Darwinian Theory and the ‘Life of Pi’ Essay

Darwinian Theory may be used to explain Yann Martel’s novel ‘Life of Pi. ’ While the novel is an aesthetic portrayal of spirituality, purity, and practicality, it is nonetheless not immune to the issues of scientific validity, materiality, and determinism. In this paper, the author will explore the relationship of Darwinian Theory with the core concepts in the novel. These core concepts are, in general, assumed to be in conflict with the principles of Darwinian Theory. However, this assumption may be relaxed as the author sees fit. Novel Summary Piscine ‘Pi’ Molitor Patel lives in Pondicherry, India – a boy described as ‘curious, jolly, and deep-seated with learning. ’ His father is the owner of the Pondicherry Zoo. His mother is an avid reader of various literary works. Much of the protagonist’s learning experience came from school. Hi school is filled with amazing teachers – many of whom became personal mentors of Pi. Although he grew up as a Hindu, he discovered the Catholic faith at the age of 14 from a priest named Father Martin. However, upon meeting Mr. Kumar, a Muslim, he changes his religious orientation by practicing Islam. Pi openly defies the custom of religious conservatism by advocating liberalism in worship – he regards Catholicism, Islam, and Hinduism as legitimate religions. At the age of 16, Pi’s father decides to abandon Prime Minister’s Gandhi due to some political and ethical issues. The family is forced to move to Toronto, Canada. The animals in the zoo are dispersed to various zoos in the United States. On their way to Canada, the boat unexpectedly sinks. Only Pi survives – stuck with a dying hyena and a zebra. While struggling in the shark-infested water, he saves Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger. In the boat, predatory animals prey on herbivores and the carcasses of dead animals. For seven months, Pi hides on a raft behind the boat. He is able to tame Parker using a whistle. Parker seems to develop affection with Pi – Parker becomes the close partner of Pi. While at sea, Pi learns to eat from the sea. However, because the nutrition derived from the sea is insufficient to feed the two, both Pi and Parker become ill. As the health of both Pi and Parker deteriorate, the former loses his sight. Then, they come across another blind man – a person stranded in his lifeboat on the Pacific. The blind man intends to kill and eat Pi. However, the tiger (Parker) attacks and eats the blind man. Pi, however, sheds tears for the blind man, clearing his sight as a consequence. For a long period of time, the two suffered from the scourges of the seas. Then, they come across an island made of algae and populated with the so-called Meerkats. Pi begins to eat algae and gradually regains his strength. Parker also regains his strength by eating Meerkats. For several weeks both Pi and Parker live on the island. Both are very happy and almost optimistic of life. Eventually, Pi finds several sets of corroded human teeth wrapped in tree leaves. Pi is horrified. Pi realizes that during the night the algae become acidic. The island becomes carnivorous – one indicator of which is the sleeping habit of the Meerkats. Meerkats sleep at night to avoid danger. His discovery sends shivers on his body – a feeling of hopelessness and despair run in his mind. The next day, he leaves the island with Parker. After spending so much time in the ocean, Pi finally lands in Mexico. Parker runs off into the woods. Pi is eventually recovered by villagers who immediately take him to a nearby hospital. The shipping company which owned the ship interviewed Pi. Pi narrates his story to the representatives of the company – his 227-day journey on the boat and the fantastic tales of his experiences with Parker, the Bengal tiger, and of course, the ‘dangerous’ island. The representatives of the company do not believe Pi’s story and therefore ask Pi to relate another story. Pi narrates a second story. In the story, the cook of the boat kills both his mother and a sailor with a broken leg. Pi kills the cook. The company representatives realize that Pi’s second story parallels the first. Pi asks the representatives which story they like the most. The representatives agree they like the first story and the one they will use in their report. Darwinian Theory in the Novel In the first part of the novel, Darwinian Theory seems to be contradictory with the core concepts of the story. The story advocates the concepts of spirituality, freedom of conscience, purity, and spiritual origin of humanity as the main determinants of man’s journey in life. In the beginning, Pi’s life is governed by these principles, as evident by his deep-seated commitment to the precepts of spiritual living. Pi believes that the future of humanity depends on man’s commitment to his spiritual origin. Humanity is above materialism, prejudice, and the natural laws of selection, adaptation, and struggle. Hence, humanity is defined not by the peculiarities of deterministic living but by choice and freedom. If one uses Darwinian Theory, one can clearly see the contradictions. Darwinian Theory suggests: We have seen that man incessantly presents individual differences in all parts of his body and in his mental faculties. These differences or variations seem to be induced by the same general causes, and to obey the same laws as with the lower animals. In both cases similar laws of inheritance prevail. Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence; consequently he is occasionally subjected to a severe struggle for existence, and natural selection will have effected whatever lies within its scope (On the Origin of Species, 147). In short, the future of humanity is governed by the principles of struggle, variation, and adaptation. To deny the material origin of man is to deny his nature. The peculiarities of man’s existence, is therefore, clouded by lies which perpetuate in the human psyche. Darwinian Theory presents man in the most material form – man originated from lower forms through a perpetually long periods of time. In his book ‘The Descent of Man,’ Darwin clearly defined the nature of man. According to Darwin, man is an ubiquitous species selected by nature to perpetuate in the world. His main tool for survival is knowledge or technological advancement. However, this ‘advantage’ is not a departure from natural selection, struggle, or adaptation. Rather, it is part of nature – ungoverned by either choice or freedom – and subservient to the logic of evolution. In short, man is related to other species in one way or another. In the novel, Pi’s ingenuous anticipation of problems and its eventual resolution are presented as natural and instinctual. With this, one is forced to refer again to Darwin’s assertion which states: He who is not content to look, like a savage, at the phenomena of nature as disconnected, cannot any longer believe that man is the work of a separate act of creation. He will be forced to admit that the close resemblance of the embryo of man to that, for instance, of a dog- the construction of his skull, limbs and whole frame on the same plan with that of other mammals, independently of the uses to which the parts may be put- the occasional re-appearance of various structures, for instance of several muscles, which man does not normally possess, but which are common to the Quadrumana- and a crowd of analogous facts- all point in the plainest manner to the conclusion that man is the co-descendant with other mammals of a common progenitor (The Descent of Man, 74). Darwinian Theory begins to manifest itself in the second part of the novel. Pi’s struggles in the boat present three concrete principles of Darwinism: struggle, adaptation, and competition. Pi’s struggles are generally linked with the actions of other forms of living organisms – the zebras, hyena, the snake, and the orangutan. The boat represents a small world where the laws of Darwinism govern everything. According to Darwin, it is impossible for a human being to be separated from the discretion of nature, from the actions of other organisms, and the vagrant reality of materialism (On the Origin of Species, 59). The formal rule of human existence is no more different from the formal rule which governs nature. According to Darwin, struggle is the formal rule of existence: As the missletoe is disseminated by birds, its existence depends on birds; and it may metaphorically be said to struggle with other fruit-bearing plants, in order to tempt birds to devour and disseminate its seeds rather than those of other plants. In these several sense, which pass into each other, I use for convenience sake the general term of struggle for existence. A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which organic beings tend to increase †¦ for only struggle can ensure the survival of every living organism (On the Origin of Species, 32-33). In short, Pi’s struggles in the boat are not an isolated form of adaptation but a real manifestation of the laws of nature (which Darwin established in his book ‘On the Origin of Species’). Natural selection is likewise manifested in Pi’s adventures in the island. The sleeping habit of the Meerkats is congruent with the environment of the island. Note that during nighttime, the island becomes ‘carnivorous’ and the algae turns into a colony of acidic organisms. In order for the Meerkats to thrive in the island, they must adapt to their environment. Their adaptation will serve as a medium for natural selection – a species capable of reproducing. As Darwin noted: But in the case of an island, or of a country partly surrounded by barriers, into which new and better adapted forms could not freely enter, we should then have places in the economy of nature which would assuredly be better filled up, if some of the original inhabitants were in some manner modified; for, had the area been open to immigration, these same places would have been seized on by intruders. In such case, every slight modification, which in the course of ages chanced to arise, and which in any way favoured the individuals of any of the species, by better adapting them to their altered conditions, would tend to be preserved; and natural selection would thus have free scope for the work of improvement (On the Origin of Species, 42). Note the similarity of Darwin’s assertions to the plot of the story. The propensity of survival depends first and foremost on the ability of organisms to adapt to their environment. Adaptation serves as a medium for natural selection (as in the case of the Meerkats in the novel). Conclusion The novel can be analyzed through the lens of Darwinism. It is clear that the novel contains elements of Darwinism. However, one should note that this form of interpretation is neither deterministic nor perpetual. Other types of interpretation may be used to analyze the novel (such as realism, deconstructionism, structuralism, etc. ) Works Cited Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. London: London Publishing House, 1870/1992. Darwin, Charles. The Descent of Man. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1882/2001. Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2001.

