the thoughts and feelings many women have about the constraints, opportunities and contradictions of women's role in society. Many have interpreted The Bell Jar as semi-autobiographical. It is impossible to ignore the similarities between the life of Plath and that of Esther, the main protagonist of the novel. The novel parallels her twentieth year almost perfectly. Plath was awarded a spot as a â€Å"guest editor† at Mademoiselle magazine during her junior year at Smith, as Esther won a fashion magazine competition to work on it in New York for a month. Both had been, on the surface, a model daughter, popular in school, earning straight A's and winning the best prizes. She even went to Smith on scholarship; endowed by Olive Higgins Prouty, perhaps the model for Esther's patron, Philomena Guinea. That summer, however, she nearly succeeded in killing herself by swallowing sleeping pills, paralleling the suicide attempt in the novel. After a period of recovery involving electroshock and psychotherapy Plath seemed to become â€Å"herself† again, graduating from Smith with honours and winning a Fulbright scholarship to study at Cambridge, England. However, her troubles returned to haunt her throughout her life, and she committed suicide in 1963. Plath recognised her own inability to write about anything other than her own experiences. In her journals she referred to this as the ‘curse of my vanity'. She talked of, ‘my inability to lose myself in a character, a situation. Always myself, myself, myself. ‘ This makes any reading into The Bell Jar all the more poignant, because Plath's few prose works are more directly related to real life than most fiction. The theme of entrapment forms the central image of The Bell Jar. Plath constructs the analogy in Chapter 15 where Esther, the central character, concludes that ‘I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air'. Plath's use of the sibilant words ‘stewing' and ‘sour' evoke strong sensual reactions in the reader as if they were hit by a pungent sickly smell. The Bell Jar represents the entrapment Esther feels at the hands of society and its expectations of women, and also entrapment by men and the possibility of entrapment by children. The first of these could be understood as representing Esther's suffocation at the hands of societal pressure and the general oppressive atmosphere of the 50's, especially for women. It must be noted that at the end of the fifties the average age of marriage had actually fallen to 20, and was still dropping. It was not uncommon for girls to drop out of college or high school to marry, in fact education was sometimes seen as a bar to marriage. During all of the forties and fifties housewifery tasks were glorified as ‘proof' of a ‘complete' woman in the media. In America at the end of the fifties the birth rate was overtaking India's. Increased affluence allowed people to have four, five, six children, shown in the novel by the inclusion of Dodo Conway, a catholic neighbour who has 6 children; she fascinated Esther because of her ever increasing family and stoic acceptance of her situation. By the 1960s, the employment of women was rather the norm than the exception, but they were holding mostly part-time jobs, to help put their husbands through college, or widows supporting families. For such an ambitious and talented woman like the protagonist of the novel this would inevitably cause a clash of ideals between those of wider society and her own. Society assumes a woman will marry. The heroine of the novel is besieged by the influences that propagate the myth that the purpose of a woman's existence is a husband, a house and having children. After Esther's release from the mental hospital, Buddy's final words to her are: â€Å"I wonder who you'll marry now . . . you've been here. † This is similar to the feelings of Esthers mother, for being in a mental institute has a certain social stigma attached to it. The opinion that no man will want a woman with baggage or problems is similar to the view presented by Mrs Willard that no man would want a woman with sexual experience. This adds up to the opinion that all women should be clean, pure, innocent and naive for their men. Also, if Esther were to choose not to marry and not follow the guidelines society attempts to entrap her in, is to go against society's expectations and to commit a kind of sin. Writing to her mother from Smith, Plath agonised over ‘which to choose? ‘-meaning: a career or a family? The central metaphor of The Bell Jar, the ‘fig tree', is Plath's literary portrayal of this dilemma. Each fig represents an option, a future: to be a famous poet, an editor, or to be a wife and mother. Each is mutually exclusive and only one can be picked. As Esther (very much an extension of her creator here) hesitates, debating with herself, â€Å"the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at her feet. † Rejection of any option was difficult because she wanted it all. The conclusion that the figs rot and die aligns the image tonally with the rest of the novel. Esther shows her desire to have it all and her refusal to limit herself when she says to Buddy, ‘I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days. In her own life, Plath attempted to achieve both career