Throne Of Blood, By Akira Kurasawa - 1205 Words

Akira Kurasawa’s film, Throne of Blood, is often viewed as an interpretation of William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Both works follow a similar story line and address themes that are relevant to a modern audience. One major theme in both works is the idea that absolute power corrupts mankind. William Shakespeare and Akira Kurasawa both address this theme of power corruption through the use of symbolism and emotion. While Throne of Blood is based off of Macbeth, it is portrayed very differently than the original text. The 1957 film is set in medieval Japan, filmed in the drama style of Noh, which emphasizes human action and emotion. While the setting of the film is drastically different from the play, the plot is actually quite similar. In the film, we see military commanders Miki and Washizu walking back to the emperor’s castle when they get lost in Cobweb Forest. There they encounter a mysterious female ghost, spinning a spindle in the middle of the forest. Thi s ghost predicted success for both commanders, saying that Washizu will be soon be promoted and later become emperor, but his descendants will not continue his legacy. Instead, the ghost says Miki’s descendants will reign as emperors. Both men take the prophecy as nothing more than a joke, and although they are rattled by the ghost’s prophecy, they continue on their way. When they finally reach the castle, the emperor promotes them, as was predicted in the ghost’s prophecy. The two commanders are astonished by this

Exam on organizational culture behavior and conflict - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2790 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Organizational culture defines the shared beliefs, norms, and values of an organization that influence how employees feel, think, and behave toward others inside and outside of the organization. This can be necessary for an organization to maintain a common understanding regarding what is acceptable and expected behavior when one is representing the organization. I have worked at PFSweb for over nine years and have observed the culture of the organization change over time, while certain aspects have remained. Four factors can interact together to form and later change an organizational culture. (George and Jones) The first of these factors involves the personal and professional characteristics of the individuals within the organization (George and Jones). At PFSweb, these characteristics widely include a strong work ethic coupled with adaptability and a fun-loving attitude based on the idea that we will celebrate when the job is done. Likewise, organizational e thics, the second factor, include adaptability and an always on attitude, which encourages employees to be responsive to company needs even if it requires the employee to step outside of his job description or typical business hours. The nature of the employment relationship between a company and its employees is the third factor that shapes organizational culture. Within the PFSweb organization, the attitude of flexibility and adaptability carries over to the workers. When challenges and problems occur, the workers have the proper attitude to problem solve and think creatively. The design of PFSwebs organizational structure is very open and linear. Although managers definitely set boundaries and define tasks, they are open to ideas and suggestions on ways to improve productivity making this fourth factor a very important one for the culture of the company. Based on the interaction of these four factors, PFSweb has a strong organizational culture that is based on creative problem so lving that enables employees to respond quickly and effectively to any problem that might arise. (George and Jones) This culture is also transmitted to new employees through socialization and observation. Socialization occurs in many different ways including lunches, company gatherings, and charity initiatives supported by the organization. When new employees accompany existing employees to lunch there is often discussion regarding current or past clients and projects. Listening to these conversations can help a new employee understand how they should behave if a similar situation arises in which they are involved. Fun company gatherings are sometimes used to reward hard work and initiative to those who conform to the ethics and culture that PFSweb portrays. Additionally, new employees are often paired up with existing employees to observe how day-to-day functions are carried out as well as expectations of appropriate behavior when interacting with clients. Quarterly meetings are also a useful way to communicate organizational expectations, values and culture. Awards are given for exhibiting strong work ethics, tenure, and adaptability to certain situations. This shows new employees that they can be acknowledged by the company and given special awards by conforming to the ethics and culture of the organization. Organizational values are also important. Values, or standards that people use to determine the types of outcomes and behaviors that are favorable, can be divided into two types: terminal and instrumental. Terminal values represent a desired end state or outcome that people seek to achieve (George and Jones). At PFSweb, terminal values include the desire to provide a high quality product and service to our clients and their customers while being efficient and therefore profitable. Instrumental values are desired types of behavior that people seek to follow (George and Jones) and include adaptability and professionalism within the PFSweb organizati on. A relaxed and fun atmosphere