I Knew This Was My Moment

I could remember when I was young, one day, my mother suddenly dragged me out to a concert that I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about. I was planning on persuading my mother otherwise, but the moment I stepped in and the concert started, I immediately fell in love. I was enchanted by the stage effects, the dancers, and the pure vocal talent of the artist. It was then that everything had started, and my world had changed. At that moment, I knew what I wanted in life.Immediately after the concert, I told my mother that I wanted to sign up for vocal and dancing lessons. Needless to say, she was astonished at my sudden change of attitude, but she seemed to understand. Over the years, I trained, and over the years, my passion grew. My life revolved around the dance and vocal lessons I took. But of course, my studies weren’t neglected; I needed a back-up plan if my plans to become a star fell through, though I would definitely prefer if it didn’t.Many people said that a spiring to become a singer was not realistic, that it was just that, a dream. But I never wavered, I never felt discouraged, and most importantly, I never lost hope. When I was sixteen, I took part in a local singing competition, and was unexpectedly scouted by a representative of a small talent agency. He gave me his name card, introduced himself, and told me to call if I was interested. That day, I ran all the way home, and told my parents.Although they didn’t seem to agree with me, being only sixteen and all, they eventually caved in with my constant begging. With their consent, I immediately dialed the number on the card, I wasn’t about this chance pass me by. After that phone call, my life took another turn. I was thrown into a busy life with almost no free time for myself. I’d spend the whole morning in school, and then my afternoons, and sometimes evenings, as a trainee at the agency. Although every day was tiring, I enjoyed those days.That life lasted fo r about four months. After four months as a trainee, they decided that I had enough training, that I was good enough and could finally have my debut, with all the lessons I had before entering the agency. The moment I received the news, I was ecstatic for days, almost nothing could bring me down. The two months after that were spent writing and composing songs. It was decided that they would strip away all other stage effects and focus on my voice, which was my forte.And now, sitting in the preparation room while make-up artists do their final touch up on my face, I recall the past and how my dream had started. Instead of letting my dream remain a dream, I was about to make it come true. More than nervous, I feel excited. Instead of standing below the stage, watching performers enchant the audience, it was finally my turn to stand upon that ground and demand the attention of the whole stadium. Standing backstage and watching the audience of hundreds, maybe a thousand, I could feel t he nerves getting to me, and then the excitement overriding the nerves.The curtains closed upon the end of the previous act, a signal for me to go on stage. This was it, I thought, as the MC introduced me, the curtains opened, and the lights blinded me. Blinking a few times as my eyes adapted to the light, I could see clearly right in front of me, the thousands of people in the audience. At that moment, I knew. I knew that this was my moment, and it was going to be all or nothing. This was the moment I have been waiting for all my life, the moment I have gone through all the blood, sweat and tears for.This was the moment that would change my life, for good; the moment that would decide if my career as a celebrity would turn for the better or for the worse. After all, in the entertainment industry, it’s the first impression that counts. Standing on the extravagant stage, half blinded by the lights, in awe of the number of people in the audience, and excitement rushing through every pore of my being, I sung my heart out, expressing my ineffable feelings for it, for music. Giving it my all, all I could do now was hope that my all was enough.

Human motivation midterm essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human motivation midterm essays - Essay Example It explains human behavior as it is supposed to be an inborn tendency that directs it. Along with need theories learning theories it bore traces of Darwinian concepts. The problem with the instinct theories is that it ignores the interaction between an individual and an environment. According to Landy and Conte (2006), this is the reason why the need theories replaced it in popularity. Citing Maslow’s notion, they explained that need theory is an improvement over the former because it allowed for the environment to play a role in motivated behavior by suggesting that when one set of needs was satisfied by external forces, the next higher set of needs are activated. (p. 334) The person as â€Å"godlike† is one concept shared by cognitive, learning and humanistic theories of motivations. Here, there is an assumption that humans are rational and that there is a faculty of discernment when it comes to actions - its results and its relationship to goal-attainment. Each of these theories is universal in terms of their notion of rationality, their ideas of the human body as well as its needs. Furthermore, the traces of Freudian and Darwinian influences in these theories reinforce their appeal in this regard. The theory of obesity is mostly confined to the cognitive categories in theorizing human motivations. Barbara Dossey enumerated what the theories focus on: overeating behaviors as totally determined by learned responses; negative self-talk that triggers the desire to eat and overeat; negative body images that can contaminate self-concept to drive overeating behaviors; as well as the self-monitoring and response control as a way of correcting it. (p. 313) Meanwhile, to compare scientifically, the overweight notion is a condition of increased body weight in relation to height and is determined by a certain standard of acceptable weight; on the other hand, the concept of obesity is the accumulation of excess fat for one’s age and body type.

David la chapelle photographic series jesus is my homeboy Essay

David la chapelle photographic series jesus is my homeboy - Essay Example Furthermore, such individuals would have been Jesus’ closest companions and most truthful group of disciples. The product of his imagination or speculation saw the creation of a set of six photos labeled, as â€Å"Jesus is my Homeboy.† In 2003, the album was published in British magazine i-D. After the publication, the album was displayed in London and Moritz, Switzerland in 2008 (Jaeger, 85). On an analytical and literary note, La Chapelle’s photos were a series of illustrations that freed from fundamentalists. Such philosophers and theorists viewed Jesus’ teachings as a judgmental and condemning platform that could not uplift the lives of other people in the society (LaChapelle, Mercurio, Torres & Belvedere, 91). Unlike many pieces of artwork of Jesus during modernism, La Chapelle makes it clear that his photographs are not implied to be ironic, shocking or blasphemous in any way. Instead, La Chapelle uses the photographs to express a beautiful sensation and the genuineness of his own belief in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, most observers of La Chapelle’s â€Å"Jesus is my Homeboy† photos say they illustrate the exact opposite. A majority of observers to describe the album â€Å"Jesus is my Homeboy† (Jaeger, 93) has used literary features, such as humor, sarcasm and symbolism. The subjects surrounding Jesus implied that the society is not supposed to cast out or retract from such individuals. Instead, the society should invite and embrace these individuals into the normal system while still making an effort to show similar tenderness and compassion Jesus portrays (LaChapelle, Mercurio, Torres & Belvedere, 164). According to La Chapelle, the leading objective of this set of photographs was to assist in dismissing the judgmentalism from fundamentalists (Jaeger, 221). Therefore, La Chapelle believed he could accomplish this be presenting Jesus in the contemporary society surrounded by the outcasts of the current community. Similar to biblical references, Jesus was surrounded by societal outcasts such as lepers, Samaritans and demon-posses people. The subjects on photos in the set â€Å"Jesus is my Homeboy† have put on modern fashion statements such as do-rags and sweats, tattoos and piercings. These garments and adornments are affiliated with a group of contemporary society in need of mental and social help. In other words, the degenerated or rebellious group of society has been placed closest to a religious deity. Even though La Chapelle’s implication was not of a criminal nature, multi-ethnicity amongst the youths is an accomplishment well defined by the photographs. Apparently, all youths posing as subjects in the photographs are of rap and hip-hop culture. The rap and hip-hop culture constitutes of a group that is regularly stigmatizes by their appearance, fashion and interaction. In the United States, many people not belonging or affiliated with such a culture would fear interacting with individuals embracing such a culture because of the fear conjured up by their character. Ironically, Jesus can see beyond typecasts and invites all such individuals into his companionship (La Chapelle, Mercurio, Torres & Belvedere, 104). Aside from irony, humor develops from the traditional image that Jesus retains in the photos. Despite being in the twenty-first century, Jesus’ image retains the historic characteristic that has been

