Theories of Plate Tectonics - 1109 Words

According to the theory of plate tectonics there is constant motion in the lithosphere which causes the many plates lying upon it to move relatively to one another due to convection currents. There are 3 boundaries where volcanic and seismic events, but not limited to, occur. The constructive plate boundary is where 2 plates, such as the North American plate and the Eurasian plate move apart causing sea-floor spreading and volcanic activity – when the less dense basaltic lava from the asthenosphere rises and forms new crust. The destructive plate margin is where dense oceanic plate is subducted under a continental plate forming a sea trench and fold mountains (e.g. the Nazca plate suducting under the South American plate has formed the Peru-Chile trench and the Andes Mountains); when two oceanic plates converge subdution begins. This forms ocean trenches and island arcs (e.g. the Pacific plate is being subducted under the Philippine plate forming the Marianas Trench and the volcanic islands Guam and Marianas. Seismic activity also occurs along the subducting plate being melted. Fold mountains are also formed when 2 continental plates converge, there is no subdution and no volcanic activity, however, the movement of the plates can cause shallow-focus earthquakes. This convergence is also referred to as collision zones. A prime example is the Indo-Australian plate being forced northwards into the Eurasian plate forming the Himalayas range. The final plate boundary is theShow MoreRelatedThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics769 Words   |  4 PagesPlate Tectonics The theory of plate tectonics has been explored throughout history because of similarities in coastal boundaries and other evidence found such as fossil records, geometric fit, mountain episodes, the paleoclimate observed, information about the ocean floor, ancient magnetism, distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes and heat flow from the earths core. There were early theories from Wegner’s continental drift which lacked an explanation for the mechanism that drove the continentsRead MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics1561 Words   |  7 PagesPlate tectonics is the theory that the Earth’s crust is divided into large and small plates that move slowly over time. The Earth’s lithosphere is made up eight major plates which include the Africa Plate, Antarctic Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, North American Plate, South American Plate, and the Pacific Plate. Earth also has dozens of smaller, minor plates (Plate Boundaries). Scientists used this theory to explain what is happening on Earth’s surface. The movementRead MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics1049 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theory of Plate Tectonics. The Theory of Plate Tectonics states that the lithosphere is divided into dozens of plates float on the asthenosphere and the plates move by convection currents. The theory was proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a German scientist. I will be discussing the evidence on the theory how we are able to better understand it, along with how we are able to prove his theory more accurate with modern technology. I will also be discussing how natural things such as, mountainsRead MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics917 Words   |  4 Pagesthe Earth. The theory of plate tectonics helps to explain how these changes happen. Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that describes the movement of Earth’s lithosphere which is the outer crust or Earth’s surface. The Theory of Plate tectonics states that the Earth’s crust is divided into many large and some smaller plates that move horizontal to each other. These plates move across the asthenosphere, which is a more pliable surface compared to the lithosphere (Kious). The theory is relativelyRead MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics1487 Words   |  6 PagesThe theory of plate tectonics says the lithosphere is split into different plates that move around on top of the surface of the Earth. Though it is just a theory geologic time, ocean trenches, seafloor spreading, mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes are all examples of evidence that support the theory of plate tectonics. Geologic time shows sediment patterns in different layers of the Earth. Geologic time is separated in three main periods called the Cenozoic Era, the Paleozoic Era, and the MesozoicRead MorePlate Tectonics Theories Analysis Essay852 Words   |  4 PagesPlate Tectonics Theories Analysis Since the beginning of human kind there has been a cloud of wonder regarding the natural processes and patterns of our planet. Scientist interested in this field through out the years, have developed many different theories to how our planet geological features have come about. The most widely accepted theory in this field is that of plate tectonics. For those who do not know much about the theory of plate tectonics;Read MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics And Continental Drift950 Words   |  4 PagesThe concept of plate tectonics is that the lithosphere, which is the higher layers of the Earth’s surface, is separated into a number of plates that float independently over the mantle and along the boundaries that initiate the development of new crust, the building of mountains, and the seismic movement that triggers earthquakes (Geosystems 340). Scientists have discovered that the landforms and geographic regions we know and live on today were formed when plate tectonics shift and create movementRead MoreVolcanic and Seismic Events as Proof of Plate Tectonic Theory2670 Words   |  11 Pagesevidence towards proving that plate tectonics theory is valid. A seismic event is the transient motion and release of kinetic energy caused by sudden failure of the earths crust, usually felt as shaking or tremors in the rock mass. Seismic events range in size from barely perceptible tremors to major earthquakes. Volcanic events occur when there is a release of magma, gas and ash from the Earth’s crust. The entire outer surface of the planet is divided into these plate formations with approximatelyRead MoreThe Theory Of Plate Tectonics And Earth s Crust Displacement1217 Words   |  5 Pagescompleted masterpiece due to this. Why is this? The most recent physical changes were caused by the theory of plate tectonics and earth’s crust displacement. Plate tectonics and its movement resulted in our continents drifting across the earth’s surface, and the creation of mountain belts, volcanoes, and the faults of today’s Earth. A German meteorologist and explorer Alfred Wegener put forth the theory of continental drift in the early 1900’s. Wegener pointed out that the earth’s continents lookedRead MoreTo what extent are volcanic landforms fundamental to our understanding of plate tectonics theory?1856 Words   |  8 Pageslandforms fundamental to our understanding of plate tectonics theory? (40) Plate tectonics theory is the scientific theory that describes the large-scale motion of the Earth’s lithosphere, which is broken up into tectonic plates. Volcanic landforms are undoubtedly very important in aiding our understanding of plate tectonic theory. However, there is other evidence that must be considered as well. Different types of volcanoes are created at plate margins due to the viscosity of the lava. The

Measure Of Dispersion Within Public And Nonprofit...

Measure of Dispersion is a descriptive statistic that complements the measures of central tendency as it indicates how data relates to a variable and its mean. As we examine the different types of measure of dispersion within public and nonprofit administration, we will also cross-examine this idea among other academic disciplines to discover how this statistical concept is used among other researchers. In addition, we will learn the importance of the proper utilization of identifying measures of dispersion and how to fully explain this idea. This is important because if we fail to properly use the measures of dispersion, we can jeopardize the reliability of our research and the validity of our data collected. Measures of dispersion reveals to a researcher how parts of data may gather around the mean of the variable of interest. Using measures of dispersion will also allow the researcher understand the population or sample of interest to help researchers draw better conclusions. To u nderstand measures of dispersion, we must first identify the statistical concepts that help us measure dispersion. As we progressed through primary and secondary schooling, we probably learned different mathematical concepts such as mean, median, mode, and range. These mathematical concepts may be considered easy mathematical concepts, but they are part of complex statistical ideas. Meier et al. (2015) discusses in his textbook the usage of range and other variety of dispersion measures. HeShow MoreRelatedImmigration And The Migration Policy Institute Essay1898 Words   |  8 Pagescultural shift experienced by these immigrants. Post-immigration residency also varies between the immigrant subgroups. As detailed by the 2010 Census Brief on the Hispanic Population, those of Hispanic descent often reside in the southwestern counties within California, Texas, etc. (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, Albert). 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Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesPrinter/Binder: Courier/Kendallville Cover Printer: Courier/Kendalville Text Font: 10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained

Entrepreneur Biography - Walt Disney free essay sample

At the time he paid a retired Doctor by the name of â€Å"Doc† Sherwood to produce images of his horse, Rupert. Later on his interest grew to train development in Marceline, specifically the Topeka and Santa Fe Railway where his uncle Michael Martin was the engineer (Disney, 2000). Four years later, the Disney’s moved to Kansas City where Walt Disney attended the Benton Grammar School. In school Walt Disney met Walter Pfeiffer who introduced him to the world of vaudeville and motion pictures (Disney, 2000). He continued to emerge himself in art and filmography as he attended courses at the Kansas City Art Institute and went to Electric Park. Adulthood At age 22 Walt Disney left Kansas City and made his way into Hollywood regardless of his insufficient money and materials. With the help of his brother Roy Disney they were able to use their resources and construct a camera to film in their uncles garage. Shortly they received an order from New York to produce the film â€Å"Alice Comedy† and began production (IMDb, 2010). In 1925, Walt married Lillian Bounds, one of his employees, in Lewiston, Idaho and had two daughters named Diane and Sharon Disney (Disney, 2000). Three years had passed and the infamous Mickey Mouse was first portrayed in the silent cartoon â€Å"Plane Crazy† but made his debut in â€Å"Steamboat Willie† which is known as the world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon. The production Mickey Mouse was the first milestone that began Walt Disney’s progression (Disney, 2000). Soon after, he began the production of full-length animated cartoon that contributed his launch to succession. By the time 1955 had arrive the entire globe had been entertained by Walt Disney’s creations especially with his television programming like â€Å"The Mickey Mouse Club† â€Å"Zorro† and Wonderful World of Color†. On December 15, 1966 Walt Disney had died from Lung Cancer (WDFM, 2012). Education Walt Disney began his early education when he attended Benton Grammar School where he recognizes his ability to draw. Once the family moved to Chicago in 1917, Disney attended McKinley High School in his freshman year and took night courses at the Chicago Art Institute. He returned to Kansas City after a year to begin working as a graphic artist, therefore, Disney had a total of 9 years of formal education (Disney, 2000). Family Walt Disney had a father named Elias Disney and a mother named Flora Disney. He has three brothers Herbert, Raymond, Roy, and Walter. And a sister named Ruth Disney. When he married Lillian Bounds in 1925 they conceived a girl by the name of Diane Disney and adopted a girl named Sharon Disney (IMDb, 2010). Diane married Ron Miller who was former president and chief executive of Walt Disney Productions; and Sharon served as a member of Disney Board of Directors (Disney, 2000) Work Experience As a high school dropout in 1917, Walt Disney tried to join the army but was rejected at the age of 16 for being too young (IMDb, 2010). He then joined the Red Cross for a year as an ambulance driver. Upon his arrival back, he had difficulty finding work as an artist or even as an ambulance driver. He then found temporary work at an Art Studio creating advertisements for newspapers, magazines and movie theatres. He also met his first start-up partner Ubbe Iwerks. Finally, he worked for Kansas City Film Ad Company where he learned all about animation and decided to become an animator (Gabler, 2006). Past Startup Background Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists† was founded in January 1920 after Walt and Ubbe decided to start their own company (Gabler, 20006). Their company however was a failure and both started to work in animation at the Kansas City Film Ad Company. After learning all about animation, he pursued another start-up with another co-worker Fred Harman. This time he created an animation business and started screening cartoon’s titled â€Å"Laugh-O-Grams† in a local theatre. Following their su ccess, Disney acquired Laugh-O-Gram studios, which soon went bankrupt due to Walt’s poor financial management. Later that year, Walt and his Brother Roy opened Disney Brothers’ Studio in Hollywood, California (WDFM, 2012). He then started selling his produced cartoons to a New York distributor that was a huge success. Everything was going well until Disney found out that his client had hired Walt’s animators under contract and took the rights to his most popular animated characters (Gabler, 2006). Motivation of Startup After losing everything, Walt and Ubbe decided to create another cartoon character now known as Mickey. After creating a series of short cartoons Mickey became the world’s most popular cartoon character in the 1930s. Walt created his first full-length animated musical feature in the production of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† which exceeded over $1,400,000 in profit (IMDb, 2010). Throughout 1937-1947 he continued to create full-length movies such as â€Å"Pinocchio†, â€Å"Fantasia†, â€Å"Dumbo†, and â€Å"Bambi†. Following his cartoon success, Walt thought it was possible to pursue his dream in creating a theme park and which is now Disneyland. After being rejected approximately 302 times (Cool Pup, 2012) for financing the park, he finally got approved and his venture would allow him to acquire ABC and open his second successful theme park, Disneyworld (JustDisney, 2003). The Walt Disney Company now has approximately 156,000 employees and had almost $41 billion in revenue the previous year (WDFM, 2012). Section 2 Stevenson’s Entrepreneurial Perspective on Walt Disney Note: This section pertains to Walt Disney while he had an influence on the Walt Disney Company until his death in 1966 and not the company at its current state. Strategic Orientation Strategic orientation is defined by Stevenson to be how one formulates strategy (2006). He mentions two styles: Promoter and Trustee and contrasts the two by describing the first as opportunity-driven and the latter as resource-driven. Walt Disney demonstrated many entrepreneurial traits throughout his animation business ventures. Even while working for other ad companies, he always ended up making his own company. I believe Walt Disney’s strategic orientation strongly reflects that of a promoter. Walt always pursued opportunities in entertainment because while Walt was producing still-cartoons at a previous job, he saw a bigger opportunity in animation and continued to pursue such opportunities as shown in his many transitions in the industry. He then started making short-film cartoons leading him to open his own animation business and acquire a studio (Gabler, 2006). He then saw opportunities by creating full-length feature films and even in creating his own theme park. Stevenson also states that a promoter’s fundamental task is to require the resources to pursue the opportunity. Walt Disney never gave up on Disneyland and was rumored to have been rejected financing for the theme park over 300 times (Cool Pup, 2012) until he struck a deal with ABC who agreed to help finance the park (JustDisney, 2003). He achieved his task and was driven to succeed in his financing. Walt can also be justified as a promoter because he operates in an industry with diminishing opportunity streams. Before his cartoon Mickey Mouse became a famous icon, Walt Disney constantly produced new characters and films to build his company’s reputation. Commitment to Opportunity Stevenson’s next concept is described as a person’s willingness to act (2006). Promoters are action-oriented and willing to act in short-time periods to chase their opportunities. He describes promoters to be action-oriented and have heavy involvement in risk management. Conversely, commitment for trustees is often time-consuming and usually takes a longer period of time. Through Walt’s journey we saw him deviate his concentration to many different forms of entertainment. He seemed to be involved with many cartoon characters until the creation of Mickey Mouse that lead to his huge success (IMDb, 2010). Walt’s ventures with his cartoons lead him to movies, television and the creation of the world’s most popular theme park. This revolutionary array of ventures reveals Disney’s commitment to opportunity as a promoter. He remained very action oriented in ensuring that he would follow through until his cartoons succeeded. As well, he was heavily involved in the risk management of his company because nobody was willing to invest in his Disneyland (JustDisney, 2003). He financed a lot of the park through the company and the other half through ABC and was determined to make the park succeed. With the park’s success, Disney had already made plans to commit construction for another one in Florida. His commitment to opportunity attributed largely to his company’s success. Commitment of Resources When it comes to the attainment of resources, Stevenson says that promoters go through many stages of resource commitment with the goal of minimizing resources (2006). On the other hand, trustees will commit upon a larger-scale after careful analysis and single stage commitment. In relation to Walt, a lot of his projects underwent a series of funding. In his early career as an artist and animator, he had to find a distributor for all his productions (Gabler, 2006) since he could never totally finance his business unless he was selling cartoons. Even after the company’s success and Walter won his first academy award for his creation of Mickey Mouse, when the company transitioned to make its first feature-length film â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† the studio ran out of money (Gabler, 2006). Since there were no formal venture capitalist groups at the time, the only way Walt could raise money was through loans. Eventually the movie would become the largest grossing film of the year (IMDb, 2010). The company went through many stages of funding to finance its various other projects. Similar to Snow White, Disneyland was funded in a similar manner where Walter would seek another loan to cover the costs of creating Disneyland (JustDisney, 2003). His journey through the resource commitment process mirrors promoter behaviour because he only sought funding when he needed it at multiple stages. Due to unpredictable resource needs and varied studio costs from film development, from a financial perspective Disney’s company was very chaotic. Control of Resources The use of resources in an organization plays a pivotal role in determining a company’s success. Stevenson describes promoters to only be concerned with their ability to use a resource while trustees seek to control their resources by attaining full ownership (2006). When it comes to the animation business, ownership plays a key role in everyday operations. When Disney lost the rights to one of his most successful characters â€Å"Felix the Cat† (Gabler, 2006), Walt found himself at a standstill. From that moment onward, Walt made sure to maintain full ownership on all his company’s future productions in order to preserve his business and avoid future legal conflicts. Due to the nature of the business, Walt relied heavily on his staff and had to employ full-time animators who could consistently produce the high quality entertainment the company was known for. As well, in order to make Disneyland and Disneyworld, the company needed to purchase large amounts of land (Gabler, 2006). A promoter style of management does not suit the Walt Disney Company for this section because Walt himself influenced so much of the company and could only have done so through ownership of all his resources. Therefore, Mr. Disney favored the administrative domain because of factors such as power and coordination. Having complete ownership and influence was essential to Disney in order to make sure his vision became a reality. His coordination was also important because it ensured he could take action without further approval from other partners. Management Structures Stevenson’s views on management place relationships at the core of every structure. Promoters rely on receiving valuable information for key actors while trustees rely on formal relationships within the company based on detailed rights and responsibilities. Trustee management is the only applicable management structure for the Walt Disney Company (2006). He states, â€Å"Only in systems where the relationship with resources is based on ownership or employment can resources be organized in a hierarchy† (Stevenson, 2006). With the company’s heavy emphasis on ownership on its productions and land as previously addressed, it is only appropriate that structure is required to delegate roles and responsibilities within the company. Walt’s company demonstrated many things that favour trustee management, the first being the need for clearly defined authority and responsibility and the next to be organizational culture. As the company increased in size, in order to ensure Walt could influence every level of management, there needed to be a formalized hierarchy common in many large corporations. Walt worked closely with his animators to ensure the company’s productions were under his direct approval (Gabler, 2006). Operating a large company also requires organizational culture because work needs to be formulated into a routine for employees to work within. Reward Philosophy When it comes to rewarding an organization’s employees, Stevenson finds that promoters reward employees based on their contribution and harvesting of value (2006). Investors and owners of the business want to generate returns to ensure they get their money back. Since performance is crucial in determining the success or failure of a start-up, key employees who help generate this value are usually rewarded on their performance. Trustee style management differs because compensation is usually pre-determined because of assigned responsibilities with the exception of small bonuses and promotions (Stevenson, 2006). Walt Disney maintained promoter behaviour because a lot of his employees such as the staff at his studio were hired on salary with bonuses of 20% of profits for the short cartoons (Hill, 2004). At the time, Disney was considered to have the highest paid workers with the best working conditions. Disney embodied the promoter style of management because of factors such as individual expectations and competition. After the success of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs†, Walt was known to have made â€Å"salary adjustments† to animators who he felt did exceptional work (Hill, 2004). As well, Disney strategically offered the best wages and working conditions in order to maintain its talent and attract more talent in a highly competitive industry. Section 3 Recommendations for Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company It is hard make comments and recommendations for one of the greatest and most ambitious entrepreneurs of all time but there a few things I would like to address in areas where I feel could have been handled differently. Although Disney operated in a completely different time period of more than 50 years ago, I will do my best to acknowledge the time period and his situation. 1. During the release of his first feature film â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† and his change to the reward policy, the strike of his whole nimation staff could have put his business into financial hardship. In order to avoid situations like these, Disney should have reported or at the very least consulted with HR professionals on a better payment plan to reward employees during successful productions, and also support employees adequately through financial hardship as experienced in World War 2. Because his employees are crucial to the op eration of the business, risky financial moves can have extreme and immediate effects on the company’s future. 2. The company found itself out of funds several times due to poor financial management. As previously mentioned, the company went bankrupt during the production of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† and it also did not have enough funds to complete Disneyland on its own. Although the company succeeded in both ventures, I believe that Walt Disney was poor at managing the company’s funds. In his earliest of animation days, his Laugh-O-Gram studios also went bankrupt as a result of overpaying his employees. He also tried to negotiate a price increase on his contract that actually resulted in termination of the contract, the loss of his production â€Å"Alice Comedies† and even most of his animation staff. He again was close to bankrupt and might have stayed that way had it not been for the creation his iconic â€Å"Mickey Mouse†. I believe that if there were a person with more financial experience and knowledge similar to the modern day equivalent to a Chief Financial Officer, he would have not reached such plateaus. As well if he had stronger legal advisors, he could have probably earned the rights back to his character and staff or at least won a settlement. While CFOs and law firms aren’t as readily available back then as they were today, I believe one thing that Disney lacked was his ability to have a reliable and knowledgeable management team that could have saved him a lot of hardship. Walt Disney is a remarkable man whose life work influenced the way people viewed imagination. His life dedication to providing entertainment was what helped him reach an entrepreneurial pinnacle. Arising from all failures and demonstrating a life committed to fulfilling his life goals lead him to be one of the most influential entrepreneurs of all time. References Cool Pup. (2012). Disneyland. In  Daily Celebrations. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. dailycelebrations. com/071799. htm Gabler, N. (2006). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. IMDb. (2010). Walt Disney Biography. In  IMDb. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www. imdb. com/name/nm0000370/bio Hill, J. (2004, June). Another look backat the 1941 Disney Studio Strike. In  Jim Hill Media. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://jimhillmedia. com/alumni1/b/wade_sampson/archive/2004/06/07/1204. aspx#. UJqz-Gl25YQ JustDisney. 2003). Disneylands History. In  Disneyland History. Retrieved November 7, 2012, from http://www. justdisney. com/disneyland/history. html Stevenson, H. H. (2006, April 13). A Perspective on Entrepreneurship. Harvard Business School,  9(131), 1-12. The Walt Disney Family Museum. (2012). About Walt Disney. In  Timeline. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www. waltdisney. com/timeline#41 Walt Disney. (2000). In   Walt Disney Biography. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. norsknettskole. no/fag/ressurser/itstud/fuv/gunnargrodal/bio. htm

