What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the Theme of Love Essay Example

What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the Theme of Love? Essay From the beginning of the play, namely the prologue, it is evident that Romeo and Juliet will revolve around two themes: love and tragedy. In Act 1 Scene 1 Romeo says, Heres much to do with hate, but more with love. The chorus also introduces us to the idea of a pair of star crossed lovers taking their life. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to allow his audience to concentrate on the events leading up to the tragedy, rather than the actual tragedy itself. In this case, we are warned of the fearful passage of their death-marked love. This dramatic irony also allows the audience to focus on the other main theme of the play, love, and to contrast very different forms of love with the one main passion, that of Juliet and Romeo. The prologue is written in the form of a sonnet, traditionally a love poem. This serves to create a romantic atmosphere from the opening scene. Thus it is unexpected that the first reference to love in the play is entirely sexual. The first two characters we meet are Sampson and Gregory, two Capulet servants. They are vulgar and crude, making many sexual references and innuendoes. They do not see love as involving emotions or desires, but as a purely physical commodity, sexual not emotional. Sampson tells of how he will rape the maids of the Montague household: Women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall I will push Montagueà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall. Both Sampson and Gregory have petty and narrow perceptions of love. Neither of them appears to have ever experienced true love. They talk in a crude and coarse manner, brag about their own attributes and see women as objects not people. They are shallow and insensitive, reflecting the uncouth people of society. We will write a custom essay sample on What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the Theme of Love? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the Theme of Love? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on What do you think Shakespeare is saying about the Theme of Love? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The next form of love we see is Romeos infatuation for Rosaline. This is completely based around her beauty, as Romeo has no knowledge of her personality. She is rich in beauty He mentions nothing, however, of her character, apart from her disinterest in marriage. Her rejection has caused him much misery, and therefore he sees love as cruel and unkind. Love is a smoke made from the fume of sighs. This metaphor compares love to unpleasant sensations caused by smoke pollution such as suffocation and loss of vision. Romeos language is elaborate and eloquent. However his language does seem a little too elegant, suggesting fabrication. He illustrates what was expected of a pining lover by staying in sycamore groves and shutting himself away from light. This is too melodramatic to appear realistic. Romeos overuse of elaborate metaphors makes his love seem artificial and flustered. Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers eyes, Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers tears. This presents two different sides of love, happiness and misery as a consequence of rejection. He also tries to express these two conflicting states with the use of oxymoron. Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! The second form of infatuation less focused on in Romeo and Juliet is Paris feelings towards Juliet. When he first appears in Act 1 Scene 2, he seems a caring, gentle character, expressing his regret that the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets has lasted so long. Indeed, Montague refers to him as Gentle Paris. When he talks to Juliet in Act 4 Scene 1, he seems still caring and friendly, saying first Pour soul, thy face is much abused with tears, but possesive over Juliet, claiming that by crying she has vandalised his property, Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it. He is also very confident that she returns his feelings, although he has had no direct affection from Juliet herself and she is acting coldly towards him. He says,So will ye, I am sure, that you love me. Like Romeo, he behaves in the ways of a mourning lover after Juliets death, laying flowers at her tomb and speaking of his grief poetically: Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew, O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones, Which with sweet water nightly I will dew. Later, he begs for Romeos mercy to lay him with Juliets body in the tomb to die. Another, contrasting form of love, which undergoes many changes throughout the play, is love shown by parents for their children. The Montagues, having a very small part in the play, often talk of their love for their son. Lord Montague expresses his concern at Romeos odd behaviour when he says: Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow We would as willingly give cure as know. At the end of the play, when the bodies of Romeo, Juliet and Paris are found dead, Lord Montague reports that his wife has died because she grieved for Romeos exile. The Montagues show love and protection for their son. The Capulets parental love for Juliet changes many times. At the start of the play, Lord Capulet in particular shows a strong paternal care towards her, considering her feelings about marrying Paris. He speaks of her very highly, Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she, She is the hopeful lady of my earth My will to her consent is but a part However, in Act 3 Scene 4, Lord Capulet does not seem as considerate as