Creating False Memories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Creating False Memories - Essay Example These memories belong to the first year of a person’s life in which memories are not properly stored. False memories are usually formed as a result of some sort of pressure. False memories can be easily planted if the event is corroborated by another person. A person can even accept a wrong which he has not done if someone claims he has seen the person doing it. False memories are formed when our mind mixes the reality with the information received from others. The subject is still undergoing research and there is little cure for false memories as it is very difficult to differentiate between reality and illusion. (F.Lotus, 1997). In my view, awareness should be created about the creation of false memories to prevent any exploitation. The idea of creating false memories should only be used positively for investigative studies about the functioning of the human mind. Works Cited F.Lotus, E. (1997, September). Creating False memories. Scientific American .

Effects Fast Food on Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Effects Fast Food on Society - Essay Example According to the essay findings fast food chains keep on introducing new and tastier items in their menus to keep their customers loyal to the brand. Fast food chains tend to spend hefty amounts on advertising and launching different campaigns. Advertising becomes an effective source of circulation of money in the society. Advertising may have its own adverse affects on the society but it has become a direct or indirect source of livelihood for many individuals, for example, digital display companies get more business, sports teams earn more money than before from the advertising budgets of fast food chains etc. This paper stresses that fast food chains tend to launch different campaigns for the children that might be based on latest movies, super heroes etc. Toys in the kiddy meals tend to attract the children even more. They have made kiddy meals so attractive and colorful that it gets difficult for children to stay away from them. This results in addiction for fast food and resistance to home cooked meals. Households also may demand more food away from home as their manager works longer hours outside the home. In particular, fast food may come to represent a convenient meal option, if such a restaurant is reasonably accessible. Spending for fast food has been shown to increase along with the number of hours worked by a household manager in the labor force. Full service restaurants tend to take longer periods of time in providing food, therefore fast food chains are preferred more.... Paragraph Households also may demand more food away from home as their manager works longer hours outside the home. In particular, fast food may come to represent a convenient meal option, if such a restaurant is reasonably accessible. Spending for fast food has been shown to increase along with the number of hours worked by a household manager in the labor force (e.g., Byrne et al., 1998). By contrast, dining at a full service restaurant can take as long as preparing, eating, and cleaning up after a meal at home. Thus, there is neither a clear theoretical nor empirical relationship between a household's demand for food at full-service restaurants and its time constraints. Paraphrasing The authors refer to a member of the house as the manager; this individual has been defined as a person who is responsible for preparing the food and other chores around the house. The increasing needs of the current times compel more people to work from one family, due to which the manager of the hous e may also be spending lot of time away from home. Due to the shortage of time, quick and convenient supply of food is desired by most families. Full service restaurants tend to take longer periods of time in providing food, therefore fast food chains are preferred more. Commentary This research finding is relevant for the research study since it addresses the prevailing trends of the modern life; people do not have time to prepare food at home therefore they prefer fast food. 2. Health Problems Source: Lin, Biing-Hwan, and Frazao, Elizabeth. â€Å"Away-From-Home Foods Increasingly Important to Quality of American Diet†, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1999. Paragraph Earlier studies suggested that

Listening to a radio program relevant to some of our class readings Essay

Listening to a radio program relevant to some of our class readings and discussions and providing a corresponding write-up of the program - Essay Example The more education one has, the more money he/she is likely to earn. Families comprising of two uneducated couples are likely to suffer poverty and at the end bring up poor children who have less opportunities for education and work (Carbone 22). Women in America have been provided with the opportunity to pursue careers outside the home. Educated women in this perspective earn a better pay. While this actually reduces the difference, changes incurred in men’s earning depending on their education are the major causes of the rising income inequality. There is the issue of moral decline. In this case, women have abandoned their culture which directs them to their responsibilities as house wives. In the contemporary society, both men and women are competing for various opportunities. In some cases, women are found to secure higher opportunities than their male spouses. This develops a feeling of independence within the woman and thus leading to the family breakup. This program analyses the grand dynamics that lead to the accumulation and the distribution of capital among families within the U.S. Inequality and the concentration of wealth as well as the prospects for economic growth are key values that lie in the hearts of the political economy. According to Piketty, the modern growth in economy and the diffusion of knowledge has diminished inequalities. However, extreme inequalities are feared to arise as a result of the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the economic growth rate in the contemporary society (Piketty 25). The most striking issue on this regards the remarkable break witnessed in the years between 1914 and 1945. Considering this period, there developed an impression that capitalism was becoming more democratic. The inherited wealth was no longer the matter behind an individual’s ability and position in the hierarchy of social-economic. Other provoking point discuses such circumstances like the two world wars, the debt fueled

Commercial Aircraft Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Commercial Aircraft - Research Paper Example Less-$759 $1,483.5 Trip#2 Time and cost comparison between General Aircraft and Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) for a round trip from BNA to BAB for 3 persons Time Comparison Terms General Aircraft Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) Office to Airport :20 :10 Terminal boarding :90 :30 En route time 4:00 2:00 Deplaning time :30 :15 Airport to office :10 :05 Total 6:30 3:00 Cost Comparison Terms General Aircraft Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) Travel- En route(1) $851.54 $2,310 Rental Car (2) $31.72 $31.72 Value per Man-Hour (VMH)(3) $1,483.5 $655.5 Total $2,366.76 $2,997.22 Calculations 1. General Aircraft- $409 round trip 3 persons (less 30.6% tax savings) Commercial Aircraft- 2 hours $1,155/hour 2. Rental Car- $52/day- unlimited mileages (less 30.6% tax savings) 3. VMH = 2.5 $92,000(avg. salary)/2000 hours= $115.00/hour VMH Summary General Airline Total time: $115 6.5 hour 3 persons $2,242.5 En route time: $115 4 hour 3 persons $1,380 Less- 15% productivity credit - 207 $1,173 Less-$1,173 $1,069.5 Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) Total time: $115 3 hour 3 persons $1,035 En route time: $115 2 hour 3 persons $690 Less- 45% productivity credit 310.5 $379.5 Less- $379.5 $655.5 Trip#3 Time and cost comparison between General Aircraft and Commercial Aircraft (one-stop) for a round trip...There are one stop and non-stop flights between BNA and BAB. From trip 1, it seems that if we use automobile, time and cost are more than using general aircraft. While Automobile takes 12 hours to reach BAB from BNA, it is only 6:30 hours in terms of General Aircraft. But Automobile takes more costs from General Aircraft. It is $3939.41 for Automobile and $2,366.76 for General Aircraft. From trip 1 it is clear to us that General Aviation Aircraft is better than Automobile. From trip 2, it seems that if we use general aircraft, it takes more time than using Commercial Aircraft (non-stop). While General Aircraft takes 6:30 hours to reach BAB from BNA, it is only 3:00 hours in terms of Commercial Aircraft (non-stop). However, it takes little more costs from General Aircraft. It is $2,366.76 for General Aviation Aircraft and $2,997.22 for Commercial Aircraft (non-stop). Although Commercial Aircraft (non -stop) costs a little bit more than the General Aviation Aircraft but Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) saves more valuable time for executives. Therefore, Commercial Aircraft (non-stop) is better than General Aviation Aircraft. From trip 3, it seems that if we use general aircraft, it takes more time than using Commercial Aircraft (one-stop).

