Study On The Seagate Technology Buyout Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2858 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Motivation and structure of the transaction. In early 1999, Seagate was planning on major restructuring proposal with the private equity firm, Silver Lake partners L.P. The plan implied a leveraged buyout of Seagates disk drive operations, followed by the tax free acquisition of Seagates remaining assets by VERITAS Software Corporation. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Seagate Technology Buyout Finance Essay" essay for you Create order The choice for this two step transaction was mainly a result of Seagates 40 percent ownership of VERITASs common stock. In the previous year the share price of VERITAS increased significantly and the market value of Seagates share in VERITAS had come to substantially exceed Seagates entire market capitalization. The value gap was a result of the perceived tax liability by the market if Seagate were to sell its VERITAS stake and Seagates core disk drive operations were not fully valued in the market due to increased interest in Internet firms and cheaper data storage providers. The two-step transaction was thus believed by Seagates management to generate significant wealth gains for its shareholders. Before making their decision Seagates has to consider some alternatives to the previously described restructuring in order to address its low stock price. The company could sell the company as a whole, repurchase its own stock or sell off part of the VERITAS stake, or undertake a tax-f ree spin-off of either the disk drive business or its stake in VERITAS. We address each of these alternatives next. Seagate could choose to sell itself to other companies that may be interested. A merger or acquisition, in this case, could be either horizontal or vertical. Whereas a horizontal merger or acquisition could be beneficial for Seagate, because of the even higher market in the very competitive disk drive market, a vertical merger would be less successful as the company is already vertically integrated. However, it would be ideal for Seagate to be acquired by VERITAS as it holds 40 percent of its shares. But VERITAS was not interested in entering into the disk drive industry as management believed this was to far away from their core software business. A second alternative for the company is to sell its VERITAS stock or repurchase its own stock partially in the open market, however. However both actions proved to be ineffective. First Seagates ability to sell of VERI TAS shares was limited by a prior agreement made with VERITAS. Even if they could sell off the entire VERITAS stake, it still seems an undesirable outcome since the transactions would be taxable on both the corporate as personal accounts. Second when the company performed a repurchase it had little impact on its stock price. A tax free spin-off would imply that Seagate spins off one of its business units, the core disk drive business or the VERITAS stake as an entirely new company. However the internal revenue code, as part of the US statuary tax law, requires that both the distributing corporation and the controlled corporation must be engaged immediately after the distribution in an actively conducted trade or business for a five-year period. Furthermore it also states that the corporate divisions lacking a business purpose can not be accomplished tax free (IRS, 2003). Clearly the VERITAS stake corporation will not satisfy these conditions and thus a tax free spin-off is unlike ly. Besides the distribution must be the last resort for solving the business problem. In other words, it must be established that the business problem cannot be solved otherwise. This condition also does not hold since, as we will later see, the proposed two step transaction remains as a valid alternative. After reviewing these alternatives the proposed two step transaction seems to be baneful, mostly due to its low tax nature. As indicated in the case the stock-for-stock swap qualifies as a reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code, thus avoiding the tax implications as a swap. VERITAS will swap 109,330,300 shares for 128,059,966 shares previously owned by Seagate, and the tax advantage will be Huge as no personal or corporate taxes have to be paid on the transaction. Furthermore the decrease in total outstanding shares associated with the deal will cause earnings per share to rise, cetris paribus. In total this would be in the benefits of the VERITAS shareholders, enablin g the two stage transaction to be pursued on their behalf. Seagates shareholders also benefit from the potential restructuring program. First they will receive 109,330,300 shares that have experienced a price increase of 200 percent after the half year that followed VERITAS acquisition of Seagates Network and Storage group. Compared to the 25 percent increase over the same period of its own shares this is a significant difference. Furthermore they will receive an additional amount generated from the sale of Seagates disk drive manufacturing assets (including $765m of cash) to the Suez Acquisition Company. The benefits to be received here, and thus also the potential benefits of Silver lake Partners L.P. are thus for the main part determined by this price, which was not determined yet. Seagates employees will also benefit from the two step transaction as their incentive to perform increases significantly when the new Suez Acquisition Company is no longer tight to VERITAS performan ce. Corporate governance is now considerable tighter than in the old situation. A sincere loser of the reorganization is the government that could have gained more in taxes if one of the pre-described alternatives were chosen. Levering the buyout There are a number of benefits of leveraged buy outs. Business efficiency improvements, increased interest tax shields, change of management or improved management incentives and higher firm value are the most important possible effects. In the case Seagate an increase of the stock price was the most important target of the leveraged buyout. Before the leverage buyout Seagates stock price was more and more tied to VERITAS stock price. The performance of Seagates main business was a subordinated parameter. The trial to increase the stock price by means of selling VERITAS shares and buy own shares in the open market did not lead to the aimed target. Therefore a leveraged buyout was a possibility to lose the stock price from the performance of VERITAS. Besides of this main purpose to disconnect the stock price development from VERITAS also other positive effects of leveraged buyout could be realized, as the improvement of the market position of Seagate from a strategic and long-ter m point of view. As a consequence a higher probability to secure a positive stock price development after being on the stock market again can be attained. Another positive aspect of leveraged buyouts are taxes that can be saved through higher debts and interest that is tax-deductible. Although it should be considered that interest cannot be deducted unlimited because of interest barrier rules or earnings stripping rules. Therefore the interest only can be deducted to a certain extent, depending on the debt-to-equity ratio. There are specific regulations that differ from country to country. In case of cross-border leveraged buyouts the situation should be analyzed separately. Within the EU there is no different treatment in cross-border situations because of the freedom of establishment and the freedom of capital of the EC Treaty. A decisive argument of leveraged buyouts is the possibility that enterprises that were poorly managed before their acquisition can undergo valuable c orporate reformation when they become private. An important change in the corporate structure is often the modification and replacement of the management staff or improved management incentives. In the Seagate case Silver Lake was convinced about the abilities of the management team. Silver Lake argued that the members of the management team had over ten years of experience in the disk drive industry and underlined that it was an important condition of the deal that the six top managers were taken over. In many articles it is argued differently as a restructuring without modification of management staff is much harder and there is a stronger opposition against many unpleasant but necessary changes. As incentives the management had to convert a portion of their Seagate equity into new equity and also got some deferred compensation. The rejection of unnecessary company sectors as well as the reduction of excessive expenditures also is an important factor for the success of the deal. In the leveraged buyout market stable and predictable cash flows and significant tangible assets which can be provided as security for bank loans are positive preconditions. These are features that make an enterprise for private equity firms interesting to invest. In the 1980s and early 1990s industrial companies were strongly favored and technology business was avoided. This has changed as the technology sector has become more and more important and in the last years this sector has become increasingly more interesting for Private Equity investments (von Nell-Breuning/2010). The disk drive industry as part of the technology sector is distanced by heavy price competition, short product life cycles which are often no longer than six months and high expenditures on RD. These are features that make buyouts very risky. It makes it difficult to predict cash flows, which plays a significant role for the success of a leveraged buyout. Nevertheless Silver Lake was convinced that in gen eral the disk drive industry market development would be extremely positive and that the disk drives would be the key technological component in hardware products. It also should be taken into account that Seagate had a number of characteristics that were from a positive nature for a leveraged buyout like vertical integration for a better competitive position on the market. But also high RD while using up cash is a positive aspect to prevent market entry of smaller, less well-capitalized competitors. Another advantage of Seagate was the relatively high equity ratio compared with the technological industry. The equity ratio of Seagate was 26.6 per cent in June 1997, it was 29.6 per cent in June 1998 and in June 1999 the equity ratio constituted 23.9 per cent. The equity ratio of its competitors were lower, f.ex. the competitor Quantum HDD only had an equity ratio from about 13.5 per cent. The average equity ratio of mature industries is between 20 and 25 per cent depending on the country. Capital Structure In order to assess the capital structure of the deal and in essence the amount of debt the Luczo and the buyout team should take it is necessary to estimate the firm value. Two model are being considered for this task. The first one is the relative valuation model. The rationale for relative valuation stems from the notion that the intrinsic value of an asset is difficult to estimate. Its value can be measured by the price the market is willing to pay for its assets, based upon its characteristics. The second model being considered is the DCF model. When comparing relative valuation with DCF, one advantage over DCF is the reflection of market perceptions on the value of the company. Thus, in a perfect market, the perceptions of future prospects are already reflected in the stock price. It requires less information than DCF models and is therefore less prone to estimation errors. In addition, managers are often judged on a relative basis and relative valuation might therefore match their needs and horizons. Markets are assumed to make mistakes when pricing assets across time. DCF valuations detach themselves from market valuations and assess the fundamentals underlying the firm and its growth perspectives. Relative valuation leads to a reasonable estimate when there are many comparable assets that are priced in the market and a common variable can be applied to standardize the prices. Although the case offers some information on competitors we deem the data to be insufficient. Even more, relative valuation works best for investors that usually have relatively short investment horizons as it is rather difficult or impossible for the market to perceive long-term growth perspectives. In general a private equity investment(PE) spans on a 5 to 7 years time line meaning the PE investor has a medium to long-term investment horizon. More confidence in reasonable firm value estimation is thus assigned to the DCF valuation. The fundamentals of a company provide a pruden t basis for estimations. Assumptions for the estimations are transparent while these are rather not in the case of relative valuation. A DCF valuation can be applied to long-time horizons and is thus more applicable for investors with long-term investment perspectives. In addition, a fundamental approach might work as a catalyst that moves the price in the market towards the real value of the assets. Silver Lake Partners L.P., as the bidder for the controlling stake of the company is interested in deriving the firm value, meaning the value of the equity stake in association with debt. Cash flows coming from operating activities would therefore need to be estimated. A first step concludes in the calculation of free cash flows to firm (FCFF). The FCFF is computed based on the following assumption: The company management provides three different projections for the buyout team: The Base Case, The Upside case and The Downside Case, each differing in EBITA and Revenues values. C apital expenditures and Depreciation are to remain the same in all three cases. The values used are provided in the operating performance projections table of Seagate. The working capital(WC) is mentioned in the case as being historically equal to 0 for the industry so the change in WC is to be ignored. According to this values the FCFF can be computed. After total cash flow is calculated, it is brought back to NPV using the companys weighted average cost of capital (WACC). The WACC, which is defined by the relative cost of the companys debt and equity is also viewed as the required rate of return for the company and its investors to compensate them for the inherent risks of ownership and realization risk for projected cash flows. The value for the risk free rate and the market risk premium have been set as given by Damodaran(2010) as 3.20% and 2.05% respectively. The beta of the company is supplied by the case as 1.2. Thus we come to the value of 6% for the WACC. Based on the va lues of the FCFF and WACC computed we can now asses the present value of the firm in the years to come. By summing up this values for the required time horizon we get to the firm values for the three cases Figure 1 Firm value analysis As it can be noticed the firm values for the cases register important differences. The Upside case stands out. Comparable to this the Downside Case has a much smaller difference. In order to better account for the possibility of worse than expected, but more importantly, for better than expected performance in the company we consider that the average of the three values should be used as the firm value and as the price the buyout team should pay meaning US$2.224 billion. We have determined a purchase price of $2.22 billion that Silver Lake Partners will pay to acquire the operations of Seagate. This will be a leveraged buyout that includes two different equity sources and two different debt sources. Our proposed capital structure will consist of 79% percent equity and 21% percent debt. This structure was chosen based on the BBB three-year median rates as referenced in the case (Exhibit 11). The EBIT Interest Coverage ratio set the median value over 1997 to 1999 of 3.9x. In order to get the highest value for the firm when deciding to sell it, the PE firm will try to maintain its rating or even to improve it so it makes sense to consider the BBB value as appropriate. Even more lower rating will also mean higher interest rates for its debt. Using this value and the EBIT values provided for the case we can compute the amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year. It can be noticed in Exhibit 1 that the lowest value for EBIT is predicted in year 2000 so it makes sense to consider this value as a benchmark as the following years the performance is expected to improve. Starting from amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year we calculated the value of debt that the firm has to take in order to be required to pay that amount of interest. This adds up to US$468.31 meaning 21% of the price recommended for the deal. By comparing this result with the values provided in Exhibit 11 from the case it can be noticed that the firm will remain under BBB rating. The remaining 79% is to be provided by the buyout team in form of equity. It should also be considered that Silver Lake Partners L.P. will receive US$765 million by acquiring Seagate, funds that can be used as equity for the deal. Figure 2 level of debt analysis In order to better assess the impact of the three scenarios on the capital structure of the deal we also used the values computed under The Base Case, The Upside Case and The Downside Case. Again it can be noticed that the better performance predictions stand out. This is based on the possibility that in the latter years of the investment the firm will perform over the expectations even though 2000 is perceived as the same in all cases.

