21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay Example for Free

21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay1 IntroductionThis is not a search paper. Rather, it is a breeding report in which I describe the use of goods and answers of the so called beer distribution wager (or beer mettlesome) a logistics and tot cooking stove simulation bet in teaching business-to-business eCommerce. The aim of the paper is twofold First, I submit to demonstrate how the beergame pile be utilise to provide students with a much than profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in contemporary generate reachs to exchange selective selective discipline and to facilitate quislingism. Second, I want to share both my fingers and my materials for victimisation the beergame in eCommerce logical arguments with the IS community, i.e. those scholars that teach (business-to-business) eCommerce or sum reach fudgement courses. The beergame is a role-play simulation game in which students enact a four leg give grasp . The t drive of this preparation strand is to bring and deliver units of beer the pulverisation produces and the other three stages deliver the beer units until it reaches the guest at the downstream residue of the drawstring. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather saucer-eyed each of the four groups has to fulfil the entrance devotes of beer byplacing sets with the next upstream party. Since parley and collaboration is not al minusculeed between supply cosmic string stages, the players invaria588bly create the so called bullwhip force-out. With bullwhip we refer to the inwardness that the nitty-gritty of triennial orders amplifies upstream in the supply strand towards the piss end, and so causing a range of operational conundrums. The bullwhip effectuate is a well-known phenomenon and a bounteous symptom of coordination problems in supply compasss. In using the beergame to create the bullwhip effect students experience first hand, not only the proble ms of lack of cultivation sharing and collaboration in supply range of mountainss, but in like manner the primary(prenominal) causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Henceforth, in introducing eCommerce measures in the later academic terms of the course, students merchantman link up to these topics through their own experiences. The paper ties in with a recent discussion on the ISWorld eMail list on how to make relevant IS teaching for students with little or no operable experience. In teaching information systems (IS) and specifically B2B eCommerce we frequently experience problems of making relevant those topics for students. The challenge is to get them to appreciate the relevance of IS and likewise to provide them, not only with a superficial knowledge of the topics, but with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in practice. Against this backdrop I want to show how the beergame can help demonstrating the role and need of eCommerce technologies in a topic area in which the students not only lack practical knowledge (i.e. with regards to supply set up), but typically also do not subscribe their own frame of reference to be able to relate to the topics we teach. To this end, I will introduce the beergame, demonstrate its use in a classroom setting, present typical results created by playing the game and show how I constitute the game in a typical B2B eCommerce syllabus. I begin with introducing the game and the bullwhip effect (in contribution 2). In section 3, I then describe the exertion of the beergame in a classroom setting I give an overview of a beergame school term and present typical results. Section 4 demonstrates how typical supply chain problems (and the causes of the bullwhip effect) can be deduced from the beergame experience in order to motivate the introduction of eCommerce measures for improving supply chaincoordination. The section is concluded by a epitome of typical eComme rce topics that can follow the beergame in a typical B2B syllabus (section 4.3).2 The BeergameIn the following I will first give a brief introduction to the bullwhip effect before I introduce the beergame itself, i.e. its record, structural setup and the rules of the game.2.1 Bullwhip effect as symptom of typical supply chain problems The bullwhip effect is a well-known symptom of typical coordination problems in ( tralatitious) supply chains. It refers to the effect that the pith of periodical orders amplifies as sensation moves upstream in the supply chain towards the labor end (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). Even in the face of s card node demand small variations in demand at the retail end tend to dramatically amplify upstream the supply chain with the effect that order amounts are really erratic, and can be very high in wizard week and almost zero in the next week. This phenomenon was discovered and first described by Forrester (1961) who did research into the relation ship between ordering and line of descent keeping patterns using simulation models (Warburton 2004). The term itself was first coined a tumid 1990 when ProcterGamble perceived erratic and amplified order patters in its supply chain for 589baby diapers. The effect is also known by the names whiplash or whipsaw effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a), which refers metaphorically to the visualisation of order patterns pitiful upstream the supply chain (see figure 3). As a consequence of the bullwhip effect a range of inefficiencies occur passim the supply chain, e.g. high (safety) stock levels, poor customer service levels, poor capacity utilisation, aggravated problems with demand anticipate, and ultimately high approach and low levels of inter-firm trust (Chopra Meindl 2001 Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). While the effect is not new and a lot of research has been conducted and supply chain projects have been initiated since its discovery, it is still a condemnationly and pressin g problem in contemporary supply chains. Various research studies have quantified the effect and estimate that profitability in most supply chains might improve by up to 30% by eliminating the bullwhip effect (Metters 1997McCullen Towill 2002).2.2 Beergame setup and rulesHaving introduced the bullwhip effect and its implications for the supply chain and its players I will now introduce the beergame, its setup and rules. I begin by providing a brief history of the game before I present the general structure and the rules of the game. 2.2.1 History of the beergame The beergame (or beer distribution game) was originally invented in the 1960s by Jay Forrester at MIT as a result of his work on system dynamics (see Forrester 1957). While the original goal of the simulation game was to research the effect of systems structures on the behaviour of the great unwashed (structure creates behaviour), the game can also be used to demonstrate the benefits of information sharing, supply chain man agement, and eCollaboration in the supply chain (Li Simchi-Levi 2002). A range of different magnetic declinations of the beergame have emerged over the years. The original beergame was realised as a board game (Sterman 1989). Meanwhile a put off rendition (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002) and also computerised simulations (Hieber Hartel 2003) have been developed. In this paper I predominantly draw on a table version, which I adapted from the so called Klagenfurt aim (cp. Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002) the structural setup of the table version is shown in figures 1 and 2. I will briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different game versions in chapter 3.1 where I discuss the administration of the beergame in a classroom setting. 2.2.2 General structure of the game The beergame simulates a supply chain that consists of four stages ( retail merchant, wholesaler, distributer and factory), each of which is played by one or better two or three players (Goodwin Frankl in Sr. 1994). Hence, a supply chain is typically played by 8 to 12 flock, while more than one supply chain can be administered in one class at the kindred time. The task of each supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer units until it reaches the outer customer at the downstream end of the supply chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple each sub group has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer. The retailer receives an internationally predetermined customer demand and places orders with the wholesaler the wholesaler sends orders to the distributor, who orders fromthe factory the factory at last 590produces the beer. Hence, orders flow in the upstream direction, while deliveries flow in the downstream direction of the supply chain. An important structural aspect of the game is delay (i.e. time lag) in order to account for logistics and resultion time. Each delivery (and production orde r) requires two rounds until they are terminally delivered to the next stage. In the structural setup of the game this is represented by two shipping delay fields located in between the supply chain stages as well as at the production end (figure 1). Order flowDelayDelayDelayDelayFactory FactoryDistributor DistributorWholesaler Wholesalerretailer Retailer crossway flowFigure 1 Supply chain setup in the beergame table version schoolchildOutgoing order accept tagIncoming orderWholesalerDelayDistributor DistributorOutgoing deliveryDelayFactoryIncoming deliveryStudentStudentFigure 2 Detailed table layout 2.2.3 Rules of the game The game is played in rounds, which simulates weeks. In each round the following tints have to be carried out by the players 1) receive incoming orders, 2) receive incoming deliveries, 3) update play sheets (outstanding deliveries and size up), 4) send out deliveries, and in the end 5) decide on the amount to be ordered. In doing so, deciding on each rounds order amount is efficaciously the only decision that players are able to make throughout the game everything else follows a set of fixed rules. The first rule is that every order has to be ful strikeed, either directly (should the players inventory be double enough) or later in subsequent rounds. In the latter fictional character, players have to keep track of their backlog (backorder) (Coakley et al. 1998). Secondly, inventory and backlog incur cost each stop in stock costs EUR 0.50 per week, while each item on backlog costs EUR 1.00. Consequently, the primary aim of each subgroup is to keep their costs low. Hence, the best strategy for the players is to run their business with as little stock as possible without being forced to move into backorder. Thirdly, players are notallowed to communicate. The only information they are allowed to exchange is the order amount there is no transparency as to what stock levels or actual customer demand is only the retailer knows the extern al demand (Rafaeli et al. 2003). Moreover, the game is base on the simplification of unlimited capacity (in stock keep591ing, production and transportation) and unlimited access to raw materials at the production end (Hieber Hartel 2003). 