Product Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Product Assessment - Essay Example A product could therefore be rendered obsolete due to its inability to meet the technical, functional or other aspects whereas other products in the same line of operation may be consistently meeting these conditions. This paper will assess this idea with relation to the market of compact cassettes in the US. 2.0 Compact Cassettes Commonly known as cassettes with some even calling them audio cassettes, they use a format of recording where the utilization of magnetic tapes. The sales for this product has constantly been going doing in the US market as very few people are becoming more and more modern. The target market for audio cassettes has always been the young generation who spend most of their life time in the rural areas. According to the demographic data of the US released in April 2013, the total population is slightly above 315million people. Out of this populace, about 82% are inhabitants of the cities leaving other people approximating about eighteen percent in the rural ar eas. These therefore are the ones that are targeted by the compact cassettes due to the fact that the technology in the rural areas has not been escalated to higher levels as seen in the urban areas. Additionally, those who aren’t in a position to access compact discs are even better suited to use the compact cassettes. Another dimension on the same issue is that the compact cassettes use common gadgets like radio cassettes which are not wholly dependent on technology (Lee & Winzenried, 2009). Others like the CDs require complicated machines and depend on the technical ability and aspects of the user. The rate of unemployment in the USA, according to the same statistics, has crossed the 7% mark which means that most of these people will opt for cassettes in larger scale to cut on their costs. The disposable income for this fraction of the entire population is low thus should devise other means of survival whereby low cost products will be sought for. However, the market for t hese products has been going down considerably and the same may face an imminent decline. The sales being registered have gone down tremendously and although these products are still performing well, peoples’ interest in them is becoming scarce by day. This has been rendered true by a myriad reasons, most of which the cassettes have failed to satisfy. Technical obsolescence takes the center stage in the whole affair. The advent of CDs and other gadget that purpose to serve the same line of business coupled with technology has superseded the old audio cassettes in spite of them being still in functionality. For example, introduction of multimedia of high quality including the DVDs have rendered the compact cassettes useless due to their unreliability and lack efficiency (Kalb, 2000). To therefore remain consistent with the advancing technology in electronics, many people today in the US have opted for other alternative means to augment their music thirst and needs. Many other version which are newer in the industry has been introduced which also gives a blow to the usage of audio cassettes. Furthermore, the technologies available in the market have gone a series of transformation thus are no longer in a position to produce the cassettes or even repair them. The cassettes

Nervous Innervations of the Lower Teeth Case Study

Nervous Innervations of the Lower Teeth - Case Study Example As the paper highlights, the mandibular nerve (MN) is a division of the TGG that further branches into the alveolar nerve. The alveolar nerve branches into the mylohoid nerve, alveolar artery, and finally the incisive nerve that provides sensory innervations to the premolar teeth. The loss of feeling in the tongue, dry mouth and change in taste is caused by alveolar nerve block due to the anesthetic effect. This may also be due to chemical damage to the lingual nerve because of direct injection of a neurotoxic local anesthetic such as articaine, procaine, lidocaine, tetracaine and bupivacaine. The loss of taste is caused by the anesthetic effect caused by injuries to the lingual nerve during the dental work. The lingual nerve is anesthetized during an alveolar nerve block. The lingual nerve transfers gustatory fibers responsible for taste sensation to the anterior part of the tongue. Saliva has also been linked by research to taste response where a low flow affects taste sensation. T he motor function of the tongue is not interfered with because the mandibular nerve has an additional motor component that runs separate to the facial component. This provides sensory communication between the myoholid nerve and the lingual nerve that controls motor functions of the tongue.

Junk food in schools Essay Example for Free

Junk food in schools Essay The Government had set out a ban to prevent junk food from being sold to children at canteens. Mark Fraser had written a letter to a newspaper company called Community Chronicle on the 29th of October 2010 to share his disbelief at the governments vain attempt to prevent obesity. Throughout this piece, he uses an attacking tone. He aims to target the audience of parents with children in schools to agree with him on his contention that this vain attempt will not benefit the children. Since the beginning, Fraser believes that eating habits are heavily influenced by the parents. He urges parents to take responsibility of their own children. He admits that he weighs close to 100 kilograms and further strengthens his statement by claiming that he is a responsible parent. He personalizes the statement and enables the audience to see him as a regular person and also being a responsible parent for his children despite being overweight. Fraser argues that children need to learn self-restraint and that parents should be responsible to make informed decisions for their children. He implies to the audience that a responsible parent should educate their children on their food choices. Fraser quoted Dr Peter Clifton who said 37 percent of their daily energy intake is consumed at school, but only 14 percent was lunch bought from the school canteen and schools should be a focus for combating childhood obesity but strategies were needed to tackle the lunchbox, not just the school canteen. He shifts the blame from the school cafeteria to the parents, implying that the parents should make good decisions for their children when packing for them. Fraser believes that the bans will have no impact on childrens eating habits. He begins by claiming this strategy will not make our children perfectly healthy eaters and it will not encourage our kids to get out and get fit. He implies that theyre other more effective solutions out there other than canteen policing. Fraser had also quoted two major principals associations that young people consume at most 5 of their 21 meals a week at school and the policy would make kids feel that junk food is an attractive taboo. He reinforces his contention by implementing the use of expert opinion, leading the audience to be more likely to believe his contention. Lastly, Fraser expresses his concern regarding the schools finances by stating that the canteen is a major revenue stream for school funding. He suggests that once the ban is put into place, sales wouldnt be too great and there schools would lose its main source of revenue. Fraser also questioned whether the government would be allocating additional funds for the revenue shortfall He also suggested that the government might not fund the schools revenue shortfall even if the school is affected by the ban. Fraser suggests that the ban will most likely cause major financial problems regarding the schools revenue steam. Fraser believed that the ban proposed by the government was merely a waste of time. He had strongly conveyed his negative opinion toward the governments approach from the very start. He believes that childrens eating habits are majorly influenced by the parents, not the school canteens food choices. Fraser also believes that the bans will be off no impact toward childrens eating habits and at the same time also cause major financial problems for the school. He urges for the state government to wake up and see that kids need opportunities to make their own decisions and stay active.