before. He tells Paris Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender Of my childs love. I think she will be ruled In all respects by me; nay more, I doubt it not. Firstly he said that he would consent to the marriage if Juliet did, and in Act 3 Scene 4 he claims she should have no say in the matter, that she will obey him. By Act 3 Scene 5, he shows no consideration of her thoughts whatever, and uses extreme insults against her. We have a curse in having her.He also uses language to attack her looks. As Juliet has not actually done anything drastically wrong, Lord Capulet has nothing to accuse her of, so he insults her image with offensive, violent accusations which do not relate to the cause of his anger, such as You green-sickness carrion, out you baggage, You tallow face Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch. His feelings for Juliet change again, after he thinks she is dead. His language contains much repetition. He has two short speeches in which he lists many words relating to death and hate and repeats the words murder and child, showing his disbelief and distress at such a young death. Despised, distressed, hated, martyred, killed To murder, murder our solemnity? O child! O child! My soul and not my child. Dead art thou, alack my child is dead. Accursed, unhappy, wretched, hateful day. Lady Capulet is a lot colder towards Juliet. She does not seem to have much part in Juliets life, apart from in Act 4 Scene 5 when she sees Juliet dead. She cries O me, O me, my child, my only life. Revive, look up, or I will die with thee This contrasts completely with her attitudes towards Juliet in the rest of the play. After the argument between Juliet and her parents about marriage to Paris, Lady Capulet does not express much anger or disappointment, but dismissal and disconcern, which I think is even colder than Lord Capulets hurtful insults. Talk not to me, for Ill not speak a word, Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. Lady Capulet and Juliet talk to each other very formally, Juliet addressing her mother as Madam, whereas she addresses her father as Good father. Lady Capulet thinks of love as marriage a social accessory. She therefore thinks Paris is an ideal match for her daughter as he is rich, popular and has a high place in society. It is this type of quality that she values in her lovers. Like the nurse, she thinks it is highly important that marriage improves social status and probably does not actually love her husband. She does want Juliet to be happy, but believes that having a wealthy husband is the only way to do this. She is quite shallow and does not see behind social lines, believing that image given to outsiders is more important that comfort. The Nurse sees love as an importance that defines ones future happiness and social status, somewhat like Lady Capulets views. However, like Mercutio, the Nurse refers often to sex. She plays with the phrase, women grow by men, taking it in two meanings, that women grow by means of social status, a woman becomes more honourable once she is married, and women physically growing, in pregnancy. The nurses character is one of the humorous aspects of the play. Shakespeare uses this humour to lift the ominous atmosphere. The nurses character, and especially Mercutios character, uses crudeness in their jokes. I am the drudge, and toil in your delight/ but you shall bear the burden soon at night. This refers to the consummation of Romeo and Juliets marriage. The crude parts of the play would have appealed to the lower class and less cultured members of the elizabethan audience. An crucial character in Romeo and Juliet who provides a humourous but crude attitude to love is Mercutio. His humour is mostly crude and insulting. He makes jokes at the expense of Romeo, the nurse, and Tybalt, which proves fatal. He sees love as an excuse for acceptable sexual activity. In many of his scenes he makes frequent sexual references, for example in Act 2 Scene 1. Mercutio is calling out to an imaginary Romeo (thinking Romeo is at home), using language that would infuriate him. He pretends to conjure up Romeo as if he were a spirit, by talking in a sexual manner about Rosalines features. The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. I conjure thee by Rosalines bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie. Mercutio is also openly crude about the Nurse. When she asks to speak with Romeo alone, he cries A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho! Accusing her of being a brothel keeper and wanting to be alone with Romeo for this reason, when in fact she has come to arrange the marriage between Romeo and Juliet. She later speaks of Mercutio with I pray you sir, what saucy merchant was this that Was so full of his ropery? Expressing her thoughts that Mercutio was rude and impertinent. The main focus of the play is the love shared by Romeo and Juliet. It is very different from the other attitudes to love shown in Romeo and Juliet, as it is the most valuable, and most real. Romeo shows us that he would do almost anything for Juliet, even hating his name because It is an enemy to thee (Juliet). Aftre spending the evening at the party and a very brief amount of time with Juliet, he has decided he would rather be dead than without her. My life were better ended by thy hate, Than prorogued, wanting of thy love. His love for Juliet makes him ecstatic, in total contrast with his supposed love for Rosaline, which made him drained and miserable. Heaven, light, falconry and religion are some of the images used to show their love is eternal. Romeo mentions flight often, With heavens wings did I eer approach these walls, and when he speaks of falconry. This gives the impression that Romeo and Juliets