Intro to Logic - 821 Words

1. The following argument violates some principles of well-crafted arguments: While 1[there is much wickedness in the world,] 2[then there is also much good.] For 3[if there is evil, then there must be good,] since 4[good and evil are relative, like big and small.] And no one will deny that 5[evil exists.] Answer questions ‘a’ to ‘e’ below from the passage above. A) Write a well-crafted version of the argument, replacing the emotionally loaded verbiage with more neutral language. 1. The world has much good and evil. b) Examine each statement and explain the reference to the language and sentences used as to how you could decide whether this argument is valid or invalid. The language used is uniformed and charitable.†¦show more content†¦1. Water is life. 2. Life is a gift. 3. My guitar is a gift. 4. Thus water is my guitar. Answer questions ‘F’ to ‘I’ below from the passage below. Mercy killing is morally permissible only if it promotes a greater amount of happiness for everyone affected than the alternatives do. And mercy killing does promote a greater amount of happiness for everyone affected than the alternatives do. Therefore, mercy killing is morally permissible. f) Use as many examples that may include symbols and letters if necessary to help you to distinguish between formal validity and formal invalidity. Formal validity: 1. If A then B 2. A 3. So B Formal invalidity: 1. If A then B 2. B 3. So, A g) Use letters to write the argument form of the passage above. 1. If B, then A 2. B 3. So, A. H) Construct a counterexample to the argument form above. 1. If mercy killing promotes a greater amount of happiness for persons affected than the alternatives do, then it is morally permissible. 2. Mercy killing does promote a greater amount of happiness for those affect ed than the alternatives do. 3. 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Management labor relations Free Essays