Advances in Composite Laminate Theories

Advances in Composite Laminate Theories This paper reviews the Composite Laminate Theories that have already been proposed and developed in the recent years. These theories mainly focus on the macro mechanical analysis of the composite laminates which provides the elastic relations of the lamina. Stress-induced failure can occur in multiple ways in composite materials. Hence to understand and predict transverse shear and normal stress accurately, various composite laminate theories have been developed. The advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed in detail. In this study, the Composite Laminate Theories are divided into two parts: (1) Single Layer Theory, where the entire plate is considered as one layer and (2) Layer Wise Theory, where each layer is treated separately for the analysis. It starts with displacement-based theories from very basic models such as Classical laminate theory to more complex higher-order shear deformation theory. [6] INTRODUCTION The requirement of composite materials has grown rapidly. These materials are ideal for applications that require low density and high strength. Composite materials provide great amount of flexibility in design through the variation of the fiber orientation or stacking sequence of fiber and matrix materials. The mechanical behavior of laminates strongly depends on the thickness of lamina and the orientation of fibers. Hence, the lamina must be designed to satisfy the specific requirements of each particular application and to obtain maximum advantage from the directional properties of its constituent materials. The normal stresses and through-thickness distributions of transverse shear for composite materials are very important because in laminate composite plates, stress-induced failures occur through three mechanisms. For instance, when the in-plane stress gets too large, then the fiber breakage occurs. However, normally before the in-plane stresses exceed the fiber breakage point, inter laminar shear stress failure occurs when one layer slips tangentially relative to another. Alternatively, transverse normal stress may increase enough to cause failure by which two layers pull apart from each other. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and calculate transverse shear and normal stress through the thickness of the plate accurately. In general, two different approaches have been used to study laminated composite structures, which are: (1) single layer theories and (2) discrete layer theories. In the single layer theory approach, layers in laminated composites are assumed to be one equivalent single layer (ESL) whereas in the discrete theory approach, each layer is considered separately in the analysis. Also, plate deformation theories can be categorized into two types: (1) displacement and (2) stress -based theories. A brief description of displacement-based theories is given below: displacement-based theories can be divided into two categories: classical l aminate theory (CLT) and shear deformation plate theories. Normally, composite laminate plate theories are described in the CLT, the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), the global higher-order theory, and the global-local higher shear deformation theory (SDT). DESCRIPTION: In the studies carried out in last few decades, many different theories were presented to overcome various issues and explain the behaviors of composite materials more accurately. In this paper, these theories are reviewed, categorized, and their advantages, weaknesses and limitations are discussed in detail. LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES Classical Laminate Theory (CLT) The simplest ESL laminate plate theory is the CLT, which is based on displacement based theories. In the nineteenth century Kirchhoff initiated the two-dimensional classical theory of plates and later on it was continued by Love and Timoshenko. The principal assumption in CLT is that normal lines to the mid-plane before deformation remain straight and normal to the plane after deformation. The other assumptions made in this theory are (1) the in-plane strains are small when compared to unity (2) the plates are perfectly bonded (3) the displacement are small compared to the thickness. Although these assumptions lead to simple constitutive equations, it is also the main limitation of the theory. These assumptions of neglecting the shear stresses lead to a reduction or removal of the three natural boundary conditions that should be satisfied along the free edges. These natural boundary conditions are the bending moment, normal force and twisting couple. Despite its limitations, CLT is s till a common approach used to get quick and simple predictions especially for the behavior of thin plated laminated structures. The main simplification in this model is that 3D structural plates ( with thickness ) or shells are treated as 2D plate or shells located through mid-thickness which results in a significant decrement of the total number of equations and variable, consequently saving a lot of computational time and effort. Since they are present in closed-form solutions, they provide better practical interpretation and their governing equations are easier to solve [6]. This approach remains popular because it has become the foundation for further composite plate analysis theories and methods. This method works relatively well for structures that are made out-of a balanced and symmetric laminate, experiencing either pure tension or only pure bending. The error which is introduced by neglecting the effect of transverse shear stresses becomes trivial on or near the edges and corners of thick-sectioned laminate configurations. It is observed that the induced error increases for thick plates made of composite layers. This is mainly due to the fact that the ratio of longitudinal to transverse shear elastic moduli is relatively large compared to isotropic materials [2]. It neglects transverse shear strains, under predicts deflections and overestimates natural frequencies and buckling loads [3]. Composite plates are, subjected to transverse shear and normal stresses due to their discontinuous through-thickness behavior and their global anisotropic nature [3]. In order to achieve better predictions of the response characteristics, such as bending, buckling stresses, torsion, etc., a number of other theories have been developed which are presented in following sections [6]. Figure1. Deformation Hypothesis [Taken from class notes. Advanced Plate Theory.1] Displacement and strain field for CLT are given below: [Taken from class notes. [1]] First-order shear deformation theories (FSDT) Reissner and Mindlin developed the conventional theories for analyzing thicker laminated composite plate which also considered the transfer shear effects. These theories are popularly known as the shear deformation plate theories. Many other theories, which are extension of SDT, have also been proposed to analyze the thicker laminated composite. These theories are primarily built on the assumption that the displacement w is constant through the thickness while the displacements u and v vary linearly through the thickness of each layer. In general, these theories are known as FSDT. The primary outcome of this theory is that the transverse straight lines will be straight both before and after the deformation but they will not be normal to the mid-plane after deformation. As this theory postulates constant transverse shear stress, it needs a shear correction factor to satisfy the plate boundary conditions on both the lower and upper surface. The shear correction factor is introduced to adjust the transverse shear stiffness values and thereby, the accuracy of results of the FSDT will depend notably on the shear correction factor. Further research has been undertaken to overcome the limitations of FSDT without involving higher-order theories to avoid increasing the complexity of the equations and computations [2, 7]. Authors like Bhaskar and Varadan [23] used the combination of Naviers approach and a Laplace transform technique to solve the equations of equilibrium. Onsy et al. [4] presented a finite strip solution for laminated plates. They used the FSDT and assumed that the displacements u and v vary linearly through the thickness of each layer and are continuous at the interfaces between adjacent layers. They also postulated that the displacement w does not vary through the thickness. These assumptions provide a more realistic situation (when compared with CLPT) where in the shear strains are not continuous across the interfaces between adjacent lamina. The other limitations are (1) assumption of constant shear stress is not correct as stresses must be zero at free surfaces. (2) FDST produces accurate results only for very thin plates. In order to calculate transverse shear more accurately, to satisfy all boundary conditions and to analyze the behavior of more complicated thick composite structures under different loading condition and to overcome the limitations the use of higher-order shear deformation theories are imperative[1]. Figure2. Reissner Mindline Plate [picture taken from MAE 557 class notes. 1] Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory: The limitations of the CLT and the FSDT have persuaded the researchers to develop a number of global HOSDT. The higher-order models are based on an assumption of nonlinear stress variation through the thickness [1]. These theories are developed for thick plates but are predominantly 2D in nature. These theories are capable of representing the section warping in the deformed configuration. At the layer interfaces, some of these models do not satisfy the continuity conditions of transverse shear stresses. Although the discrete layer theories do not have this concern, they are computationally slow when solving these problems because of the fact that the order of their governing equations purely depends on the number of layers [24]. Whitney attempted to examine the problem with inter laminar normal stress [25]. Several authors were involved in developing this theory , for instance the calculation of inter laminar normal stress was studied by Pagano [26], a boundary layer theory by Tang [ 6], the perturbation method by Hsu and Herakovich , and an approximate elasticity solutions by Pipes and Pagano. In most of these models, the laminate is assumed to be reasonably long. The stress singularities were considered in a model presented by Wang and Choi. In order to determine the stress singularities at the laminate free edges, Wang and Choi used the Lekhnitskiis [27] stress potential and the theory of anisotropic elasticity. The Eigen function technique developed by them uses a collocation system at every ply interface to satisfy continuity. The major limitation of this theory is that it can be applied to only relatively thin laminates [17]. In order to explain plate deformation for composite laminate plates with thickness, Ambartsumian proposed a higher-order transverse shear stress function. Various different functions were proposed by Reddy [2], Touratier , Karama and Soldatos. The results of some of these methods were compared by Aydogdu [23]. For example, a 2D higher -order theory is developed by Matsunaga to investigate buckling in isotropic plates for in-plane loads where the effects of transverse shear and normal deformations are predicted in his study. Higher-order theories, which consider the complete effects of transverse shear, normal deformations and rotary inertia, have been studied for the vibration and stability problems