love has no boundaries, and no limits. Like birds, they have few restrictions. In Act 1 Scene 5, when Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulets party, they first converse through a sonnet, which shows their immediate love for each other: Romeo: If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, My lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tendre kiss Juliet: Good pilgrim you do wrong your hands too much Which mannerly devotion shows in this For saints have hands which pilgrims hands do touch And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss. In the balcony scene, Act 2 Scene 2, a large amount of imagery is used to make the love between Romeo and Juliet seem heavenly, and not down to earth, as are many other characters and their perceptions of love. Juliet compares Romeo with a hawk, suggesting that Romeo has fallen instantly in love with her, the same way that a hawk springs upon its prey, and that she cannot escape his love, just as the prey of a hawk cannot escape its talons. O for a falconers voice To lure this tassel gentle back again. Both Romeo and Juliet refer to Gods and heaven many times in their love speeches. In Romeos soliloquy, he talks of Juliet using heavenly language, showing that he thinks of her as godly. What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is hte sun. Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon. Juliet also used godly vocabulary to describe Romeo, The God of my idoltry. Juliet mentions speed and vows regularly, as she is the most practical of the lovers. This is a constant reminder of how quickly everything is happenning. Although I joy in thee I have no joy of this contract tonight. It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden. She is aware of the dangers of Romeo being a Montague, and does not want to rush into anything. Romeo and Juliet both tend to share the same imagery when they talk together, suggesting that they are well connected, sharing even their choice of language. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses imagery to show his views on the different types of love. His choice of characters reflect the different types of people of everyday human life, and most people of the Elizabethan audiences, of various classes, could probably have related to one of them. With Mercutio, he uses sexual, crude and imaginative imagery to show his charcters perceptions of love. With Lady Capulet, he emphasises marriage and status in society, showing how she loves her reputation more than she loves her own daughter, and with Romeo and Juliet, he uses imagery of heaven, showing that the two are lucky to experience this sort of love, and that it is rare. He brings humour into the play with the characters of the Nurse and Mercutio, and the joking seems to diminish after Mercutios death, the turning point in the play. The contrast between Romeo and Juliets love, and the other types of love evident in the play, is used to emphasise the strength of Romeo and Juliets love for each other. For example, Romeos infatuation with Rosaline causes him to shut light out of his bedroom, and pine under sycamore groves. His ornate, and over elaborate language is excessive, and his overuse of oxymoron and metaphor shows that Romeos love for Rosaline is not genuine. This contrasts with his love for Juliet, in which Romeos language is ornate but not excessive. It is decorative, romantic and genuine. He believes what he says. Scenes in which Mercutio or the Nurse express their sex based attitudes to love are either before or after a scene in which Romeo and Juliet share special love. Shakespeare uses these contrasting attitudes to love to remind us of how special, heavenly and romantic the love shared between Romeo and Juliet is.

William and Mary Propaganda essays

William and Mary Propaganda essays Throughout history there have been many revolutions where monarchs were removed from their thrones or countries have rebelled against the authority of the monarchs. Possibly the three most famous of these were the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution. When one thinks of these "fights for freedom", one imagines armies engaging in battles, soldiers brandishing swords or firing cannons. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was not such a revolution. A King indeed was removed from the throne, in what is termed "The Bloodless Revolution", but without great bloodshed. No great armies met on battlefields, but battles were fought. They were fought with words, letters and documents of propaganda. By todays standards the amount of propaganda used might be considered a media blitz. Like todays political propaganda, words were twisted, facts were given a spin and half truths became truths to further advance the cause of William. This propaganda created an atmosphere in England that allowed William and Mary to come to England and be crowned without massive strife or bloodshed. Prince William of Orange and those who supported him both in England and Holland waged an intense war of propaganda against James II of England. This propaganda was used to present William in a favorable light while portraying James II with the most unfavorable image. Commemorative medals, broadsides, prints, cartoons, printed tracts, and sermons were used portray William as the conquering Protestant hero who came to save England from the evil Catholic monarch. This paper will examine the types of propaganda used, how it was used to shape the public's opinion toward William's assumption of the throne. For many years during the reign of Charles II the majority of the Protestant population as well as parliament had harbored fears that the king had ambitions of making England a Catholic country. Rumo...