is an additional instrumental value, as long as the work is completed. Norms are also shared expectations of behavior. The main beliefs and norms of organizational members include working hard and responding quickly and effectively to issues or problems. In terms of individual attitudes and behaviors, the employees who stay with the company exhibit a very high work ethic and often times can be found working at odd hours of the day. They respond often and quickly when needed and never object to working outside of typical business hours. As new employees join the organization, those who do not exhibit the same level of commitment and dedication to the company generally do not last as long in the organization. In some cases, management might decide to dismiss the individual because of an expectation that the employee will not adopt a similar attitude. In other cases, the employee observes this attitude and behavior, knows that he will not be a good fit, and chooses to leave. This behavior clearly seems to be influenced by PFSwebs organizational values. By having a company that consists of employees with these norms and values, PFSweb is able to move forward with the organization that the leaders desire and can be sure that each individual will demonstrate the organizational values, norms, and beliefs at all times. 2. Reflection on Organizational Behavior Organizational behavior is defined as the study of the various factors that have an impact on how groups and people feel, think, act, and respond to organizations and work, and how organizations respond to their environments (George and Jones). Most individuals are shaped by negative and positive experiences gained from working in an organization at some point in their lives. These experiences can change how a person interacts with other individuals and organizations in the future and therefore it is important to understand how to minimize the negative effects while maximizi ng the positive (George and Jones). A basic understanding of organizational behavior can assist in doing just that. Once a person has a grasp on how others respond and act within an organization, he too can understand how best to respond and control his behavior and actions. Organizational behavior replaces intuition and gut feeling with a well- researched body of theories and systematic guidelines for managing behavior in organizations. The study of OB provides a set of tools, concepts and theories, that helps people to understand, analyze, and describe what goes on in organizations and why (George and Jones). It is also important for an organization to understand the external environment around it, not just the behaviors within. In order for an organization to prosper over time, there has to be a continual adaptability and understanding of the external factors from which it draws resources. An open system view can help illustrate how the environmental factors can affect an orga nizations success and viability over time. This view has three different stages that cover gathering inputs, conversion of the inputs, and outputs. In an open system, an organization takes in resources from its external environment and converts or transforms them into goods and services that are sent back to that environment, where they are bought by customers (George and Jones). The input stage therefore begins this cycle when the organization looks to the exterior environment for inputs such as capital, raw materials, and employees. Acquiring inputs is often a challenge for an organization in terms of effectively finding high quality resources for advantageous prices. To ensure that employees are utilizing the best methods to meet this challenge, organizational procedures, or rules employees can follow to perform some task in the most effective way, should be established and enforced (George and Jones). The second stage in the open system cycle is the conversion stage, during whic h the inputs from the first stage are transformed with value-adding characteristics such as turning raw materials and capital into computers and machines that will produce goods. The output stage represents the third stage where the organization makes the outputs available to its environment. By selling these outputs, the organization makes profits, which allow it to acquire new inputs that will be used to produce new outputs. This high level of interactivity between the organization and the external environment show that in order to be successful, the organization must continue to monitor and understand how the environment changes and then adapt to those changes by altering its organizational behaviors and procedures. Organizations that fail to recognize the many changing forces in the environment lose their ability to acquire resources, to sell their products, and so they often disintegrate and disappear over time (George and Jones). In addition to understanding organizational behavior, it is also important to understand oneself and the level of value maturity one possesses. Value maturity is sometimes referred to as virtues that are believed to be internal but are not innate and have outward consequences (Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta). Kohlbergs model of moral development is a theory developed by Lawrence Kohlberg that says moral reasoning is based on explicit rules and concepts, like conscious logical problem-solving; over the course of an individuals development, the rules and concepts that he or she uses to solve moral problems unfold in a well-defined, universal sequence of stages (Saxe). This model consists of three stages: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. The pre-conventional level is the first