Leadership in the United Arab Emirates

Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) prides in a fast growing economy that is quickly spreading into different sectors; for instance, manufacturing, construction, tourism, and financial sectors like banks. Vital organisational results like job satisfaction, organisational citizenship conduct, turnover intentions, and organisational commitment associate closely with leadership styles.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Leadership in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The aforementioned outcomes are decidedly evident across cultural orientations and in diverse backgrounds (Al-Dmour and Raed 247-249). Within the public sector, appealing leadership is modestly associated with motivational outcomes (Javidan and David 229-244). The influence of delegatory styles of leadership on the efficacy of followers and motivation is evident as well. Despite this aspect, the impacts of executive styles of leadership from participative and delegatory points of view have not been substantial in different sectors like the banking. Nevertheless, this research paper fills this information gap. This research paper evaluates the impacts of participative styles of leadership and compares it with impacts of delegatory leadership style on job satisfaction and self-identified feat of workers. In addition, other leadership styles taken into consideration include autocratic, consultative, pseudo participative, and pseudo consultative. Therefore, it is an esteemed actuality that leadership style plays a key role in influencing employee performance, and thus the choice of leadership style is a vital decision. Research objectives With the use of a survey questionnaire, this research paper aims at measuring the common and desired leadership styles and their influences in the context of the United Arab Emirates. Literature Review Leadership is the capacity to bring about self-belief and sup port amongst individuals that are required to attain organisational objectives. Leadership style is the amalgamation of attitude and conduct by a leader, which brings about particular reliability and predictability in managing employees; moreover, it also underscores the comparatively reliable prototype of conduct that typifies a leader (Dubrin 23-36). Studying of leadership style is a supplement to comprehending leadership conducts and approach. Leadership styles comprise autocratic, democratic, delegatory, participative, transactional, consultative, pseudo participative, and pseudo consultative (Mosadeghrad 85-86).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A leader could have the ability to perform efficiently in one condition, but not appear as efficient in another condition (Mosadeghrad and Yarmohammadian 11-28). Apparently, different leadership styles are required for di ssimilar circumstances and every leader should distinguish when to demonstrate a given approach. The following are some of the aspects that determine leadership style: Crisis condition Operation and magnitude of the organisation Phases in the organisation Proficiency and performance of support staff Rank in hierarchy Undertaking attributes and expertise The style of judgment making in every organisation is the outcome of intricate dealings of numerous aspects comprising the background and attributes of an organisation, the kind of judgments, and the aspects and inclinations of the judgment makers. The extent of complexity of the undertaking plays a major function in shaping the precise leadership style. In the previous decade, the increase of international markets created several cross-cultural organisations and the resulting discourses shaped the foundation for carrying out international business (Adler 34-46). Literature argues that leadership conduct is culturally decided. For instance, countrywide culture plays a major task in deciding the efficiency of a given leadership style. Likewise, state boundaries create substantial dissimilarities in leadership style. In cultural orientations where autocratic leadership style is practiced, it could be futile operating in a manner more typical of a democratic or participative leadership style. However, in a cultural orientation that supports a more humanistic and fostering leadership, it might be practical for a leader to become caring and understanding for such a culture allows and propagates such values and leadership style. Remarkably, a four-dimensional model shows that nationwide cultures differ and according to McKenna (56-58), they ultimately influence the choice of leadership style. Study in cross-cultural researches of administration upholds that managers take up dissimilar leadership styles, relying on the model of organisation and personal attributes. In addition, leadership style varies considerably f rom nation to nation. Arab cultural orientation has particular unique features that dictate managerial judgment and conduct. The style of leadership is a task of the state of industrialisation while cultural attributes play a noteworthy function in moderating its influences.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Leadership in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Researches on leadership styles have disclosed that, there not only exist differences in the leadership styles desired by followers in diverse cultures, but also the particular conducts that reveal these leadership styles, which might differ from culture to culture. Differences in cultural orientations might as well hinder the catholicity of fresh leadership models, like the transformation and transactional leadership styles. With respect to organisations, the impact of countrywide culture on personal performance is well institute d and the dissimilarities between cultural orientations of the West and of the East are moderately considerable. The differences in cultural orientations of different countries are replicated in the way organisations are formed and run (Chen 45-47). For instance, organisations in China and South Korea have a tendency of being possessed by initiators and family units. They have a tendency of being paternalistic, encourage values of collective ownership, uphold bureaucratic management, and centralised decision making with slight employee authorisation. In most cases, promotion relies heavily on family links and systems (El Kahal 78-90). Conventionally, the majority of Asian communities pursue a collectivist model. On the other hand, Western organisations are inclined to ownership by public investors and managed by a professional executive. These organisations are less bureaucratic, embrace decentralised judgment making, encourage individualism, and are more authorising to their employ ees (Chen 48-56). In most instances, promotion is associated with individual capabilities and merits. In Far East, no major style of leadership subsists in the building and construction industry in Hong Kong, although dominance for leaders to employ both consultative and participative leadership styles is a common practice. Studies of the judgment making approaches of the United Arab Emirates’ administrators and foreign workers imply that consultative leadership style is prevalent in this part. Furthermore, scholars and researchers have carried out several researches across the UAE and put forward that leadership in the cultural orientations of Arabs cultivate participative and consultative inclinations (Al-Dmour and Raed 250-258). This inclination reveals the control of Islamic and ethnic standards and attitudes.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Some of the crucial features that are of concern to comprehend in the quest to understand the significance of the preference of leadership styles include organisational commitment and job satisfaction, which are direct aspects on workers’ performance and sequentially organisational achievement. Job satisfaction Typically, job satisfaction is described as a role of an observed association involving what an individual requires from the job and what an individual sees as an offering. Job satisfaction is the degree to which an employee feels optimistically or pessimistically motivated concerning his or her job. Moreover, job satisfaction could imply a position that individuals uphold concerning their employments and their organisations, where they accomplish their tasks (Mosadeghrad 87-89). Job satisfaction is usually distinguished as a complex construct that embraces worker views concerning an array of both essential and nonessential job aspects. It covers particular features of contentment associated with recompense, gains, promotion, working situations, management, organisational customs, and affiliations with workmates. Job satisfaction includes a number of connected outlooks. For instance, individuals could experience arousing reactions to remuneration packages, promotion chances, associations with seniors and co-workers, and the job itself (McKenna 59-68). Workers that get job satisfaction are liable to being more fruitful and continue on the occupation as compared to their counterparts who do not get job satisfaction. In addition, satisfied workers are more resourceful and carry out a bigger function in judgment making within businesses. When a manager and his or her approach stand out as reliable, he or she brings about positive results for the business that ultimately influences job satisfaction. A research indicated that the utmost particular associations with confidence were corresponding to job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and organisation al commitment, in that order. Leadership is a key determining factor of job satisfaction, for it stands out as a vital predictor and takes up an essential role. In the United Arab Emirates, expatriate workers do not powerfully articulate that they are contented with the existing job security. Additionally, job satisfaction among expat workers is considerably associated with persistence commitment (Dirks and Donald 611-613). In a setting where cultural orientation is diversified, job satisfaction influences the efficiency of workers. Methodology For this research paper, the UAE acts as the selected setting, anchored in its high score amid its equals in the Middle East and its situation as a representation of growth (Al-Dmour and Raed 259-261). The stretch of industries across various sectors creates a striking background for leadership study in the UAE. A qualitative analysis of data was carried out among workers in the building industry to determine employee discernments of differen t styles of leadership. A developed survey questionnaire comprised of ten sections numbered A to J. Some of the questions relate to leadership style, aspects influencing job satisfaction, and aspects influencing organisational commitment. Six leadership styles were explored, as outlined in the survey questionnaire. Altogether, four survey questionnaires were shared out to two chosen companies and filled by workers of different nationalities, available via professional associations. The group members filled two other survey questionnaires. Filled survey questionnaires were then collected a week after their release. Data collection Two members of the group, as well as four different leaders of different nationalities working at different managerial ranks in different companies in the UAE, filled the developed survey questionnaire as outlined below. Accounting manager Human Resource manager Marketing manager Production manager The main intention of this survey questionnaire was to il lustrate the leadership styles in the UAE with practical experimental data. Every response in the survey questionnaire was accorded a 7-point scale concerning whether the assertion was most common advanced (denoted by 1) or least common advanced (denoted by score 7). The statements in the survey questionnaire assisted in measuring the leadership style, which the leaders and managers would employ in dissimilar conditions. The count of every statement was afterwards computed for every respondent in a way that each interviewee obtained a score on leadership style. The sum of the scores for each style assisted in classifying the leadership style possessed. The analysis of data was afterwards carried out with the help of using percentages to illustrate the application of the different styles of leadership. Results and Analysis The common attributes of the survey questionnaire demonstrated that workers from India were the major demographic grouping in the building sector by nationality an d male workers dominated. The incidence of described styles of leadership in companies and their observed frequency were calculated by the use of a 7-point scale. Table 1 recapitulates the proportion of the responses, while Figure 1 shows the clear levels of prevalence. Approximately 30 per cent of the participants indicated that consultative style was highly prevalent whereas 50 per cent considered participative leadership style. Nevertheless, approximately 20 per cent of the participants were of the view that delegatory leadership style was highly prevalent. Leadership style 1 Never 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mostly Total of high prevalence (6 and 7) % Autocratic 3 3 0 0 Participative 3 1 2 3 50 Pseudo participative 4 2 0 0 Pseudo consultative 5 1 0 0 Consultative 1 3 2 2 33 Delegatory 2 1 1 1 1 1 17 Table 1: Prevalence of leadership styles Fig 1: Percentage prevalence of leadership styles The indications of the respondents show six powerfully influenc ing aspects with respect to job attitude (satisfaction). These include: Leadership style Stress Outside positive representation Passion for the job Pride working with current employer Suspension without notice In addition, study of the aspects corresponding to their influence on the organisational culture showed that organisational culture is highly influenced by fostering respect for authority that was indicated by about 67 per cent of the responses. Gender issues disclosed that though the fraction of female participants as compared to male is extremely low ( about 17 per cent), which is anticipated in the building sector, both genders have a tendency of valuing participative and consultative leadership styles. With regard to education, around 84 per cent of respondents had achieved a post-high school qualification. Education Total % Less than high school 1 17 High school 0 0 Diploma 1 17 Bachelor 2 33 Master 1 17 Ph. D 1 17 Table 2: Education qualification Fig 2: Percentage education qualification of respondents With regard to cultural orientation, the survey questionnaire disclosed that the leadership styles inclination of the various nationality employees rotated about group welfare rather than individual reward. Discussion The outcomes of this study show that workers in the UAE feel that participative and consultative leadership styles are mainly common. This aspect signifies that leaders in the UAE promote participation, contribution, and dedication prior to making judgments. Leaders that encourage group discussions and judgments are formulated on general concurrence of workers. An explanation for this could be that, because the different sectors in the UAE are culturally varied, leaders desire to have universal agreement prior to reaching a decision. The study disclosed that job satisfaction by the employees is highly influenced by the following aspects: Pay Kind of work Job security Behaviour of the leaders Leadership style Cultur al orientation The degree of response revealed that over 50 per cent of participants have a feeling that company leadership strongly control their job satisfaction. This authenticates earlier results, which affirm that participative leadership style decides job satisfaction (Dirks and Donald 613-628). It was found that job satisfaction is influenced by cultural orientation, just like in the case of previous studies. On the other hand, this study discovers just a slight association involving job attitudes and cultural orientation. This observation is in line with the finding that job satisfaction in the European countries is highly influenced by the cultural orientation of the companies and behaviour of managers, while job satisfaction in the UAE is highly influenced by factors like job security, remuneration packages, and other gains. In addition, it is evident that job satisfaction varies by gender. While male workers believed remuneration is important, female workers considered j ob security as a significant element in job satisfaction. Workers at administrative ranks consider organisational commitment as highly influenced by the form of employment, organisational culture, and leadership style. Therefore, leadership style influences organisational commitment of workers in the UAE. Conclusion The findings of this paper reveal that workers usually perceive participative and consultative leadership styles as the common leadership styles. Moreover, it is evident that no style of leadership that is appropriate for every condition. It was found that leadership style highly influences job satisfaction of workers and powerfully influences the organisational commitment of workers. From the research paper, it can be proposed that the kind of industry sector and magnitude of and organisation play significant functions when deciding the efficiency of leadership style in addition to its influence on job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Works Cited Adler, Nancy . International Dimensions of Organisational Behaviour. Cincinnati: South Western College Publishing, 2002. Print. Al-Dmour, Hani, and Awamleh Raed. â€Å"Effects of transactional and transformational leadership styles of sales managers on job satisfaction and self-perceived performance of sales people: A study of Jordanian manufacturing public shareholding companies.† Dirasat: Administrative Sciences Series 29.1 (2002): 247-261. Print. Chen, Min. Asian Management Systems. London: Thomson, 2001. Print. Dirks, Kurt, and Ferrin Donald. â€Å"Trust in leadership: meta-analytic findings and implications for research and practice.† Journal of applied psychology 87.4 (2002): 611-628. Print. Dubrin, Andrew. Leadership: Research Finding, Practice, and Skills. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print. El Kahal, Sonia. Business in Asia Pacific. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2002. Print. Javidan, Mansour, and David Waldman. â€Å"Exploring charismatic leadership in the public se ctor: Measurement and consequences.† Public Administration Review 63.1 (2003): 229-244. Print. McKenna, Eugene. Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour. New York: Psychology Press, 2006. Print. Mosadeghrad, Ali, and Mohammad Yarmohammadian. â€Å"A study of relationship between managers’ leadership style and employees’ job satisfaction.† Leadership in Health Services 19.2 (2006): 11-28. Print. Mosadeghrad, Ali. â€Å"The role of participative management (suggestion system) in hospital effectiveness and efficiency.† Research in Medical Sciences 8.3 (2003): 85-89. Print. This research paper on Leadership in the United Arab Emirates was written and submitted by user Mekh1 to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Apple Computers essays

Apple Computers essays One of the most innovative and exciting fields in our current society is the PC industry. In the last thirty years, the computer industry has developed at an astounding rate-nearly two out of three people over the age of 18 in the US either own or have access to a computer on a regular basis. This incredible invention, however, is the result of inauspicious beginnings and inept primary marketing by one of the most successful manufacturers of personal computers-Apple. Despite disastrous losses in the 80s and 90s to their main competitor, IBM, Apple recently re-vamped the entire company-focusing on marketing and product developmentand introduced the iMac in 1998-the most successful personal computer launch ever. Despite this success, the rapid rate of development within the computer industry indicates that Apple must analyze their previous marketing techniques in order to maintain the high level of success achieved in the late twentieth century. The PC was invented on April Fools Day in 1976. The two inventors, Steven Jobs and Stephan Wozniak, were working out of a garage and possessed very little knowledge of the importance of marketing in successful product production and distribution. They were primarily interested in their products-showing little concern for its markets. The introduction of IBM in 1981, however, was a strong wakeup call for the unprofessional company-forcing them into competition against strong and well-managed opponents. For several years after IBM launched its first PC, it dominated the market-focusing on a synergistic relationship with Microsoft. After hearing the dire predictions regarding the probability of Apple surviving IBM domination, Steven Jobs realized that professional marketing help was vital. John Scully, a professional in marketing, concluded that Apple desperately needed a keen update on its marketing-product strategies. The resulting solution consisted of diffe...