2.2.4 The external demand In playing the game the external demand is predetermined and usually does not vary greatly. In the beginning, the supply chain is pre-initialised with inventory levels (e.g. 15 units), orders (e.g. 5 units) and beer units in the shipping delay fields (e.g. 5 units). In order to induce the bullwhip effect to the supply chain the external demand rest stable for a few rounds (e.g. 5 units for 5 rounds) before it suddenly shows one steep profit (jumps to 9 units) before it remains stable again at this higher(prenominal) level for the remainder of the game (usually 40 to 50 rounds in total). However, the one join on in external demand is enough to induce variance into the supply chain, which will inevitably lead to the cre ation of the bullwhip effect and to a destabilisation of ordering patterns throughout the supply chain.3 Using the beergame in classHaving described the idea, the structural setup, and the rules of the beergame, I will now discuss the administration of the game in a classroom setting. This is followed by the presentation of typical results generated by beergame applications in eCommerces courses. These results are very useful for deriving the causes of the bullwhip effect in discussions with students in a so-called debrief session (see section 4). For a session outline of a B2B course that uses the beergame please refer to appendix 2 the experiences shared in the following sections are more or less based on this session outline.3.1 Administering the beergame3.1.1 Choosing a beergame version As mentioned above, different versions of the beergame exist for use in classroom settings. The traditional version isa board game in which tokens are physiologically moved on the board to repre sent orders and stock. The upside of the board version is that people relate well to moving actual objects. However, there are two downsides firstly, the board game is too slow, cumber almost and complex to administer secondly and more importantly, because physical objects are used to represent inventory on the board, people enjoy an unwanted transparency of inventory levels of other supply chain stages and can thus strategically act upon their knowledge of incoming stock. The table version of the beergame was originally developed by a team at the University of Klagenfurt (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002). It shows several improvements to the original design such as a leaner and more pragmatic approach to moving orders and stock in the supply chain. Essentially this is done by using paper slips on which numbers are written by the players. However, it still shows some administrative overhead such as a bookkeeping person that takes stock of all things happening within the supply chai n using a computer. While this functions as a built-in safety net in case something goes wrong, it is still a hurdle to the application in a classroom setting and it also slows down the game, which results in long sessions and the students being world-weary throughout the game. Henceforth, I have adapted the table version and essentially eliminated the bookkeeper in order to acquire a more straightforward progression of the game. The 592 riskiness moreover is that students make mistakes in calculating order amounts or stock levels using the paper play sheet. While it helps to start slowly and to doublecheck the play sheet calculations during the first few rounds, in a few of my first beergame applications some people therefore miscalculated stock levels, which led to problems with interpreting the selective information later on. For this reason, like a shot I use MS Excel and a laptop computer on each table for people to fill in their play sheets this effectively eliminates the risk and fancys a quick progression of the game (see appendix 1 for a play sheet role model). 3.1.2 Schedule of a beergame session The first bar in administering the beergame is the preparations of the tables. As is illustrated in figure 2, four fields have to be marked on each table, which is done by fixing to the table 4 sheets of paper using sticky tape. The same is done with the delay fields. Furthermore, cardboard boxes (or plasticcups) and envelopes have to be filled with small paper slips to pre-initialise the supply chain with orders and deliveries. Then, every table has to be prepared with a stack of order and delivery slips that will be used by the players during the game. Finally, paper slips with the external demand progression (see above) have to be prepared that are handed to the retailer groups during the game. Also, for administering more than one supply chain, (student) assistants are take to help with moving boxes and envelopes during the game. The second step is briefing the students in doing so I provide a short introduction to the idea of the game, its history, structure, and rules (see above). When playing in more than one supply chain I stress the fact that groups of each stage are competing with one another (e.g. retailer vs. retailer), in order to get the students to take playing seriously. The third step is to start playing some initial trial rounds with the pre-initialised supply chain and to make sure that everyone gets used to filling in play sheets and order/delivery slips. Then, in the fourth step, the speed of playing the game is increased and the game is played for a number of 40 to 50 rounds. The game is then stopped abruptly so that the students do not have time to react strategically to the coming end of the game. The fifth and concluding part of the session is a short discussion directly after the game, where I ask students how they felt throughout the game and what they think the average customer demand was. The next session after the beergame session is the debriefing session, for which the data that the groups produced throughout the game has to be consolidated, plot and analysed. Typical beergame results and their creation are presented in the next section the debriefing session is described in section 4.3.2 Typical progression and results of a beergame sessionEvery beergame session follows roughly the same scheme, so that the progression of the game shows a recurring pattern. I usually start playing the game at a slow pace for people to get used to moving objects, taking stock and filling in the play sheets. What typically happens during these first few rounds is that people try to get free of some of the inventory (e.g. 15 units) in order to manage their costs hence they often only place small orders in the beginning (for an example see weeks 1-7 in figure 3).Consequently, when the customer demand jumps to the higher level in round 6 the supply chain has adjusted to a low demand scenario. After the steep increase m both retailer groups tend to wait one or two rounds in order to see if the increase is permanent (as in figure 3). When they then place the first large order they invariably initiate a bullwhip effect that perpetuates through593out the chain. Typically, the order amount increases with every stage in the supply chain (as in figure 3). What happens then is that the groups move deeply into backorder (see figure 4), because due to the delivery delays it takes quite some time for the beer to move through the supply chain to the retail end. Getting increasingly desperate players often try to send signals and place more large orders in the end they typically lose track of what they have ordered and order route too much. The consequence is that the supply chain is flooded with beer and the inventories inundation (see weeks 2035 in figure 4). The effect is that people cease ordering entirely e.g. a lot of very small orders are placed. This is especially true for the higher stages of the supply chain (see table 1). In the end, while the retailer groups often manage to stabilise their business, the higher stages have no idea of the actual customer demand and are left frustrated. Bullwhip Effect70 60 50CustomerOrders 40 30 20 10 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 WeekRetailer Wholesaler Distributor FactoryFigure 3 Plot of order distribution, visualising the bullwhip effect Figure 3 shows the order distribution over 40 weeks and a typical bullwhip effect. Figure 4 shows the inventory fluctuation, with negative inventory representing back order. Table 1 finally shows the decrease in customer demand information upstream visualised by the average order amount by the four stages of the supply chain in this example. More importantly, theincrease in order fluctuation upstream the supply chain is illustrated by the largest amount having been ordered in each stage and the number of small orders that were placed. This translates i nto an increase in inventory fluctuation as well. All this information is being used in the following debriefing session to discuss the bullwhip effect, its implications and the reasons for its existence.594Out of stock = Serious lack of service level200 150 100Inventory50 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 -50 -100 -150 WeekRetailerWholesalerDistributorFactoryFigure 4 Example of inventory fluctuation (negative inventory = backorder) aboriginal figures Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory order amount (units of beer)8.338.688.759.95Largest order amount25405060No of small orders (0-2 units)4111418Inventory fluctuation range8481170165Table 1 Example of key figures derived from the beergame4 Learning from the beergame resultsHaving presented the way in which the beergame is administered and a typical progression of the game and its results, I will now first show how a debriefing session can be used to illustrate supply chain coordination problems and to derive typical causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Based on these causes one can then quite easily motivate eCommerce measures and ICT-based supply chain straighten out initiatives that aim at step-down the bullwhip effect and improving supply chain coordination.4.1 The debriefing sessionThe debriefing session follows the beergame session (see appendix 2). I usually begin the session with a brief discussion of students experiences throughout the game. Typically, the following questions are being discussed Did you witness yourself controlled by forces in the system from time to time? Or did you feel in control? Did you find yourself blaming the groups next to you for your problems? Did you feel desperation at any time? This discussion typically shows that people indeed were blaming their neighbouring supply chain partners for not doing their jobs right (either not ordering in a 595sensible way or not being able to deliver) desperation and frustration are habitual feelings d uring the last rounds of the game. A first learning from this discussion is that it is the structure of the game (i.e. the supply chain) that causes the behaviour. This is precisely what its inventor (Forrester) intended to achieve and what is referred to as the effects of systems dynamics. A second set of questions can then be discussed in order to reflect upon the beergame itself and its degree of simulating real world conditions What, if anything, is unrealistic about this game? Why are there order delays? Why are there production delays? Shipping delays? Why have both distributor and wholesalers why not ship beer directly from the factory to the retailer? Must the brewer be interested with the management of the raw materials providers? Using these questions and by stressing the fact that real-life supply chains are much more complex (a huge variety of products and supply chain partners exist, as well as complex criss-crossing networks of relationships) the students can quickly b e convinced that real-life conditions favour the emergence of the bullwhip to a much greaterextent and that the beergame is indeed a good vehicle to simulate the creation of the effect. Having established this necessary bit of legitimisation, the session can then proceed with presenting the beergame results and with identifying the underlying causes. Hence, the next step essentially is to present, for all supply chain groups, the data (table 1) and figures (3 and 4) presented above. In doing so, I typically have a very interactive and lively discussion. I ask what people thought while playing the game and what led them to, for example, place a huge order at a particular point in the game. In discussing the extreme examples, the class usually shares a laugh, which, as a nice by-product, leads to a more casual atmosphere and contributes to setting an open spectre for the remainder of the course. I also honour the winning supply chain teams at this point in time. This is also the time where I introduce the notion of cumulated supply chain cost, e.g. by pointing out that the product at the customer end has to earn all (cumulated) costs of all supply chain parties this insight serves as a first step in establishing the idea of global thinking and chainwide optimization, which essentially requires eCollaboration technologies. At this point in the session one can then either go straight to identifying the causes and effects of the bullwhip effect (see below), or take a little (useful) detour in discussing a teaching case to corroborate the results and to give the results of the beergame some more credibility. In doing so, I use the case of Italian pasta manufacturer Barilla, one of the first put down cases in which a company launched a project to identify the causes of the bullwhip effect and to introduce some countermeasures (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003, p. 91).4.2 Identifying the causes of the bullwhip effectThe bullwhip effect, as simulated in t he beergame, is mainly caused by three underlying problems 1) a lack of information, 2) the structure of the supply chain and 3) a lack of collaboration and global optimization. These three causes can be set in an interactive session with the students by discussing the beergame experiences and then be corroborated with insights from practice and the literature. 