level and centers on the personal needs and the related consequences as a focus for moral reasoning. An example of this would be cheating on an exam because it does not harm the person whose paper was copied and it accomplishes th e immediate personal need to pass the exam. The second stage is the conventional level and occurs when one begins to conform to society and allows others to influence his behavior in an attempt to gain their respect. Moral behavior begins to develop based on societal norms and it is learned that cheating on an exam is wrong. By cheating on an exam, professors and others lose respect for the cheater and will therefore not trust his future actions. The final stage is the post-conventional level where judgment of ones actions based on his internalized principles is deemed right or wrong. Here, cheating on the test is still considered wrong, not because of respect or societal norms, but because of a newly developed principled judgment. Most people stop at the second level and stay there, but few people do reach the third level. (Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta) 3. Conflict in a Small Midwestern City As city manager, it has come to my attention that there are two groups requesti ng funds from our current one million dollar budget surplus, each with valid requests. Crime control and economic development are of vital interest to our community, and as such, the funding requests lie in these areas. The police department wants to begin a unit to pursue career criminals which, statistically speaking, commit a higher number of crimes than non-repeat offenders do. Alternatively, downtown business is requesting funds to beautify the area in an effort to attract customers since the area has not been doing as well as predicted. One million dollars will not fully fund both requests and therefore some perceived conflict has arisen since each group understands that their goals are being hindered by the others request. As discussions continue, I anticipate an escalation to felt conflict, which results in the groups developing negative feelings towards each other and cooperation will be more difficult to achieve (George and Jones). If a fair decision cannot be reached d uring this stage, the potential for the progression to manifest conflict will arise. In this stage of conflict, one party decides how to react to or deal with the party that it sees as the source of the conflict, and both parties try to hurt each other and thwart each others goals (George and Jones). This can result in violence or open aggression between the two groups and should be avoided. In an effort to do so, a meeting should be held to discuss the underlying goals and interests of each request so that everyone fully understands the needs that the funding would address. In an effort to keep the conflict between these two groups at a low stage, I plan to employ group-level conflict management strategies in an attempt to arrive at the best possible decision while maintaining fairness and control. Group-level conflict management involves a focus on changing the attitudes and behaviors of the groups and departments in conflict (George and Jones). This is necessary for these two groups in order to maintain the vitality and performance of the city. The source of the conflict is scarcity of resources, but commonly, each group wants the resources to improve a vital area of the city. Before making any decisions, it is important to understand the interests and needs of each group. The police department wants to designate a separate unit to pursue career criminals, but this is a solution to a need. The true interest is to control crime in the city and since statistics show that repeat offenders are responsible for an overwhelming number of crimes, it does seem logical that stopping these particular criminals would reduce overall crime in the city dramatically. Additionally, there needs to be more research presented that includes crime rates and the number of known repeat offenders in the city. If a projected percentage decrease in crime was presented along with the request for funding it would help to air the viewpoint of the police department. Likewise, downtown business is requesting funding for their solution of adding brick sidewalks and planting areas. The interest of this group is to prevent small business from closing which would ensure the continual development of a vibrant downtown area, which is a current goal of the city. A successful city core is crucial to economic development and employment rates. In order to air the viewpoint of the downtown businesses, it would be beneficial to have more research on expected growth rates with the solution as well as expected rates of decline without the funding for the proposed solution. Since both requests are worthy of city funding, I would like to employ a collaborative conflict strategy with the intent and desire of finding a solution that will leave both groups better off and working together to make the city more safe and economically sound. (George and Jones) (Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta) Therefore, the challenge is to find a fair solution that promotes opportunities for joi nt gain and that focuses on common goals. It could be theorized that increasing the downtown business, business owners profits would increase and therefore the amount of taxes they pay would increase. Since tax dollars help fund police department initiatives, the police would potentially enjoy more funding in the future to assist in the erection of a special unit for career criminals. Similarly, if the police department received the funding and built the special unit, a decrease in