Strategic Management Basics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management Basics - Essay Example This is the prime reason why strategic management today is being adopted into all the large organisations and at all levels. Strategic management is not just a concept, but it is a "process that can be utilized throughout all organisational levels and can be integrated into nearly every job" (Buhler, March 1994). Buhler (March 1994) notes that seeing the "big picture" is at the "heart of strategic management". She indicated that when "an organisation is viewed as an integrated and inter-related whole" managers can easily identify what needs to be done. Moreover, the external environment should always be considered in analysing the organisation. Combining the external focus with an internal analysis of the organisation would be beneficial identifying what went wrong and what are the factors that need to be considered in order not to repeat the past mistakes of the organisation. Realizing the essence of this concept, Kinicki and Williams (2003) deemed that "strategic management is a process that involves managers from all parts of the organisation in the formulation and the implementation of strategies and strategic goals". They added that their definition does not connote that managers at the top can easily dictate ideas to be followed by subordinates under their volition. Indeed, precisely because middle managers are the ones who will be asked to understand and implement the strategies, they able should also help to formulate them. Also, with that definition, we can draw the three key elements of strategic management. These are formulation, implementation and evaluation. Formulation The formulation part is considered to be the planning stage of management. Although most entrepreneurs do some form of planning for their ventures, it often tends to be informal and unsystematic (Naffziger & Kuratko, October 1991). The actual need for systematic planning will vary with the nature, size, and structure of the business. In other words, a small two-person operation may successfully use informal planning because little complexity is involved. But an emerging venture that is rapidly expanding with constantly increasing personnel size and market operations will need to formalise its planning because a great deal of complexity exists. It is also possible that an entrepreneur's planning will need to shift from an informal to a formal systematic style for other reasons. First is the degree of uncertainty with which the venture is attempting to become established and to grow. With greater levels of uncertainty, entrepreneurs have a stronger need to deal with the challenges facing their venture, and a more formal planning effort can help them to do this. Second, the strength of the competition (in both numbers and quality of competitors) will add to the importance of more systematic planning in order for a new venture to monitor its operations and objectives more closely (Chaganti et al., Spring 1989). Finally, the amount and type of experience the entrepreneur has may be a factor in deciding the extent of formal planning. A lack of adequate experience, either technological or business, may constrain the entrepreneur's understanding and thus necessitate formal planning to help determine future paths for the organisati on. To integrate strategic management, managers should take into account the concept of "strategic planning". As defined, strategic planning is the

The Internal Chaos Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The Internal Chaos - Research Paper Example The workings of the military and the government are to protect the nation from outside attack, secure the places for a life with freedom, and give the ignorance on who are on the right and wrong sides in wars. The real safety will not be achieved fully through sending military volunteers abroad and making treaties with other governments. The real peace and war avoidance lies in the hands of the individuals without relying to the governmental efforts.1 Objective of the Study For the purpose of the study, the focus would be on the American Civil War and the Ku Klux Klan as the history recorded evidences regarding both the event and the group itself. Several discriminations existed as conflicts arose during the Civil War and thorough understanding on the history of both the war and the group would be compared as they coexisted and affected the lives of people in America. Background Information Throughout the history of United States of America, the American Civil War was considered the most expensive war recorded on history of the nation. The battles separated the nation into half and the country received 600,000 deaths and 1,000,000 casualties. The winners were just the few who survived the series of armed fights. The survival of the fittest was inevitable in the Civil War. The devastating effects did not only happen in USA but also felt in the neighboring countries. The war happened as efforts were made to abolish slavery.2 The war started during the time of Abraham Lincoln on April 12, 1861 as the military and the Confederates had an encounter battle in South Carolina. In response to the first encounter battle, Lincoln made a volunteer army to free people... This essay discusses the American Civil War as the most expensive war recorded on history of the nation. The battles separated the nation into half and the country received 600,000 deaths and 1,000,000 casualties. The winners were just the few who survived the series of armed fights. The survival of the fittest was inevitable in the Civil War. The devastating effects did not only happen in USA but also felt in the neighboring countries. The war happened as efforts were made to abolish slavery. The war started during the time of Abraham Lincoln on April 12, 1861 as the military and the Confederates had an encounter battle in South Carolina. In response to the first encounter battle, Lincoln made a volunteer army to free people from slavery. Both the government and the Confederated created their own armies as the war progressed. During the battle in Maryland, the Confederates were defeated at the so-called Battle of Antietam dated September 1862. After such war, the Emancipation Procla mation was released that officially designated slavery as the main war objective. The causes of the civil war were the following: sectionalism, slavery, rights of States, slave power, nationalism, and battle of Fort Sumter and election of Lincoln. The North and South of USA had differences in social structure, culture and economies that caused the civil war to sprout. The differences happened as the North focused on progressive and modernized farms as the South continued to rely on slavery. The removal of slavery caused a great deal of fear in the South as slave revolts. In that case, the government made movements in stopping the spread of slavery.