of specific laminates. In general, researchers who have wanted to simulate plates have used the third-order shear deformation theories (TSDTs) which was first published by Schmidt and later developed by Jemielita. This theory is also known as parabolic shear deformation plate theory (PSDPT). Researchers like Phan and Reddy [30] applied this theory for the free vibration, the bending and the buckling of composite plates [23]. The same unknown displacements as those used in FSDT were used. This theory also satisfies transverse shear-free conditions at the outer surfaces. The results obtained show that for the thick lami nates the in-plane stresses are predicted much well than those identified using FSDT, but still these results have errors when compared with 3D models. This theory is not based on the layer-wise type, therefore, unlike most of other ESL theories, it does not satisfy the continuity conditions of transverse shear stresses between layers [9]. Vuksanovic proposed another parabolic distribution of shear strains through the laminated plate thickness which has a cubic variation of in-plane displacement. The results confirm that this model can predict the global laminate response better than previous used parabolic methods. The primary limitation is that it is challenging to accurately compute the inter laminar stress distributions [9]. In the third-order shear deformation theories assumes (1) the in-plane displacements are a cubic expression of the thickness coordinate (2) the out-of-plane displacement is a quadratic expression. Carrera presented a third-order shear deformation theory whic h based on the model which was presented by Vlasov for equation of bending plates. By imposing homogeneous stress conditions with correspondence to the plate top-surface the reduced third-order shear deformation model with only three displacement variables was obtained. This was further modified in the same research for the non-homogeneous stress conditions[6]. Figure2. Displacement field and transverse shear stress field for the various composite laminate theories. [* Figure taken from class notes. Advanced_plate_theory.pdf] Trigonometric shear deformation plate theory (TSDPT) Shear deformation plate theories which use trigonometric functions are called TSDPT. In this theory the ability to predict accurate solutions has been enhanced by combing trigonometric terms with the algebraic through the- thickness terms assumed for the displacements. Touratier [48] chose transverse strain distribution as a sine function [23]. Stein developed a 2D theory wherein the displacements are stated by trigonometric series. Stein and Jegley studied the effects of transverse shear stress on the cylindrical bending of the laminated composite plates [31]. The results obtained from these theories show that this theory calculates the stresses more accurately than other theories. Kassapogolou and Lagace used the principle of minimum complimentary energy to introduce a straightforward method to analyze symmetric laminate plates which are subjected to tension/compression [15, 16]. Afterwards Kassapogolou [28] generalized and modified this approach for general unsymmetrical laminate loads i.e. in-plane and out of- plane common moment and shear loads. The shortcomings of this model are that it does not solve the weaknesses of inequality in Poissons ratios. Becker [29] made use of cosine and sine functions for warping deformation of v and w displacement, respectively and developed a closed-form higher-order laminated plate theory. Mortan and Webber presented an analytical method which took into consideration the thermal effects in their model and by using the same approach as Kassapoglou and Becker. Lu and Liu [22] proposed an inter laminar shear stress continuity theory in which the inter laminar shear stress is directly obtained from the constitutive equations. This theory was postulated in order to develop an accurate theory for inter laminar stress analysis by considering both the transverse shear effects and continuity requirements. The drawback in this model is that the deformation in the thickness is neglected and therefore it cannot calculate the inter la minar normal stress directly from the constitutive equations. Later, Lu and Liu [21] developed the interlayer shear slip theory based on a multilayer approach model by investigating the effect of interfacial bonding on the behavior of composite laminates. Finally, Lee and Liu also derived the closed-form solutions for the general analysis of inter laminar stresses for thin and thick composite laminates under sinusoidal distributed loading. Both inter laminar shear stress and inter laminar normal stress at the composite interface were satisfied in this model and also the inter laminar stresses could be calculated directly from the constitutive equations. Touratier [20] proposed a theory based on using certain sinusoidal functions for shear stress. After comparing the results obtained numerically for the bending of sandwich plates it was shown that this theory is more accurate than both FSDT and HOSDT [17]. Hyperbolic shear deformation theory (HSDT): Soldatos proposed the hyperbolic shear deformation theory [6]. Timarci and Soldatos combined the various shear deformation theories to formulate this HSDT. The major advantage of this unified theory is the ability to vary the transverse strain distribution [19]. Authors like Ramalingeswaran and Ganesan [18] have used parabolic and hyperbolic function to uniform external pressure and a simply supported cylindrical shell for cross ply laminated composite by considering an internal sinusoidal pressure [17]. Karama et al. proposed an exponential function for the transverse strain for his study of the bending of composite [6]. Layerwise Theory (LT): (Zigzag effect) In order to present accurate results many new theories like the layerwise theory and individual layer theory have been formulated. Some of the eminent researches involved in developing these theories are Wu, Chen, Plagianakos[13], Saravanos, Fares and Elmarghany[14]. The basic technique employed in these theories is that assuming certain displacement and stress models in each layer of the composite laminates and in order to reduce the unknown variables, equilibrium and compatibility equations are defined at the interface. These theories are often computationally time consuming and very expensive to obtain accurate results due to the fact that they use many different unknowns for multilayered plates. To predict both gross response and the stress distributions accurately a number of layer wise plate models which can represent the zigzag behavior of the in-plane displacement through the thickness have been developed in the recent past. However, in the Layerwise Theories the major drawba ck is that the number of unknown increases significantly with the number of layers and consequently the computational weight becomes considerably heavier and higher. To overcome this problem, various solutions were suggested. Cho and Parmerter presented a model where in the number of the unknowns is independent of the number of layers. They achieved it by superimposing a cubic varying displacement field on a zigzag linearly varying displacement [6]. This method was very efficient as it satisfied the transverse shear stress continuity at the layer interfaces and shear-free surface conditions. The theories that have been developed to justify through-the-thickness piece-wise behavior of stresses and displacement are often subjected to zigzag theories (ZZ). The zigzag effect can be termed as the different tangential elastic compliances of the plies which cause the displacement components to show a quick change of their slopes in the thickness direction at each layer interface. To summar ize, the in-plane stresses can be discontinuous at each layer interface, while the transverse stresses, for equilibrium, must be continuous. In ZZ theory, the compatibility of the displacements and the inter laminar equilibrium of the transverse stresses in the thickness direction are assured by defining a new stiffness matrix [12]. Lekhnitskii was one of the pioneers who tried to define a ZZ theory. The main drawback for this model is the limitation of the approach to only multi-layered composite where each layer is isotropic. Ren later improved this model by using an extension of the theory developed by Reissner to multi-layered plates. This approach used a Lagrange function with five parameters, which represents the DOF of the structure. These are the set of displacement field equations used in zigzag theory. This equation are taken from the class notes, advanced plate theory [1] Mixed Plate Theory: In order to overcome the limitations of each composite laminate theory researchers have started to unify the different laminate theories. Unified equations have been proposed for mixed layer wise and mixed ESL theories. The main aim is to formulate these unified theories in the most general way for users to be able to choose from the approaches like ESL, Layer wise zigzag, etc. and at the same time choose the order of the expansion of displacements and transverse stresses. This class of model has been contemplated over the last few decades. The so-called mixed variation approach based on the variation principles developed by Hellinger was proposed and then improved by Reissner. In this theory the number of variables that must be computed should be at least 2n, where n is the total number of layers. By using the weak form of Hookes Law the number of variables can be significantly reduced, which shows the variables in terms of the three displacements only. Shimpi et al. [11] derived tw o novel formulations with only two variables, which work perfectly for moderately thick isotropic plates. The major limitation is that it requires accurately calculated shear correction factors for transverse shear stresses in multilayered composite plates. Conclusion In this literature review, various composite laminate plate theories have been categorized. The advantages and limitations of each model have been discussed in detail. This paper mainly focused on how efficiently and accurately the various models can predict the transverse shear effects. It is explained that CLT and FSDT are unable to efficiently predict transverse shear stresses of both moderately thick and thick laminated composite plates. Higher order shear deformation theories were developed in order to obtain accurate transverse shear stresses. Also, the zigzag theories satisfying inter laminar continuity of transverse shear stresses at interfaces is unable to accurately compute transverse shear stresses directly from constitutive equations. 3D equilibrium equations have to be adopted to accurately obtain transverse shear stresses which also require heavy computational processing because of the large number of variables which depend on the number of layers, they become impractic al for engineering applications. Some researchers have recently tried to use the transverse shear and warping effect in highly anisotropic composite to passively control the composite structure. Smart passive adaptive structures are a new technological approach for introducing smart and predictable composite materials with wide ranging applications. They can be used to exploit the effects of shear and elastic coupling and link stretching to bending to twisting of the structure. This requires a higher understanding and in-depth knowledge of inter laminar shear. Therefore, predicting transverse shear effect accurately and in practical way for various engineering applications is imperative.