5964.2.1 Lack of information In the beergame no information except for theorder amount is perpetuated up the supply chain. Henceforth, most information about customer demand is quickly lost upstream in the supply chain. Moreover, no other information is being shared. With these characteristics the beergame simulates supply chains with low levels of trust, where only little information is being shared between the parties. Without actual customer demand data, all anticipate has to rely solely on the incoming orders at each supply chain stage. In reality, in such a situation traditional prophecy methods and stock keeping strat egies contribute to creating the bullwhip effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky SimchiLevi 2003). Unexpected increases in orders from downstream partners translate into even higher order increases upstream, because when players regard the increase to be permanent and want to avoid running out of stock, they need to update their safety stock levels hence they place an even larger order. Later, when it turns out that an increase was only temporary, safety stock levels are lowered and players might order nothing for a while, hence contributing to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.2 Supply chain structure The supply chain structure, with its design as separate stages and the long lead times, contributes to the bullwhip effect. The longer the lead time, i.e. the longer it takes for an order to touch off upstream and the subsequent delivery to travel downstream, the more aggravated the bullwhip effect is likely to be. With traditional ordering, the point in time where an or der is typically placed (the order point) is usually calculated by multiplying the forecasted demand with the lead time plus the safety stock amount, so that an order is placed so far in advance as to ensure service level during the time until the delivery is expected to bring forth (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Hence, the longer the lead time is, the more pronounced an order will be as an reaction to an increase in forecasted demand (especially in conjunction with updating the safety stock levels, see above), which again contributes to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.3 Local optimisation Local optimisation, in terms of local forecasting and case-by-case cost optimisation, and a lack of cooperation are at the heart of the bullwhip problem. A good example for local optimisation is the batch order phenomenon. In practice, ordering entails fix cost, e.g. ordering in full truck loads is cheaper then ordering smaller amounts. Furthermore, many suppliers oblation volume discounts when ordering largeramounts. Hence, there is a certain incentive for individual players to hold back orders and only place aggregate orders. This behaviour however aggravates the problem of demand forecasting, because very little information about actual demand is transported in such batch orders. And batch ordering, of course, contributes directly to the bullwhip effect by unnecessarily inflating the orders. This might lead to lower local cost in the short term, but translates into higher overall cost at the chain level.4.3 eCommerce measures to meet the bullwhip effectHaving identified and discussed the three problem areas with regard to both the beergame and their real-world counterparts, I then present three areas of improvement that directly correspond to the three problem areas 1) information sharing in terms of electronic data interchange, 2) ICT-enabled supply chain re597design, and 3) supply chain collaboration for global optimisation (see figure 5). In terms of teaching, these three bundles of eCommerce measures and initiatives can then be briefly introduced in one session (see appendix 3) or in more (technical and physical compositional) detail in three separate sessions (see appendix 2). In the following sections I give a brief overview of what can be part of those sessions.1 discipline sack upstream the supply chainWithout direct communication, forecasting is based on aggregated, inaccurate information. This causes large stock, high cost, poor service levels. Improvement in force(p) communication and information sharing2Supply chain structureLong lead times lead to increasing variability upstream making planning nearly impossible large safety stock is required, variability increased. Slow downstream product flow causes poor service levels. Improvement Supplychain redesign processes, tasks roles3Local optimizationIndependent planning and local optimization lead to inefficiencies, such as local forecasting, batch ordering, inflated orders, etceteraImprovementCooperation to achieve global optimizationFigure 5 Summary of bullwhip causes and areas of improvement 4.3.1 Efficient communication One of the most basic learnings from the beergame is to improve information sharing along the supply chain (e.g. of point-of-sale customer demand data) information sharing is the first step towards more advanced supply chain coordination (Muckstadt et al. 2001). Henceforth, the first step in teaching eCommerce measures is to present the article of beliefs and technologies of electronic data interchange. In doing so, I first of all discuss with the students the principles of digitally mediated replenishment of goods by Johnston (1999), essentially a collection of principles for effective inter-organisational electronic data interchange, such as the once-only data entry principle or the synchronicity principle. Based on these fundamental principles I discuss the ship canal in which traditional document-based ordering can be reformed using electronic data interchange. While these topics might seem to be outdated from a modern information systems perspective, it lays the foundation for a step-by-step increase of complexity that aims at providing the students with a more substantial knowledge of the problems and ideas behind ICT-enabled supply chain reform than can be achieved by a simple presentation of the latest communication technologies. The next step in this endeavour is to introduce technologies that are needed to enable effective inter-firm data interchange and electronic ordering, such as product numbering schemes and automatic product appointment technologies. In most supply chains physical products have to be handled hence ways are needed to attach information to theseobjects. Consequently, I introduce the following technologies Standardised product numbering schemes Here, the history, proliferation, functioning and impact of numbering schemes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC), the European Art icle Numbering (EAN) code and more special598ised codes like for example container codes (SSCC) are introduced. Most of these codes today are administered by the standardisation organisation GS1 (2005). Automated product identification technologies The technology with the greatest diffusion in the market is the barcode while specialised barcodes exist in some industries, the most common one is the UCC/EAN-128 (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996). The second, much newer technology to be discussed here is Radio Frequency based Identification (RFID). Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) EDI is the basis for electronic ordering. Here, traditional EDI standards, such as the UN/EDIFACT, which was formulately developed by ISO and the UN (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996), can be discussed, as well as newer techniques such as Internet-based wind vaneEDI and XML-enabled order exchange. In discussions with the students these alter communication and data exchange technologies can then be related back to t he beergame experience in that they 1) speed up the order process, thus reducing lead time and 2) enable more sophisticated information sharing of POS data. Moreover, they are the basis for the next step, the ICT-enabled redesign of supply chain structures. 4.3.2 ICT-enabled supply chain reform initiatives The second building block in dealing with the bullwhip effect comprises a range of different supply chain reform initiatives that can be subsumed under the model of efficient replenishment. As such, two distinct types of measures can be distinguished 1) inventory management concepts that aim at changing the ways in which actors in the supply chain carry out their roles of stock keeping and ordering and 2) logistics concepts that aim at improving actual material and information flow. Efficient inventory management is based on the idea that suppliers have timely access to POS data and can thus eliminate traditional forecasting and change the way ordering and inventory management is carried out (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997b). Three concepts with increasing degrees of complexity can be distinguished Quick reception The idea behind this concept is for the supplier to become more responsive to changes in customer demand through thesharing of POS data. Retailers still prepare individual orders, but suppliers are better prepared. Continuous Replenishment Suppliers continually receive POS data from retailers to prepare shipments at agreed-upon levels. marketer Managed Inventory (VMI) Under this initiative the suppliers manage all inventory aspects for their own products at the retailer end. Suppliers decide on shipment levels without any orders from the retail end to be placed. In fact, the retailer has very little to do with the operational aspects in VMI (Waller, Johnson Davis 1999). The second type of efficient replenishment measures is efficient logistics (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Here, two main building blocks can be discussed memor y and delivery concepts Depending on the kinds of goods that are moved along the supply chain, different kinds of warehousing and delivery can be applied in order to achieve an optimal flow of goods. Cross docking is a concept in which warehouses function as inventory coordination points rather than actual inventory storage points hence, goods are only re-shuffled 599between trucks coming in from suppliers and trucks leaving for stores. This instrument can be used for fast selling products. For bulk products central warehousing can be used while fresh products benefit from direct delivery. Full-blown just-in-time delivery (JIT) Most commonly found in the automotive pains, just-in-time describes a concept, whereby supplier and manufacturer align their logistics and production processes to a degree that no (or very little) inventory is needed. Goods can be directly delivered from the production at the supplier to arrive just in time to be used in production at the manufacturer end (e.g. Johnson Wood 1996). Changing the way in which inventory is managed means to effectively change the supply chain structure. For example, by implementing VMI the supply chain partners eliminate one stage of ordering, thus eradicating one step in the typical bullwhip chain of events. Moreover, by speeding up product flows using the logistics concepts lead time is being reduced, which in turn softens the bullwhip effect. Consequently, all measures discussed in this section can be directly motivated by the beergame. In presenting this block to the students I also point out, for every singly concept, the role of information systems and eBusiness technologies. 4.3.3 eCollaboration jointplanning and global optimisation The third block of eBusiness measures for tackling the bullwhip effect is the most sophisticated one and builds on the first two blocks. Global optimisation of supply chain processes can only be achieved through the collaboration of supply chain partners under a joint initiative. I present the Collaborative planning anticipation and Replenishment (CPFR) initiative as an example from the Grocery industry (VICS 2001) and also discuss (sometimes only briefly) joint product development initiatives in the automotive industry. CPFR as a concept builds on and extends concepts such as VMI by aiming at establishing a long-term planning of joint promotion activities. CPFR is based on the observation that a combination of inventory management and logistics concepts (see section 4.3.2 above) can reduce the bullwhip effect for day-to-day deliveries, but that these concepts still can not screw with demand variations induced by promotion activities. Hence, CPFR aims at jointly planning promotions and to create transparency as to the expected demand increases induced by these promotions. The concept is based on the use of shared eMarketplace infrastructures, which I also discuss in some detail in this section. Again, the application of eCommerce technologies can be nicely illustrated using the beergame. 