Ladies and gentlemen, our professor dry. Carl Minoan, good morning! As I stand here in front of you, I’m still wondering why the Labor (pertaining to the employees), and the Management (the employers), of the organizations are experiencing conflicts, misunderstanding, issues arising and other things that both parties opposed each other’s beliefs that tend to happen to build a Labor union on a specific organization, weird isn’t? Because I did not experienced those things in my organization even once though I am hearing complaints from my colleagues. I will share something to you, when I was a newbie in the company that I am working with, as an auditor I was able to checked and accessed all the necessary documents of our company, specifically the payroll. We will write a custom essay sample on Management labor relations or any similar topic only for you Order Now I discovered that not all employees were well compensated some are earning below minimum, we doesn’t even have much benefits like health card, leaves more than 5 days, security of tenure, bonuses and allowance etc. But then nobody has the courage and strength to fight over the management to ask for those they believed that they should have been enjoying. I felt self-consciously bothered and concern to my fellow employees, that if they discover the big difference of their salary to those who are newbie, no experience young professionals and a newly grads from respected universities and colleges, they might feel envious and unfair for just earning such wages. Maybe because a lot of them are afraid to lose their Job and might not be able to find a better job because mostly of my co-employees especially those who were at the age of ass’s and above, those in the company for 10 ears and above were not a college graduate and they said they were just lucky that they have their Job for living, though they have a choice to leave the company. We are very few whom I believed lucky to earn and offered to have an aggressive Income. And most of them have a huge debt to the company, because our boss allows them to vale an average of 10,000 for every senior or old employees whom our boss considered them as loyalist, and which everybody thinks that this is the way that the management strategy to make their employee to stay longer. In our company we have our own savings account, in which every payday it is deducted already on our salary and being deposited to our personal account, but we are not allowed to borrow It or get It even In the most In need situation, we are Just allowed to make cash advances to the company, but the approval of the amount of the cash advances that you can borrow to the company really depends on our boss, considering the reason why are you borrowing a money, your position, your years of working in the company, your revises vale and your performance; but if she is angry or not k with you, your request to have a cash advance might be rejected. Yes we have salary Increase, the management every six months review the salary of the employees, and the increase depends to the performance of course, but the big factor for them to Increase your salary is if they like you or not. If they had a bad experience with you even once or even simple mistake you’ve made that they really did not forget, I tell you, just wait ND pray to the government to make a salary increase and that’s the only way for you experience it. Our management was really very smart; most of the time they make the Increase as part of allowance of the employee so that it will not be Included in other employees. Those people who hold a team or position, department heads and supervisors are those lucky that the management is giving importance, and giving what we deserved. And I can definitely say that they would really be a pro management. As I go along and I’m gaining knowledge about Labor Unions, I wish hat my co-employees especially those whom I believed need more than they are getting, for they have a definitely not an easy Job, they should ask help of those strong trade unions outside the organization, to help them to bargain their needs to the company for their own sake and for the benefit of the majority. This company really needs a strong labor union. To the management, if they want to keep their employees welfare, they should give what their employees’ needs because through this the management is not Just helping their employees, but this could play a major ole in the company, the employees will and might be an asset of the company by working so hard because they are getting what they think they deserved to have and this serves as a motivation to the workers. Conflict will be minimized; strikes and boycotting will be prevented. Though we all know that salaries and wages are part of company’s expenses, but employees are also an asset to the company, without them, production and operation will not be possible, every worker are important, every individual in the organization is essential. And as an auditor of the company I could ay that the company is really earning a lot, and these employees should exercise their rights. I could say, even if the labor union does not exist in the company, both the labor and the management should have set a meeting or forum to talk about the goal of both parties, whether for the sake of the company as a whole or as individual, through meetings of their department heads or managers, so that both parties needs and wants for a harmonious relationship and for both parties benefits could meet; or else better seek help to outside labor or trade unions. How to cite Management labor relations, Papers