A Plan of Action for Success in High School or College

A Plan of Action for Success in High School or College Strategic plans are tools that many organizations use to keep themselves successful and on track. A strategic plan is a roadmap for success. You can use the same sort of plan to establish a route to academic success in high school or college. The plan may involve a strategy for achieving success in a single year of high school or for your entire educational experience. Ready to get started? Most basic strategic plans contain these five elements: Mission StatementGoalsStrategy or MethodsObjectivesEvaluation and Review Create a Mission Statement   You will kick off your roadmap for success by determining your overall mission for the year (or four years) of education. Your dreams will be put into words in a written statement called a mission statement. You need to decide ahead of time what youd like to accomplish, then write a paragraph to define this goal. This statement can be a little vague, but thats only because you need to think big at the beginning stage. (Youll see that you should go into detail a little later.) The statement should spell out an overall target that would enable you to reach your highest potential. Your statement should be personalized: it should fit your individual personality as well as your special dreams for the future. As you craft a mission statement, consider how you are special and different, and think about how you can tap in to your special talents and strengths to achieve your target. You might even come up with a motto. Sample Mission Statement Stephanie Baker is a young woman determined to graduate in the top two percent of her class. Her mission is to use the gregarious, open side of her personality to build positive relationships, and to tap in to her studious side to keep her grades high. She will manage her time and her relationships to establish a professional reputation by building on her social skills and her study skills. Stephanies motto is: Enrich your life and reach for the stars. Select the Goals   Goals are general statements that identify some benchmarks youll need to accomplish in order to meet your mission. Most likely you will need to address some possible stumbling blocks you may face on your journey. As in business, you need to recognize any weaknesses and create a defensive strategy in addition to your offensive strategy. Offensive Goals: I will set aside specific times to do homework.I will build relationships with teachers who write great recommendations! Defensive Goal: I will identify and eliminate time-wasting activities by half.I will manage relationships that involve drama and that threaten to drain my energy. Plan Strategies for Reaching Every Goal   Take a good look at the goals youve developed and come up with specifics for reaching them. If one of your goals is dedicating two hours a night to homework, a strategy for reaching that goal is to decide what else might interfere with that and plan around it. Be real when you examine your routine and your plans. For instance, if you are addicted to American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, make plans to record your show(s) and also to keep others from spoiling the outcomes for you. See how this reflects reality? If you think something so frivolous as planning around a favorite show doesnt belong in a strategic plan, think again! In real life, some of the most popular reality shows consume four to ten hours of our time every week (watching and discussing). This is just the sort of hidden roadblock that can bring you down! Create Objectives   Objectives are clear and measurable statements, as opposed to goals, which are essential but indistinct. They are specific acts, tools, numbers, and things that provide concrete evidence of success. If you do these, youll know youre on track. If you dont carry out your objectives, you can bet youre not reaching your goals. You can kid yourself about many things in your strategic plan, but not objectives. Thats why theyre important. Sample Objectives Buy a planner and write in it every day.Sign a homework contract.Secure a device for recording my favorite shows.Take a learning style exam to determine my best learning style. Evaluate Your Progress   Its not easy to write a good strategic plan on your first try. This is actually a skill that some organizations find difficult. Every strategic plan should have in place a system for an occasional reality check. If you find, halfway through the year, that you are not meeting goals; or if you discover a few weeks into your mission that your objectives arent helping you to get where you need to be, it may be time to revisit your strategic plan and hone it.

Write a complex essay comparing the strategies used by the author Sam

Write a complex comparing the strategies used by the author Sam Ruddick's story Leak, to the the strategies used by the filmmaker Mark poirier Smart people - Essay Example Likewise, the characters in the film too are caught up in a tricky quandary. That is there is nothing there can for themselves to improve their personalities and behaviors. The problem being, of course, that a film and story in which people just do things, wild things, like snapping up on in your ex in the middle of the night, disrupting another person’s house uninvited, and fixing yourself pasta, does not really hold up. Stacy and Chuck have similar characters in both Smart People and the story Leak. Just as Wetherhold wonders whether his adopted brother is crazy, so does Oscar marvel whether his nonprofit friend is mad, shifting emotions from his father’s sickness into his professional life. Further so do we too wonder if these people are mad: how else to explain their behaviors? Successful Hollywood productions are not the only ones to depend upon formula. For this features debut, director Naom Murro has taken his safe course of joining the salvation of the misanthrope narrative. Everything on anticipates from such a legend is found here; the dislikable protagonist who is increasingly cultivated over the course of the tale, the love interest who displays to him the route to redemption, and idiosyncratic supporting characters who offer color and flavor what is lacking, nevertheless, is a rationale for a viewer to become invested in anyone living inside Smart People’s world. To avoid sloppiness, Murro uses a technique that keeps the viewers at arm’s length, but there’s not anything adequately remarkable about his characters to facilitate them to leap off the screen. Smart People is a piece of film apparently crafted by dull-witted persons. The character’s in the play are just drifting along, heads in their heads and hands up their posterior whilst griping and moping their way into another uncertain tomorrow, during which they will awake and start bitching and grousing how crappy yesterday was. Lawrence Wetherhold is played by Dennis Quiad