4.3.4 Summary The discussion of the three building blocks of eCommerce measures culminates in the development and presentation of an integrated model of eCommerce-based supply chain management informed by the key learnings from the beergame. The model is presented in figure 6. Following the line of argument in the last sections, it becomes obvious that the beergame can be used to motivate and nourish large parts of a typical eCommerce masters course (as in appendix 2). In the next section I draw some final conclusions and briefly reflect upon the use of the beergame in a classroom setting.600Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Tactics Operations homeImprovements ImprovementsSuppy Chain Suppy Chain problems problems trade-offs trade-offsInformation lossJoint PlanningCPFR (promotions, product introduction), Category Mgmt, Production schedulingCollaborationStrategic alliances for global optimizationEfficient ReplenishmentInventory Management Quick Response, CRP, VMI, SBTRedesignICT-enabled supply Chain re-structuringS.C. structureMaterials information flow Direct delivery, Warehousing, X-dockingLocal optimizationCommunicationInformation sharing, Electronic orderingEfficient CommunicationsInfrastructure, EDI, AutoID, Product numbering, Process simplificationsFigure 6 A comprehensive eCommerce and supply chain model5 refinement and outlookI have introduced the beergame and demonstrated its usefulness in teaching B2B eCommerce and supply chain management. To the present day, I have used the beergame mainly in eCommerce masters courses at different Universities in different national contexts. The experiences and also the teaching evaluations have always been positive and very encouraging. While I opine that the beergame, and the way it is embedded in my B2B eCommerce syllabus,works well in providing students with both a profound understanding of the underlying wisdoms of eCommerce, as we ll as with a good overview of eCommerce measures, there is more to it than that. Playing the beergame is great fun, for the teacher and for the students, and it is always a good experience in itself. As such, the beergame is also very stabilising for the general course atmosphere and the creation of positive team dynamics in the group. For the future, we are working on a software version of the beergame, which can be used in a classroom setting in the same interactive role-play style, but avoid some of the still remaining problems of the table version. While software versions today only provide a simulation (instead of role-play) mode and are not built for classroom use, a client-server software version of the game might replace the cumbersome logistics aspects (the moving of boxes) and help in gathering data that can be used for debriefing straight away. Moreover, it would be great to be able to play the beergame with different setups, e.g. with implementing effective sharing of ( customer demand and inventory) data in order to demonstrate, in a second round of play, the usefulness of information sharing in reducing the bullwhip effect. To this end, our software will be flexible enough to incorporate such exploration of different supply chain modalities.11For further information please see http//www.beergame.org. 601Appendix 1 Beergame play sheet The following table shows the play sheet of a retailer group that was filled in during a beergame session. The incoming order column shows the external customer demand with its increase in round 6. During the game the students only have to fill in the white columns the incoming delivery and the incoming order are taken from the incoming paper slips, while in the your order column the students have to fill in their order decision for the respective weeks. Having done that, the play sheet shows exactly what has to be written on the outgoing order and delivery slips (in the dark columns). All orange columns are calcula ted automatically, so that students can easily keep track of their inventory and cost progression. After the beergame this data is then put together andconsolidated with the data that was collected in the play sheets of the other groups of the same supply chain. It is then plotted to create figures 3 and 4 and table 1 (see above). WeekIncoming DeliveryAvailableIncoming OrderYour DeliveryBackorderInventoryCost7,5 15 22,5 30 35 37 40 45 49 52 64 78 86 100 118 137 159 180 201 223 244 265 283 295 303 316 317,5 321 324,5 328 331,5 335 338,5 342 345,5 348,5 351 353 355 357Your OrderPlease fill out play slips Delivery Order0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 405 5 5 5 0 3 2 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 13 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 920 20 20 20 15 13 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13 13 135 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 995 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 90 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 4 3 12 14 8 14 18 19 22 21 21 22 21 21 18 12 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 015 15 15 15 15 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 40 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 95 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 90 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9602Appendix 2 Syllabus for a beergame-based B2B course The following table gives an overview of how the beergame can be incorporated in a typical (B2B) eCommerce (masters) course (e.g. 12 weeks with 3 hour sessions). The beergame and the subsequent modules can cover up to 6 sessions. After presenting the three blocks with eCommerce improvements, an additional session can be used to discuss management challenges of inter-firm collaboration, covering iss ues such as trust, managing interfaces, ICT standards etc. Throughout the course, cases from the grocery and the automotive industries might be used for illustration purposes and to facilitate discussions. Depending on the setting, background readings might also be handed out to the students. Sessions (3 hours) Topics / session contents1. Beergame sessiona. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40-50 rounds) d. Brief discussion afterwards2. Debriefinga. Discussion of experiences and game setup b. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) c. Teaching case Barilla bullwhip causes optional d. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect e. forgetful presentation of three areas of improvement and the schedule for the next three sessions3. Information sharinga. Short discussion why is information sharing important? b. Principles of electronic data sharing c. Attaching information to physical goods standardised product numbering, Automated product identification technologies barcodes, RFID d. Electronic Data Interchange EDI, WebEDI, XML-based ordering4. Supply chain reforma. Overview efficient replenishment initiatives b. Efficient inventory management Quick Response, Continuous Replenishment, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) c. Efficient Logistics Warehousing, Direct Delivery, CrossDocking d. Just-in-Time Delivery in the automotive industry Kanban5. eCollaborationa. eCollaboration in the supply chain idea and philosophy b. Collaborative Planning Forecasting Replenishment (CPFR) c. Joint product development in the automotive industry6. Management of inter-firm collaborationa. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives b. The role of trust and sociable capital in inter-firm relationships c. Interoperability of ICT d. Managing inter-firm interfaces603Appendix 3 Session outline for a beergame-based workshop The following table shows a short workshop format based on the beergame. Such a workshop can be incorporated in other (general IS) courses or be a stand-alone event, for example as an executive teaching offering. The workshop is essentially made up of two sessions the actual beergame session and a combined debriefing and learnings session. As an example industry the Grocery industry can be used to illustrate the application of the eCommerce initiatives and technologies. Sessions (3 hours) Topics / session contents1. Beergame sessiona. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40 rounds) d. Discussion of experiences and game setup2. Debriefing eCommerce initiativesa. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) b. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect c. Discussion of three areas of improvement a. Information sharing Product numbering, AutoID, EDI b. Supply chain reform Invent ory management logistics concepts c. eCollaboration CPFRd. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives604References Chopra, S., Meindl, P. (2001) Supply-Chain Management, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Coakley, J. R., Drexler Jr., J. A., Larson, E. W., Kircher, A. E. (1998) Using a computer-based version of the beer game Lessons learned, diary of Management Education, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 416-424. Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., Langley, C. J. (1996) The Management of Business Logistics (6th Ed.), St. Paul. Forrester, J. W. (1957) industrial Dynamics. A major uncovering for decision makers, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 37-66. Forrester, J. W. (1961) Industrial Dynamics, Cambride, MA. Goodwin, J. S., Franklin Sr., S. E. (1994) The Beer Distribution Game Using Simulation to Teach Systems Thinking, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 7-15. GS1 (2005) About the EAN/UCC System, Available http//www.ean-ucc.org (2007-12-13). Hieber, R., Hartel, I. (2003) Impact s of SCM order strategies evaluated by simulation-based Beer-Game approach the model, concept and initial experiences, Production, Planning Control, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 122-134. Johnson, J. C., Wood, D. F. (1996) Contemporary Logistics (6th Ed), Upper Saddle River. Johnston, R. B. (1999) Principles of Digitally Mediated Replenishment of Goods. Electronic Commerce and Supply-Chain Reform, in Electronic Commerce Opportunities and Challenges, S. M. Rahman M. Raisinghani, (eds.), Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp. 41-64. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997a) The Bullwhip Effect in SupplyChains, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 93-102. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997b) Information Distortion in a Supply-Chain The Bullwhip Effect, Management Science, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 546-558. Li, M., Simchi-Levi, D. (2002) The Web Based Beer Game Demonstrating the Value of Integrated Supply-Chain Management, Available http//beergame.mit.edu/guide.htm (2007-08-25). McCull en, P., Towill, D. (2002) Diagnosing and reduction of bullwhip in supply chains, Supply Chain Management An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 164-179. Metters, R. (1997) Quantifying the bullwhip effect in supply chains, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 89-100. Muckstadt, J., Murray, D., Rappold, J., Collins, D. (2001) Guidelines for Collaborative Supply-Chain System Design and Operation, in Technical Report of the Cornell University School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Nr. 1286, Ithaca, NY. Ossimitz, G., Kreisler, B., Zoltan, M.(2002) Simulation von Supply-ChainManagement Systemen, Available http//www.uniklu.ac.at/gossimit/pap/bg_endbericht.pdf (2007-02-11). Rafaeli, S., Raban, D. R., Ravid, G., Noy, A. (2003) Online Simulations in Management Education about Information and Its Uses, in Educating Manag-605ers with Tomorrows Technologies, C. Wankel R. DeFillippi, (eds.), Greenwich, pp. 53-80. Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., Simchi-Lev i, E. (2003) Designing Managing the Supply-Chain (2nd ed), Boston, MA. Sterman, J. D. (1989) Modeling Managerial Behaviour Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiment, Management Science, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 321-339. VICS (2001) Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), Version 2, Available http//www.vics.org/committees/cpfr/voluntary_v2/CPFR_Tabs_061802. pdf (2008-01-07). Waller, M., Johnson, M. E., Davis, T. (1999) Vendor Managed Inventory in the Retail Supply-Chain, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 183-203. Warburton, R. (2004) An Analytical Investigation of the Bullwhip Effect, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 150160.