Effectiveness and Importance of Learning Experience †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Effectiveness and Importance of Learning Experience. Answer: From a personal perspective the learning experience was quite informative as it provided me with insights into the role of business research in ensuring that an organization is successful. It also provided me with the opportunity of learning how to conduct research. The experience was not only informative but also intriguing as students got the opportunity to develop and test put new concepts. Personally I found the experience to be quite valuable to any student looking to venture into the business and or research world. Through the different activities conducted, students were able to learn about research work and how to perform research effectively. I also obtained insight into the practice of cloud computing and how it can be helpful to a business. In summary it is logical to conclude that the experience served to enhance the students knowledge and skills on different fields that are integral for business operations this serves to make the students better suited for venturing into the employment sector. Usefulness of the Learning Process One of the most important aspects of any learning process is that they provide the student with knowledge that he can apply in other areas of his life. As indicated in this learning process I got the opportunity to learn about how to conduct research, cloud computing and the importance of research in business. The knowledge obtained from the learning process can be used in a number of ways in different settings. Course- In performing my course work, I would use the knowledge obtained on conducting research and literature review to perform the necessary research needed for my assignments. This will serve to ensure that I deliver quality work that has been proficiently researched. Program- Through the learning process we also got to learn about planning. This knowledge will play a significant role in helping me to develop well thought out programs that can be efficiently followed. Future Career- The knowledge on cloud computing and business research will enable me create highly efficient solution for my future business career. The research skills learnt can also help me with the decision making process. Life generally- Generally through the knowledge and skills obtained from the learning process, I will be able to make better well informed decisions and effectively plan out my activities. Objective Description of Activities in the Learning Process The learning process was based on two key assignments namely1 and 2. The first assignment was a literature review assignments. In this assignment, the student was tasked with the responsibility of discussing a number of different published information on the subject area of cloud computing. Through the literature review, the student got insight into the various aspects of cloud computing, its advantages and disadvantages and its impact on the business sphere. Conducting the literature review also provides with the ability to effectively analyze data from different sources and compile them together in a single paper (Webster, and Watson 2002). This skill is important when making decisions regarding businesses as the decision makers need to be able to skim through information from different sources, identify the important information, group the information based on their level of importance, and make a decision based on a collection of the important information (Webster, and Watson 200 2). Once done with the literature review, the students proceeded to the second part of the learning process which is assignment 2. In assignment 2, students were expected to conduct a research that would investigate the primary advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing for business, the different theories and models of cloud computing and explore the future of cloud computing on business. To achieve this the student needed to develop a business research proposal and learn about the different research skills that they would need to effectively execute the tasks expected of them The second aspect of the learning process entailed identifying the project objectives, developing a scope of the research conducting a literature review of the relevant articles, and developing questioners to collect the relevant data. The students then proceeded to develop a hypothesis, create research design methodology and analyze the findings of the research. Evaluation of Lessons Learnt Through the learning process, I have been able to learn a number of valuable lessons. One of the most important lessons that I have learnt is that research is an integral aspect of any business operation. Through research, organizations are able to effectively evaluate the subject matter and make decisions that are based on facts. This helps to ensure that the decision made by the organization is the most appropriate in the situation. A number of studies have proven that organizations that base their decisions on research work are more successful than those that do not. Through business research, I was also able to learn of the various processes that a person needs to go through when conducting a research. The processes rang from developing the research hypothesis to be investigated, to determining the scope of the investigation, to determining the best data collection method and the various data analysis methods. I learnt that despite its disadvantages, cloud computing is a revoluti onary concept in the business sphere and it is bound to significantly disrupt the way business is conducted (Avram 2014). Through cloud computing, information storage and sharing for business will be significantly improved (Avram 2014). Individuals will also be able to access important company data from any part of the world thereby ensuring that people from different regions in the world can be able to work on the same data. This will help to significantly increase productivity within the business sphere as it removes most of the preexisting barriers to information sharing. In the lesson I also learnt that there exist a number of limitations to business research that a person should consider when conducting the research. Learning Process As already indicated, the primary reason for engaging in assignment one was to provide the student with insight into the world of cloud computing. Engaging in the literature review also served to provide the student with skills of reviewing different sources of material to obtain relevant data. The primary reason for doing the second assignment is to equip the students with sufficient research skills and enable him explore the various advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing in business. Application of the Learning The knowledge obtained from this learning process can be utilized in a number of ways in my future. The knowledge on business research can be utilized in decision making process. As is evident from assignment 2, through the research the organization was able to deduce that even though it has a few challenges, cloud computing has the capacity of increasing organizations productivity. By applying research principles I can ensure that the decisions I make are based on facts and hence have a higher probability of being the right choices. Other than in making decisions, the lessons leant from this learning process can be used in evaluating data. By using the skills obtained in the literature review process, I can be able to easily review different types of data and pick the important elements presented in the different pieces of data. This skill is quite important in analyzing and helps to ensure that a person is able to distinguish irrelevant information from relevant information. Based on the information provided it is logical to conclude that by utilizing the skills obtained from this learning process, I will be able to significantly increase my employability due to the fact that I would be able to work in different fields in the organization. Bibliography Avram, M.G., 2014. Advantages and challenges of adopting cloud computing from an enterprise perspective.Procedia Technology,12, pp.529-534. Webster, J. and Watson, R.T., 2002. Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review.MIS quarterly, pp.xiii-xxiii.

TV Violence Essays - Criminology, Crime, Dispute Resolution

TV Violence Affects of media violence "Nearly four decades of research on television viewing and other media have documented the almost universal exposure of U.S. children to high levels of media violence" (Norris, 187). Violence is a component characteristic of many television programs and unfortunately our lives. Every day we tend to watch news, and every day we hear that people were killed, robbed or tortured. Four out of ten people said that they had been the victims of actual or threatened violence in the United States. Usually I ask myself why some people have tendencies toward violence. What factors cause those violent and aggressive behaviors? Among broad other reasons such as mental health, personal characteristics and economic status there is the violence in media that gives people those nonsensical ideas and inspiration. In my Core II research paper, I am manly concerned how children K-12 are affected by movie and television violence. In the long-term research over the forty years, researchers have proven the link between watching television violence and perpetrating actual violence and that exposure to TV violence is hazardous to children health and welfare. Nonetheless, others have managed to conclude that there is no relationship what gives the issue controversy and a number of contributing factors must be consider (Journal of Psychology, July 1997). Factors that I have to take in consideration are: every day exposure to television (estimated time spent of watching TV), type of favorite programs, frequency of talking about death and violence with parents and friends, child age, gender differences, parental control and responsibility, peers, child's communication, orientation and interaction with environment and may other. Four years ago I in my psychology class I have studied about learning habits in early childhood when I encountered affects of movie and television violence on child development. It was from psychological perspective but it gave me a good insight about the topic. Almost every day track in the news and politics only expended my knowledge in this field. The only things I did not know were about U.S. Senate approval of an amendment which probe the marketing of violent and sexually explicit materials to minors, and about President Clintons effort and concern that children by the time they are eighteen will be very exposed to violence and dramatized murders on television and movies. Research for my topic I began at home on the Internet but with very indigent results. I found few sites with extensive information on movie and television violence but they did not provide me with enough information and I headed to the UCF library. In the library, I started my research using on-line library catalog and the Web-LOUIS system. Throughout these systems, I found several books related to my topic. These systems did not provide me with sufficient information on journal nor magazine sources related to my topic. Thus, I shifted to another host system to look for journal and magazine sources relevant to my research. At first, I found plenty articles in various magazines available in the UCF library, but when I narrowed my search, I obtained just enough to operate with. I wrote down the call numbers for these magazines and journeyed trough the library to find those specific articles. When I found articles relevant to my topic, not all were easy to find, I spent some quality time reading and researching. When I finished with sources available in the library I began my entire research process again but this time with Ebsco-hos where I also found loads of full text articles available on line relevant to my research. Despite all the difficulty I thought I would encounter in my research, I am satisfied with my research process what was very successful. I will pursue my research even expand it in order to obtain better understanding and more information on the issue, conduct one more interview not with ordinary people like I already did.

Mao Tse Dong essays

Mao Tse Dong essays MAO TSE DONGS INIQUITY IN CHINA Maos era had a devastating impact in China. These impacts are still visible today. Mao has deceived a whole generation, forcing people to work to their deaths using his propagandas. Maos a very bad economist who wouldnt listen to other peoples opinions. He follows the steps of Adolf Hitler by encouraging hate crimes and classifying people into categories. In the view of political philosophy, he claims to liberalize the people of China, but he only worsened the lives of the people of China. Mao was the leader of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). He fought the nationalists Led by Zhou Yin Lai. Zhou had more military power, but Mao uses the peasants to help him win the war. He realizes that the majority of Chinas population is peasants. He won the peasants support by using land reforms. He took land away from the rich. With the support of the peasants, he won the war against the Nationalists and forced them into Taiwan. Mao came into power in the late 1940s. Realizing how successful the land reforms were, he continued the land reform movement, especially in the rural area. This movement helped him gain a lot of power. Since majority of the populations benefited from this movement, they supplied him with endless support. He became their red sun. My mom was from a peasant family in China. She uses to tell me stories of how she was when she was young. Teachers in school use to teach students to sing nothing but the best things about Chairman Mao. She really believed in every word in those songs and thought that Maos life was more important than her own. Mao wanted to follow in the steps of Russia. Mao thought that China should be industrialized in order to keep up with other developing countries. Again, Mao called upon the peasants to take the burden. Families were pulled together to form cooperatives. These cooper...