crime in the city would mean a safer downtown area and less risk of business owners and their customers being victims of crime. This could in turn increase business downtown without the beautification plan. Understanding that one groups interest potentially has a positive effect on the other groups interest, it is possible to come to a collaborative decision that includes modified versions of each request. This potential solution would involve splitting the funds between the two groups in a way that would be the most beneficial for both. For example, it would be ineffective to give a particular amount of money to a group that would not fulfill any part of the original solution. The groups should revise the originally proposed request to minimize the work, and therefore funding, necessary to accomplish a part of the goal. Perhaps the beautification plan can be revised to decrease the number of planted areas or the number of plants in each area. The police department would also be responsible for finding a minimal way of targeting repeat offenders such as starting with a smaller number of officers for the first year or limiting the enforcement area initially until more funding is available. To reduce manifest conflict, we have to get the two groups to compromise or come to a collaborative decision. The desire here is to resolve the conflict in this way before it progresses to the manifest stage, so that the conflict aftermath will promote good future working relationships. Because every type of conflict leaves behind an aftermath, which can affect the way the parties react in the future, the goal is to ensure that the aftermath of this conflict is positive so these two groups will be able to work together productively in the future (George and Jones). To achieve this objective, city council meetings to discuss these requests need to be thorough and each group needs to be heard and understood completely (Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta). Once each group is able to understand the needs of the other group and the possibility of collaborating on a group decision, the conflict will be easier to resolve in a timely fashion. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Exam on organizational culture behavior and conflict" essay for you Create order

Angela’s Ashes Free Essays

A happy life could have been because of the existence of luxury and riches around you. It could also be because you are contented with the way your life goes and you feel so much lucky with all your blessings but, it is not that easy all the time. Some would need to suffer first before finding that happiness and some would need to undergo pain and hunger before coming to the point of satisfaction. We will write a custom essay sample on Angela’s Ashes or any similar topic only for you Order Now The novel Angela’s Ashes (1996) by Frank McCourt depicts a life of poverty and tells a story of a little boy’s dream of surpassing his family’s miserable state. In this narrative, Frank as a child experienced a not so typical childhood. Having to experience the death of his three other siblings, a drunkard father and a life full of hunger, it is not a normal kind of life for a child. His was a story of pain and fate that embraced his younger years up to his teenage days. It was not an easy life for a 10 year old boy who was supposed to be playing and having fun. This novel also talks about Franks religious life and his fear in committing mistakes. His ideals and his dreams were tackled in this novel and how he will be able to achieve these things despite all the hardships and the poverty he was facing. Your Name 2 Frank McCourt was the eldest son of Angela and Malachy McCourt. He was born in America and was followed by Malachy Jr. and the twins Oliver and Eugene. The family moved back to Limerick after the death of baby Margaret. As the family went back to Limerick, their grief was only added by the consecutive death of Oliver and Eugene. Two weeks before Christmas, Angela together with Frank went to a butcher and asked for a meat. What they had was the pig’s head and Frank’s classmate were laughing at him as he carries the meat while Malachy is very disgusted upon seeing them. On Christmas morning, Frank and Malachy Jr. attended the mass with their father and later on collected for coal so that their mother can cook the pig’s head. Again, Angela gave birth to another boy named Michael and whom Frank calls as the â€Å"angel on the seventh step†. This baby got ill but Malachy was able to save him by sucking the mucus out of his nose. Malachy found a job but on pay day, he got drunk again and missed his job the following day and got fired. Frank had his first communion but he missed the collection which was according to Mikey was the best thing in having to take the first communion. He was told by his mother to attend a dance class but little did Angel know, he wasn’t really attending the class. Instead, he goes to the movies with Billy. When his mother and father learned about this, they confront Frank and told him to confess his sins to the priest. Your Name 3 Malachy wants Frank to be an Altar boy but they were refused when they asked about it. After few more years, Malachy continues to drink away the dole money while Angela gave birth to another boy who was named Alphonsus. Frank at this part of the story has a job already as he was instructed by Grandma. Frank is on his 10th year and was preparing for his confirmation and after being confirmed, he had a nosebleed and was rushed to the hospital and found out that he has a typhoid fever. He was confined and there he learned more about Shakespeare and read books most of the time. He had a