I-Kuan Tao Trough the Years Essay Example for Free

I-Kuan Tao Trough the Years Essay I-Kuan Tao is classified as a syncretistic sect that had rooted from Mainland China but because of Government’s transfer of control to Communism after the World War II, it had immigrated to the island of Taiwan together with the ousted Central Government. There it had flourished its numbers of followers through the years that made it the third most popular faith in Taiwan1. According to the Country Profile of Taiwan dating March 2005, of its 12. 7 million religion members, 6. 6 percent were believers of I-Kuan Tao, next to the two most prominent, the Buddhists, 42. 9 percent and the Daoism believers, 35. 6 percent2. Like any other religion, it had tried to propagate their teachings outside its host country. I-Kuan Tao had succeeded to have significant number of co-believers in the countries of United States, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan. I-Kuan Tao, literally translated as â€Å"The Tao that unifies all with the one†, is a syncretistic sect because it believes that with the corroboration of existing beliefs, it could make a unified set of rules that would govern the people and would lead them to salvation on the Day of Judgment. According to the Purpose of Tao by an I-Kuan Tao sect in USA, I-Kuan Tao recognizes the five world religions namely the Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam3. But since I-Kuan Tao is of Chinese origin, many of its beliefs came from the first three. Since Chinese had high reverence to their ancestors, purity of the soul, respect and moderation, I-Kuan Tao had adopted these and they were formed as its fundamental rules. The last two religion recognized by I-Kuan Tao had been added to the modern day I-Kuan Tao because they had considered the similarity of its teachings to the first three. 1. World I-Kuan Tao Headquarters, World I-Kuan Tao Headquarters. retrieved 22 October 2007,http://www. with. org/ 2. Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. Country Profile: Taiwan, March 2005 Retrieved 22 October 2007, http://lcweb2. loc. gov/frd/cs/profiles/Taiwan. pdf 3. MariMari. com, Taiwan Religion, retrieved 22 October 2007, http://www. marimari. com/content/taiwan/general_info/religion/religion. html I-Kuan Tao Definition: The name I-Kuan means â€Å"penetrating with one† or â€Å"one unity† and is derived from a passage of Analects where Confucius said â€Å"an all-pervading Truth†. The name Tao has many meanings including â€Å"way†, â€Å"path† or â€Å"Truth†. History: I-Kuan Tao definitely has a long history1. According to Zhu-zi’s Doctrine of the Mean that the â€Å"Origin of Tao is from heaven and absolute; it actually comes from within and is inseparable. † Literally, no words or language can describe the origin of I-Kuan Tao. The heritage of Tao can be classified into two categories. First, the origin of Tao in the continuity link refers to the period starting from the time of Patriach Fu-xi up to the early Ching Dynasty. Second was the Origin of Tao in the creative link refers to the period during the rule of the Ching Emperor Shun-zhi. The second origin was taught to have permitted the ninth patriarch Huang De-hui in Lu-shan of Jiang-xi to set up Xian Tian Tao or the Way of Former Heaven, now known as I-Kuan Tao2. Since 4,500 years ago, the religion I-Kuan Tao is being taught, especially in overseas Chinese communities, around the world. Basically, it is a new religious movement that originated in the twentieth century China. It is a religion that incorporates much older elements from other religions such as Confucianism, Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. The name I-Kuan Tao, also called Yi Guan Dao, can be translated as the persuasive truth and it recognizes the validity of other non-Chinese religions like Christianity and Islam. As of now, I-Kuan Tao has over 45,000 followers with over 3,100 temples. _______________ 1. I-Kuan Tao Encyclopedia, I-Kuan Tao, retrieved 22 October 2007, http://www. experiencefestival. com/a/I-Kuan_Tao/id/1960382 2. World I-Kuan Tao Headquarters, The Heritage of Tao by Derek Lin, retrieved 22 October 2007, http://www. with. org/ikuantao. html â€Å"The Tao part of the I-Kuan Tao Heritage is the oldest, going back at least to the time of Huang-Di, the legendary emperor who lived over 4,500 years ago. I-Kuan Tao states that the Tao is the real meaning and the spiritual truth behind all religions, philosophies, and schools of thought. It is also the source of everything, the driving mechanism of evolution, and the life force of the universe. This concept is named Lao Mu, the personified universe†. 