and family. There were times, her letters and the remembrances of her family and friends reveal, that domestic life alone seemed to fulfil her. She was a perfectionist at housekeeping as she had always been at her college work and at writing, but at other times the routine infuriated her and the ‘viciousness in the kitchen' that she describes in Lesbos sets in. At ti mes she revelled in being â€Å"cowlike† and maternal, but resentment against their demands on her time and her creativity is evident too. Esther concludes that the societal pressure that she feels at her prestigious College, where the girls pocketbook covers must match the material of their dresses and all the girls wait with excitement for their invitations to the proms, is not so different to the pressure she feels in the asylum. ‘What was there about us' she wonders ‘so different from the girls playing bridge and studying in the college . . . Those girls too sat under a bell jar of a sort'. Plath explicitly shows the reader that the Bell Jar is not simply one of depression, but also one of conformity. The entrapment that Esther feels is also sexual. This is partly caused by Buddys sexuality and power, for Esther and Joan react to him and eventually rebel against him by exploring alternative sexual methods. Joan becomes a lesbian (though whether this is a direct result of her and Buddys relationship is debatable), and Esther asserts her sexual freedom through getting birth control. For her this symbolises female empowerment. In contrast to her previous attempt to free her sexuality by allowing Constantin to seduce her, she will be her own active agent of change in freeing herself from the strict social codes for women. Esther begins to feel a disillusionment with men, after her realisation that Buddy Willard is a ‘hypocrite', she concludes ‘I knew that in spite of all the roses and kisses and restaurant dinners a man showered on a woman before he married her, what he secretly wanted when the wedding service ended was for her to flatten out underneath his feet like Mrs Willards kitchen mat'. This kitchen mat which is a utilitarian object, easily repaired or replaced, is used as a metaphor for a woman. This introduces a central theme of the novel, that of women being dominated by men. The image of being ‘flattened' is used many times in the novel to show the effect of men on women. It is used again in Chapter 5 when Esther describes how she felt ‘dull and flat and full of shattered visions' after a disappointing date with Buddy. The ‘kitchen mat' that Esther describes is a beautiful hand made rug that Buddys mother made. She spent lots of time making this mat, but when she is finished she just puts it on the kitchen floor for people to wipe their feet on. Esther sees this as a symbol of male oppression and the subsequent feeling that nothing a woman makes or does is of any merit. It is when around Buddy that Ether seems most repressed. This adds to the overall sense of confinement that Esther feels, but this aspect is wholly self-inflicted. One obstacle that Esther must overcome is her idealised and fairy-tale view of romantic relationships, in which she defines her and Buddys relationship in terms of a single kiss. The word ‘flattened' evokes connotations like beaten, weak and subjugated. Esther is, as most women during the fifties, expected to marry. Esther Greenwood sees herself as something other than primarily a housewife, and she uses a lot of her energy to try to avoid marrying the one she is expected – Buddy Willard. The word ‘bell' written ‘belle' was used during the nineteenth century for the ‘belle' of the ball. It was meant to be a positive term in American culture, and was used to describe a ladylike southern woman with many suitors. This was a woman who knew her role and was happy to be the desired object of her lover and to put all her energies into looking after her man and her family. In this interpretation, the ‘Belle' Jar could represent societal pressure to conform to this ideal and the trapped feelings these women my encounter. Buddy is the main representation of dominant oppressive male sexuality. He stifles her intellectually, telling her a poem is just ‘a piece of dust', and plays a dominant sexual role by exposing himself to her. Marco is a much more violent depiction of male sexuality, a ‘woman-hater' who attempts to rape Esther. He holds power over her, he is ‘invulnerable' because of his financial power and threatening sexuality, and brands her a slut. Critics have interpreted him as simply a more violent extension of Buddy Willlard, aggressive in his contempt for Esther and her sexuality, whereas Buddy is more subtle and passive. Plath parallels the earlier proposal by Buddy. Whereas Buddy asks for Esthers hand in marriage in exchange for her identity and freedom, Marco offers her a diamond, a symbol of marriage, in exchange for her sexual independence. This feeling or entrapment by men is related to a form of domestic entrapment. One way this is shown is in Esther's outlook towards having children. Plath presents having children as another form of entrapment. When describing child birth language from the semantic fields of confinement and unnaturalness are used. Esther describes childbirth itself as ‘a long, blind, doorless and windowless corridor of pain . . . waiting to open up and shut her in again'. This shows how she sees children as diminishing perception and confining their mothers in a trap they cannot even see out of because it is so all encompassing. The mother is described in inhuman terms with her ‘spider-fat stomach and two little ugly spindly legs' while making an ‘unhuman whooing noise'. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards this grotesque but pitiful monster. Robert Scholes interprets the language Plath uses in the childbirth as that of defamiliarisation. In this scene, for example, the narrator describes the delivery as if it were happening for the first time in history. From the point of view of the uninitiated observer, childbirth seems to be a frightening ritual in which a â€Å"dark fuzzy thing† finally emerges from â€Å"the split shaven place† between the woman's legs. It could be construed that Plath is trying to show the reader that having children is a form of martyrdom, sacrificing your self-identity for your children. A woman dies as a particular kind of woman when she bears a child, and she continues to die as the child feeds literally and metaphorically on her. Indeed, many of her poems depict childlessness as a kind of perfection. In Edge (Ariel), ‘The woman is perfected . . . Each dead child coiled . . . She has folded them back into her body'. This childless ‘perfection' also often signals death in her poetry, showing the view that a woman has no choice but to procreate, because if she does not, or if she changes her mind ‘folding them back into her body', she must die. Plath's fear of procreativity was, in large part, a fear of a resultant loss of creativity. Esther voices Plath's fear, â€Å"I . . . remembered Buddy Willard saying in a sinister, knowing way that after I had children I would feel differently, I wouldn't want to write poems any more. So I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed, and afterwards you went about numb as a slave in some private, totalitarian state. † The inclusion of totalitarianism evokes even stronger feelings of entrapment and being controlled by extraneous forces. Children are also shown to represent entrapment in the inclusion of the miscarried babies in bottles that Buddy takes her to see. These images represent women's traditional choices in life and the subsequent entrapment. Esther describes these in her usual detached voice, ‘the baby in the first bottle had a large white head bent over a tiny curled up body the size of a frog'. These ‘bottles' are similar to the central image of the ‘Bell Jar', and further highlight the reading that children lead to entrapment. This is also shown in Stopped Dead (Winter Trees), ‘A squeal of brakes. Or is it a birth cry? ‘. It seems Plath has the opinion that the minute a baby is born the mother's life ends in a squeal of brakes. Domestic entrapment can also be a trap of routine and chores. In Chapter 7 Esther notes how she cannot cook, or dance, or sing or know short hand, all the things that she would need to live her life by her mother's standards. Plath's letters to her mother and her novel both make it explicitly clear that Plath was confused and frustrated by the necessity of defining herself as a woman. In 1949, at age seventeen, she wrote, ‘I am afraid of getting married. Spare me from cooking three meals a day–spare me from the relentless cage of routine and rote. I want to be free. ‘ Plath herself wrote in her journal that it was â€Å"as if domesticity had choked me†. It could be said that her decision to finally end her life by sticking her head in a gas oven is a perfect symbolisation of that aspect of her experience. Plath's two-dimensional characterisation of Mrs Greenwood as a hard working and well intentioned woman, but one very much controlled by the guidelines society gave her regarding her role as a woman. She feels that Esther's English Major will not help her get a job, and that the only way that she will get a career is by learning shorthand. Esther would then be ‘in demand among all the up and coming young men', but she instinctively rebels against this view, ‘I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters'. She is aware of the injustice in the occupational sphere, and refuses to abide by this unfair apportioning of status in society. The Bell Jar could also be construed as the ‘bell jar' of the character's depression. Depression and mental illness are almost universally described by the imagery of entrapment, from Bertha Mason, the mad alter ego of Jane trapped in the attic in Jane Eyre to the imagery of depression as a suffocating ‘black cloud' by Elizabeth Wurtzell in her 1996 portrait of depression. Esther's depression begins to fully emerge in Chapter 2, where she describes how she begins to feel while watching Doreen, her sexually voracious friend and Lenny ‘get more and more crazy about each-other'. She compares herself to ‘a black dot' signifying a feeling of insignificance, shame and dirtiness. Plath uses the analogy of travelling away from Paris on an ‘express caboose' to describe Esther's increasing feeling of detachment and unimportance: ‘every second the city gets smaller and smaller, only you feel it's really you getting smaller