Customer Relationship Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer Relationship Management - Essay Example But if this concept of CRM is evaluated, it can be inferred that CRM does not include one important relation that the organization has. It is its employees. Keeping the above argument in view, CRM has being given a new definition by Reichheld. He has given a concept of Virtuous Circle sometimes colloquially referred to as closing the loop. A diagrammatic representation of this circle is given below: Reichheld has brilliantly explained CRM in one cycle. This cycle depicts that the key to customer loyalty is not the product or the service that is being provided, but the key is the organization’s employees. According to this circle, if the employees are satisfied with their jobs and the company, they can be easily retained by the managers. This would in return increase employee productivity meaning they would give better service to the customers. The customer will be satisfied with the company’s service and would become loyal. Loyal customers are regular customers of the company and in turn also refer the company and its product and services to other potential customers. Thus they serve as a means of word to mouth advertising. This increases the company’s profits and leads the company to growth. The company can then focus on investing the earnings in internal marketing such as rewards, benefits and compensations which would impact the employees. Besides this, employee empowerment, training and development all contribute to employee satisfaction. Thus this cycle goes on and on. John Moore has quoted in his blog ‘Reichheld on Employee Loyalty’ that â€Å"Many marketers view employee relations as a job solely for human resources—they see employees as tools. But employees—happy, rewarded employees—can work wonders for the company’s marketing efforts. There is no better spokesperson for a company, product, and brand than someone who is happy with

Motivation to study a Masters degree

Motivation to study a Masters degree I basically belong to India from where I received my secondary education, later on I went on pursue my graduation in the commerce field from Cambridge College, Commercial University, Mumbai. I have done my Masters in Marketing Management from the same University. I have had considerable amount of work experience at prominent organizations. I worked as the Sales Advisor for Marks Spencers for almost two years and moved on to work at Reebok as the Retail Sales Coordinator for an year. Honestly, I believe, studying abroad for an international MBA degree is a greatly satisfying rewarding as someone interested in business of Sales and Marketing. Choosing Bangor University was a choice made on the basis of lot of information and research. My educational advisors helped me choose Bangor as a truly international destination for study purposes, which provides an atmosphere conducive for studying and remarkable living place. As a resourceful, creative and solution-oriented individual I found travelling abroad for my MBA will serve my challenge taking nature. I have been working effectively as a team member with well-known companies and have also acted as team leader as and when opportunity arose. I believe my eight long years of experience in the field of Sales and Marketing with a brief exposure to working in US in the Macys apparel department as the Sales Executive. I have also travelled to Melbourne, Australia to work as a freelancer merchandiser. Coming to UK is not rocket science. After been to US and Australia, UK was an obvious choice to continue with my professional qualification. I strongly believe this venture will be a life-changing experience for I will get to learn the European ways of business and will get an opportunity to interact with local people and people from around the world. Motivation to study in UK is also associated with the reputational factors attached with UKs education system. Most of the countries like US and Australia offer mostly two years rigorous MBA curriculum, whereas UK allowed me with the one year MBA, which was obviously a better choice if I consider my professional experience and life. I could not commit to a two-year program, thus a one-year program was an added advantage for me and one of the strongest reasons to choose UK. While researching about the universities in UK, Bangor University was highly advised by my counsellors back home and I was told it to be one the best educational institutes with a rich history in education. After coming here, I can say they were quite right. With stimulating lectures and vibrant life I can call it a perfect place to live and study. I view the world with a whole new perspective and my thinking about business and culture has been affected profoundly. I am out of my educational comfort zone and am being continuously challenged every day to develop my views and think in new ways. While earlier also I have been in stimulating environments, studying for a postgraduate qualification in UK is an altogether different endeavour. At Bangor University, I will develop my self-reliance and independence and will leverage on my previous professional experience and will mature academically and brighten my career prospects. MBA at Bangor means enrichment on every level. According to a survey by the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES), when asked about personal growth, 98% students agreed that education abroad increased their self-confidence and facilitated maturit y and 97% students revealed it had a lifelong impact on their world view (The London School of Economics and Political Science/LSE). I am here to seek friendship on a greater diversity level. Studying MBA will also enable me to build enduring friendships and developing relationships with people from various countries. I will remain in contact with them even after my education here is completed. Bangor University will provide me with academic benefits through excellent courses and lectures, unavailable at my home country. It will enhance the value of my degree by allowing me to study the subjects with more depth. Studying in UK will make me more aware culturally and I will be able to appreciate the differences in different cultures I have been in. I will be able to understand different people in better ways, thus becoming a part of world that is increasingly becoming more diverse. With this international exposure, I will be able to appraise the different points of view. MBA