1 â€Å"About 2,000 years after its ancient beginning, the sage Lao Tzu came and reviews the Tao beliefs and concepts into the classic Tao Te Ching. Another sage, Chuang Tzu, contributed to the expansion of the Tao beliefs with his stories, metaphors and a different sense of humor. †2 â€Å"At about the same time that Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu were spreading their concepts, there are also other sages who were developing their own perspectives on life and spirituality. One of these sages is Confucius. He became popular as a great teacher and scholar as he revised social customs and ethics. And if you make your way south of China, the Buddha will teach you the path towards enlightenment3. These teaching also have big impact on the Chinese culture. And I-Kuan Tao identifies them and adopted these teachings into its system. † â€Å"Five hundred years after Lao Tzu came another remarkable teacher named Jesus4. His teachings, the Christian teachings, served as the foremost foundation of spirituality in the West. And just like with Confucianism and Buddhism, I-Kuan Tao embraced and incorporated the Christian Teachings. As a result, many Tao practitioners respect and study the Bible, again seeking the truth and wisdom that can bring all different beliefs closer together†.

The Strategic Priorities Of Glaxosmithkline Plc Economics Essay

The Strategic Priorities Of Glaxosmithkline Plc Economics Essay Part I Pharmaceutical Business Model The business model of companies in pharmaceutical industry for almost two decades is blockbuster model. The blockbusters (drugs that have sales over $ 1 billion per year) have turned out to be a significant factor that driven the pharmaceutical industry from 1990s. There were 65 blockbusters in 2002 increased from only 7 blockbusters in 1990 (Deutsche Bank, 2003 cited in Froud et al, 2006: 169) but, by 2006, the number was raised to 114 (La Merie Business Intelligence, 2007). Exhibit 1 shown that the sales of top ten blockbuster companies from blockbuster drugs alone were accounted larger than one-fourth of world pharmaceutical market in 2006. This blockbuster model was adopted in order to maximize revenue because it was seemed to be possible approach to satisfy high growth expectation of financial community (Business Insight 2003: 10). To conclude, the blockbuster business model was underpinned big pharmaceutical companies success over the past decade. This model is embedded in phar maceutical industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 1 Top 10 Blockbuster companies, 2006 Company Sales of Blockbuster US$ billion Number of Blockbuster As % of World Pharmaceutical Market Pfizer 28.8 9 4.48 GlaxoSmithKline 24.3 12 3.78 AstraZeneca 21.1 11 3.28 Sanofi-Aventis 19.9 9 3.09 Johnson Johnson 17.5 8 2.72 Roche 16.1 7 2.50 Amgen 13.4 5 2.08 Merck Co. 12.7 4 1.98 Wyeth 10.0 5 1.56 Eli Lilly 9.4 5 1.46 Total 173.2 75 26.94 Source: La Merie Business Intelligence, 2007 Challenges of Big Pharmaceutical model To begin with, the big pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and GSK are over-reliance on the sales of blockbuster drugs. In other words, the companies are generated their main revenue from small number of drugs from their product lines. For example, in 2006, Pfizer had 9 blockbuster drugs which generated almost 60 % of total sales. GSK had 12 blockbuster drugs that contributed 56 % of total sales. Another example, in 2007, we can see that 12 blockbuster drugs of GSK accounted for almost 60 percent of companys total drug sales (see Exhibit 2). Therefore, companies are exposed to high insecurity if they cannot find replacement of products which have equivalent financial size. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 2 GSKs contribution of blockbuster to total drugs sales, 2007 Products Sales US$ million As % of total drugs sales Seretide/Advair 7,001 18.26 Flixotide/Flovent 1,243 3.24 Valtrex 1,869 4.87 Lamictal 2,195 5.72 Imigran/Imitrex 1,371 3.57 Seroxat/Paxil 1,107 2.89 Wellbutrin 1,059 2.76 Coreg 1,175 3.06 Avandia products 2,439 6.36 Augmentin 1,061 2.77 Hepatitis 1,059 2.76 Infanrix/Pediarix 1,087 2.83 Total 22,663 59.1 Source: Company annual report, 2008 Next, the less productive of RD pipeline and increasing cost of RD. There is a downward trend of the number of New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and Biologics License Applications (BLAs). In 1996, there are almost 40 approvals of NMEs and BLAs but, by 2007, the figure was decreased to 18 (Riley 2008). In addition, the cost to develop a drug is ten-fold increase from $138 million in 1975 to $ 1.318 billion in 2006 (PhRMA 