Internal and External Factors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internal and External Factors - Essay Example Conversely, directing and controlling are about effective administration, inspiration, general evaluation and comparison of the outcomes with the intended ones. Thereby taking up the necessary corrective measures and installing the best of practices to achieve higher performances. This paper is an analysis of the effects that internal and external forces, as mentioned below, have on the above managerial functions. Globalization Globalization is an external factor. It is about businesses and organizations expanding their operations further than nationwide into worldwide markets. This means that the business will be producing and or offering goods and services in other foreign countries. Once an organization has acquired this status, its management style changes. For instance, the Siemens Company has to exercise an expansive planning whereby by it makes available all the logistics and the necessary capital to ensure it succeeds in all these markets. In its managerial functions, it has also to understand and consider all the legal and business cultures of the host countries. This may force the firm to deviate from its usual ways of operations. Globalization brings about increased rivalry since the global market is an arena for all businesses. The Siemens Company has therefore to carry out an expansive research to know exactly what its competitors are offering. It will furthermore strive to get the best technical and more qualified staff. On the other hand, its marketing activities will have to target the worldwide market. The implication of these is an increase in cost of operations. Technology Technology changes exceptionally fast and products that were fashionable at most a year ago have been rendered obsolete. The Company on its side has extremely minimum control over such revolutions. This is an external aspect that is mainly motivated by a fluctuating market and at the same time, these needs cannot be satisfied. This aspect has ever kept the Siemens Company o n toes in matters of research and development. Apart from spending large amounts of capital on this issue, the Company always has to review its plans, procedures and methods in accordance with the recommendations from the research and development department. Technology more often has dictated that the Company evaluates and changes its management structure to realign itself to the new goals and objectives (Reddy, Appannaiah, & Sathyaprasad, 2010). Just like globalization, technology would require the firm to acquire the most appropriate state of art plants and machineries. It will as well be obligatory to employ the most competent and skilled human resources to carry out these technological requirements. Technological progresses have changed the way businesses get in touch with their customers. Today companies involve directly with clients. This effect requires a revolutionized approach in management. It calls for the introduction of data base management systems in all spheres of ope rations. The overall effects of technology will be passed on to the Company’s expenditure and as such may lead to cutting costs in other areas. For example, part of the work force may be laid off. Innovation Innovation is the ability of the firm to come up creatively with original ideas about new products, procedures and methods. Moreover, these ideas can be on how to improve on existing goods, action of events and techniques. It is therefore

Marketing Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Plan - Research Paper Example The qualitative approach will include the use of observations and focus of multinational corporations. The quantitative approach will involve the use journals, magazines, and online stuff from different websites. The marketing plan will further elaborate few key issues like will Windows 7 is able to conquer the market share from existing operating systems like XP, Vista, and Mac? What will be the strategic issues that may arise from the application of technology by other competitors? What marketing strategy must be adopted by Microsoft to release its new operating system in successful manner? Microsoft is a US based multinational and world’s largest organization in computer and software industries with its areas of operations in each and every country of the world. The organization is headquartered at Redmond, Washington and was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on 4th April, 1975. Microsoft has earned a high level trusted reputation by conducting its business worldwide with integrity, innovation, and respect. The company has delivered hundreds of different software related brands at global scale. It also manufactures, licenses, and offers a wide range of products which are related to computer field. The company has $73.72 billion dollars revenue by the end of 2012 while its total assets are more than $121 billion dollars. More than 94,000 employees are working under Microsoft at global level (Microsoft Corporation Financial Statements, 2011). Microsoft has promoted a culture of progression and innovation. The company has invested a huge amount of money in its operating system sector to gain competitive advantage on product innovation. Millions of people across the globe today enjoy a wide range of operating systems offered by Microsoft in all segments of retail from operating systems of XP and Vista to other software and hardware tools. The most successful products that Microsoft has offered are its

Colombia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Colombia - Essay Example Colombia is already the 21st largest market for the export activities for the U.S. And now since the approval of U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement by the President of United States Of America, Barack Obama, it is most certain that the existing trading opportunities will increase even more significantly. This agreement ensures that the U.S. interests will be protected while upholding the rule of law in Colombia. Colombia is a very risk adverse country, thus while it will feel no threat to its legal structure and culture, it will help reduce the trade barriers, creating a more stable environment that will lead to cheaper and easier export of products and services for the U.S. traders. According to the statistics stated by export.gov, the U.S. international Trade Commission is forecasting an increase of U.S. GDP by nearly $2.5 billion and U.S. merchandise exports by almost $1.1 billion, because of the probable elimination of tariffs and related encumbrances in Colombia. According to an estimate almost 80% of the export of consumer and industrial products will become duty free and the remaining tariffs will be distributed over a period of 10 years. Especially after the estimated cost of duties of $70 million, from 2008 to 2010, these reductions of charges will significantly lower our costs of trading thus guaranteeing that our products will be distributed on a more cost effective basis and in this way we can focus on a larger distribution plan for our chocolate products in Colombia’s market base. Colombia has signed agreements with EU in 2008 along with many other countries, some of which include Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala. So after the implementation of its agreement, the exporters of EU are expected to enjoy a benefit of 4.1% average tariff over the U.S. exporters, but if the U.S. Colombia TPA is brought into action at the same time it will give us an advantage of 1.7% tariff over the EU. So it’s clear that as soon as the se policies are implemented, we will have an advantage over other potential global competitors in the form of cost effectiveness, this way we will be able to focus on our distribution and marketing plans rather than fretting over our unavoidable costs relating to our export. Custom procedures have also been simplified except the fact that the imports are kept in holding for sometime before released, consequentially we will have to make sure that our products are able to survive without refrigerators for a few days Colombia has a population of 45 million. Its largest cities are Bogota D.C. Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena. So we will be focusing on them initially. It has two legislative houses: Senate and the House of Representatives. The president, who is elected only for a single term of four years, is both the chief of state and the head of government. So while we are there we will have to follow the policies accordingly so as to not jeopardize our relations with the gov ernment. The main language of the country is Spanish. Many business people have the understanding of English language but as it is not that widely understood or spoken so we will have to make sure that the labels of our chocolate products read in Spanish. 95% of the population is Roman Catholic but freedom of religion is guaranteed. The people are highly ambitious and status oriented. But the culture as a whole is yet collectivist rather than individualistic. People are very loyal to their own communities or groups and highly competitive towards other social classes. And the more they are tied to highly stabilized and influential corporative groups, as a reward to their performance, the more favors and benefits they can derive from the community. Socially,