The Shavian Theatre of Ideas (Modern Drama) Essay Example for Free

The Shavian Theatre of Ideas (Modern Drama) EssayThe predominating influence in find Shaw to turn to the drama was the example of Ibsen and equally prominent was his love of debating, in which he had shown how irresistible it was for him to counter his arguments himself if no i else would. These influential strains compelled him to choose the kindhearted of play in which the characters undertake this dual task of proposer and opposer. In 1892, he made it into Widowers Houses, and thereafter, for nearly sixty years with unfailing energy he made drama peculiarly his own province. It was not till after Saint Joan that he became the revered elder playwright, a passing respectable figure whom, however, the dramatic critics did not cease to condemn as sharply as before. By then, the old world having been trans habitused by the war, a new generation had grown up to accept him. Supreme though he had been in his own publicizing of ideas, the parallel preaching of H.G Wells and other s had bring forward helped to make his Socialism and his general attitude to ideas and society part of the mind of the age. But socialists as well as others could still be amazed as the old man, with the energy and the unpredictable originality of his genius, produced such plays as The Apple Cart, Too True to be Good, Geneva and In Good King Charless sumptuous Days.In this long period of dramatic writing, Shaw displayed the range of his genius in a swell variety of plays. It is hard, however, to discern any clear periods or trends in his development. At most, there is on the whole a change of theme from the particular to the general, from the contemporary scene to the future day and of attitude from the satiric and destructive to the philosophical and constructive, from the materialistic to the mystic. If there is any real division to be made in Shaws dramatic development it is the First War that marks it. uneffective to produce any new work in those four years, when he resumed with Heartbreak House, he was on the whole as a dramatist to a greater extent philosophic than before, and more concerned with the future.In his own account, Shaw refers to Man and Superman as marking the emergence of what he himself aimed to be as a dramatist, one of the artist-prophets in the succession of men like Goethe and Ibsen. In his summary of his first years as a playwright, he remarks that in the early nineties, he constitute the existing state of English Theatre intolerable. The fashionable theatre prescribed one serious subject clandestine adultery the dullest of all subjects for a serious author.The exuberant high spirits which characterized his plays before 1914, often bringing into his comedy a lively element of farce, did not appear so lots afterwards. Instead, something of grandeur and poetry found expression in famous passages of Saint Joan and Back to Methuselah, though hiss comic vision still played freely and variously, fully exemplifying the Shavian wit and humour.Heartbreak House was the first play that had been written with such deep underlying seriousness. He called it a fantasia on English themes in the Russian manner, by which he alluded to his being partly inspired by Chekhov, and symbolically through its characters it presents a world which has disjointed its direction, a world of futilities and insincerities struggling to find reality, a world which to one of the characters appears this cruel,damnable world.In his 1923 cycle, Shaw felt himself to be co-operating with the Life Force, for through his drama he was declaring that, if only mankind had the will to control its evolution, it could in time achieve perfection, and his metabiological pentateuch therefore become part of this purposive process.When he had thus fulfilled his great wish to express his fundamental religious faith as a Creative Evolutionist, Shaw returned in Saint Joan to a drama of his normal scope and manner. Its heroine, represent as a sane and shrewd coun try girl of extraordinary strength of min and hardihood of bodya thorough daughter of the dry land in her peasantlike matter-of-factness and doggedness, she was however, in her creators mind an instrument like himself of the Life force. In The Apple Cart, he turned again to the future and to the dismay of those who had regarded him as an advanced advocate of democracy showed that the highest ability could be found as well in a king as in a peasant.His brilliance was undiminished and to the end his extraordinary vitality of mind animated all he wrote.Shaws ideas can never cease to form an important part of his dramatic legacy, any more than we can appreciate Shakespeare without reference to the view of life which lies behind his work. Nevertheless, it is as dramatist upon the stage that Shaw demands primitive consideration. In his own day, Shaws command over audiences which by no means consisted only of those who shared his ideas was an obvious fact.His wit was always subservient t o the entireness working of the genius of the comic playwright. His dramatic instinct, indeed, was altogether transcendent and so willfully fashioned its own play that the audience almost forgot in its captivate the seriousness of the lesson it had been offered.Those who saw Man and Superman at a performance in which in the Third Act of Juan in Hell was omitted were quite warrant in not realizing how much lay behind the farcical comedy of John Tanner trying to flee from the pursuing Ann. Hence, the Prefaces which not only took proceeds of the success of a play to make a more comprehensive and detailed attack but which had often to make the public fully witting of matters which the inspired comic Muse had transmuted into laughter. Shaw once spoke of the lightness of heart without which nothing can succeed in the theatre, and in his own paradoxical jointure of the prophet and the jester lies the assurance of his dramatic survival.Shaws plays give the impression of his creative po wers working in a spontaneous unity. His success lies partly in the command of stagecraft which instinctively he knows how to turn stage situation to profit. His characterization, however, sometimes lacks the power of fully convincing us, because it does not always arise from such fast creative insight as does the general idea of the play, but is to some extend dependent on that idea for the nature and variety of its figures.Of outstanding undivided characters many surely hold up the individuality which lives in its own right, a Bluntschli or a Father Keagan, or a Shotover or Saint Joan. Women, supra all, he read and presented with a cunning unromantic realism which suggests, like the novelist Richardson, he understood women even better than men to Saint Joan may be added among his many acutely and vividly realised women Raina, Cleopatra, Candida, Ann Whitefield, Major Barbara Jennifer Dubedat, and Eliza Doolittle, to name only a few.In two directions his characterization possess ed special power- in evoking our clement interest in unattractive people like Mrs. Warren and Louis Dubedat, and in creating beings of broad comedy of a Dickensian vitality like Candidas father, Straker and Alfred Doolittle. another(prenominal) gifts affecting characterization included his ability to allow for the existence in a character of the intuitive, that sort of sixth sense which when it is possessed, gives an extra dimension to personality, and his intellectual of good simple souls, as pre-eminenetly in the Saint.Effectiveness of Assertion is the Alpha and omega of style. He who has nothing to assert has no style and can have none he who has something to assert will go as far I n power of style as its momentousness and his conviction will caryr him. confound his assertion after it is made, yet his style remains. With his union of assertion and provocation, his style is never dull. There is the further animation given by the dramatic contact of dialogue which shares the g eneral effect of spontaneity.

Neural Grafts for PD Symptoms

Neural Grafts for PD SymptomsNew Neurons for OldThe Swedish neuroscientist Patrik Brundin was twelve years old when his preceptor was diagnosed with PD. He resolved to devote his life to finding a cure for the disease and elected to study medicine at Lund University in Sweden. In the belatedly 1990s, he joined Anders Bjrklund, a pioneer of neural transplantation, to work on a series of neural grafts aimed at reversing the symptoms of PD. A neural graft is an observational procedure for transplanting neural tissue into the brain. The operations were controersial because the transplanted neural tissue came from aborted fetuses.Research had shown that the optimal time to transplant human fetal-brain tissue from the substantia nigger was from six to eight weeks after fertilization. Because only 10 percent of the fetal cells are likely to survive the entire procedure, the neurosurgeon whitethorn need to implant cells from multiple fetuses in one operation.To prepare for the operation, the fetal tissue has to be dissected under the microscope so that only those cells whose destiny is to make dopamine would be transplanted. Attached to the substantia nigra tissue are cells that have different fates to become cartilage, whittle, etc. If the surgeon isnt careful and grafts these cells into the brain, theyd grow into big bits of skin and cartilage. It is a diffuse process. The entire fetus is only the size of a fingernail the substantia nigra, the size of a pin.After hours of painstaking dissection, the fetal cells will be mixed with a chemical called trypsin to dissociate the cells into a liquid suspension.Researches with rats had shown that fetal cells grafted in the substantia nigra did non reverse PD-like symptoms, because the grafted nerve fibers could not grow long enough to reach their targets in the striatum. So the neurosurgeon will implant the fetal cells in the striatum.In the 1990s, 18 cases of neural grafting operations were conducted at Lund, and o ver 300 worldwide, with further results. By 1999, m any people believed this method is the only way to cure PD. But for others, the results were uncontrolled trials with a potential for a placebo effect. This led two teams in the United States to propose controlled blind trials of fetal tissue transplantation operations. Patients entering the trial would be assigned to one of two radicals a treatment group and a control group. Patients would not know which group they were in and would continue taking their regular dopaminergic medication.The first study performed the trial separately for people over and under sixty. The doctors held follow-up meetings with the patients for twelve months. In 2001, the team reported the results. The over-sixty treatment group experienced no measurable improvement compared to the control group. The under-sixty treatment group got close to improvements, but the researchers found worrying evidence of adverse side effects facial dystonias and dyskinesi as. Unlike L-dopa-induce dyskinesias, which disappear as patients medication wears off, these dyskinesias were coming from the graft, and they were permanent.The arcminute study assigned the patients randomly to two treatment groups one using material from a single fetus, the other using material from four fetuses and a control group. The groups were followed for two years and tested using UPDRS. There was no difference between the three groups, showing that fetal dose didnt matter, and again some patients developed graft-related dyskinesias.These two studies killed the field of neural transplantation.A decade after these studies, Brundin is still a strong supporter of neural grafting. He claims the studies had numerous flaws. Brundin may be correct about neural graftings efficacy. It worked in the cases of two patients in the Lund series. The two patients were diagnosed thirty years ago. Both responded well to L-dopa, but developed backbreaking L-dopa-induced motor complication s. In the 1990s, they went to Lund, where the surgeons transplanted dopaminergic fetal tissue into the striatum on both sides of their brains. After four years, both patients could drop all dopaminergic mediations. Their PET scans showed clear signs of cutting dopamine production in the striatum, and their motor states, as measured by the UPDRS, showed a sustained benefit.These cases showed that this bold strategy can work and serve as a caution against dismissing neural grafts prematurely. The early scientific trials of levodopa failed. But scientists like George Cotzias persisted and worked out the correct dosing regimen, and the failure turned into spectacular success. In Europe, a thumping trial called TRANSEURO is under way involving some 150 patients. The work might redeem neural grafting.In the last few years, a potential selection to fetal cells and embryonic stem cells has become available. In 2006, Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka showed in mice that ordinary skin ce lls could be reprogrammed to become pluripotent capable of becoming any cell. Soon after, Yamanakas technique was achieved with human skin cells. Rather than using fetal cells, researchers can take a patients own skin cells, reprogram them to become so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), then let them develop into dopamine neurons. These neurons can be studied in the lab or grown for neural grafts. Such iPSCs not only bypass the ethical issues plaguing embryonic stem cells, but also have other advantages. Because iPSCs are derived from the patients own cells, there is no need for immunosuppressor drugs. But because there is a risk that such cells might turn cancerous, it may take decades to develop a safe and effective procedure.Key TakeawaysIn the late 1990s, Patrik Brundin worked on a series of neural grafts aimed at reversing the symptoms of PD.Two controlled blind trials of fetal tissue transplantation operations conducted in the United States in early 2000s showed that the treatment group experience no measurable improvement compared to the control group. It was also worrisome that some patients developed graft-related dyskinesias.In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka showed that ordinary skin cells could be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.