2009) (see Exhibit 3). Hence, from the opposite direction of RD cost and RD productivity, we can conclude that the overall efficiency of RD in industry is lower than in the past. Finally, the expiry of patent and the impact of generics. For example, the best selling drug of GSK Seretide/Advair which generated US$ 7,653 million or 17 % of total turnover in 2008 will be expired in 2010 in the US and in 2013 in the EU. In this case, there is a possibility that GSKs turnover might drop sharply after the expiry of Seretide if the company cannot develop product or new source of income to make up for the loss of Seretide/Advair sales. In addition, the increasing in number of patent expiries of blockbusters has a positive impact to the growth in generic market. As exhibit 4 shows, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the global generic market was 16.4% during 2004 to 2007. In contrast, growth rate of overall pharmaceutical industry was at a CAGR of 8.3% in the same span. Another factor driven the growth of generic drugs is the greater attentiveness of payors as a result of current economic recession such as tightened healthcare budget of governments or private p ayors. It is likely that the price of drugs will be pushed down by the greater bargaining power. For instance, Japan had cut the price of drugs on the National Health Insurance (NHI) in 2008 by average 5.2% (Business Insight 2008). All in all, economic and stakeholders in the demanding side of the industry are now shaping the new form of the pharmaceutical market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 3 Cost of developing new drug, 1975 2006 Source: PhRMA, 2009 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 4 Global Generics Market, 2004 2007 Source: Business Insight, 2008 The Strategic priorities of GlaxoSmithKline PLC In 2008, Andrew Witty was selected to be a CEO of GSK. After two months of being a CEO, he announced new strategy to steer GSK in global pharmaceutical market. There are three new strategic priorities; grow a diversified global business, deliver more products of value and simplify the operating model. This section will discuss how these new strategic a response to problem pharmaceutical business model problem. Grow a Diversified Global Business In this strategic, the company is trying to lessen its risk by widening and balancing its products across all geographic boundaries. In other words, company tries to reduce reliance on blockbuster drugs for companys growth as Witty said The biggest thing Im trying to change is to go from saying its okay to have a blockbuster once every five years to a situation where we are delivering several new products every year (Goodman 2008). As a recession in the USA, it had a huge impact in the US sales which is a main market for company that accounted for 40% of total revenue in 2008. The sales in the US decreased by 4.2% in 2008 compare to 2007 while Europe market and rest of the world market sales were increased by 16.3% and 16.6% respectively (GlaxoSmithKline 2009). Therefore, at this moment, the US market is saturated; company is now focusing on the market which has high growth such as Africa, China and India but also not ignore the US market. It shows that company is adapted to the curr ent market situation. There are many actions that have been taken by the company that response to the business model problems. First, company is focusing on vaccine, biopharma and consumer healthcare which have high potential growth which in turn might create revenue to make up the loss of sales from expired patent blockbusters. Second, fulfill the potential of emerging markets and Japan market. Japan, alone, accounted for 10% of global pharmaceutical market (Medicines Australia 2009) which is the second largest from the US. It is a big market and a high growth market with market value of US$ 68.6 billion in 2008 and sales growth of 17.2% over 2007 (Business Insight 2009). In emerging markets, particularly, the seven pharmerging market including China, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, India, Turkey and Russia seem to be the major driven of growth in the global pharmaceutical industry (see Exhibit 5). Better approach to generic is driven this growth. It is likely that GSK is now more con centrated on generic drugs, for example, company acquired branded generics from both Bristol-Myers Squibb and UCB as well as formed alliance with South Africas Aspen Pharmacare and Dr Reddys of India (Hirsler, 2009). To conclude, this strategic priority seems to be positive reaction of the company regarding the over-reliance on blockbusters, market decline in the US and the impact of generics as Johnson et al. (2008) suggested that diversification is suitable when current markets saturated while need for more rapid growth. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 5 Sales in 7MM and pharmerging markets ($m), 2003 2007 Markets 2007 CAGR 2003-07 7MM 466,145 5.62% Pharmerging markets 58,652 15.79% 7MM = USA, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK Pharmerging markets = China, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, India, Turkey and Russia Source: Riley, 2008 Deliver More Products of Value GSK is lack of therapy area diversification and technology concentration. We can see that there are only 6% of biopharma in GSKs pipeline. Moreover, oncology area represented only 1% of GSKs Sales in 2007 while this area had global market growth of 3%. In order to maintain growth in the long term, GSK need to adjust its RD issues (Riley 2008). Therefore, company announced plan as follow. First, company will focused on eight areas of therapy. Second, externalize RD as its take a long time to create and develop by in-house. Third, GSK will create new biopharma and oncology RD unit in China that have lower cost than established in developed countries which in turn help company to control RD budget. Finally, divided RD units into small group and financed dependent upon its performance which in turn will stimulate innovation. To conclude, GSK redefined its RD pipeline and structure is reacted directly to the problems of RD as mentioned previously as well as problem of over-reliance on blo ckbusters. Simplify the Operating Model GSK is trying to reduce cost in running business. First, develop commercial model; for example, integrate the back office finance system into one system across organization. Second, reduce cost in manufacturing. Company has a plan to cut two-third waste in production by 2015 (Jack, 2009a). As a result, company will be able to redeploy the money from cost reduction into investment. Overall, this strategy is not related directly to the problems of business model, however, the amount of reduction in working capital can be put to RD or other investments which might turn to be in form of company growth (Bender and Ward 2009). In conclusion, it is obvious that new strategy of Andrew Witty is reflected directly to the problems of business model which are heavily reliant on blockbusters, RD problem and impact of generic drugs. However, company is likely to put their focus on small molecules which is the core heritage of the company and the existing products as well as diversify its portfolios and adapted itself into recent market environment. Part II Will new strategy succeed? The new strategy of GSK is likely to lead the company to succeed in the future as it is reflected straightforwardly to the problems of business model. Additionally, it is not simple to point out or evaluate the firms performance as Rosenzweig (2007) argued that the success or performance is not totally forced by internal factors; in contrast, it is relative to a company itself and environment as a whole. Therefore, successful of strategy in this paper will be defined as if company can increase its shareholder values in the long term. In addition, how will company succeed will evaluate by if the new strategy will increase value of its shareholder. Rappaport (1998) pointed out that shareholder value can be driven by seven factors; raise sales growth, boost operating profit margin, lessen cash tax rate, reduce incremental investment in capital spending, reduce investment in working capital, increase time period of competitive advantage, and reduce cost of capital. Regarding companys diversified global business strategy; there are many significant improvements as a result of applying this strategy. First, there is sales growth compared with quarter in previous year in every quarter from third quarter of 2008, after announcement of new strategy, in British pound term. Furthermore, GSK had an increasing in third quarter 2009 of sales 19% in Japan, 25% in emerging market, and 8% in consumer products (Jack, 2009b). In first quarter of 2009, company experienced decline in US market by 22% company Overall, this strategy reflects directly with sales volume which leads to growth in sales. Therefore, company increases its shareholder value as it can raise its sales growth. Deliver more products of value; from this strategy, company should be able to create more revenue from its value added activities. From the company financial data comparing nine month of 2008 and 2009, we can see that GSK had an increasing in gross profit and operating profit 