Toyotas Innovation Management and Success Factors

Toyotas Innovation Management and Success Factors   Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Background The primary reason for choosing this research topic is my genuine interest in cars and my intention to work in the automobile industry. And there could not be a better topic than to study the most significant change at the top which is the emergence of Toyota as the global leader. Although a lot has been written about Toyota, but this dissertation will study it from a different perspective, i.e. innovation management and critical success factors. Toyota Motors Corporation (TMC) has become one of the biggest car manufacturers of the world from a humble start seventy years ago (Toyota, 2008). Toyotas has been one of the most phenomenal success stories in the ultra-competitive automobile industry and can be a great benchmark for any company. The company has posted record annual earnings for almost a decade and has become the most profitable car manufacturer on the planet. And in the market that matters the most, the USA, its unbroken sequence of record sales stretches back even further. Fifty years ago, the Big 3 US carmakers (GM, Ford, Chrysler) dominated the industry, both in the US and worldwide. Now Toyota is set to overtake GM as the worlds largest carmaker, ending 70 years of dominance (BBC, 2007). Toyotas success is even more remarkable given the problems elsewhere in the industry (see Appendix 1). GM and Ford are cutting thousands of jobs and closing plants, while Toyota is building one new plant each year. Ford in parti cular has found the going tough and a $12.7 billion deficit in 2006 coupled with significant losses among its subsidiaries signals the most miserable year of the companys existence. As GM and Ford have racked up huge losses in the past few years, their financial ratings have shrunk. Toyota is now worth 10 times as much as GM on the stock market. So how has Toyota managed to buck the trend so dramatically? (Strategic Direction, 2007) Toyotas success with U.S. customers begins with the appeal of its cars and trucks, which are prized for their quality and durability, ease of operation, and thoughtful features such as controls that are intuitive to operate. Since demand is high and inventories typically low, Toyota, unlike Detroit, sells cars with skimpy marketing incentives, which protects its margins and boosts resale prices (Taylor, 2003). Moreover, Toyota does its homework thoroughly. For instance, the company closely monitors economic and demographic developments and regularly sends its researchers out in the field to interview those who matter most people who buy the cars. Keeping its ear to the ground ensures that the automaker remains best positioned to anticipate evolving customer preferences and future trends. Others carry out similar functions, so what makes Toyota different? How can a Japanese company be best at knowing what does the American car buyer want? This dissertation attempts to find out these factors from a different perspective; innovation. The competitive advantage that many Japanese firms had gained in their respective industries came not from advantages in â€Å"hard† technology †¦ but from the way they manned the same technology †¦ Toyota attained holistic integration of technology with people, organization, product and strategy †¦ the difference lay in their socio-technical system (Liker and Meier, 2006). 1.2 Aims and objectives of research The aim of this dissertation is to establish the factors leading to Toyotas success over GM in the US automobile market. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives have been set:- To review critically the body of literature of innovation theory in explaining Toyotas success. To identify the changing critical success factors where Toyota gained the advantage. To study other factors and theories (like national competitive advantage) which led to Toyotas success. In order to achieve these aims and objectives, literature review is carried out in the next chapter which critically evaluates the theory surrounding this topic and then refined research questions are developed which will be answered by collecting secondary data. 1.3 Structure of dissertation This dissertation has been divided into five chapters. They are organised as follows: The first chapter describes the background of this research, a brief introduction about Toyota and this dissertations structure. It also mentions the aims and objectives of this dissertation which are broad but get refined at the end of chapter two. The second chapter critically evaluates the literature studied for this dissertation including innovation theory, critical success factors and other factors. It forms five propositions at the end of that chapter which are more refined research questions. Chapter three describes the methodology and discusses how the research is conducted to achieve the objectives set earlier. This chapter reviews the various factors of research design like research philosophy, paradigm, strategy and approach. It evaluates the options available and justifies the options chosen by the author. After methodology, research findings and discussion are presented in chapter four. Here secondary data is presented and used to test the propositions formed at the end of chapter two. Chapter five finishes this dissertation with conclusions and recommendations. And finally, the author shares his learning experience in the reflections section. Chapter 2: Literature Review This part of the dissertation will start with reviewing critically the body of literature in innovation theory and changing critical success factors in context to the automobile industry in general, and Toyota and GM in particular, to help explain the formers success over latter in US market. Besides these two theories; some other theories like national competitive advantage, lean etc are discussed in the third section. This chapter will end in forming research propositions based on the theories reviewed. Although this chapter is primarily designed to review general theory concerning automobile industry, the author has cited particular examples about Toyota and GM in some places as seen relevant to stress the point. 2.1 Innovation Innovation is defined in Oxford dictionary as ‘†¦ something established by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. In todays competitive world, innovation essentially can provide companies new ways to beat the competition. â€Å"Innovation process involves the exploration and exploitation of opportunities for new or improved products, processes or services, based either on an advance in technical practise, or a change in market demand, or a combination of the two. Innovation is therefore essentially a matching process† (Fagerberg et al, 2006). ‘†¦ not to innovate is to die wrote Christopher Freeman (1982) in his famous study of the economics of innovation. Certainly companies that have established themselves as technical and market leaders have shown an ability to develop successful new products. Innovation is defined by Myers and Marquis (1969; cited by Trott 2005) as not a single action but a total process of interrelated sub processes. It is not just the conception of a new idea, nor the invention of a new device, nor the development of a new market. The process is a combination of all these things acting in an integrated fashion. A new idea is normally the starting point for innovation. It is neither innovation nor invention; it is merely a concept or thought. The process of converting these ideas into a new product or service is invention. To convert that to a successful profit generating offering in a market is exploitation. And this complete process is innovation. Innovation has long been argued the engine of growth. Schumpeter (1934, 1939 and 1942; cited by Trott 2005) was among the first economist to emphasise the importance of new products as stimuli to economic growth. He argued that the competition posed by new products was far more important than marginal changes in the prices of existing products. For example, a car manufacturer can achieve far more growth by introducing new, efficient cars or new features than just slicing down prices. Fane et al. (2003) studied the Schumpeters view in detail. Schumpeter employed innovation to explain Kondratievs â€Å"long waves† in business cycle theory, those of 54 to 60 years duration, and the nature of the economic growth processes. The Kondratiev/Schumpeterian view gained increased popularity at the end of the 20th century. Innovation, for Schumpeter, was not the same thing as invention innovations may be copied and may not be protected by â€Å"intellectual property rights†, or IPRs, (with the exception, perhaps, of trade secrets) while inventions are protected for a specified period of time by IPRs such as patents and copyrights. Innovations for Schumpeter reflect: the introduction of â€Å"new methods of production† or a change in current production functions; the creation of â€Å"new forms of organisation†; the discovery of â€Å"new sources of supply†; or the opening of â€Å"new trade routes and markets†. Further, he identifie d the source of innovation as the consequences of the actions within a capitalist system of the entrepreneur seeking competitive advantage in the quest for profit. Another theory argues that sustained economic growth arises from competition among firms. Firms try to increase their profits by devoting resources to creating new products and developing new ways of making existing products. There have been many economists supporting the argument that innovations could be associated with waves of economic growth as mentioned earlier. Albernathy and Utterback (1978) contended that at the birth of any industrial sector there is radical product innovation which is then followed by radical innovation in production process, followed, in turn, by wide-spread incremental innovation. Some firms develop a reputation for innovation and it helps propagate a virtuous circle that reinforces a companys abilities. Trott (2005) views this concept as a specific example of Porters (1985) notion of competitive advantage. Porter argued that those companies who are able to achieve competitive advantage that is, above-average performance in an industry sector are able to reinvest this additional profit into the activities that created the advantage in the first place, thus creating a virtuous circle of improvement, or competitive advantage. The success or failure of a firm depends on a strategic competitive advantage. Competitive advantage can be achieved by delivering the product at lower cost or by offering unique benefits to the buyer. It can take many years for a company to build a reputation for being innovative, but once it has done so, it attracts further creative people leading to further leaps in innovation. But the company also has to provide the right atmosphere f or that by encouraging creativity and willingness to accept new ideas like Toyota does. Marketing also plays a very important role in the innovation process as it helps in finding out what customers want. This is crucial as success in the future will lie in the ability to acquire and utilize knowledge and apply this to the development of new products which meets and exceed the target customers expectations. But recent studies by Hamel Prahalad (1994) and Christensen (2003) suggest that listening to your customer may actually stifle technological innovation and be detrimental to long term business success. While sustaining or incremental innovation may appeal to existing customers as they provide improvements to established products; disruptive innovations tend to create new markets which eventually capture the existing markets. For example, the launches of video CDs have made the VHS cassettes obsolete. 