Ethical Issue Facing The Technology Industry Commerce Essay

good Issue Facing The engineering Industry Commerce EssayEthical issue facing industry (Charlie). We chose to read a look into the technology industry for our honorable analysis. We chose this industry because in todays world, technology has become a massive aspect in our e rattlingday lives. habitual technology is growing and become a bigger part in the world and the way it runs. Ethics is defined in the dictionary as, the discipline dealings with what is correct and bad and with moral duty and obligation. So we wanted to look into an industry that has had issues and would be worth our time looking into.Some issues that face the technology industry for companies like orchard apple tree, IBM, and Google atomic number 18 production issues as healthy as the selling practices. Specific bothy for Apple, a big issue that they are facing is their some(prenominal) production and selling practices. Apple has their products feed overseas in places like China while the goal of a co mpany should be to increase jobs in the countries that they are in. Apple is besides taking advantage of China and the fact that the intermediate worker give rises under $200 per week. Apple has decided to do this however, because if they make their iPads in the unite States, they would cost over $1,100. So yes, they whitethorn be doing the people a favor in terms of price by creating these iPads overseas, solely at the same time they are taking advantage of a country in China because they k instantly how cheap the savvy market is in that respect. We slang products overseas because Chinese manufacturing jobs are paid 1/30th of the United States median salaries for manufacturing jobs (Thompson, Derek).These businesses, especially Apple, are churning out products on a quick, symmetric basis. So what Apple has done is created a massive profit margin on their products so that they piece of tail keep creating new products, which are essentially software system updates, instead of just allowing people to upgrade their software solely. Apple has made it so that their 32 gb iPad 2 sells for $729, simply when you add up their labor and material costs to refer these iPads, it exactly comes out to about $325. This gives Apple a profit margin of around 54% and allows them to have customers buy shop new products instead of just allowing them to upgrade the software on their products that they purchased within the past year (Thompson, Derek).Companies like Google are facing issues of being deceptive and collect to show more Corporate Social Responsibility because their customer is the nigh important aspect of their company. Privacy International ranked Google as the worst in its survey, they say that Google is the worst when it comes to respecting their users privacy. Congress was likewise warned about applications that Google was marketing on Capitol Hill because people believe that there were privacy and security risks. Google in any case does not discl ose its conflicts of interest they keep their customers in the dark, as well as not fulfilling their social tariff. Google says that they work for the people that use their site but Google really works for advertisers on their sites. People who use Google pay nothing to use it, so Google has a conflict of interest of whether theyre working for their users, who are their customers, or the advertisers on their site. This makes users of Google have a false sense of security while using the site and can put users at risk of being defrauded. Google is all about who will make them the roughly money, and not about doing things the adjust way. They say they hold auctions for awarding keyword searches to the highest bidder but to whoever makes Google the most money.Google has also been accuse of stealing, which is neither ethical nor prudent. Viacom sued Google for a clear illegal business model. Google is also being sued by no less than five different industries. Viacom is suing Googl e in the TV broadcasting industry. Motion Picture necktie has sued Google over aiding the piracy of films by promoting sites that allow users to download movies without buying them. Some trademark owners have had Google sell keywords that are their brands, which in turn has created brand confusion. curb publishers and newspapers for things like copyright infringement, and illegal use of newspaper headlines have also sued Google. Google has shown little ethical compass as well. When former CEO Eric Schmidt was confronted about the fact that Google and their privacy issue, Schmidt said that they were not concerned with privacy and protection because it would slow down Google and their performance. Google has placed speed over their ethics and social responsibility to their users. It is understandably wrong to place profits and money over customers and ethics. (Cleland, Scott).Some ethical issues facing a company like IBM, which is big into things like Information technology (IT). People who work in IT for IBM has several things that they need to look at. People in IT play a large role in helping devise ethical aspects of their organizations. IBM has to look into privacy and establish a freedom from intrusion for the customers as well as control of their customers personal information and as well as allowing customers to avoid unwarranted surveillance. IBM works to help their customers keep these three aspects intact. IBM is working to protect the privacy of their customers so they can avoid being defrauded and early(a) problems that may arise.The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has accused IBM of bribing officials in the governments of South Korea with both cash and free computers. These bribes supposedly helped IBM obtain contracts in South Korea that worth a supposed millions of dollars. IBM has also been charged with creating secret funds for officials in China as well. This shows how bribery overseas has become a large issue for United States companies. This showed a problem that IBM had in their department of internal controls to stop these problems. IBM was calling these payments as legitimate expenses that were used for businesses. IBM was essentially forging their books and records, also a very unethical practice. IBM was working with travel agencies to help create fake invoices. (Hilzenrath, David S).These businesses within the technology industry are where we thought we found the biggest ethical issues concerning social responsibility of the corporations in terms of things like bribery, privacy and other ethical issues. We believe these are the biggest issues facing companies today and thought it would be helpful to see how they actuate such a large and growing industry in our world today.Pressures facing the industry (Alicia)There are many pressures that stupor the technology industry. well-nigh of the pressures that are growing for this industry come from employees, governments, consumers, suppliers, advocacy groups, and stakeholders. Some of the compasss that are receiving attention with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are as follows global responsibility, transparentness with company information, environment issues, and safe labor practices (Cadmus, 2009).Global ResponsibilityMost companies in the technology industry, such as Apple, IBM, and Google, are Multinational Corporations (MNCs). This causes those companies to be in the spotlight as a attractor. Consumers, governments, and advocacy groups for CSR expect these MNCs to step up and assume wider responsibilities in the social arena (Smith, 2003). Society sees big businesses that are growing globally and gaining more power, and they believe that with the power comes an obligation to attend to the community in which it operates (Smith, 2003). Apple, for example, is one of the most powerful companies in the world, let alone the technology industry. Because of that and the fact that they continually are innovating in creating new types of technology, people believe that Apple should use that innovation to help the world and contribute to social change. tally to a Forbes article, technology has become central to fighting disease, distributing food, improving education, and Apple should be a leader (Klein, 2011).TransparencyCompanies are receiving pressure from society to be transparent in their business practices. People, such as employees and stakeholders, are searching for the answers about how these companies are doing business and where their products are coming from. At this day and age, customers can fuck off out any information they want about companies, with all of the social media available. Therefore, the pressure to be highly transparent about both good and bad things in the company is becoming more and more important (Monahan, 2012). The idea is that if businesses dont put their information out there, people will still come about it and it will look as though the business was trying to hid e that information from the public.EnvironmentActivist groups are making a movement to make sure businesses are taking care of the environment while conducting their business operations. Of course there are government regulations that companies are legally supposed to follow, but there are also many groups that put the pressure on these companies to go over any beyond. As the need for energy increases, pressure increases on these technology companies to reduce materials used for their products, reduce effects of production processes in the environment, and use materials in production that have a little environmental impact (Business for Social Responsibility, 2011).Safe laborThe media is really affecting how companies have been running with their unsafe labor standards. Businesses can no longer shrink away with child labor and unfair working conditions in foreign countries like they used to. If they do, they will most likely get caught because all of the different types of medias will find it and broadcast the companys unethical practices. Apple has become scrutinized in the media because of their unfair labor practices involving their manufacturing partner Foxconn and its subsidiaries (Sethi, 2012). Increased pressure on Apple and Foxconn has at least change magnitude their amount of unethical labor practices overseas, but it still hasnt done away with it completely.These pressures on the technology industry will likely decrease shareholder repute on each firm if nothing is done about it. However, trends are showing that these firms are taking the pressures of ethical issues seriously. If the businesses continue to improve on their CSR, it is most likely that shareholder value and profitability will rise because of their ethical stance in society.Corporate social responsibility activities (Josh)CSR ActivitiesIBMIBM has shown in many ship canal that they support the communities they serve and strive to make not only when themselves better but also the co mmunities they operate in. IBM provided nearly $12 million in grants in 2011 to 4,000 schools and non-profit organizations where IBM members were volunteered. These grants were given to projects that applied innovation and professional skills to improve the communities that they served. IBM also has a grant program that gives up to $100,000 to innovative projects