16% and 8% respectively (see Exhibit 6). However, gross margin and operating margin were decreased slightly by 0.4% and 2.39% to 74.05% and 29.48% respectively. Therefore, company unable to raise its shareholder value by this strategy as it was failed to increase operating margin. Moreover, company has less efficiency as its return on capital employed (ROCE) was dropped (see Exhibit 6 and 7) from 22.18% in three quarter of 2008 to 19.71% in three quarter of 2009. There is a probability that company is unable to deliver more values from money that put it investment. However, value added activities of this industry is more likely as RD process. It takes long time to get outcome from money that invested today. For example, to evaluate the RD performance, we should not consider only the approval of new drugs only, as it takes 10 15 years to develop a new drug which mentioned in part I but also we need to take in account the drug development in the early phase, this drugs which are in process cannot generate profit for company today. Overall, we can see that in this strategy. The company is unable to enhance in shareholder value as it cannot increase it operating margin. This is mean that at this period of time a company is inefficiency to control their selling, administration and RD expense. The third strategy, simplify the operating model. There is one mission in this strategy that related directly to increase shareholder value which is reducing working capital. As in September 2008, company was able to reduce its working capital by 500 Million GBP, therefore, shareholder value is increasing as money from working capital can be return to shareholder in form of dividend or can reinvest in company at low cost of capital. This strategy should able a company to lower cost of operation, in contrast, exhibit 6 shows that selling and administration expense was increasing by 24% while turnover increased only 16%. It seems that company cannot succeed its goal by this strategy. If we take a look at stock price of company, we can see that price is hit the highest in 52 weeks in December 2009 (see exhibit 8). This can indicate that market gains confidence about the company performance. However, P/E ratio 13.79% of the company as 14 December 2009 is still lower than competitors; Pfizer at 15.19% and Novartis at 16.1%. This can be interpreted that price low of GSK is low than competitors. All in all, despite the confidence of the market about GSK, in my opinion, up to the present moment the new strategy is not successful in term of maximizing its shareholder value. As we can see from the numbers such as ROCE and operating margin that company cannot build up or even maintain these ratios. However, it needs to be seen it long run whether strategy will succeed since only internal factors cannot make company to succeed. (2420 Words) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 6 GSK; Nine Month ended Income Statement, 2008 and 2009 Source: GSK Press Release, 28 October 2009 Available at : www.gsk.com [accessed 13 December 2009] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 7 GSK; Nine Month ended Balance Sheet, 2008 and 2009 Source: GSK Press Release, 28 October 2009 Available at : www.gsk.com [accessed 13 December 2009] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 8 Stock Price of GSK, London Stock Exchange, 2years ended 14 December 2009 Source: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com

The Importance of the Title of Stone Angel :: Stone Angel Essays

The Importance of the Title of Stone Angel Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel is the story of Hagar Shipley's life, told entirely by Hagar through her memories and thoughts. Though she remembers her past with vivid detail, she has trouble with the happenings of the present. Hagar at ninety is a proud and strong woman suffering from the unjustness of old age. Once proud and independent, she now needs to be taken care of by her son Marvin, who she never loved. As the book begins, the readerÕs first glimpse is of that of the stone angel. "She was not the only angel in the Manawaka cemetery, but she was the first, the largest, and certainly the costliest." A unsuitable memorial of her mother for she was thought of as a "feeble ghost." It seems rather to represent Mr. Currie and Hager, both strong and full of pride. It was there for his needs, to "proclaim his dynasty." As the story progresses, the reader becomes more aware as why the book is titled The Stone Angel. Through important events in her life: the death of Dan, her marriage, her two sons, and Mr. TroyÕs singing; Hagar shows her inability to show