from Bangor University will definitely be advantageous to my future career as a manager in corporate world. In todays time more and more employ ers are placing great emphasis on the value of adaptability and flexibility. They also seek people who understand different cultures and can effectively communicate with people. It will prove to be of great help while the employers analyse my compatibility for a job as I will be able to demonstrate such skills to the employers. Interpersonal skills are the single most important attribute that the employers consider and I will gain on this front for having both academic and professional experience abroad. Undeniably I sought the international education and experience because they exhibit my own capability and confidence to carry on with it. Bangor University provides very challenging experience; academically, culturally, and socially and is naturally going to provide me an edge over others and help me stand out in the crowd. All the faculty members are internationally oriented and the academic quality is rich. Besides these reasons, the cost of tuition fee and cost of living are also important factors considered for choosing Bangor University. The place is rated extremely safe across the UK. Thus Bangor is my choice for both the teaching reasons and non-teaching reasons, bending towards the quality of faculty and cost of living as the most important reasons. Studying in an international setting at Bangor University with students from around the world will surely provide me with the opportunity to develop my communication skills with individuals from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. The companies I have previously worked for are multinational companies with offices in various countries of world. This will prepare me for an international work. Considering my past ventures in US and Australia, I possess the experience of dealing with various cultures and this will only foster my value as an individual and an employee. Q. 2. What is your approach to learning? Q.3. What issues do you anticipate in the group work? In higher education, the inclusion of group work has become increasingly important, prominently due to greater significance assumed by skill development, lifelong learning and potential of students as future employees. Group work has wide reached consequences if not carried out with proper execution. It is a widely argued topic in the realm of higher education research literature by the likes of Webb, 1994 and Boud et al., 1999 (Mellor, A. 2009). There are three types of group works as identified by Davis (1993). They are formal learning groups, informal learning groups and study groups. Formal groups are created for accomplishing a particular task which is to be completed within a given period of time is given to them, such as preparing a report on the organizational behaviour and its elements in an MNC. Informal groups (random groups of individuals) are easily identifiable in a class where students discuss various academic (and non-academic) issues and the study groups are formed t o assist the group members during a projects progress. According to Webb, 1994; Gledhill and Smith, 1996, group work is extremely complex and has effects on the students learning mechanism. Before formation of a group, it is important to consider issues such as the right size of group, diversity in a group, balancing the load on different members of a group, preparing students to effectively participate in group work. Knight (2004) has argued that the students prefer being assessed individually rather than in groups. Group work can become more disliked by students in our groups if it involves peer assessment. As argued by Maguire and Edmonson (2001) it can lead to issues such as lack of rational judgement and prejudices. The most common issues that I can anticipate in the group work are trying to control the group or some members, coercing them to support them in every discussion. Mills (2003) also said that the thing students dislike most are poor group dynamics and personality cla shes. There can be an issue of some students who act as obligate parasites by deriving all the advantage without putting any efforts on their own. It discourages other members who actively contribute towards the success of group working. Such students have been called as passengers by Bourner et al. (2001) and Parsons (2002). Whereas, Hand (2001) coined the term freeloader for such students. An effective solution to this problem can be keeping the group size as minimum possible so that the scope of free riding can be minimized. Davis (1993) advised the perfect group size to be between 3 to 4 and no more than 6 to 7. Glebhill and Smith (1996) have discussed the issue of age, gender and qualification difference as the factors affecting the group dynamics, for example a more mature person will think quite differently than a young individual. There can also be a situation where a particular student is undermined by other members, this can seriously hamper his emotional confidence and th is sort of rejection can lead to bigger problems such as group conflict (Chang, 1999). In any group there can be some people who like to be followed and some who just follow without considering the bigger picture. While Thorley and Gregory (1994) believe that groups selected by teachers can be more effective answer to the task or situation, however there is a natural inclination among the students to form self-selected groups on basis such as friendship, ethnic or cultural proximity. This can become problematic in our case, as there are students from around the world. It is not necessary that every individual has made enough friends. Also, if some members are unable to form a group of their choice, they might feel hostile in a group of unknown people. It is not necessary that they will easily adjust in any group. It can not only hamper their participation but can also hurt their emotional well-being (Mellor and Entwistle, 2008). Q.4. How will you attempt to address these? Conclusion I, as an MBA student am looking forward to a rich academic and cultural exposure at Bangor University classrooms. Learning is certainly going to be an area of focus while also looking into the areas that need improvement. Developing personality to a better level will definitely be on top of the list. I am also looking forward to working in groups composed of diverse students. During the one year I have at Bangor, I will ensure I develop my transferrable skills and enhance my employability through the way of developing my leadership, negotiation abilities, decision making and increasing adaptability by fitting myself in different roles as the course progresses.