A Military History Timeline of the 1900s

A Military History Timeline of the 1900s This timeline chronicles the military history of the last hundred plus years and includes WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and dozens of other conflicts. 1900s September 7, 1901 - Boxer Rebellion ends in ChinaMay 31, 1902 - Second Boer War: Fighting ends with the Treaty of VereenigingFebruary 8, 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: Fighting begins when the Japanese attack the Russian fleet at Port ArthurJanuary 2, 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: Port Arthur SurrendersSeptember 5, 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Treaty of Portsmouth ends the conflict 1910s April 21-November 23, 1914 - Mexican Revolution: American forces land and occupy Vera CruzJuly 28, 1914 - World War I: The conflict begins when Austria-Hungary declares war on SerbiaAugust 23, 1914 - World War I: British forces join the fray at the Battle of MonsAugust 23-31, 1914 - World War I: The Germans win a stunning victory at the Battle of TannenbergAugust 28, 1914 - World War I: The Royal Navy wins the Battle of Heligoland Bight.October 19-November 22, 1914 - World War I: Allied forces hold at the First Battle of YpresNovember 1, 1914 - World War I: Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spees German East Asia Squadron wins the Battle of Coronel.November 9, 1914 - World War I: HMAS Sydney defeats SMS Emden at the Battle of CocosDecember 16, 1914 - World War I: German warships raid Scarborough, Hartlepool, and WhitbyDecember 25, 1914 - World War I: The Christmas Truce begins along parts of the Western FrontJanuary 24, 1915 - World War I: The Royal Navy wins the Battle of Dogger BankApril 22-May 25, 1915 - World War I: Allied and German forces fight the Second Battle of Ypres September 25-October 14 - World War I: British forces take heavy losses during the Battle of LoosDecember 23, 1916 - World War I: British Commonwealth forces win the Battle of Magdhaba in the Sinai DesertMarch 9, 1916 - Mexican Revolution: The forces of Pancho Villa raid across the border and burn Columbus, NMOctober 31-November 7, 1917 - World War I: General Sir Edmund Allenby wins the Third Battle of GazaApril 6, 1917 - World War I: The United States enters the warJune 7, 1917 - World War I: General John J. Pershing arrives in England to take command of US forces in EuropeOctober 24-November 19, 1917 - World War I: Italian troops are routed at the Battle of CaporettoNovember 7, 1917 - Russian Revolution: The Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government, beginning the Russian Civil WarJanuary 8, 1918 - World War I: President Woodrow Wilson outlines his Fourteen Points to CongressJune 1-28, 1918 - World War I: US Marines win the Battle of Belleau WoodSeptember 19-October 1, 1918 - World War I: British forces crush the Ottomans at the Battle of Megiddo November 11, 1918 - World War I: An armistice is concluded ending World War I in a victory for the Allies.June 28, 1919 - World War I: The Treaty of Versailles officially ends the war. 1920s June 1923 - Russian Civil War: Fighting ends with the Red capture of Vladivostok and the collapse of the Provisional Priamur GovernmentApril 12, 1927 - Chinese Civil War: Fighting begins between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party 1930s October 1934 - Chinese Civil War: The Long March retreat begins with Chinese Communists marching approx. 8,000 miles over 370 daysOctober 3, 1935 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: The conflict begins when Italian troops invade EthiopiaMay 7, 1936 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Fighting ends with the capture of Addis Ababa and the Italian annexation of the countryJuly 17, 1936 - Spanish Civil War: The conflict begins following an attempted coup dà ©tat by Nationalist forcesApril 26, 1937 - Spanish Civil War: The Condor Legion bombs GuernicaSeptember 6-22, 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Republican forces are defeated at the Battle of El MazucoSeptember 29/30, 1938 - World War II: The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi GermanyApril 1, 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Nationalist forces crush the final Republican resistance ending the war.September 1, 1939 - World War II: Nazi Germany invades Poland beginning World War IINovember 30, 1939 - Winter War: Fighting between the Soviet Union and Finland begins when Russian troops cross the border following the faked shelling of Mainila December 13, 1939 - World War II: British and German naval forces fight the Battle of the River Plate 1940s February 16, 1940 - World War II: British and German forces violated Norwegian neutrality in the Altmark IncidentMarch 12, 1940 - Winter War: The Moscow Peace Treaty ends the war in the Soviets favorJune 22, 1940 - World War II: After a six-week campaign, Germany defeats France and forces the British to evacuate from DunkirkJuly 3, 1940 - World War II: The Royal Navy attacks Mers el KebirJuly 10-October 31, 1940 - World War II: The Royal Air Force wins the Battle of BritainSeptember 17, 1940 - World War II: Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of Britain, is indefinitely postponedNovember 11/12, 1940 - World War II: In a daring nighttime raid, British aircraft strike the Italian fleet at the Battle of TarantoDecember 8, 1940 - World War II: British forces in Egypt launch Operation Compass which sweeps across the desert driving the Italians deep into LibyaMarch 11, 1941 - World War II: Pres. Franklin Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease ActMarch 27-29, 1941 - World War II: British naval forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Cape Matapan April 6-30, 1941 - World War II: German forces win the Battle of GreeceMay 24, 1941 - World War II: HMS Hood is sunk at the Battle of the Denmark StraitMay 27, 1941 - World War II: Following aerial attacks from HMS Ark Royal and fire from British battleships, the German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North AtlanticJune 22, 1941 - World War II: German forces invade the Soviet Union opening the Eastern FrontSeptember 8, 1941-January 27, 1944 - World War II: German forces conduct the Siege of Leningrad but fail to capture the city.October 2, 1941-January 7, 1942 - World War II: The Soviets win the Battle of MoscowDecember 7, 1941 - World War II: Japanese aircraft attack the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor bringing the United States into the warDecember 8-23, 1941 - World War II: Japan wins the Battle of Wake IslandDecember 8-25, 1941 - World War II: The British are defeated at the Battle of Hong KongDecember 10, 1941 - World War II: HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by J apanese aircraft January 7-April 9, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces conduct the  defense of BataanJanuary 31-February 15, 1942 - World War II: The Japanese win the  Battle of SingaporeFebruary 27, 1942 - World War II: The Allies are defeated at the  Battle of the Java SeaMarch 31-April 10 - World War II: Japanese forces conduct the  Indian Ocean RaidApril 18, 1942 - World War II: The planes of the  Doolittle Raid  bomb JapanMay 4-8, 1942 - World War II: US forces turn back the Japanese advance against Port Moresby at the  Battle of the Coral Sea. Fought entirely by aircraft, it was first naval battle in which the opposing ships never sighted each other.May 5-6, 1942 - World War II: US and Filipino forces surrender after the  Battle of CorregidorMay 26-June 21, 1942 - World War II:  General Erwin Rommel  wins the  Battle of GazalaJune 4-7, 1942 - World War II: The US Pacific Fleet defeats the Japanese at the  Battle of Midway, turning the tide in the PacificJuly 1-27, 1942 - World War II: Axis forces are halted at the  First Battle of El Alamein August 7, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces go on the offensive in the Pacific by  landing on GuadalcanalAugust 9, 1942 - World War II: Japanese naval forces win the  Battle of Savo IslandAugust 9-15, 1942 - World War II: The Royal Navy resupplies Malta during  Operation PedestalAugust 19, 1942 - World War II: The  Dieppe Raid  ends in disaster for Allied troopsAugust 24-25, 1942 - World War II: Allied and Japanese forces fight the  Battle of the Eastern SolomonsAugust 25-September 7, 1942 - World War II: Allied force on New Guinea win the  Battle of Milne BayAugust 30-September 5, 1942 - World War II: British forces halt  Field Marshal Erwin Rommel  at the  Battle of Alam HalfaOctober 10/11, 1942 - World War II: Allied naval units win the  Battle of Cape EsperanceOctober 23-November 4, 1942 - World War II: British forces under  Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery  begin the  Second Battle of El AlameinOctober 25-27, 1942 - World War II: American and Ja panese naval forces fight the  Battle of Santa Cruz November 8-10, 1942 - World War II: American forces land in North Africa as part of  Operation TorchNovember 12-15, 1942 - World War II: Allied forces win the  Naval Battle of GuadalcanalNovember 27, 1942 - World War II: The  French fleet is scuttled  at Toulon during Operation LilaNovember 30, 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces win the  Battle of TassafarongaJanuary 29-30, 1943 - World War II: Japanese aircraft win the  Battle of Rennell IslandFebruary 19-25, 1943 - World War II: American troops area defeated at the  Battle of Kasserine PassMarch 2-4, 1943 - World War II: Allied aircraft win the  Battle of the Bismarck SeaApril 18, 1943 - World War II:  Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto  is killed by Allied aircraft during  Operation VengeanceApril 19-May 16, 1943 - World War II: The Germans suppress the  Warsaw Ghetto Uprising  in PolandMay 17, 1943 - World War II: As part of  Operation Chastise  RAF bombers strike dams in GermanyJuly 9, 1943 - World War II: Allied forces begin  Operation Husky  and invade Sicily August 17, 1943 - World War II: American bombers conduct the massive  Schweinfurt-Regensburg RaidSeptember 3-9, 1943 - World War II: American and British forces  land in ItalySeptember 26, 1943 - World War II: Australian commandoes conduct  Operation Jaywick  in Singapore HarborNovember 2, 1943 - World War II: American forces win the Battle of Empress Augusta BayNovember 20-23, 1943 - World War II: American forces  invade TarawaDecember 26, 1943 - World War II: British naval forces win the  Battle of the North CapeJanuary 22, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces begin Operation Shingle and open the  Battle of AnzioJanuary 31-February 3, 1944 - World War II: US troops fight the  Battle of KwajaleinFebruary 17-18, 1944 - World War II:  Operation Hailstone  sees Allied aircraft attack the Japanese anchorage at TrukFebruary 17-May 18, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces fight and win the  Battle of Monte CassinoMarch 17-23, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces win the  Battle of EniwetokMarch 24/25, 1944 - World War II: Allied POWs begin the  Great Escape  from Stalag Luft III June 4, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces capture RomeJune 4, 1944 - World War II: Allied naval forces  capture  U-505June 6, 1944 - World War II: British airborne forces execute  Operation DeadstickJune 6, 1944 - World War II: The invasion of France begins with Allied troops  coming ashore in NormandyJune 15, 1944 - World War II: The Allied invasion of the Marianas begins with  landings on SaipanJune 19-20, 1944 - World War II: The US Navy wins the  Battle of the Philippine SeaJuly 21- August 10, 1944 - World War II: Allied troops  recapture GuamJuly 25-31, 1944 - World War II: Allied troops break out of Normandy during  Operation CobraAugust 15, 1944 - World War II: Allied troops land in southern France as part of  Operation DragoonAugust 25, 1944 - World War II: French forces liberate ParisSeptember 15-November 27, 1944 - World War II: Allied forces fight and win the  Battle of PeleliuSeptember 17, 1944 - World War II: American and British paratroopers land in Holland as part of  Operation Market-Garden October 23-26, 1944 - World War II: US naval forces defeat the Japanese at the  Battle of Leyte Gulf, opening the way for the invasion of the PhilippinesDecember 16, 1944 - World War II: German forces launch a massive offensive in the Ardennes, beginning the  Battle of the Bulge. It ends in a decisive Allied victory the following monthFebruary 9, 1945 - World War II:  HMS  Venturer  sinks  U-864  in the only known battle where one submerged submarine sank anotherFebruary 19, 1945 - World War II: US Marines land on  Iwo JimaMarch 8, 1945 - World War II: US forces secure the  Ludendorff Bridge  over the RhineMarch 24, 1945 - World War II: Allied forces airdrop over the Rhine during  Operation VarsityApril 1, 1945 - World War II: Allied forces  invade the island of OkinawaApril 7, 1945 - World War II: The battleship  Yamato  is sunk during  Operation Ten-GoApril 16-19, 1945 - World War II: Soviet forces win the  Battle of the Seelow HeightsApril 29-May 8, 1945: World War II:  Operations Manna Chowhound  deliver food to the starving population of the Netherlands May 2, 1945 - World War II:  Berlin falls  to Soviet forcesMay 7, 1945 - World War II: Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies, ending the war in EuropeAugust 6, 1945 - World War II: The  B-29 Superfortress  Enola Gay  drops the  first atom bomb  on the city of HiroshimaSeptember 2, 1945 - World War II: The Japanese surrender aboard the battleship  USS  Missouri  ending the war in the PacificDecember 19, 1946 - First Indochina War: Fighting begins between French and Viet Minh forces around Hanoi​October 21, 1947 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1947: The war starts following the invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani troopsMay 14, 1948 - Arab-Israeli War: Following its declaration of independence, Israel is attacked by its Arab neighborsJune 24, 1948 - Cold War: Berlin Blockade begins leading to the  Berlin AirliftJuly 20, 1949 - Arab-Israeli War: Israel makes peace with Syria ending the war 1950s June 25, 1950 - Korean War: North Korean troops cross the 38th Parallel beginning the  Korean WarSeptember 15, 1950 - Korean War: United Nations troops under  General Douglas MacArthur  land at Inchon  and push the North Koreans back to the Yalu RiverNovember 1950 - Korean War: Chinese forces enter the conflict, driving UN forces back over the 38th Parallel.November 26-December 11, 1950 - Korean War: UN forces fight the Chinese at the  Battle of Chosin ReservoirMarch 14, 1951 - Korean War: Seoul is liberated by UN troopsJune 27, 1953 - Korean War: Fighting ends following the establishment of a cease-fire between UN and North Korean/Chinese forcesJuly 26, 1953 - Cuban Revolution: The revolution begins following an attack on the Moncada BarracksMay 7, 1954 - First Indochina War: The French fortress at  Dien Bien Phu  falls effectively ending the warNovember 1, 1954 - Algerian War: National Liberation Front guerrillas attack French targets across Algeria beginning the warO ctober 26, 1956 - Suez Crisis: Israeli troops drop into the Sinai, beginning the conquest of the peninsula 1960s April 15-19, 1961 - Cuban Revolution: The American-backed Bay of Pigs invasion failsJanuary 1959 -  Vietnam War: The North Vietnamese Central Committee issues a secret resolution calling for an armed struggle in South VietnamAugust 2, 1964 - Vietnam War: The  Gulf of Tonkin Incident  occurs when North Vietnamese gunboats attack American destroyersMarch 2, 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Rolling Thunder begins as US aircraft start bombing North VietnamAugust 1965 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1965: The conflict begins when Pakistan launches Operation Gibraltar in Indian KashmirAugust 17-24, 1965 - Vietnam War: US forces begin offensive operations in Vietnam with Operation StarlightNovember 14-18, 1965 - Vietnam War: US troops fight the  Battle of Ia Drang  in VietnamJune 5-10, 1967 - Six-Day War: Israel attacks and defeats Egypt, Syria, and JordanNovember 3-22, 1967 - Vietnam War: American forces win the  Battle of Dak ToJanuary 21, 1968 - Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces laun ch the Tet Offensive January 23, 1968 - Cold War: The  Pueblo  Incident  takes place when the North Koreans board and capture USS  Pueblo  in international watersApril 8, 1968 - Vietnam War:  US troops relieve the besieged Marines at Khe SanhMay 10-20, 1969 - Vietnam War: US troops fight the  Battle of Hamburger HillJuly 14-18, 1969 - Central America: El Salvador and Honduras fight the  Football War 1970s April 29, 1970 - Vietnam War: American and South Vietnamese forces begin attacking into CambodiaNovember 21, 1970 - Vietnam War: US Special Forces  raid the POW camp at Son TayDecember 3-16, 1971 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The war begins when India intervenes in the Bangladesh Liberation WarMarch 30, 1972 - Vietnam War: The Peoples Army of North Vietnam begins the  Easter OffensiveJanuary 27, 1973 - Vietnam War: The Paris Peace Accords are signed ending US involvement in the conflictOctober 6-26, 1973 - Yom Kippur War: After initial losses, Israel defeats Egypt and SyriaApril 30, 1975 - Vietnam War: Following the  fall of Saigon, South Vietnam surrenders ending the warJuly 4, 1976 - International Terrorism:  Israeli commandoes land at Entebbe Airport  in Uganda and rescue the passengers of Air France Flight 139December 25, 1979 - Soviet-Afghan War: Soviet airborne forces enter Afghanistan beginning the conflict 1980s September 22, 1980 - Iran-Iraq War: Iraq invades Iran beginning a war that lasts eight yearsApril 2-June 14, 1982 - Falklands War: Following the Argentinean invasion of the Falklands, the islands are liberated by the BritishOctober 25-December 15, 1983 - Invasion of Grenada: After the deposition and execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, US forces invade and capture the island.April 15, 1986 - International Terrorism: American aircraft  bomb Libya  in retaliation for an attack on a West Berlin night clubDecember 20, 1989-January 31, 1990 - Invasion of Panama: US forces invade Panama to oust dictator Manuel Noriega 1990s August 2, 1990 -  Gulf War: Iraqi troops invade KuwaitJanuary 17, 1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with American and coalition aircraft striking targets in Iraq and KuwaitFebruary 24, 1991 - Gulf War: Coalition ground forces advance into Kuwait and IraqFebruary 27, 1991 - Gulf War: Fighting ends as Kuwait is liberatedJune 25, 1991 - Former Yugoslavia: The first of the wars in the former Yugoslavia begins with the Ten-Day War in SloveniaMarch 24-June 10, 1999 - Kosovo War:  NATO aircraft bomb Yugoslav forces in Kosovo 2000s September 11, 2001 - War on Terror: Al Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in WashingtonOctober 7, 2001 - War on Terror: American and British aircraft begin bombing Taliban forces in AfghanistanDecember 12-17, 2001 - War on Terror: Coalition forces fight the  Battle of Tora BoraMarch 19, 2003 - Iraq War: US and British aircraft begin bombing Iraq as a prelude to the ground invasionMarch 24-April 4 - Iraq War: American forces fight the  Battle of NajafApril 9, 2003 - Iraq War: US forces occupy BaghdadDecember 13, 2003 - Iraq War: Saddam Hussein is captured by members of the US 4th Infantry Division and Task Force 121November 7-16, 2004 - Iraq War: Coalition forces fight the  Second Battle of Fallujah

General Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

General Management - Essay Example General Management General management is a specialized field of business management. The origin of this field can be traced back centuries ago when landowning entailed management of property and slaves. While technologies evolved, general management’s scope also became sophisticated and broad. Colley et al. define general management as a discipline that basically focuses on overseeing the modern corporation’s status based on the concept of â€Å"profit-and-loss† (P&L) (3). General Managers see to it that the company gains profit more than what the company is spending. In other words, general management involves various concepts and ideas in ensuring that a business survives and does not undergo bankruptcy. General management entails leadership skills because it allows managing employees- from managers to employees to projects and to customers. Hence, general management involves enhancing responsibility and communication abilities in order to deal with people. In big corporations, the chief executive officer is automatically the general manager, while subsequent divisions of the company may have their own general manager, usually using the title â€Å"business unit manager, division manager, managing partner,† among others (Colley et al. 4). General management tasks are basically involving sound and strong leadership abilities. These leadership skills entail identifying the company’s goals and objectives, achieving those goals, and being in-charge of the results of the set goals and objectives (â€Å"General Management† par. 2). As a Course High school graduates may find general management as a course interesting because aside from the acquisition of corporate knowledge and skills, the opportunities that await are, to some extent, realizations of one’s corporate dreams. Moreover, college graduates who want to pursue an MBA may want to specialize in General Management, as well. Topics that are usually covered in Ge neral Management include strategic management, organizational change and behavior, marketing strategies, approaches in problem-solving, theories in general management and accounting, and how to use communication strategies in leadership and conflict resolution. Conflict management is a vital concept in general management because it involves handling problems that arise within your management stint. Under General Management, there are answers to the causes of conflict in an organization, such as individual personality differences, communication problems, structure of the organization, organizational culture, among such things (Wall and Callister 518). I chose General Management as a major amidst the proliferation of management courses, because it means enhancing my leadership skills in order to guide people in achieving goals and objectives, aligned with mine. It gives me a general picture of the structure of an organization, the people involved in the business undertakings and their role, and handling organizational problems, failures, and lapses. It prepares me to be the best CEO in the future. The jobs that await General Management graduates include: Purchasing Manager Production Manager Marketing Manager Sales Manager Finance Manager Manufacturing Manager Chief

Film and Genre Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Film and Genre - Movie Review Example This does not mean that there necessarily or fundamentally should be a huge amount of swashbuckling or gunfight scenes. A movie can well be an Action and Adventure genre movie if there is enough action or incidents happening around the main character. Another important aspect of an Action and Adventure genre movie is that it should have enough narrative formats that can be termed as simple. (Berkowitz, 189) Thus, the three movies selected for the essay falls easily between the lines of an Action and Adventure genre movie. In fact each of these selected movies occupies its unique positions. October Sky contains no physical action but the character of the movie is always on a move in the psychological context and is adventurous in nature which actually sets the essence of the movie. This movie falls in the line between a Drama and an Action and Adventure genre movie. Shaft on the other hand is a completely action packed film and could be positioned at the central position of the graph where October Sky occupies one end of the graph. The other end of the graph is 'Hero'. This movie falls in the line between an Action and Adventure genre movie and a Costume drama. But all these three movies are well bracketed within the genre Action and Adventure. The first movie in contention is October Sk... come rocket scientist.This is a movie about a teenager who observes the Sputnik, launched by the soviet space agency, racing across the sky and decided to indulge his life into rocket science. As Homer is over-showed by his older brother, a local football star, his ambition is curtained by the dust of the coal fields in the mining township of Coalwood where the ultimate destiny of every teenager is to work as a coal miner. The social structure of this locality deprives any thought process that tries to overcome the social brackets of the coal mines and Homer's father is no different. He is unable to 'think big' in the context of intellectual freedom and the procedure is just the extension of the local neighborhood, or in other words, the coal mines. As we have seen in the novel "Germinal" by Emil Zola, the local characters other than Homer tends to be engrossed by the day to day living and livelihood of the mines and are just unable to think beyond the parameters of their circumstances. (Kar, 254) In this scenario, Homer finds himself in a situation where he finds no alternative other than rockets to opt for a better living. He tries to influence other kids to help him build rockets. The two other teens who agreed to help him out in this matter appears to be no as foresighted as Homer and are generally reluctant with a tint of amusement included to it. But all is not that muted after all. As in our social life, Homer finds a supportive hand in his mother and his school teacher. This is another aspect of the movie that moves us so much and generates a sense of euphoria simply because a lone rider is never a lone rider in the real world and its societies. What ever and where ever and when ever there is a mission on its way it is the society's underlying aspect to