created by its employees that deal with healthcare, energy preservation and food safety. Along with this, IBM has a program that it calls Celebration of Service that encourages their employees to go out and volunteer at least eight hours for any cause that they paying attention support. Many individuals volunteered in areas of education, healthcare disaster relief and conservation. All-in-all, the program has yielded nearly 3.2 million hours of service from its employees in 120 countries across the clump. Lastly, IBM has a program that is called The Smarter Cities altercate in which IBM sends top experts from different ba ckgrounds to 100 cities across the globe for three weeks. While these experts are in these cities, they work with the local governments to make recommendations to try to make the city smarter and more effective. These recommendations come in the areas of administration, citizen engagement, economic development, education and workforce, environmental, public safety, transportation and urban planning. Through this program, IBM is trying to help make cities across the globe become more effective and efficient (2011 Corporate Social Responsibilities, 2012).AppleOver the past year, Apple has tried to improve its appearance in the area of incarnate social responsibility. Apple has made a significant effort to perform more audits on their supply chain. In 2011, Apple performed 229 total audits, 80% more audits than it did in 2010 with Steve Jobs as CEO. Of these 229 audits, more than 100 of them were performed on companies that had not been previously audited by Apple. Through these evalu ations of its supply chain, Apple found several environmental and labor issues, but they claim to have handled the situation by enforcing their policies and helping their suppliers management teams to take corrective action to ensure that it would not happen again. Apple has also recently added 100,000 more manufacturing employees to its program to help ensure that its current employees do not exceed their 60-hour maximum hours a week (Supplier Responsibilites, 2012). Apple has also recently started a program for its employees that will match any employees donation to a charity program of up to $10,000 (Hughes 2011). Apple has also made a conscious effort to reduce the amount of ampere-second emissions produced when manufacturing all of its products. In 2011, Apple reported that all of its products had a reduction in the amount of carbon emissions during the manufacturing process. Apple TV has seen 90% reduction in carbon emissions since 2007, MacBook Pro has seen a 21% reduction s ince 2007, and iPad has had a 5% reduction since 2010. Apple has also removed all of the toxic substances from its products that other companies still use, such as lead, mercury and arsenic in their glass screens. Because of this, Apple is years ahead of their competitors in technology, but also very socially responsible for taking these steps past their competitors to ensure their products will not harm the environment. Apple has also made all of its products extremely energy efficient. For example, an average 60-watt incandescent light bulb uses 48.4 grams of CO2 emissions per hour, while the 2011 MacBook Pro air only uses 7.4 grams an hour. All of Apples products not only meet the Environmental Protection Agencys strict Energy Star law, but they also exceed them. Lastly, Apple has made an effort to reduce and minimize the materials used in packaging its products. Since 2007, Apple has reduced the amount of packaging needed for the iPhone by 42 percent, allowing them to ship 80 pe rcent more boxes in each airline-shipping container (Apple and the Environment, 2012).GoogleGoogle has programs that give grants to select charitable organizations by giving them ad space on their site for free. Some of these organizations represent things such as animal rights, literacy to accustomed children and HIV education. Google has many other grant programs, especially supporting areas in Asian countries, giving grants to colleges and education programs. The most recent included giving 164 computers to the light-green Computer Action for Poverty Alleviation. Google also attempts to be socially responsible with its environmental procedures. Google claims that to provide a user with three full weeks of streaming YouTube videos, Google only uses the amount of energy it takes to do one load of laundry. Googles data centers are some of the most efficient in the world, only using 50% of what the average data center uses. Not only does Googles data centers use less energy than mo st, Google has also began to use 33% of its total energy needed by renewable energy sources such as wind farms and solar panels on some of it facilities. Googles main focus is try to offset the carbon footprint it produces by investing in and using more renewable energy than it uses (A better web. Better for the envrinoment. 2012)In conclusion, not much was found IBM trying to improve its corporate social responsibility in areas of bribery and privacy. Although, IBM is still notably one of the most responsible companies in the industry and the world. IBM has many programs to help the communities that it operates in all across the globe. Next, Apple has made attempts to become more responsible within its supply chain and labor practices within the last two years. Apple has also maintained its solid reputation for being an environmentally conscious and consumer conscious company. They have made attempts implement change in the ways their production practices. Google, on the other ha nd, has not made many changes in the areas of deception and fraud. However, they are known for being a very environmentally friendly company.Social/Ethical Investment Policy RecommendationIn todays corporate society, it can be rather difficult to find a company that has strict adherence to ethical standards it has place for corporate social responsibility. However, there are some firms in the marketplace that are dedicated to both doing business in a socially responsible way and also increase shareholder value. Therefore, it is important for Virginia tech to take into account the corporate social responsibility of the companies for which they invest. Due to the fact that Virginia Tech is educating thousands of the worlds future business leaders, they should make sure they are setting the right example for America future. If Virginia Tech ignores how companies do business, and instead just focus on who can provide them with the cheapest price, it start a slippery slope among the you ng minds that receive their education at the institution. Also, since Virginia Tech offers an Ethical Leadership class that stresses the splendour of corporate social responsibility, it would seem to very hypocritical if it were not to follow on the exact information it dissents to students. Therefore, it seems incredibly important to me that Virginia emerge as leader among state intuitions and makes ethical responsibility one of the main factors it uses when making investment decisions.Most of the reasons for Virginia Tech incorporating ethical issues into their investment decisions are ethical but there are also some financial aspects as well. First, Virginia Tech will need to accept the fact they often times the most ethically responsible company may not be the cheapest option out on the market. Therefore, they will need to plan for the fact they may end up with smaller investments or gains because the most ethical company may not necessarily be the best investment. However, jus t because Virginia Tech chooses to not invest in unethical companies with higher returns, does not mean the University will lose money. Simply put, the University will have to spend more searching for ethically sound companies that also drag high returns on their investments. Choosing to investment responsible companies will be a time intensive strategy that may not pay off in the short term, but long term will definitely have its benefits. Also, because of the amount of time spent searching for ethically smart investments, the process may come under fire by shareholders (Fontinelle, 2012). Therefore, choosing to invest in responsible companies will be a difficult decision but one that is right for Virginia Tech in the long run.Clearly, Virginia Tech should be expected to make financial sacrifices in their investment decisions in order to make sure they are choosing the most socially responsible company. With the business strategy so clearly focused on the bottom line and not how a company achieves this number, Virginia Tech would truly be living out its Ut Prosim motto. By establishing itself as a company that will only invest in the most socially responsible companies, more and more industries will choose to follow this avenue. Virginia Tech is a large institution that investors would be enthusiastic to receive funds from. If Virginia Tech makes it clear that they will only invest in companies that have strict ethical standards, more companies will oblige to these rules to gain the Universitys business Therefore, the amount of unethical companies will diminish making investment choices for the University all the easier. By establishing itself as an an ethical investor, Virginia Tech could diminish the amount of irresponsible firms in the marketplace, while increasing the amount of companies that perform business in the right way.Investment Recommendations (Charlie)We believe that Virginia Tech could and should invest in firms in the technological industry. The technological industry is a massive industry and still growing every single day. It would be beneficial for Virginia Tech to get involved with companies in this industry because the world now runs on technology. The dependency of the world on technology has become incredible. Everyone knows how to use technology and everyone wants to be updated with the newest products. Yes, there are possible problems and ethical issues that arise in this industry, but it does not mean that everyone in this industry have problems arising constantly. This industry has been growing with such rapid pace that it would be beneficial for Virginia Tech to get invested in this area.Virginia Tech should most certainly favor firms that are more socially responsible in the technology industry. The most important thing when it comes to investing is making sure that you are investing in a company that has an investment in you. Virginia Tech needs to look into companies that have a tale of being socially an d ethically responsible. The returns may not be as great as the very top companies in this industry but if they go with a company that is socially responsible, they are less likely to run the risk of being hurt by the company not fulfilling their responsibilities. Virginia Tech is also a school that is big into technology as well and the best way for them to set a positive example is for them to invest in socially responsible companies. This will benefit companies that may not be at the very top of scale. This could start a trend where other schools and investors will be more open to the idea of investing in companies that are more socially responsible. This may turn the mentality of the investor by moving their motive from most profit to most socially responsible.