and smaller and lonelier and lonelier, rushing away from all those lights and that excitement at about a million miles an hour. ‘. This gives the reader the feeling of Esther helplessly falling into a deep depression, where the ‘excitement' of everyday life does not affect her. On Esther's way to Buddy at the sanatorium she describes the bleak land-scape and its effect on her mood. ‘ . . . the countryside, already deep under old falls of snow, turned us a bleaker shoulder, and as the fir trees crowded down from the grey hills to the road edge, so darkly green they looked black, I grew gloomier and gloomier'. Snow is often used to symbolise death, it could have been used in this instance for many reasons. Firstly, it could be because she is travelling to a TB sanatorium where many must have died. This illness and death that she is travelling toward is inextricably linked with sin in The Bell Jar, with Buddy being punished for his affair with a waitress by his TB and Esther punished for losing her virginity by haemorrhaging, so this blanket of death is particularly profound. Secondly, the snow could also foreshadow Esther's later suicide attempt from an overdose or sleeping pills in Chapter 13. The ‘crowding' ‘fir trees' could have been used to depict a feeling of entrapment. Esther's depression is later shown by her lack of motivation to do anything, even change her clothes or wash her hair. This melancholic inertia is shown in the paragraph: ‘I crawled back into bed and pulled the sheet over my head. But even that didn't shut out the light, so I buried my head under the darkness of the pillow and pretended it was night. I couldn't see the point of getting up. ‘ Esther feels trapped by her depression, it sedates her so fully that she does not even see any way out of it. Recurrent mirror and light images measure Esther's descent into the stale air beneath the bell jar. In the first chapter, when Esther returns from Lenny's apartment and enters the mirrored elevator of the Amazon Hotel, she notices â€Å"a big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face. It was only me, of course. I was appalled to see how wrinkled and used up I looked. † As she becomes increasingly trapped by her own mental state, her relationship with her own identity becomes increasingly disembodied, and the reflection in the mirror gradually becomes a stranger. Esther's depression and subsequent breakdown could be interpreted as a gradual abandonment of societal norms. It entails a series of rejections or separations from women who are associated with a stereotypical aspects of womanhood that Esther finds unacceptable. The novels heroine projects components of herself that represent patriarchally defined expectations of women onto other characters: her mother, Dodo Conway, Mrs Willard, then through her rejection of these characters she discards the aspects of herself that they personify. Every character can be seen as created to represent aspects of the world which confines Esther; with Buddy representing dominant male sexuality and broader forces of society, Dodo representing pressure to have children, Jay Cee being the pressure to have a successful career. The end of the novel sheds all of these forms of entrapment, societal, domestic, sexual and intellectual, virtually entirely. The ultimate chapter chiefly uses imagery of cleanliness and freedom. A ‘pure, blank sheet' of snow is described, but the reader now interprets the snow as representing a fresh start. She compares forgetfulness, that may help her ‘numb and cover' her memories, to ‘a kind snow', allowing her freedom from her worries. When Esther readies herself to meet the board of doctors who will certify her release from the hospital, she behaves as if she is preparing for a bridegroom or a date; she checks her stocking seams, muttering to herself â€Å"Something old, something new. . . . But,† she goes on, â€Å"I wasn't getting married. There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice – patched, retreaded, and approved for the road, I was trying to think of an appropriate one. . .† Critics who have been willing to see a reborn Esther have generally done so without ever questioning the appropriateness of the reference to a â€Å"retread† job. Susan Coyle writes that the tire image â€Å"seems to be accurate, since the reader does not have a sense of Esther as a brand-new, unblemished ‘tire' but of one that has been painst akingly reworked, remade†. Linda Wagner, for example, ignores this passage and concentrates on subsequent paragraphs, where the image of an â€Å"open door and Esther's ability to breathe are,† Wagner writes, â€Å"surely positive images. The ability the breathe serves as a contrast to the ‘sour air' under the Bell Jar. There is no doubt that the novel has a fairly high level of closure with most possibilities eliminated. The reader also knows that she had children, we become aware of this very early on in the construct of the story, so Esther obviously settles down into some sort of domesticity. Plath does not concede that Esther is fully cured, Esther even finally wonders whether she may be trapped by the bell jar again, but the novel concludes on a very optimistic note; that Esther is feel from the constraints that she previously felt.