Samsung Electronics Case Summary

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS SUMMARY Under Kun Hee Lee’s leadership Samsung has risen to become the world’s leading memory producer for all types of PCs, game players, digital cameras and other electronic equipments. In 1987, Samsung was a â€Å"bit player†, years behind its key Japanese rivals. In 2003 Samsung’s memory division is bigger than that of Japanese rivals in both size & profits. The memory chip industry was expected to face cyclical downturn in 2005 and Samsung survived two previous downturns still some outside believers believed that the Chinese entry would fundamentally change industry conditions in the years ahead.There has been a strong growth in economic importance of Semiconductor industry over the previous five decades. Semiconductor products were classified into two categories; Logic chips and memory chips. Logic chips were used for processing information/ control processes whereas Memory chips were further classified into DRAM (Dynamic Random A ccess Memory), SRAM (Static RAM), & Flash to store information. The case is focused on Global memory chip industry. DRAMs captured over half of the memory chip market in 2003. DRAMs were previously used in PCs, but their share declined from 80% to 67% between 1990 and 2003.Telecom & consumer electronics were growing consumers of DRAMs in 2003. Communications products were expected to grow from 3. 5% to 7. 9% in 2008 while TVs, set-top boxes, game devices such as Play station represented 7% of global market in 2003. In 2003, SRAM, a type of buffer memory which facilitated computer processing & mobile phone functionality, accounted for 10% of the industry sales and Flash memory, used in heavy digital cameras & mobile phones, is a hot growth area and account for 32% of the industry sales. The memory industry contained powerful suppliers and price conscious customers.Over time technology grew more complex and suppliers became more concentrated. Only 2-3 main players dominated the key se gments of equipment market. Suppliers of memory raw materials provided discounts of up to 5% for high-volume buyers. Customers were more fragmented with no single OEM controlling more than 20% of global PC market. Memory represented 4-12% of total PC material cost and 4-7% of mobile phone material cost. There was an intense competition in market but OEM would pay upwards of 1% average premium for a reliable supplier.In 2005 industry faced fierce rivalry and large-scale entry by Chinese firms. Samsung announced a decline in market prices of its cutting edge technological products in late 2004 but Chinese firms competing in older product lines traded off profit margins for market share. Chinese competitors had an easy access to local finance and talented local engineers but it lacked Organizational skills & used older technology. MAJOR COMPETITORS: The major competitors of Samsung in 2005 were: Elpida Memory Inc (Japan): Established as a joint venture between NEC and Hitachi.It produc ed memory products for mobile devices & consumer electronics goods. In 2004, it announced that it would start the construction on its 12 inch water fab production. Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. (S. Korea): founded in 1983 as Hyundai Electronics. It changed is name to separate itself from financially troubled Hyundai Group. During 1996 cyclical downturn the company dramatically increased its capital expenditure but in 1999 when market began to expand Hyundai had no resource to increase its capital expenditure and it ended up in decreasing its capital expenditure.In 1999 Hyundai acquired LG Semiconductor which resulted in more debt burden which together with the next cyclical doenturn brought the company at the verge of collapse in 2001-02. A multibillion-dollar bailout allowed the company to survive. It then entered into a joint venture with ST Electronics. Infineon Technologies AG: Germany-based company which spun off from Siemens. In recent years, it entered into the product purchase & capacity agreement with Taiwan-based DRAM manufacturer, Winbond. It also entered into the joint venture with Nanya Technology to build a new plant in Taiwan.In 2005, it had more than 25 R&D locations around the globe. Micron Technology: It is Idaho-USA based company founded in 1978, Acquired Texas Instruments, plants in Texas, Italy, Japan, &Singapore. It purchased Dominion Semiconductor from Toshiba and is backed by Intel. Nanya Technology Corporation: It is the fifth-largest DRAM, Taiwan based manufacturer. In 1998 it purchased DRAM technology from IBM. Nanya and Infineon formed a joint venture named Inotera producing 256Mbit DRAM starting in June 2004. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. SMIC): Established in 2000 and headquartered in Shanghai, China. It took designs from other firms and produced chips based on blueprints. In 2003, SMIC signed agreement with Infineon & and later with Elpida to license technology to SMIC in exchange for purchasing rights to much of th e output. It also bought production facility from Motorola. COMPANY OVERVIEW: In 2005 it was the largest conglomerate (called Chaebol) in South Korea. The total net sales of the group had reached $135 billion in 2004. In 2004 the goup had 337 overseas operations in 58 countries and employed 212,000 people worldwide.Three core business sectors were Electronics, Finance, and Trade & Services. Samsung Electronics was established in 1969 to manufacture black-and-white TV sets. At the end of 2004 the company had $78. 5 billion net sales, $66 billion in assets, 113,000 employees. The company brand value increased from $5. 2 billion in 2000 to $12. 