Concepts and Theories of Classical Conditioning

Concepts and Theories of Classical Conditioning Aimee Duncalfe Rena Borovilos Classical Conditioning and My Behaviour Behavioural psychology is a theory of learning that is founded upon the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning, which occurs through environmental interaction (Cherry, What is Behaviorism?, 2014). Conditioning is a specific type of learning that has been explored by several different physiologists and psychologists throughout history, and can be broken down into two specific types of learning; classical conditioning and operant conditioning. This paper will discuss classical conditioning while exploring several different examples, including a personal behaviour that can also be identified as classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associating two stimuli that are repeatedly paired together, resulting in a conditioned response. (Cherry, What Is Classical Conditioning?, 2005). The process of classical conditioning consist of placing a conditioned stimulus before an unconditioned stimulus that naturally results in an unconditioned response. When paired repeatedly, the conditioned stimulus eventually causes a conditioned response, even in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is one that naturally or automatically causes a response (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). For example, when you hear a balloon pop, you may immediately jump in shock. The sound of the balloon popping is the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned response (UCR) is the automatic response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). Using the same example, jumping in response to the sound of the balloon popping is the unconditioned response. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually causes a conditioned response (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). Suppose that immediately before you heard the balloon pop, you saw a flashing red light. The flashing red light is unrelated to the sound of the balloon popping, though if the flashing red light was paired multiple times with the balloon popping, seeing the flashing red light would eventually cause the conditioned response. In this case, the conditioned stimulus is seeing the flashing red light. The conditioned response (CR) is the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). In the same example, the conditioned response would be jumping to the sight of the flashing red light. This process, often used in behavioural training, was introduced by a Russian physiologist by the name of Ivan Pavlov, who won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on the physiology of digestion (Nobel Media AB, 2014). Pavlovs experiment explored dogs salivating in response to the presentation of food. In his experiment, the UCS was the presentation of food, and the UCR was salivating in response to the food. Pavlov also introduced a CS, the sound of a bell, immediately before presenting the food to the dogs. By combining the sound of the bell with the presentation of food, the sound of the bell alone would eventually produce the conditioned response of salivation. (Cherry, What Is Classical Conditioning?, 2005). There are several occurrences that take place in relation to classical conditioning. The first stages of learning when a response is established is what is known as acquisition. This refers to the period of time when the conditioned response is first established and gradually strengthened (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). Going back to the first example of the popping balloon, the conditioned response has been acquired once a person begins to jump at the sight of the flashing red light. In Pavlov’s experiment, the conditioned response has been acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the sound of the bell. Once the response has been acquired, the response can be progressively strengthened to ensure the behaviour is well learned. Factors that can influence how quickly acquisition occurs include how noticeable the CS is, as well as the timing of the CS in relation to the UCS. If the CS is too subtle, or if there is too much of a delay bet ween the CS and the UCS, the learner may not notice the CS enough to form an association between the two. The most effective method is to introduce the CS and then quickly present the UCS so that there is an overlap between the two. The more noticeable the CS, and the shorter delay between the UCS and the CS, the quicker acquisition will take (Cherry, What is Acquisition?, 2005). Another occurrence in relation to classical conditioning is extinction. Extinction happens when the frequency of a CR decreases or disappears when a CS is no longer paired with an UCS (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). Returning to the previously used example, if the popping of the balloon were no longer paired with the flashing red light, eventually the conditioned response of jumping to the flashing red light would disappear. In Pavlov’s experiment, if he no longer paired the bell with the presentation of the food, eventually the conditioned response of salivating to the sound of the bell would disappear. During his research, Pavlov discovered that when extinction occurs, it does not mean that the subject returns to their unconditioned state. Allowing several hours or even days to elapse after a response has been extinguished can result in spontaneous recovery of the CR (Cherry, What is Extinction?, 2005). Spontaneous recovery refers to the sudden reappearance of the CR after extinction or period of reduced response. If the CS and UCS are no longer associated, extinction will occur very quickly after a spontaneous recovery. Pavlov noted during his experiment that no longer pairing the sound of the bell with the presentation of food led to extinction of the salivation response. However, after a two hour rest period, the salivation response suddenly reappeared when the bell was presented (Cherry, Spontaneous Recovery, 2005). This phenomena shows that extinction is not the same as unlearning. While the CR may disappear, it may not have been forgotten or completely eliminated. Stimulus generalization, the tendency for the CS to prompt similar responses after the CR has been conditioned, is another occurrence of classical conditioning (Cherry, What Is Stimulus Generalization?, 2005). In the first example, our subject has been conditioned to jump at the sight of our CR, a flashing red light. After the subject has been conditioned, he might respond to not only a flashing red light, but all flashing lights. This response to all flashing lights exemplifies stimulus generalization. Closely related to stimulus generalization, stimulus discrimination is the ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that have not been paired with a UCS (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). In Pavlov’s experiment where the sound of a bell is the CS, discrimination involves being able to tell the difference between the sound of the bell and other similar sounds, and would then only express the CR at the sound of the bell. Another form of classical conditioning is higher order conditioning. This is where a new CS is created, by pairing a second CS with a previously created CS. The second CS acts as a UCS for the first CS. If Pavlov had begun flashing a red light before he sounded the bell, the flashing red light would become the new CS, and would eventually evoke the same CR as the sound of the bell does. My own behaviour indicates that I have also been classically conditioned. Two years ago, I was involved in a car accident. I was driving on the highway in the fast lane, the lane closest to the centre guardrail, when I lost control of my car and slammed into the guardrail, spinning across all three lanes. My car came to a final rest after hitting the guardrail closest to the on and off ramps. Before my car accident, I was a very confident driver and never experienced anxiety while driving, in general or while driving in the fast lane. Since my car accident, I am unable to drive in the fast lane without becoming very anxious. Experiencing anxiety is generally a natural response when getting into a car accident, so getting into a car accident in this example is the UCS, and experiencing anxiety is the UCR. Immediately preceding the car accident, I was driving in the fast lane, which is the CS in this situation. As a result of my traumatic experience, driving in the fast lane now produces the same anxious feeling as getting into a car accident because I have associated this factor with my car accident. And so, anxiety is the CR in this example. I have included a diagram in Appendix 1 to demonstrate my behaviour and how it associates with the basic classical conditioning model. A CR was achieved very quickly during acquisition of my behaviour. Because the situation was so traumatic, the CR was immediate, and I began to experience anxiety as quickly as the next time I drove on the highway. My behaviour is a good example of generalization because I do not only become anxious while driving in the fast lane on the same highway or in the same area where I hit the guardrail, but also while driving in the fast lane on all highways. There is another possible explanation for my behaviour. By avoiding driving in the fast lane, I am decreasing the likelihood of experiencing anxiety. My personal behaviour is a great example of negative punishment, which involves removing something good or desirable away in order to reduce the probability of a specific behaviour reoccurring. While driving in the fast lane can be beneficial and often desired, by not driving in that lane, I am eliminating the CR of experiencing anxiety when driving in that lane. Be it salivating at the smell of our favourite food cooking, avoiding a specific restaurant because of a bad experience, or putting on our seatbelt to stop the car from making the obnoxious dinging sound, our everyday lives are filled with behaviours that are a result of classical or operant conditioning, whether we realize it or not. Some of these conditioning experiences may be positive ones, others may have more negative effects on our lives, and some may go unnoticed forever. While conditioning is not as prominent today as it was throughout the middle of the twentieth century, it still remains an influential force in psychology. References Cherry, K. (2005). Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcond.htm Cherry, K. (2005). Principles of Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcondbasics.htm Cherry, K. (2005). Spontaneous Recovery. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/spontrec.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What is Acquisition? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/glossaryfromatoz/g/Acquisition.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What Is Classical Conditioning? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/cindex/g/classcond.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What is Extinction? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/eindex/g/extinction.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What Is Stimulus Generalization? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/stimgen.htm Cherry, K. (2014). What is Behaviorism? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm Nobel Media AB. (2014). The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904. Retrieved from Nobelprize.org: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/ Weiten, W., McCann, D. (2015). Custom Pub: Psych 1000 Introduction to Psychology and Study Guide. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd. Appendix 1