Place Essay Example for Free

Place Essay When we visited them, we ate in their simple kitchen built with bamboo floors. They came wearing traditional Filipino dresses. They looked so beautiful for me (in their old age and single blessedness), and the kitchen smelled like fresh flowers. The other kitchen I can remember is the kitchen of my grandmother in a far remote place, along the Pacific Ocean. My grandmothers kitchen is a big kitchen built of wood. Imagine how old houses looked. There was firewood, big cooking utensils, as if theyre always serving 100 people everyday. There were sacks of rice piled on top of the other. Chickens were roaming in the backyard, down the back kitchen door. I dont know why I can always remember kitchens, even when I go to other homes, in different places. I love that kitchen part of the house. Many people say The kitchen and the toilet are very important rooms in the house. They must be kept clean and orderly at all times. Now, I have my own kitchen where I raised my kids. And as theyre grown ups, I like to work and write here. When I read Afred Kazins The Kitchen, it delighted me by what Kazin saw in the life of her mother. He focused on the kitchen room as the largest room and the center of the house. It was in the kitchen where his mother worked all day long as home dressmaker and where they ate all meals. He writes: The kitchen gave a special character to our lives; my mothers character. All the memories of that kitchen were the memories of my mother. In his essay, Alfred Kazin remembers how her mother said, How sad it is! It grips me! though after a while, her mother has drawn him one single line of sentence, Alfred, see how beautiful! Article Source: http://EzineArticles. om/4722428 This sentence-combining exercise has been adapted from The Kitchen, an excerpt from Alfred Kazins memoir A Walker in the City (published in 1951 and reprinted by Harvest Books in 1969). In The Kitchen, Kazin recalls his childhood in Brownsville, a Brooklyn neighborhood which in the 1920s had a largely Jewish population. His focus is on the room in which his mother spent much of her time working on the sewing she took in to make extra money. To get a feel for Kazins descriptive style, begin by reading the opening paragraph of the selection, reprinted below. Next, reconstruct paragraph two by combining the sentences in each of the 13 sets that follow. Several of the setsthough not allrequire coordination of words, phrases, and clauses. If you run into any problems, you may find it helpful to review our Introduction to Sentence Combining. As with any sentence-combining exercise, feel free to combine sets (to create a longer sentence) or to make two or more sentences out of one set (to create shorter sentences). You may rearrange the sentences in any fashion that strikes you as appropriate and effective. Note that there are two unusually long sets in this exercise, #8 and #10. In the original paragraph, both sentences are structured as lists. If you favor shorter sentences, you may choose to separate the items in either (or both) of these lists. After completing the exercise, compare your paragraph with Kazins original on page two. But keep in mind that many combinations are possible. The Kitchen* In Brownsville tenements the kitchen is always the largest room and the center of the household. As a child I felt that we lived in a kitchen to which four other rooms were annexed. My mother, a home dressmaker, had her workshop in the kitchen. She told me once that she had begun dressmaking in Poland at thirteen; as far back as I can remember, she was always making dresses for the local women. She had an innate sense of design, a quick eye for all the subtleties in the latest fashions, even when she despised them, and great boldness. For three or four dollars she would study the fashion magazines with a customer, go with the customer to the remnants store on Belmont Avenue to pick out the material, argue the owner downall remnants stores, for some reason, were supposed to be shady, as if the owners dealt in stolen goodsand then for days would patiently fit and aste and sew and fit again. Our apartment was always full of women in their housedresses sitting around the kitchen table waiting for a fitting. My little bedroom next to the kitchen was the fitting room. The sewing machine, an old nut-brown Singer with golden scrolls painted along the black arm and engraved along the two tiers of little drawers massed with needles a nd thread on each side of the treadle, stood next to the window and the great coal-black stove which up to my last year in college was our main source of heat. By December the two outer bed-rooms were closed off, and used to chill bottles of milk and cream, cold borscht, and jellied calves feet. Paragraph Two: 1. The kitchen held our lives together. 2. My mother worked in it. She worked all day long. We ate almost all meals in it. We did not have the Passover seder in there. I did my homework at the kitchen table. I did my first writing there. I often had a bed made up for me in winter. The bed was on three kitchen chairs. The chairs were near the stove. 3. A mirror hung on the wall. The mirror hung just over the table. The mirror was long. The mirror was horizontal. The mirror sloped to a ships prow at each end. The mirror was lined in cherry wood. 4. It took the whole wall. It drew every object in the kitchen to itself. 5. The walls were a whitewash. The whitewash was fiercely stippled. My father often rewhitened it. He did this in slack seasons. He did this so often that the paint looked as if it had been squeezed and cracked into the walls. 6. There was an electric bulb. It was large. It hung down at the end of a chain. The chain had been hooked into the ceiling. The old gas ring and key still jutted out of the wall like antlers. 7. The sink was in the corner. The sink was next to the toilet. We washed at the sink. The tub was also in the corner. My mother did our clothes in the tub. 8. There were many things above the tub. These things were tacked to a shelf. Sugar and spice jars were ranged on the shelf. The jars were white. The jars were square. The jars had blue borders. The jars were ranged pleasantly. Calendars hung there. They were from the Public National Bank on Pitkin Avenue. They were from the Minsker Branch of the Workmans Circle. Receipts were there. The receipts were for the payment of insurance premiums. Household bills were there. The bills were on a spindle. Two little boxes were there. The boxes were engraved with Hebrew letters. 9. One of the boxes was for the poor. The other was to buy back the Land of Israel. 10. A little man would appear. The man had a beard. He appeared every spring. He appeared in our kitchen. He would salute with a Hebrew blessing. The blessing was hurried. He would empty the boxes. Sometimes he would do this with a sideways look of disdain. He would do this if the boxes were not full. He would bless us again hurriedly. He would bless us for remembering our Jewish brothers and sisters. Our brothers and sisters were less fortunate. He would take his departure until the next spring. He would try to persuade my mother to take still another box. He tried in vain. 11. We dropped coins in the boxes. Occasionally we remembered to do this. Usually we did this on the morning of mid-terms and final examinations. My mother thought it would bring me luck. 12. She was extremely superstitious. She was embarrassed about it. She counseled me to leave the house on my right foot. She did this on the morning of an examination. She always laughed at herself whenever she did this. 13. I know its silly, but what harm can it do? It may calm God down. Her smile seemed to say this. v John d. hazlett Repossessing the Past: Discontinuity and History In Alfred Kazins A Walker in the City Critics of Alfred Kazins A Walker in the City (1951)1 have almost always abstracted from it the story of a young man who feels excluded from the world outside his immediate ethnic neighborhood, and who eventually attempts to find, through writing, a means of entry into that world. It would be very easy to imagine from what these critics have said that the book was written in the same form as countless other autobiographies of adolescence and rites-of-passage. One thinks imme- diately, for instance, of a tradition stretching from Edmund Gosses Father and Son to Frank Conroys Stop-Time, as well as fictional auto- biographical works such as James Joyces Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. We are encouraged in this view by the publishers, Har- court, Brace World, who tell us on the cover that A Walker in the City is a book about an American walking into the world, learning on his skin what it is like. The American is Alfred Kazin as a young man. Even the most thorough of Kazins critics, John Paul Eakin, writes of A Walker that the young Kazins outward journey to America is the heart of the book. 2 One of the few reviewers who noticed those elements that distin- guish this memoir from others of its kind was the well known Ameri- can historian, Oscar Handlin. Unfortunately, Mr. Handlin also found the book unintelligible: If some system of inner logic holds these sec- tions together it is clear only to the author. It is not only that chronol- ogy is abandoned so there is never any certainty of the sequence of events; but a pervasive ambiguity of perspective leaves the reader often in doubt as to whether it was the walker who saw then, or the writer who sees now, or the writer recalling what the walker saw then. Epi- 326 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 sodic, without the appearance of form or order, there is a day-dreamy quality to the organization, as if it were a product of casual reminis- cence. 3 Handlins charge that the memoir lacks a system of inner logic is incorrect, but he does identify a number of qualities that dis- tinguish A Walker from other coming-of-age autobiographies. One option that is not apparently available to autobiographers, as it is to novelists, is the removal of the authors presence from the narra- tive. And yet autobiographers do manage to achieve something like this removal by recreating themselves as characters. That is, we can distinguish between the author as author and the author as character (an earlier self). In some autobiographies of childhood, where the nar- ration ends before the character develops into what we might imagine to be the autobiographers present self, the writer may never appear (as writer) in the narrative at all. The earlier selves in such autobio- graphies remain as characters. Where the autobiographer appears as both character and writer, however, the distinction is by no means always clear. If the autobiographer actually follows the progress of his earlier self to the narrative present, then the distinction disappears somewhere en route. One can, in fact, distinguish between types of autobiographies according to the strategies they employ to achieve this obliteration of distance between earlier self (as character) and present self (as writer). Kazin has complicated this aspect of his autobiography by recreat- ing two distinct earlier selves: his child self and an adult self, the titu- lar walker. It is this aspect of his memoir that sets it apart from other coming-of-age autobiographies. In none of the conventional works in this sub-genre is the present narrative I so conspicuous a figure (not only as a voice, but as an active character) as it is in Kazins book, and in none of them is the chronological reconstruction of the past so pur- posefully avoided. His memoir, unlike most autobiographies of adoles- cence, is just as much about the efforts of the adult walker to recapture his past self as it is about his earlier attempts to go beyond that self. By granting his present self equal status with the re-creation of his child- hood, he has produced a hybrid form. The central characteristic of that form is the parallel relationship between the quest of the young Kazin to achieve selfhood by identify- ing himself with an American place and a portion of its history, and the quest of the older Kazin to resolve some present unrest about who he is by recovering his younger self and the locale of his own past. The former quest is that story hich critics say the memoir is about, but the latter is located in the memoir on at least two levels. Like the Hazlett repossessing the past 327 childs quest, it is narrated, in that Kazin actually tells us of his return, as an adult, to Brownsville, but its significance is manifest only on an implicit level; we must infer why the quest was undertaken. 4 Kazin emphasizes the symmetry of these two quests by describing each of them in phrases that echo the other. In the first chapter of the memoir, the adult Kazin, walking through the streets of the Browns- ville neighborhood in which he grew up, describes what it means to him: Brownsville is that road which every other road in my life has had to cross (p. 8). By going back and walking once again those familiarly choked streets at dusk (p. 6), he is reviewing his own his- tory in an attempt to settle some old doubts about the relationship between his past and present selves. In similar language, Kazin describes at the very end of the memoir how the boys search for an American identity finally expressed itself in a fascination with Ameri- can history, and in particular with the dusk at the end of the nine- teenth century which was, he thought, that fork in the road where all American lives cross (p. 171). The parallels that we find in language are repeated in the means by which the young boy finds access to America and the adult finds access to his younger selfA—by walking and by immersing himself in the his- torical ambiance of an earlier period. I could never walk across Roe- blings bridge, he says of himself as a boy, or pass the hotel on Uni- versity Place named Albeit, in Ryders honor, or stop in front of the garbage cans at Fulton and Cranberry Streets in Brooklyn at the place where Whitman had himself printed Leaves of Grass, without thinking that I had at last opened the great trunk of forgotten time in New York in which I, too, I thought, would someday find the source of my unrest (p. 72). The young Kazin initially found his way out of Brownsville and into the America of the nineteenth century by walk- ing into an historical locale. It is again by walking, by going over the whole route (p. 8), that the adult Kazin sets out to rediscover his child self in the streets of Brownsville. One may detect, however, an ironic tension between these two quests. The childs search is the immigrant scions search for an Amer- ican identity. It is, in part, the psychological extension of the parents literal search for America, and, in part, the result of his parents ambivalence about their own place in the New World. The most sig- nificant frustration of the young Kazins life was over the apparently unbridgeable discontinuity between them and us, Gentiles and us, alrightniks and us. . . . The line . . . had been drawn for all time (p. 99). This discontinuity represented to him the impossibility of choos- 328 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 ing a way of being in the world. Eventually, it takes on larger meaning in the childs mind to include the distance between the immigrants past in Russia and the late nineteenth century America of Teddy Roosevelt, between poverty and making out all right, between, finally, a Brownsville identity and an American identity. In the childs quest, these petty distinctions I had so long made in loneliness (p. 173) are overcome through a vision of the Brooklyn Bridge that allowed him to see how he might span the discontinuities that left him outside all that (p. 72); and through the discovery of a model for himself as a