Job Design and Motivation - 2782 Words

There have been sufficient changes regarding job design over the past decades, including the rising popularity of new practices such as employee involvement (Maxwell, Richard Sandra 2008). With new induction of theories, an analysis to illustrate the similarities and differences was made between the content and process theories; chosen theories being the two-factor theory and equity theory respectively. Implications of integrating various theories like the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) by Herzberg and Oldham (1980) and the four major approaches to job design will be discussed, focusing on how they influence motivation in practice. 1.0: Content and Process Theories Content theories focus more on the intrinsic factors that affect†¦show more content†¦Both theories recognize that rewards drive an individual. The two theories also neglected the factor of individual characters. In a comparison of extroverts and introverts, Gray in 1975 (cited in Furnham, Eracleous Premuzic 2009) postulated that the former react more positively with rewards, and that the latter are more motivated to avoid punishment. Findings from studies (Gray 1975; Gupta 1976; Furnham 1997; Furnham et al. 1999, cited in Furnham, Eracleous Premuzic 2009) support this theory that personality factors have measurable influence on work motivation. Research by Schmitt et al in 2003 (cited in Latham Pinder 2005) also shows that personality traits influence an individual’s job satisfaction and performance. 2.1: The Differences In terms of differences, the two-factor theory presented a set of distinct factors that when experienced, will drive a person (the possibility of promotion or opportunities for personal growth are some examples listed by Herzberg) but equity theory concerns with the perception of an individual, which in the process of comparison, evoke a psychological state that acts as a factor of motivation. Although both theories agree that rewards are motivators, Herzberg and Adams place different levels of emphasis on the impacts that extrinsic and intrinsic rewardsShow MoreRelatedJob Design and Employees Motivation2028 Words   |  9 Pagestelephone or intranet / internet access. For example, TCS has a HR help desk where employees can call in with any HR-related questions. Currently operational in about three to four locations, TCS plans to expand this unique facility to all its centres. Jobs are out, careers are in. And HR is assuming the responsibility for plotting the career paths and growth of the employees. Most software engineers have a three-point agenda: globetrotting, annual promotions and acquiring millionaire status. This isRead MoreJob Design and Employees Motivation2019 Words   |  9 Pagestelephone or intranet / internet access. For example, TCS has a HR help desk where employees can call in with any HR-related questions. Currently operational in about three to four locations, TCS plans to expand this unique facility to all its centres. Jobs are out, careers are in. And HR is assuming the responsibility for plotting the career paths and growth of the employees. Most software engineers have a three-point agenda: globetrotting, annual promotions and acquiring millionaire status. This isRead MoreMotivation And Job Design Is A Keen Part Of Nehemiah1105 Words   |  5 PagesMotivation and Job design is a keen part of Nehemiah. Throughout the book, there are different styles of motivation and job design. This is seen while building the wall, as well as, motivating those to continue working. In Nehemiah 1, we read that the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed. This gave Nehemiah incentives and goals go rebuild Gods city. This is driven by motivation because Nehemiah is currently feeling that his needs, motives, drives, frustration, arousal and emotion are affected (McKennaRead MoreThe Theories Of Motivation, The Managerial Skills, And Job Design951 Words   |  4 PagesMotivation can be defined in numerous ways. Is it a person’s internal drive, or an applied external force that compels people to strive towards a particular goal or achievement? 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The issues that arise from these changes can be addressed by applying the principles of job and work redesign in relation to the goals of the departmentRead MoreHealth Information Systems : Job Redesign Essay908 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Elizabeth Layman wrote a case study on the topic of HIS (Health Information Systems) job redesign. The study urged managers to evaluate and redesign, if needed, the jobs of health care professionals. Layman points out that these jobs have gradually changed over time. Extra tasks have been added on to the duties of current employees and many are now over-worked. For example, the conversion of paper to electronic health records created 29 new roles for employees (Layman, 2011). NotRead MoreTeam Work and Motivation1259 Words   |  6 PagesTeamwork and Motivation Motivation is the internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in a person to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal (Business Dictionary, 2013). The main priority of an organization should be its people. They are the ones who help maintain the mission and the vision of the organization as well as keeping the business flowing. This paper will provide a design of an organization motivation plan, identify