tenderness and love and how her stone heart melts always and she is finally able to speak the words which both she and Marvin need to hear. The Stone Angel serves as a double meaning: The large marble stone angel in the cemetery and Hagar. Like the stone angel, Hagar displays no emotion. Even when her brother Dan is dying, her proud strengths leads her to be unable to comfort Dan. "But all I could think of was the meek woman IÕd never seen, the woman Dan was said to resemble so much and from whom he inherited a frailty I could not help but detest, however part of me wanted to sympathize. To play at being her Ð it was beyond me." When her favorite son John dies, she sheds not one tear; although she loves him very much. Her inability to communicate her emotions to others leads her to appear as a cold and grumpy woman. Her pride and strength causes her to do what she needs to do, but also she is blinded like the stone angel because she is unable to do what others need from her.

Finding James Cains Life in Mildred Pierce Essay -- Biography Biograp

Finding James Cain's Life in Mildred Pierce      Ã‚   An individual is greatly influenced by his/her environment, life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   challenges, and experiences. As a result, in addition to imagination, a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   novelist uses his life experiences to create his/her books. The influence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of James Cain's life in his writing is obvious.   In Mildred Pierce, James   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cain utilized his characters to portray the hardships suffered in the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Great Depression, characteristics that impressed him about his mother, and   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  his experience with love.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   James Cain employed his experience of the Great Depression as a context of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mildred Pierce. Like any American who lived during this period, he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   suffered from this economic slowdown. In November 1931, Cain came to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hollywood to start a six-month contract with Paramount; however, "within   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   six months of his arrival in Hollywood, Cain was out of job in the middle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of the Depression"(Contemporary Authors Online). Layoffs were common   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   because of the bad recession. Thus, although James Cain attained a job at   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Columbia, he quickly lost it (Skenazy 12). Consequently, Cain used the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   effects of the late 1920's market crash to create the story of Mildred   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pierce. Bert, Mildred's husband, lost all his invested money in the AT&T   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   stock on "Black Thursday of 1929, and his plunge to ruin was so rapid he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   could hardly see Pierce Homes disappear on his way down" (Cain 10).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similar to Bert, Cain was financially unstable, with a wife and two   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   children to support. Cain wrote some stories and essays; nevertheless, the... ...pedia of World Biography Supplement, Vol. 19.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hoopes, Roy. Cain: The Biography of James M. Cain. Southern   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Illinois: University Press, 1987.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marling, William. Hard-Boiled Fiction. Case Western Reserve   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University. Updated 2 August 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (http://www.cwru.edu/7177060/artsci/engl/marling/hardboiled/Cain%20James.HTM)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Murray, Bill.   James M. Cain: July 1, 1892 - October 27,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1977.(http://www2.rmcil.edu/users/dhaynes/hum120/caincainbio.htm)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Skenazy, Paul. Cain James M. (James Mallahan), 1892-1977.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New York: Continuum, 1989.      