6 billion in 2004. In 2005 Samsung consisted of five business divisions: 1) Digital Media – TV, AV, Computers; 2) Telecom; 3) HDTV; 4) Digital Appliances and 5) Semiconductor Business. DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY BUSINESSKorea’s semiconductor industry started its wafer production in 1974. Kun Hee Lee, third son of Samsung Group’s founder Byung Chull Lee, bought Korea Semiconductor Company, using his own personal savings. Samsung Electronics was a producer of low-end consumer electronics goods. Kun Hee Lee merged the two companies to create global powerhouse. First semiconductor produced was the â€Å"watch chip,† used in wristwatches. From 1983 to 1985, even as global semiconductor market went into a recession & Intel left the DRAM business, Samsung allocated more than $100 million to DRAM development.At that time cost to produce 64K DRAM was $1. 30, market price below $1. 00. in mid 1980s Samsung built its first large manufacturing facility. To accomplish fast-paced construction, a target was set to build 4-kilometer road in 1 day to receive production equipment. Kun Hee Lee was made Chairman when father retired. Since 1992, semiconductors had been South Korea’s largest export. In 2004, exports totaled to $25. 1 billion that is 10. 4% of the country’s export volume. Samsung Group export ed 22% of Korea’s exports.Samsung Group represented 23% of total market value at the Korea Stock Exchange. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT: To design its first 64K DRAMs in 1980s with outside help the company found Micron in the US which accepted cash payment in exchange for teaching Samsung how to produce 64K DRAMs. To develop ‘frontier’ technology for next generation DRAM, Samsung used internal competition across global R&D sites. The company hired one team composed primarily of Korean-Americans with experience in semiconductor industry and located that team in California.A similar Korean-Americans team was located in S. Korea it was required to compete & collaborate and come up with its own solution. California team won competition for designing 256K DRAM while Korean team won competition for next generation 1Mbit technology. Due to market situations Hitachi took the lead and Samsung came to second Hitachi in the market. Early 1990s, Samsung decided to increase the siz e of wafers used to cut the DRAM chips to eight inches to become number 1 again and they were first to do so.They invested $1 billion towards mastering the new technology and became number 1 again in 1992 and retained leadership for 13 years. PRODUT MIX: In 2003, Samsung offered 1,200 different variations of DRAM products. Products ranged from â€Å"frontier products† (512Mbit DRAM) at the cutting edge of technology to â€Å"legacy products† (64Mbit DRAM). Within each product generation there were â€Å"specialty products† as well. Prices for new-generation products were high for a few quarters before plunging rapidly. â€Å"Legacy† products became high-value niche products.In 2004, Samsung also sought to create some advantages in Flash memory for digital cameras & camera phones. Because market expected to grow at double-digit for another five years in Flash memory while DRAMs would experience a single digit growth and Flash price were high relative to th at of the DRAM. DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Unlike its competitors, Samsung created new uses for DRAMs. It launched new DRAM products with â€Å"product-specific† applications, for laptops, personal game players etc. Many of them shared a common core design.Even two seemingly different architectures, DDR DRAM & Rambus DRAM shared the same core design. Samsung main R&D facility and fab lines were located at a single site near Seoul whereas, competitors’ facilities were scattered across the globe. The benefit was of collocation and scale of fab which saved them an average of 12% of construction cost. At Samsung’s primary campus, R&D engineers & production engineers lived in the same company-provided housing. Samsung prided itself on the reliability of its products & ability to customize products.But in 1980s & 1990, Samsung was producing poor quality products. Thus in 1994, Lee wrote a book that was delivered to all employees and explained how the Group had lost sight of quality & argued that employees must now think of quality first. The result of this effort was that by the late 1990s, Samsung was routinely winning key industry competitions for reliability and performance. Samsung developed new Flash memory chip for Sony Ericsson & chip customized for Nokia. HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES: It was considered taboo at Samsung to ask a coworker about his or her university or place of origin.Prospective employees were given aptitude test covering language skills, mathematical knowledge, reasoning, & space perception. As a result of more meritocratic evaluation system, younger, high-potential, English-speaking managers were quickly promoted up the hierarchy. Samsung also place programs to invest in employees’ global business skills. Samsung claimed to have invested more in its employees that any other competitors in this industry. They also hired westerners & other foreign talents. According to the Chairman of the company, â€Å"At Samsung, we rewa rd outstanding performance; we do not punish failure.This is my personal philosophy and belief. † STRATEGIC CHALLENGES: In 2005, company faced new challenges from Chinese entrants who were attacking the DRAM market in the way Samsung did 20 years ago. These Companies were using partnerships with Infineon & Elpida with billions of dollars in outside financing to build state-of-art production facilities. Chinese producers have patience to endure years of losses to gain significant market share. China lacked critical infrastructure for cutting-edge semiconductor industry but the Government s firmly committed to subsidizing all infrastructure needs around Shanghai and Beijing.