Racism in Richard Wrights Black Boy Essay -- Wright Black Boy Essays

Racism in Wright's Black Boy The theme of Richard Wright's autobiography Black Boy is racism. Wright grew up in the deep South; the Jim Crow South of the early twentieth century. From an early age Richard Wright was aware of two races, the black and the white. Yet he never understood the relations between the two races. The fact that he didn't understand but was always trying to, got him into trouble many times. When in Memphis, Wright reluctantly assumed the role society dictated for him, the role of a black boy. He became a black boy for the sole purpose of survival, to make enough money to eventually move North where he could be himself. As an innocent child Wright sees no difference between the blacks and the whites. Yet he is aware of the existence of a difference. "My grandmother who was as "white" as any "white" person, had never looked "white" to me." (Wright pg. 31). This statement shows his confusion about blacks and whites. When, as a child Wright learned of a white man beating a black boy he believed that the white man was allowed to beat the black child. Wright did not think that whites had the right to beat blacks because of their race. Instead he assumed that the white man was the black boy's father. When Wright learned that this was not true, and that the boy was beaten because of his race, he was un able to rationalize it. Even as he got older he didn't see the color of people. In one instance Richard and a friend are standing outside a shop when some white people pass by, Richard doesn't move to accomodate the white people because he simple didn't notice that they were white. .. ...ter. It has enlightened me. Before reading this book I could not have imagined the horrific truths of only a short while ago, in a place not so far away. Everyone could gain something from this book, for me it demonstrates that the human race was not, and is not as civilized as it appears. Works Cited and Consulted: Appiah, K. A. and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., eds. Richard Wright: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, 1993. Skerrett, Joseph T., Jr. "Wright and the Making of Black Boy." in Richard Wright's Black Boy: Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Stepto, Robert. "Literacy and Ascent: Black Boy." Appiah, 226-254. Thaddeus, Janice. "The Metamorphosis of Black Boy." Appiah 272-284. Wright, Richard. Black Boy. New York: Harper, 1944.

Harriet Martineau and the Conflict Theory Essay

When I look over the theories we have discussed in our text: functionalism,symbolic interaction and conflict, I think the one I relate to best is the conflict theorist. The conflict theorist that I agree with the most is Harriet Martineau. She was a conflict theorist that the book describes as, â€Å"Scholar Harriet Martineau (1803–1876), an English opponent of slavery and capitalism who felt they oppressed women, children, and nonwhites, translated the work of Comte so people could understand the importance of his perspective (Adams & Sydie, 2001). Regarded as a radical in her day, her work was largely dismissed by people in authority.† ( Vissing, 2011, chapter2 sect 3 para 13) There were many female activists who were active early on in the field but they were ignored until feminine activists brought it to the attention of the American public arena ( Vissing, 2011). She would best referred to as a conflict theorist. The conflict theory is defined as, â€Å"a theory that assumes that the institutions and interactions within society foster inequality and competition, and when they are challenged, then beneficial social change can result.† ( Vissing, 2011) Our text states that Harriett Martineau was a feminine activist and also was an activist for children and non-whites. Our society has changed greatly since the 1800’s and without people like Mrs. Martineu , I ,as a female, would not have the advantages I have today. Things like voting, and equality in the work place have helped women and minorities project their viewpoint into the system we have today. These activists stroved for fair working laws which would keep women in the 1800’s and early 1900’s from being mistreated and used. Also another important  thing the feminine activists fought for was birth control and abortion as an option to females, so that they may work or pursue personal goals and interests. The belief in conflict theory is that there must be a challenge to the system  and the way things are in order to activate change, and from what we can tell in the past this has been an effective tool in the slow processes of equality. Another thing that Harriet Martineau did was take the works of Auguste Comte and put them into layman’s terms for the average person of the time could understand. Auguste Comte’s beliefs were that we should look at observable facts in order to study society, not just the cultural beliefs.†His concept of positivism holds that there is nothing that can’t be accurately studied if the right methodology is employed. If we try conscientiously enough by employing the scientific method, most things can be studied and understood.† ( Vissing, 2011, chapter 1 section 3 para 3) Harriet Martineau used this idea and applied it to the progression of equality for women children and non-whites. In Harriet Martineau’s life she was brought up in a comfortable middle class family, and was denied some education because of her sex. When her father died she was faced with sever economic loss and for once felt what it was like to not have the conveniences of a middle class family to hide in. She was engaged to be married but her fiance fell ill and she was â€Å"saved† from a married life. She was single for the rest of her life and face living and earning a living in a patriarchal society. She soon was face with some uncomfortable things and rather than accept them and conform she invoked change within our society by making the plight of women, children and non-whites a mainstream problem that needed to be corrected. Martineau was a Unitarian in religion and at first had a very strong religious viewpoint on the world and society. (Hill, 1991). There are many things that I agree with Martineau on such as that all people should be treated equal and fairly. Another of her main ideas was that non-whites should be treated fairly and with the same respect and dignity that whites were given. She also believed that women children and nonwhites should be able to vote to give their voices some power and that they be offered a chance at education and opportunities for work as well and earn an income which  provided them with sense of freedom and self sufficiency. In America we would not be the culture we are today without activists such as Harriet Martineau. There would be no women CEOs, we would have no choice other than abstinence when it comes to birth control. Many women died because abortion was illegal and they sought backdoor clinics and at home methods of there own to rid themselves of an unwanted pregnancy. Another important issue that was resolved due to activists initiating equality into our culture not only for every white man but for every person regardless of race, gender, age or religoud preferences. Today we are treated equal in most instances and when not the issue is usally irradicated quickly. In my opinion the conflict theorist had the right idea, without conflict or differences in the way society is run there will be no need for change. If there is someone who feels like things need to be changed we must bring that issue to the people and make it known because not all inequalities are suffered by the same people and unless you have been never been treated  unfairly then you know how it feels to not be able to do something or say something just  because of who you are not what you have done. Our merits should be what we are judged on and not by what someone stereotypes us as being. We have come a long way as a culture but as long as there is a society we will always have some form of fight on our hands to ensure equality for all  people, and it seems to me that the conflict theory is the best way to do this. Reference Belasco, S. (2000). Harriet martineau’s black hero and the american antislavery movement. Nineteenth – Century Literature, 55(2), 157-194. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211910586?accountid=32521 Michael, R. H., & Deborah, A. L. (2010). The harriet martineau sociological society’s fifth working seminar: A report from boston college 1. Sociological Origins, 6(1), 5-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204784236?accountid=32521 Vissing, Y. (2011) An Introduction to Sociology. (Ashford University ed). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUSOC101.11.1/sections/sec1.3?search=harriet%20Martineau#w4370