solitary singer in the tradition of Blake, my Yeshua, my Beethoven, my Newman and a long line of nineteenth century Americans (p. 172). The final element of his victory over them and us, however, was the substitution of Americas history for his own Brownsville history and his familys vague East-European his- tory. His parents past, he said, bewildered him as a child: it made me long constantly to get at some past nearer my own New York life, my having to live with all those running wounds of a world I had never seen (p. 9). To resolve this longing, he says, I read as if books would fill my every gap, legitimize my strange quest for the American past, remedy my every flaw, let me in at last into the great world that was anything just out of Brownsville (p. 172). The adult walker, on the other hand, is searching for the child he once was and for the world in which he grew up; his intention is to re- create his old awareness of the adolescents gaps so that he might resolve them. By the time Kazin begins his retrogression to childhood, ten years have elapsed since his final departure from Brownsville (p. ) and (assuming that the narrative present is also the writers present) some twenty years have elapsed since the final scene of the book. Dur- ing that period, the writer has undergone a peculiar transformation. The adolescents strange quest for an American identity through the substitutio n of Americas past for his own has culminated outside the frame of A Walker in the writing of On Native Grounds,5 a book that is obsessively and authoritatively alive with American history. The young boy has grown up to become one of Americas established literary spokesmen; he has become one of them. In becoming the man, the child has not, however, closed the gaps; he has simply crossed over them to the other side. As a child, Kazin thought of himself as a solitary, standing outside of America (p. 172); as an adult autobiographer, he stands outside of his own past. The adults attempt to imagine his own history, there- fore, begins with the significant perception of his alienation from his Hazlett repossessing the past 329 wn child self and from the time and place in which that self lived. Brownsville is not a part of his present sense of himself, it must be given back (p. 6) to him; and going back reveals a disturbing dis- continuity. The return to Brownsville fills him with an an instant rage . . . mixed with dread and some unexpected tenderness (p. 5). He senses again, he says, the old foreboding that all of my life would be like this (p. 6) and I feel in Brownsville that I am walking in my sleep. I keep bumping awake at harsh intervals, then fall back into my trance again (p. 7). The extent of his alienation from his former self is attested to in the last of Kazins memoirs, New York Jew, where he writes that A Walker was not begun as an autobiography at all, but simply as an exploration of the city. Dissatisfied with the barren, smart, soulless6 quality of what he was writing, Kazin kept attempting to put more of himself into the book. Finally, he says, I saw that a few pages on The Old Neighborhood in the middle of the book, which I had dreamily tossed off in the midst of my struggles with the city as something alien to me, became the real book on growing up in New York that I had wanted to write without knowing I did. 7 There is, naturally, a good deal of irony in this, as well as some pathos, for although Kazin does not expressly acknowledge the rela- tionship between the two quests, it seems clear that the young boys search for an American identity entailed the denial of his own cultural past. Ultimately, this denial necessitated the writing of the book, for the adults search is for the self he lost in his effort to become an Amer- ican. The adults problem is not resolved within the narrative, how- ever, but by the narrative itself. It is the writer who establishes the con- nection between his earlier, lost self and his adult self. In doing this, he completes the bridge to America. The writer in this sense may be distinguished from the adult walker who is, like the young Kazin, merely a character, a former self, within the memoir. In formal terms, the two quests that comprise the narra- tive material of the memoir make up its fabula; the resolution of both quests is to be found only in the coexistence of these two selves in the narrative as narrative. The resolution, in other words, is accomplished by formal, literary means. It is enacted by the memoirs sujet. Given these two quests as the key to the memoirs form, the general structure of the book may be schematized as follows: Chapter I: The walker returns literally to his childhood neighbor- hood and imaginatively to childhood itself. Chapter II: The walker stops and the autobiographer (distinguished 330 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 here from the walker) contemplates the psychological/symbolic cen- ter of childhood, the kitchen. Chapter III: The walker literally returns to the scenes of his adoles- cence and imaginatively to adolescence. Chapter IV: The walker stops and the autobiographer (again, distin- guished from walker) contemplates the psychological/symbolic cen- ter of adolescence, the rites of passage. The use of this structure naturally gives rise to some difficulties of perspective. Mr. Handlins observation that there are at least three dif- ferent points of view: the walker who saw then, or the writer who sees now, or the writer recalling what the walker saw then was apt, even though he could not see that the complexity of perspectives fol- lowed a fairly careful pattern. An analysis of what those points of view are, and how they work together, must begin with the recognition that all earlier perspectives, both the walkers and the childs, are recreated in the writers voice, which mimics them in a very complex form of lit- erary ventriloquism. Given this, one may recognize that within the narrative the writer, the single informing point-of-view, speaks in three different voices: his own as writer, the voice of the adult walker, and the voice of the child. Each of these voices gives rise to variations in narrative technique. In chapters one and three, the writer uses a fictive device to create the illusion that no recollection of the adult walkers perspective is neces- sary in the act of transferring his walking thoughts to the written word. The voice of the adult walker, an earlier self who made the trip, is identified with that of the writer by the frequent use of the present tense: The smell of damp out of the rotten hallways accompanies me all the way to Blake Avenue (p. 7). In these chapters, the walkers memories of childhood are emphasized as memories because his physi- cal presence and voice call attention to the context and the mechanics of remembering. Thus, from the moment the walker alights from the train at Rockaway Avenue in chapter one, the text is sprinkled with reminders that this is the story of the adult walker pursuing the past through cues from the present: Everything seems so small here now (p. 7), the place as I have it in my mind I never knew then (p. 11), they have built a housing project (p. 12), I miss all these ratty wooden tenements (p. 13). Similarly, in chapter three, after Kazin steps away from the more disembodied memory of his mothers kitchen: the whole block is now thick with second hand furniture stores I have to fight maple love seats bulging out of the doors (p. 78), I see the barbershop through the steam (p. 79). Hazlett repossessing the past 331 In both of these chapters, the writer/walkers imagination seizes upon and transforms the landmarks of an earlier period of his life. The literal journey back to Brownsville becomes a metaphorical journey backward in time so that the locale of the past becomes by degrees the past itself: Every time I go back to Brownsville it is as if I had never been away. It is over ten years since I left to live in the cityA— everything just out of Brownsville was always the city. Actually I did not go very far; it was enough that I could leave Brownsville. Yet as I walk those familiarly choked streets at dusk and see the old women sit- ting in front of the tenements, past and present become each others faces; I am back where I began (pp. 5-6). This is, in fact, what gives the book that quality of casual reminis- cence that Mr. Handlin found so unsatisfactory. Kazins technique in chapters one and three is much like that of a person rummaging through an attic full of memorabilia. Each street, each shop serves to spark a particular memory. There is, of course, a danger in this kind of writing. It teeters constantly on the brink of random sentimentalism. The walker always presents the past in a hypermediated form, never through the coolly objective (and hidden) eyes of the impartial self- historian that characterize most conventional autobiographies. This is particularly true when he indulges in nostalgia, as he does when the walker inspects that part of his neighborhood which has been rebuilt as a housing project. There he subjects us to a series of iterated fondnesses, each beginning with the nostalgic I miss (p. 3). But in spite of this flirtation with sentimentality, the walkers presence is not merely an occasion for self-indulgence. In the context of the whole memoir, it clearly serves instead to highlight the drama being played out between the quest of the child and the quest of the adult. As the walker nears the two significant centers of childhood and adolescence, in chapters two and four respectively, he underg oes a transformation. The mediatory presence of the walker disappears, leaving only the disembodied autobiographical voice of conventional memoirs. Unlike the first and third chapters, in which each memory was sparked by actual relics from the past, these chapters take place entirely in the autobiographers imagination. To mark this change, chapter two opens with the writers memory of a previous memory of his mothers kitchen which he compares with his present recollection of it: the last time I saw our kitchen this clearly was one afternoon in London at the end of the war, when I waited out the rain in the entrance to a music store. A radio was playing into the street, and standing there I heard a broadcast of the first Sabbath service from 332 biography Vol. , No. 4 Belsen Concentration Camp (p. 51). This is the voice, not of a rum- maging memory, but of pure disembodied memory. The vision of the kitchen is not sparked by another visit there. In fact, at the opening of chapter two we lose sight of the walker for the first time. The adult Kazins presence is signalled in chapters two and four, not by reference to his present surro undings, but by verb tense alone: It was from the El on its way to Coney Island that I caught my first full breath of the city in the open air (p. 37); although at times, he intrudes into the narrative by referring to his present feelings: I think now with a special joy of those long afternoons of mildew and quiet- ness in the school courtyard (p. 136). The adult walker, however, does not appear in these chapters at all. This transformation, from walker to disembodied memorial voice, draws the reader along the path followed by the adult quester: from the streets of the walkers Brownsville to the streets of the childs Brownsville. As the quester nears his goal, the present Brownsville fades from view. The narrative strategy of A Walker recreates the adults quest by revealing the increasing clarity and intensity of his perception of the childs world. The walkers mediatory presence, initially so conspicu- ous, deliquesces at crucial points so that memory becomes a direct act of identification between rememberer and remembered. The present tense of the walkers observations becomes the past tense of the walkers recollections which becomes the past tense of the writers memory which, finally, becomes the present tense of the childs world. The final identification of writer and child occurs in the two most intense moments of the memoir: at the end of The Kitchen (chapter two) and toward the end of Summer: The Way to Highland Park (chapter four). The first instance follows immediately upon the writers recollec- tion of the power of literature to bridge the gaps between himself and another world. He recalls the child reading an Alexander Kuprin story which takes place in the Crimea. In the story, an old man and a boy are wandering up a road. The old man says, Hoo! hoo! my son! how it is hot! (p. 73). Kazin recalls how completely he, as a young boy, had identified with them: when they stopped to eat by a cold spring, I could taste that bread, that salt, those tomatoes, that icy spring (p. 73). In the next and final paragraph of the chapter, the writer slips into the present tense: Now the light begins to die. Twilight is also the minds grazing time. Twilight is the bottom of that arc down which we have fallen the whole Hazlett repossessing the past 333 long day, but where I now sit at our cousins window in some strange silence of attention, watching the pigeons go round and round to the leafy smell of soupgreens from the stove. In the cool ofthat first evening hour, as I sit at the table waiting for supper and my father and the New York World, everything is so rich to overflowing, I hardly know where to begin, (p. 73) The place and the vision in this curious passage are the childs, but the voice is clearly the adults. Just as the child once tasted the bread, salt and tomatoes of his literary heroes, so now the adult writer achieves an intense identification with his own literary creation: his child self. He sees with the childs eyes, smells with the childs nose, feels the childs expectant emotions, but renders all these perceptions with the adults iterary sophistication. The intensity of expectation which the writer attributes to the child is amplified by the intensity of the writers expectation that the forthcoming richness is as much his as it is the childs. The childs expectations are, ultimately, of that New York world which he discovers in the following chapter. The writers expectations are of a comple tion of identity which can be accom- plished only through the mediation of form. Twilight and the New York World have become formal touchstones in the literary recreation of his self. The second instance takes place toward the end of the memoir and like the first, it immediately precedes a significant passage through to a world beyond the kitchen. Like the first, it also is a recollection of his home, at twilight, in the summer. And to emphasize its signifi- cance as a literary act, the writer echoes the Kuprin passage here: The kitchen is quiet under the fatigue blown in from the parched streetsA—so quiet that in this strangely drawn-out light, the sun hot on our backs, we seem to be eating hand in hand. How hot it is still! How hot still! The silence and calm press on me with a painful joy. I cannot wait to get out into the streets tonight, I cannot wait. Each unnatural moment of silence says that something is going on outside. Something is about to happen, (p. 164) The pages which follow this merging of writer and child, and which end the book, complete the childs emerging vision of his bridge to America. In these pages; the writer employs a new method of recap- turing and re-entering the past. The walk to Highland Park is under- taken by the adolescent and is recalled by the adult in the past tense, but it is given immediacy by the frequent interjection of the adverbial pointers now and here: Ahead of me now the black web of the 334 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 Fulton Street El (p. 168). Everything ahead of me now was of a dif- ferent order . . . Every image I had of peace, of quiet shaded streets in some old small-town America . . . now came back to me . . . Here were the truly American streets; here was where they lived (p. 169). The effect is peculiar, but appropriate. By using the adverbial pointers, here and now, together with the adults past tense, Kazin is able to convey the eerie impression that he is, finally, both here, in the adults present, and there, in the childs past. The bridge between them is complete. The complexity of perspective and structure in Kazins memoir caused Mr. Handlin to observe that chronology is abandoned so there is never any certainty of the sequence of events. In most autobio- graphies, the inevitable discontinuities between present and past selves are overcome by the construction of a continuous, causally developed, and therefore meaningful, story. By purposefully avoid- ing such a reconstruction with its solid assumptions of the reality of the selfs history and the ability of language to convey that reality with- out serious mediatory consequences, Kazin refocuses our attention on the autobiographer/historianA—not the past as it was, but history as recreated by the imagination. Self-history in A Walker is not continu- ous and linear, but spatial; the past is not a time, but a place. For the youth, it was a place from which he wanted to escape. For the adult, it is a place to which he fears to return (the old foreboding that all my life would be like this) and to which he feels he must return in order to complete and renew himself. The childs world seems timeless; it is frozen in a tableau, like a wax museum, in which the adult can explore, in a curiously literal manner, his own past. That some of the figures are missing or that the present may actually have vandalized the arrangement of props, only intensifies its apparent isolation from adult, historical life. This difference between the timelessness of childhood, as we per- ceive it in the memoir, and the adults implied immersion in history may illuminate the nature of the quest upon which the autobiographer has embarked. We can see, for instance, that the motivation which lies behind the quest for identity is grounded upon assumptions about the nature of life in history. The discontinuity felt by both the child and the adult is not simply between a Brownsville identity and an Ameri- can identity, but between the Timelessness which childhood repre- sents and History. Burton Pike, writing from a pyschoanalytic perspective, has sug- gested that autobiographies of childhood in general reveal a fascination Hazlett repossessing the past 335 with states of timelessness: the device of dwelling on childhood may also serve two other functions: It may be a way of blocking the ticking of the clock toward death, of which the adult is acutely aware, and it may also represent a deep fascination with death itself, the ultimately timeless state. 9 The adults return to Brownsville becomes, in this view, a journey motivated not simply by a desire for completion of identity, but also by a desire to escape the exigencies of historical life- death, as Pike asserts, and, perhaps more obviously, guilt. The writing of A Walker, Kazin says in New York Jew, was a clutch at my old innocence and the boy I remembered . . . was a necessary fiction, he was so virtuous. 10 What is of particular interest in Kazins memoir, however, is the manifest content of the childs quest whic h offers a counterpoint to Pikes useful analysis. The fascination in A Walker, works both ways: the adult longs for the childs timeless world and the child longs for the adults sense of history. Moreover, as the adolescent stands outside of America, he longs not only to possess a history of his own, but to enter history. The child is never interested in the past for its own sake; he wishes to be one of the crowd, to be swept along in the irrevocable onward rush of political and social events. Entering history for him is the clearest and most satisfying form of belonging. Kazins memoir is not, therefore, reducible to a psychoanalytical model. Since he always handles the issue of life in history consciously, it is difficult to approach the relationship between the autobiographer and time as though the writer were himself unaware of the implica- tions of his subject matter. His escape from history through the recovery of childhood was, at least on one level, a very conscious rejec- tion of the autobiographical form dictated by Marxist historicism and chosen by many leftist writers during the 30s, the period of his own coming-of-age. Writers in this older generation felt that successful self re-creation, both autobiographical and actual, could be accomplished only by determining ones position vis A vis a cosmic historical force. 11 Kazins choice of autobiographical form was partly a response to the effect that this philosophy had had on him as a young man. In his sec- ond memoir, Starting Out in the Thirties, Kazin recalls, with disillu- sionment, the sense of exhilaration that accompanied his own histori- cism during the Great Depression: History was going our way, and in our need was the very life-blood of history . . . The unmistakable and surging march of history might yet pass through me. There seemed to be no division between my efforts at personal liberation and the appar- ent effort of humanity to deliver itself. 12 One might argue, of course, that as an autobiography of childhood, 336 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 A Walker does not deal with the historical world, and therefore can- not address the problems of historicism. But to do so would be to ignore the overwhelming importance which Kazin places upon the relationship between the individual and history in all of his writings, and in particular in his autobiographical work. By emphasizing the adults role in the reconstruction of the child, and by creating a paral- lel between the older mans reconstruction of his childhood and the childs reconstruction of the American past, Kazin locates the source of historical meaning, whether personal or collective, in the historian and undermines historicisms claim that the past possesses meaning independent of human creation. Kazin does not, however, advocate a view of identity divorced from collective history, nor does he value the personal over the collective past. More than most autobiographers of childhood, Kazin has the sensibilities of a public man, a writer very much in and of the world. As we descend with him into the vortex of his reconstructed past, the larger world that he is leaving is always present or implied. More- over, Kazins return to his lost innocence provides more than a mere escape from history because the childhood he reconstructs was full of a longing for history, as we have seen. The childs Whitmanesque dream that he could become an American by assimilating Americas past was born of a belief that the collective past might somehow deliver him from us and them, from the feeling that as isolated indi- viduals (outside of history) we are meaningless. By 1951, when he wrote A Walker, he had indeed been delivered by his dream out of iso- lation, but the post-War, post-Holocaust America in which he found himself was not the one which his history had promised. It is in this context that the return to childhood must be read. The young Kazin had dreamed that collective history would be the salvation of the self; the older Kazin, even while remaining committed to collective history, realized that history, far from providing our salvation, was the very thing from which we must be saved. The power of A Walker ulti- mately derives from the tension between this commitment to our col- lective fate and the belief that our only salvation from that fate lies in a consciousness of the past. The adult walkers reconstruction of his childhood may have begun as an effort of the historical self to connect with an apparently ahistorical self, but the ironic achievement of that effort was the discovery that the earlier self had, in fact, been firmly grounded in history, the history of first generation immigrant Jews. The peculiar intensity with which Kazin identifies his personal past with the collective past raises questions about the relationship of both Hazlett repossessing the past 337 o the larger question of life in history and makes A Walker an interest- ing example of the options available to contemporary American auto- biographers. A Walker rejects the historicism of the 30s and the forms of the self that such historicism produced, but nevertheless maintains the belief that the self is never fully realized until it has defined its rela- tionship to the issues of the times; that is, to historical issues. It is precisely this belief which distinguishes Kazins autobiogra phy from other coming-of-age memoirs. On the surface, it appears to appeal to a private and psychological explanation of the self, but finally it relies firmly upon the belief that only the determination of our relationship to collective experience can provide our private selves with worth. This belief provides the motivation for the two quests discussed in the first half of this essay. In a Commentary article published in 1979, Kazin wrote that the most lasting autobiographies tend to be case histories limited to the self as its own history to begin with, then the self as the history of a particular moment and crisis in human history . . 13 In its presenta- tion of the latter, A Walker reflects not only the struggle of a first-gen- eration immigrant son to become an American, but also the struggle of the modern imagination, which has lost faith in either a divine or a cosmic ordering of history, to recreate a meaningful past. The life of mere experience, Kazin says in that article, and especially of history as the suppo sedly total experience we ridiculously claim to know, can seem an inexplicable series of unrelated moments. In A Walker, the child and the adult are both motivated by the autobiographical belief that history still constitutes meaning and identity; both yearn for con- tinuity. But by focusing on the context in which the past is reclaimed, Kazin emphasizes the difficulties and limitations of his task and places it on the insecure basis which attends every human effort to create meaning. Such an approach to the relationship between history and the self demands finally that the walker be able to tread a tightrope between the reality of the past and the solipsism toward which a reliance on imagination and language tends. Burton Pike has stated that as the twentieth century began, belief in History as a sustaining external principle collapsed, and suggests that the term autobiography cannot accurately be said to apply to twentieth century forms of self-writing since it might best be regarded as a historical term, applicable only to a period roughly corre- sponding to the nineteenth century; that period when, in European thought, an integrity of personal identity corresponded to a belief in the integrity of cultural conventions. 14 By using as his examples 338 biography Vol. 7, No. 4 authors who had come to autobiography from the Modernist move- ment (he mentions Musil, Stein, Rilke, Mailer), Pike has certainly overestimated the impact of Modernism (which relativized and internalized time) on our basic conception of history. Even within the literary community (and particularly among those, like Kazin, who were raised in a leftist political tradition), there was widespread resis- tance to ideas of time that impinged upon the nineteenth century notions of history. The weakest point in Pikes argument is, in fact, his failure to acknowledge the strength of the Marxist legacy in twentieth century thought, and in particular the effect of historicism on modern autobiographies. Even Kazins A Walker, in spite of its rejection of ideological historicism and its attention to the subjectivity of the self- writer, retains a belief in history as fate. Perhaps the significance of Kazins book lies in its revelation of one mans response to the dilemma of his generation: their vision of the self, which was shaped and sustained by historicism, collapsed just when they were about to enter upon the stage of history. Confronted with the collapse of this sustaining external principle autobio- graphers committed to the idea of life in history were faced with the difficult task of defining anew how one might transcend the inexplic- able series of unrelated moments that constitute our daily experience. Kazins return to childhood in A Walker is one answer. Other autobio- graphers are still trying, with varying degrees of success, to find sub- stantial historical movements and directions with which to structure the past, give meaning to the present, and help predict the future. Even a cursory glance at contemporary autobiographical writing reveals that there are many ways to do this; most clearly it can be seen in the increasing numbers of autobiographies written by members of newly self-conscious groupsA—Blacks, women, gays, a generation. The belief held by each of these groups that their time has come is a form of historicism (frequently unconscious) that allows the individual autobiographer to transcend mere experience by identifying him/herself with the historical realization of the groups identity. They provide ample evidence that autobiographies, even at this late post- Modernist date, remain both a literary and a historical form. 15 University of Iowa NOTES 1. A Walker in the City (New York: Harcourt Brace ; World, 1951). AU subsequent references to this book will be given in the body of the text. Hazlett repossessing the past 339 2. John Paul Eakin, Kazins Bridge to America, South Atlantic Quarterly, 77 (Win- ter 1978), 43. This article provides an excellent summary and discussion of the coming-of-age aspect of the memoir. Readers interested in a thorough reading of the memoir are referred to Sherman Paul, Alfred Kazin, Repossessing and Renewing: Essays in The Green American Tradition (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. , 1976), pp. 236-62. 3. Oscar Handlin, rev. f A Walker in the City, Saturday Review of Literature, 17 November 1951, p. 14. 4. One might add that most autobiographies are structured in this way: on the one hand, the explicit journey of the youthful I toward manhood, and, ulti- mately, toward a complete identification with the narrative I; on the other hand, the implicit journey of the adult, narrative I backward in time to find an earlier self, Kazins memoir is distinguished by the wa y in which it makes this second journey such an important and explicit aspect of the narrative. . (New York: Harvest, 1942). 6. New York Jew, (New York: Vintage, 1979), p. 313. 7. New York Jew, p. 320. 8. Kazins loss of his childhood is reflected indirectly in On Native Grounds, the monumental literary history that culminated his search for an American past. That work conspicuously omits any discussion of the contribution of Jews to American literature. Thus, Robert Towers remarks in Tales of Manhattan (New York Review of Books, May 18, 1978, p. 2): The great immigration of East European Jews passes unnoticed, as though it had never happened as though it had not deposited Alfred Kazins bewildered parents on the Lower East side. So powerful has been the subsequent impact of Jewish writing upon our consciousness that it seems incredible that Kazin should have found noth- ing to say about its early manifestations in a history so inclusive as On Native Grounds. 9. Time in Autobiograph y, Comparative Literature, 28 (Fall 1976), 335. 10. New York Jew, pp. 232 and 321 respectively. The return to childhood as renewal through reconnection with an earlier, innocent self is common to many auto- biographies and most eloquently expressed in William Wordsworths The Prel- ude: There are in our existence spots of time,/That with distinct pre-emi- nence retain/A renovating virtue, whence . . . our