The pursuit of one’s goals

The pursuit of one’s goals and dreams are journeys that oftentimes take a lifetime to accomplish.   There are those who reach the end of their lives not accomplishing what they wanted to do because they were either too intimidated by the prospect of even embarking on such a quest or they did not have the right opportunities in life.I have been working for eight (8) years and during that time I have had plenty of time to see my career develop as my life passed by.   Yet, there comes a certain point in one’s life when one must make a firm decision, a commitment to something much more than one’s own personal goals.   Oftentimes, this means sacrificing one for the other.There are those, however, who are lucky enough to have their own personal goals and that pursuit for higher objectives converge.   For me, this is the pursuit of a career in nursing.I have always wanted to help change the world.   As a child, I believed that if everyone did their own little part in taking that extra step to help others, the world would be a much better place for everyone.The stark reality of it all hit me not long after that but it did not lessen my resolve.   I figured that if so many people I knew did not want to do their part in changing the world then I would probably have to do their share.   This is where my motivation to pursue nursing comes from; the drive to go the extra mile just to make a difference in this world.I see my goal in life as similar to that of Nurse Leader Mary Breckenridge in that I understand that nursing plays a very important role in the world today.   There are few jobs and professions that are as rewarding as nursing.   While other jobs may get more publicity, the role that nurses play in the health care industry is highly valued and appreciated.My desire to be a nurse has to do with the fact that nursing is one of the ways by which I am able to do something that I really want to do in my life and that is to care a nd help other people.   More importantly, I greatly feel that by taking up Nursing I will be able to proceed with my plans in life.The decision to pursue a career in nursing is not something that just occurred overnight.   Instead, it is the result of an active commitment to being able to carry out my passions in life.   The human involvement that is critical in nursing makes it the ideal profession for me.The remunerations that one can receive from being a nurse are only secondary to the feeling of fulfillment from knowing that one was able to provide support to those in need.   These experiences that I took with me during my time in the hospital shaped my future and opened my eyes to the benefits that a career in nursing can provide.As the world continues to change and the workplace becomes more and more challenging and competitive, it becomes imperative for anyone looking for a successful career to not only have the drive to succeed but also the training and expertise to do so.I am not saying that I do not have the training and expertise at the moment but I do believe that there is still room for more.   That is why I strongly feel that nursing is the profession for me because it not only allows me to become what I want to be but it also allows me to become who I want to be in life.My previous experiences as a certified nursing assistant and psych counselor have served well to prepare me for what lies ahead.   It has made me realize that what I really want to do in life is to help other people and become an excellent nurse.   I know that I can do more to further this goal by entering a registered nurse program and by getting the training that I need.   Ã‚  However, I feel that this is the crucial step that will herald my success in this profession.With all of the technological advancements in health care that have indeed raised the standard of health care being provided in the United States, there are a few intangible factors that can never be replaced.   I see my future role, as a member of the nursing profession, as being able to develop these intangibles.   One important example is the special type of manner by which a nurse must conduct herself in order to be effective in performing her task.The bedside manners are very important and it is something that just cannot be taught in classrooms.   Nurses need to be more than just machines that come in and punch in their time cards but rather professional registered nurses who show their passion and dedication to the profession through their approach and practice.With this role in mind, I feel that I am not only prepared to take on the challenges of pursuing a career in nursing but that I also have the proper mindset for this type of career.