friend named Patricia and Seamus who shared to him the books and Seamus was the one who recited the â€Å"Highway Man†. Almost all families in Limerick were getting richer because their father goes in the war to have work and sens money back home. Malachy left home and go in the war to find a job and Angela was overwhelmed thinking that he will send money and she can buy a new coat and boots for the kids. Unfortunately, there was no money from Malachy again. Malachy did not send any money to his family. On Chapter 10 of the book, Angela got sick of pneumonia. Frank wrote to Malachy and his father went home to take care of the kids but also left the following day when Angela was released from the hospital. Because Malachy was not able to send his paycheck, Angela was forced to appeal to the Dispensary for money. The author felt bad when he saw his mother begging outside the church. Your Name 4 Because the family owes the owner of the house with 4 months rent and they don’t have money, the kids burned a wall and the owner found out and they were asked to leave. The family stayed in the house of Laman Griffin, Angela’s cousin but he treats them bad and soon, Malachy left Limerick to go to the Army School of Music while Frank worked on a post office. He stayed with Ab Sheehan and during his work hours as a mail man, he met Theresa and they had an affair. Later on the story, she died of consumption and Frank worked for Brigid Funicane where he sends a threat letter to her debtors and when she died, he stole her money and throw the ledger in the river. He then made his plans in leaving Limerick for America. Angela’s Ashes is an autobiography of a child from Limerick who tells his story of suffering and agony during his younger years. This novel also tackles how his family, the McCourts grew up in a place where poverty is such a disease and that living in a house infested with fleas and rats is such a common thing. This novel shows many aspects of inequality. Opening the pages of the book and reading each words composing a line, phrase and slowly becoming a sentence, Frank McCourt successfully described his childhood which is full of suffering and poverty. His life together with his family in Limerick shows a side of poverty in that place that was never known to people and the whole world. With this autobiography, he stated the real situation during those years in Ireland, therefore, making the whole biography more emotional and interesting. Your Name 5 Talking about the family’s suffering, one definite example is Margaret’s who brought joy to the family and the reason why for a while, Malachy stopped from drinking and focused in taking care of his family especially taking good care of Margaret but aside from this, the death of the twins also caused suffering to the family and most of all, Malachy’s vice caused most of their misery. His hobby to drink away his wage brought hunger to the family that Angela was forced to beg in order for them to have something to eat. As the mother, she decided to do something so that there will be no dead anymore and that the kids will not be in hunger but she must admit it that all she can give to the kids is a simple life, still bounded by poverty. Aside from suffering, the main theme of the novel is poverty. Frank McCourt showed in his narrative the state of their life including their neighbors. He mentioned certain things that the people do to survive. The best example for this one is Nora whose husband was like Malachy, drinks his wage away that most of the time, it resulted to Nora’s psychological problems that she has to be taken to an asylum. Frank said that he really doesn’t know if at some point, maybe Nora finds peace in the asylum that is why she choose to be brought there. ` Citing evidences from the novel regarding poverty is easy. Angela begs for food, Frank and Malachy Jr. steals so that they will have something to eat. They live in a slum and their family so does the neighbors share the same toilet. They ask for coal to the rich families in their neighborhood and they were told to live the house they were living in because they can’t pay. Your Name 6 The life of the McCourt kids is very unusual. It is not everyday that a little kid starves to death or maybe sleeps in hunger. In their case, it is natural, a common thing and it is usual. Because of the strong poverty that they had, Angela had to beg while the kids need to steal so that they can eat and somehow fill their stomach. It is really a bad thing to do but in their situation, it seems like it is a noble thing to be done. Like Robin Hood who steals from the rich people and gives it to the poor ones, Frank has no other way but to do the same thing or watch his family slowly die, one by one. He has to be sure that they have something to eat even if its not fish and chips. What matters to young frank was to have something that can fill their hungry stomachs and make them live another day. Remember a part in the novel wherein Michael asked what’s for dinner and he wished that they have fish and chips while Angela as a mother said next week they’ll eat fish together with chips, Frank knows it is impossible because life in poverty is worse and asking money from others including the dispensary is even worse. That is how their life goes as they experience poverty in Ireland wherein during those times, it was a disease, an itch of the society. It is already a disease of the society. People oftentimes neglect those who are needing assistance but in the end, what helped this family is their strong will to survive and overcome every struggle, in the end, maybe it was because of Frank’s prayers that helped him. How to cite Angela’s Ashes, Papers