Postmodern Cultural Studies Essay

Cultural Studies and the Academy 1. Cultural studies in the academies of the advanced capitalist countries has transformed the object of studies in the humanities. In particular, in English departments, cultural studies has challenged the predominance of the governing categories of literary studies (the â€Å"canon,† the homogeneous â€Å"period,† the formal properties of genre, the literary object as autonomous and self-contained) in the interest of producing â€Å"readings† of all texts of culture and inquiring into the reproduction of subjectivities. To this end, pressure has been placed on disciplinary boundaries, the methods which police these boundaries, and modes of interpretation and critique have been developed which bring, for example, â€Å"economics† and â€Å"politics† to bear on the formal properties of texts. In addition, the lines between â€Å"high culture† and â€Å"mass culture† have been relativized, making it possible to address texts in terms of their social effectivity rather than their â€Å"inherent† literary, philosophical or other values. 2. The two most significant categories which have supported these institutional changes have been â€Å"ideology† and â€Å"theory. † Althusserian and post-althusserian understandings of ideology, which defined ideology not in terms of a system of ideas or â€Å"world view† but in terms of the production of subjects who recognize the existing social world as the only possible and â€Å"reasonable† one, made possible the reading of texts in terms of the ways in which the workings of ideology determined their structure and uses. Marxist and post-structuralist theories, meanwhile, focused critical attention on the conditions of possibility of discourses, and upon the exclusions and inclusions which enable their articulation. In both cases, critique becomes possible insofar as reading is directed at uncovering the â€Å"invisible† possibilities of understanding which are suppressed as a condition of the text’s intelligibility. 3. I support these efforts to transform the humanities into a site of ultural critique. I will argue that what is at stake in these changes is the uses of pedagogical institutions and practices in late capitalist society. If pedagogy is understood, as I would argue it should be, as the intervention into the reproduction of subjectivities, then the outcome of struggles over â€Å"culture† and â€Å"cultural studies† will determine whether or not the Humanities will become a site at which the production of oppositional subjectivities is made possible. Historically, the Humanities has been a site at which the contradictions of the subjectivities required by late capitalist culture have been addressed and â€Å"managed. † For example, the central concepts of post-World War Two literary criticism, such as â€Å"irony,† have the function of reducing contradictions to the â€Å"complexity† and â€Å"irrationality† of â€Å"reality,† thereby reconciling subjects to those contradictions. 4. However, these recent changes in the academy have been very partial and contradictory. They have been partial in the sense that much of the older or â€Å"traditional† modes of literary studies have remained untouched by these developments, or have only made some slight â€Å"accommodations† to them. They have also been contradictory in the sense that cultural studies has accommodated itself to existing practices, by producing new modes of fetishizing texts and preserving conservative modes of subjectivity. In this way, cultural studies continues to advance the ideological function of the modern Humanities in a changed social environment. . The right wing attacks these changes, charging–as in the ongoing â€Å"PC† scare–that the Humanities are abandoning their commitment to objectivity and the universal values of Western culture. My argument is that these commitments and values have been undermined by social developments which have socialized subjects in new ways while concentrating global socio-economic power within an ever-shrinking number of transnational corporations. The intellectual and political tendencies coordinated by cultural studies, then, are responding to these transformations by allowing academic business to go on as usual, and providing updated and therefore more useful modes of legitimation for capitalist society. 6. The contradictions of these changes in the mode of knowledge production need to be understood within the framework of the needs of the late capitalist social order. The emergence of â€Å"theory† and (post)Althusserian understandings of ideology reflected and contributed strongly to the undermining of liberal humanism (in both its â€Å"classical† and social-democratic versions) as the legitimating ideology of capitalism. The discrediting of liberal humanism, first under the pressures of anti-colonialist revolts and then as a result of the anti-hegemonic struggles in the advanced capitalist â€Å"heartlands,† revealed a deep crisis in authority and hegemony in late capitalist society. This discrediting also revealed the need for new ideologies of legitimation, free from what could now be seen as the â€Å"naivete† of liberal humanist universalism, now widely viewed as a cover for racist, sexist and anti-democratic institutions. 7. The institutional tendencies which have produced the constellation of practices which can be termed â€Å"cultural studies† have, then, participated both in the attack on liberal understandings and in the development of new discourses of legitimation. The liberal humanism predominant in the academy has increasingly been seen as illegitimate because it depends upon an outmoded notion of private individuality-that is, the modern notion of the immediacy with which the privileged text is apprehended by the knowing subject. In this understanding, literature is understood in opposition to science and technology, as a site where what is essential to our â€Å"human nature† can be preserved or recovered in the face of a social reality where this â€Å"human essence† (â€Å"freedom†) is perpetually at risk. However, the more â€Å"scientific† methods (like semiology) which have undermined the hegemony of â€Å"new criticism† in the American academy, largely through the use of modes of analysis borrowed from structuralist anthropology and linguistics, have themselves been discredited by postmodern theories as largely conservative discourses interested in resecuring disciplinary boundaries (for example, through the classification of genres) and protecting an empiricist notion of textuality. 8. Cultural studies, then, is the result of the combination of the introduction of â€Å"theory† and the â€Å"politicization† of theory enabled by these social and institutional changes. However, the postmodern assault on â€Å"master narratives† (â€Å"theory†) has responded to the discrediting of both structuralism and Marxism in a conservative political environment by redefining â€Å"politics† to mean the resistance of the individual subject to modes of domination located in the discursive and disciplinary forms which constitute the subject. This has opened up the possibility of a new line of development for cultural studies: one in which the local supplants the global as the framework of analysis and description or â€Å"redescription† replaces explanation as the purpose of theoretical investigations. I will argue that the set of discourses which have â€Å"congealed† into what I

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