Understanding Company Law

Understanding Comp any(prenominal) LawIn the present day situation it is the general object lens of corporate lawmuch the same as some other augmentation of lawis likely to serve the interest of society by and large and guaranteeing a reasonable treatment of any circumstance that may emerge in this respect including different gatherings that packaged in the working of any bon ton. More particularly, the trump possible destination of corporate law is to improve the aggregate welf ar of all who are affected by an organisations activities, including the organizations shareholders, laborers, suppliers, and customers, and also outsiders, for instance, close-by gatherings and communities which ask an essential part in making the proper set up for the smooth running of the business under consideration. This is the thing that economists would depict as the travel for general social benefit. It is often said that the destinations of corporate law should be narrower. Particularly, it is on occasion said that the correct piece of corporate law is sightly to ensure that the association serves the best point of interest of its shareholders or, more especially, to open up budgetary returns to shareholders or, more especially still, to extend the current business embody of corporate share.In the throw offn Case, Jeb is Henrys sibling, who was given 2% of the shares in Farming Solnsplc, by Henry. Jeb is a non-official chief of the organization, But Jeb sets up an organization, with, Joseph, called Wiltshire Parts. This new organization is to give extra parts to this second hand hardware. He accepts that in light of the fact that he has data in regards to where the hardware is generally sold, he has a readymade client tooshie.The rights any shareholder has in any specific organization for the most part rely on upon the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the organizations articles of affiliation, the terms of unloose of the shares (which are normally in the articl es, however once in a while are in a determination) and any shareholders agreement Concocting the right share capital structure is a complex process in the realms of any business. Organization Law Solutions Limited gives a master advice to setting up divers(a) classes of shares, drafting articles of affiliation and shareholders understandings. The general circumstance is that in exchange for putting resources into an organization a shareholder gets a heap of rights in the organization which may differ as per the sort of shares obtained. Most organizations just have one class of shares (conventional shares) however the law in the UK is to a great degree pliant and permits any classes of shares to be made. This is carried out by setting out the distinctive rights connected to the different classes (typically in the organizations articles). Henry should know, what rights are appended to the diverse classes of shares is basically a matter for the organization to focus.In case of the c ase study at hand, Herny should be understood that the directors go about as operators of their company. They have notable duties, which are to the organization itself, however not to its shareholders, its representatives or any individual outer to the organization, for example, the general public. Although an organization is a legitimate individual in law, it is not human. Since the human relationship in the middle of executives and the organization is by extremely impersonal nature, it may be pondered simply what duty implies. The directors hold a position of trust on the grounds that they move everywhere contracts in the interest of the organization furthermore controls the organizations property. Since this is comparable being a Trustee of the organization, directors have guardian obligations. This constitutes some of the fiduciary duties of the directors of any company.As it can be seen in this case, Jeb, being a non-executive director of the company is entitled to obey cert ain duties and has definitely failed to realize that he cannot make profits at the cost of the companys interest. This is reflected in his act of taking up another business venture with another partner and intends to use the client base of farming solnsplc for his vested interests. In such case, Henry can claim this act of Jeb as fairly illegal and unconstitutional which, in turn have dangerous repercussions on Jebs professional life.When it comes to the state of liquidation, it should be understood by the directors and other chiefs of the organisation that it certainly leads to an elevated danger of individual claims and directors preclusion. The directors of an belly-up(predicate) organization have an obligation to put the interests of creditors, in this case, the agent in front of all different interests. On the off chance that they keep on trading the organizations business past the moment that indebted liquidation gets to be unavoidable, they buy a genuine hazard which can h ave devastating results on individual as well as professional front. The given case of the farming company solnsplc, it has been cited that the creditor has already put several requests in this regard with the company but still has not received the due payment for more than a year. So, as per the existing test for insolvency, the company might end up being declared insolvent if the debt owed is more than 750 and has been served a formal demand for an undisputed sum at the companys registered office and the debt has not been paid for three weeks. As of this stance, the company runs a high risk of being declared insolvent.Insolvency might likewise be a trigger an occasion where the qualifying suppliers and clients take defensive measures under contracts with the organization. This can incorporate end of agreement and other authorization measures. On the off chance that an organization is in this manner set into liquidation or organization, any exchanges the organization went into for a time of up to two years prior to the bankruptcy strategy started, can be audited on occupation by the delegated indebtedness expert, and switched if the organization was bankrupt at the time and the exchange occurred for either short of what the business esteem or gave certain lenders need over others. Fake transactions are additionally reviewable without time limit.ReferencesDOUGLAS C. NORTH, INSTITUTIONS, INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE (1990) THE FRONTIERS OF THE NEW INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS (John N. Drobak John V.C. Nye eds., 1997) Oliver E. Williamson, The New institutional Economics Taking Stock, Looking Ahead, 38 J. ECON. LIT. 595 (2000)Bernard Black Reinier Kraakman, A Self-Enforcing Model of incorporate Law, 109 HARV. L. REV. 1911, 1913 (1996).Cf. Douglass C. North, Economic Performance Through Time, 84 AM. ECON. REV. 359, 362-63 (1994)Jonathan R. Macey and Geoffrey P. Miller, Toward an Interest-Group Theory of DelawareCorporate Law, 65 TEXAS LAW REVIEW 469 (1987) Ehud Kamar, A Regulatory Competition Theory of Indeterminacy in Corporate Law, 98 COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW 1908 (1998).

Appearance Vs. Reality Essay -- essays research papers

One of the characteristics of Realism, in American literature at least, is the ironic use of perceptions of sort vs. reality. With this in mind, Henry Jamess The Real Thing and The Beast in the Jungle be two works wherein such characteristics can be shown to solve as James employs cleverly woven twists of appearance and reality in each of the plots.In Jamess The Real Thing, the plot is centered on an unnamed artist and his interactions with two sets of models the Monarchs (members of genteel society), and Miss Churm and Oronte (members of the working class). The ironically named Monarchs are a couple who appear as though they bedevil disco biscuit thousand a year but whose lives diverge dramatically from the literal definition of a monarch. Upon introduction to the artist, they unwittingly deceive him into initially assuming that they are interested in commissioning a portrait in fact, the Monarchs are seeking work as sitters. The case of mistaken identity is further heighten by the artist who pretends to be a nifty painter of portraits but who is actually an illustrator whose depictions of nobility constitute his main source of income his pot-boilers. Jamess basic interplay of character identity with appearance and reality serves as a clever backdrop for the story where reality conflicts with appearance.While their outward social appearance and actions have an indefinable air of prosperous thrift and personify that of high-class society, the Major and Mrs. Monarch are actually penniless and no longer members of the genteel sect. moreover the Monarchs are unable to resolve their appearance of high society with their reality of financial destitution, and remain psychologically entrapped in a self-imposed netherworld of pseudo-culture and pseudo-class. insistent upon being treated as members of the high society to which they no longer belong, the Monarchs also present a conflict of appearance and reality for the artist because he is forced to allow the m the social deference of portrait sitters, yet pay them as models (viewed as their superior but not their equal). The complexity of appearance vs. reality is further illustrated when the artist realizes that while Major and Mrs. Monarch may appear to be the real thing, he is unable to transform their outward reproval of nobility onto his canvas without sacrificing his ... ...m. James counters Marchers emotional distance from reality with May Bartrams embrace of life and love. But it is through the voyeuristical glimpse into Marchers internal machinations that readers understand the waste of a life based upon appearances.Like the Monarchs in The Real Thing whose marriage to appearances entrapped them in world devoid of emotion, John Marchers identity is innately linked to fine things, intrinsic features, pictures, heirlooms, and treasures of the arts and he is similarly constrained in a self-imposed world of apathy. Although it appears that Marcher has an enriched life, he is act ually a man with rather colourless (emphasis added) manners who is satisfied to wait for the elusive ample thing to happen. Because Marcher remains afraid to confront the beast (the metaphoric unknown in life), it is not until the death of May Bartram that he realizes her love for him was the great thing, and that he was waiting for something that he unknowingly possessed. The simple truth that John Marcher recognized albeit too late is that It wouldnt have been failure to be bankrupt, dishonoured, pilloried, hanged it was failure not to be anything.

The Power of Kurtz in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

The Power of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness Power has been defined as the psychological relations over some other to bear them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of baron from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to be watch in a way they take appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Kurtz had apower over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable. Kurtz is one of many men sent into the jungle to rape the land and its people of its natural resources. Many men have journeyed into the jungle also refereed as the heart of darkness never to return. Kurtz goes into the jungle and becomes obsessed with the people and the land. Though Kurtz has an obsession with ivory this is not the sole fence for him to oversta y his welcome in the jungle. Power this is what kept Kurtz in the jungle for such a long period of time. Determined not to become another causality he becomes allies with the essentials through fear. Kurtz is a brilliant man who did not have to adapt to his environment but had it adapt to him. On travel by of a hill his hut is surrounded by the heads of men who have betrayed in him some sort, this serves as a reminder to anyone who contemplates going against his wish. When Marlow finally reaches Kurtz he is in declining health. This same jungle which he loved, embraced and consumed with every ounce of his flesh had also taken its toll on him. Marlow finally meets the man whose name has follow him on his river journey. Could this frail human be the ever so powerful Kurtz? The man who has journeyed into uncharted territories and has come back with scores of ivory and the respect of the native tribe. Yes, this was the very man and though he is weak and on his way to death his powe r still exudes from him. This is where the definition of power comes in to play the psychological relation see even though his body was decomposing his mind was still sharp.