2.1.1 Models of innovation There are two schools of thought over what drives innovation; market-based view and resource-based view. The market-based view argues that market conditions provide the context which facilitate or constrain the extent of innovation activity. This of course depends on the firms ability to recognise opportunities in the market place. The resource based view of innovation considers that a market-driven orientation does not provide a secure foundation for formulating innovation strategies for markets which are dynamic and volatile; rather a firms own resources provide a much more stable context in which to develop its innovation activity and shape its markets in accordance to its own views (Wernerfelt, 1995). 2.1.2 Types of Innovation Innovation can be divided into following types (adapted from Trott, 2005): Product Innovation: The development of a new product. E.g. A new car model. Process innovation: The development of a new manufacturing process. E.g. lean manufacturing, flexible platform sharing. Organizational innovation: A new venture division; a new communication system; introduction of new procedures. Management innovation: TQM systems; Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) which are explained in details later. Production innovation: Quality circles; Just In Time (JIT) Environmental Innovation: These are the authors views (see section 2.1.6). Among the various types of innovations mentioned, the author will discuss some crucial management and environmental innovations which will help in tracing down the factors behind Toyotas success. 2.1.3 Management Innovation 1: Total Quality Management (TQM) TQM can be defined as: An effective system for integrating the quality development, quality maintenance and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allows for full customer satisfaction (Feigenbaum, 1986). An effective TQM approach demands all the employees in an organization to be involved. It regards quality as the responsibility of everyone and not limited to a manager or a particular department. Quality and employee improvements are therefore inextricably linked and should be part of a continuous cycle. TQM is an ongoing process of continuous improvements and incremental innovations. The impact of small, relatively easy to achieve improvements can be very positive. Much of the improvement in the reliability of cars over the past twenty years has been attributed to a very large number of improvements initiated by thousands of employees in all the manufacturing companies involved (Trott, 2005). Toyotas commitment to quality can be appreciated by this example. If there is even a small defect like a seatbelt not fitted properly, the workers can pull a cord and stop the production line until the problem is resolved. Workers at the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, pull the cord 2,000 times a week and their care is what makes Toyota one of the most reliable, and most desired, brands in the US. In contrast, workers at Fords brand-new truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, pull the cord only twice a week indicating the legacy of generations of mistrust between shop-floor workers and managers (Schifferes, 2007). Toyotas relentless cost engineering creates efficiencies that Detroit can chase but not match. Its philosophy of continuous improvementrethinking the thousands of steps that go into building each modelallows Toyota to constantly trim material costs and production time. For example, the company lowered the base price of its 1997 Camry by 4%, after taking steps that included streamlining the front-bumper assembly from 20 parts to 13 and reducing the number of steel body fasteners from 53 to 15. Such improvements enable Toyota to assemble a car in 21 hours, vs. 25 for Ford, 27 for Chrysler and 29 for GM (Greenwald et al., 1996). (See also appendix 4) However, in pursuit of continuous improvement, there could be some stages where a radical change may involve complete withdrawal of a procedure leading to potential job losses for the employees. So the employees would be reluctant to pursue that idea. The very feeling of process ownership by the employees may obstruct radical change, i.e. TQM may not support major innovation (Giaver, 1998). 2.1.4 Management Innovation 2: Quality Function Deployment (QFD) QFD is another important management innovation. Making design decisions concurrently rather than sequentially requires superior coordination among the parties involved marketing, engineering, operations and most importantly, the customer. Quality function deployment is a structured approach to this problem that relates the voice of the customer to every stage of the design and delivering process. It promotes better understanding of customer demands and design interactions. For a company to achieve its own quality goals it must include and consider the quality programmes of its suppliers and customers. Identifying the causes of uncertainty, determining how this affects other activities in the supply chain and formulating ways of reducing or eliminating the uncertainty is essential to the management of all the processes involved. Here is an example to illustrate this. McDonalds built a restaurant in Moscow. To achieve its required and expected level of quality and service, the company set up an entire supply chain for growing, processing and distributing the food. McDonalds made sure that all parties along the whole chain understood its expectations of performance and closely monitored performance (Upton, 1998). The QFD approach requires trust between all parties. As in the modern world, the competition between organizations effectively becomes competition between supply chains. Only by innovating within the organizations supply chain, in terms of product and service, will the organization survive. 2.1.5 Management Innovation 3: Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) This is a completely opposite approach to that of incremental innovation preached in TQM. Slack et al. (2004) defines BPR as ‘The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. This approach is quite similar to that of Peters (1997) who suggests total destruction of company systems, hierarchy and procedures and replacing them with a multitude of single-person business units working as professionals. He argues that small modest improvement enshrined in TQM detracts effort from the real need to reinvent the business, i.e. ‘Incrementalism is an enemy of innovation. He argues that a radical approach is the only way organizations can be sufficiently innovative to survive in the twenty-first century. But BPR is criticised as one of the major downsizing tools common in 1980s and 1990s. The combination of radical downsizing and redesign can mean the loss of core experience from the operation. If taken too far (e.g. if the short term improvement was achieved at the expense of support for RD expenditure) the resulting organization could become hollow and die. Also, the core business has to be sound otherwise BPR is akin to ‘flogging a dead horse (Trott, 2005). So, an organization has to take care that their core knowledge is passed on and they do not suffer due to BPR. 2.1.6 Environmental Innovation The author has found a gap in literature in the form of environment innovation. It is not limited to any product or process innovation, but it is the holistic process companies have to follow to keep pace with the changing environment (also see section 2.2.1). Companies round the world are making more fuel efficient cars and alternative fuels to reduce the burden on fossil fuels. GM has realized this a little late and now their full attention is towards environmental innovation. This is because fancy designs and add-ons are not sufficient to compete in the environment-conscious market. Auto makers are under pressure to produce more efficient cars that use less fuel and thus pollute less, in part because petrol prices have soared in recent years in the US, but also because they will soon be required to do so by law. In December 2007, US President George W Bush signed an energy bill that will force the industry to cut average emissions from all vehicles. By 2020, the average must have been slashed by 40% to 35 miles per gallon, and the industry is convinced they will be able to deliver though it will not come cheaply (Madslien, 2008). Today, a fuel called biodiesel, which is derived from vegetable oil, is used throughout Europe. While it has been used in the United States in fleet vehicles for decades, only recently has it become more widely available to the general public. With the worlds oil supply declining and the increasing effect of greenhouse gases on global warming, the push for alternative-fuel vehicles will only continue to grow. In addition to increased production of the types of vehicles discussed here, the next step in alternative-fuel vehicles is fuel cells. A fuel cell vehicle is essentially a hybrid vehicle that is powered by an electric motor, which gets its power from a fuel cell stack rather than an internal combustion engine. There are only a handful of fuel cell vehicles in use today because the technology is still being developed. In addition, there are relatively few fueling stations with hydrogen, the fuel used to power the fuel cell stack. The U.S. Department of Energy, the agency that oversees a federally funded program to pursue fuel cell development, will decide by 2015 whether fuel cell technology is viable. Even if the decision is made to move forward, hybrid vehicles and gasoline-powered vehicles—as well as those powered by diesel and ethanol—will most likely remain in use for many years (JDPower, 2008). 2.2 Critical Success Factors Critical success factors are those product features that are particularly valued by a group of customers and, therefore, where the organization must excel to outperform competition (Johnson et al., 2006). A firm needs to have the threshold capabilities and core competencies to meet the critical success factors. Threshold capabilities are the bare minimum required for an organization to be able to compete in a market without which, an organization cannot survive. The threshold levels rise over time as critical success factors change and as new competitors enter the market. So a company has to keep on reviewing and improving its threshold capabilities just to stay in the market. But this is not sufficient to create competitive advantage. That can only be achieved by unique resources and core competencies which the competitors cannot imitate. Whereas unique resources are those resources that critically underpin competitive advantage and core competencies are the activities and processes through which resources are deployed to achieve competitive advantage. So, even if a company has unique resources, without having the requisite core competencies, it cannot achieve competitive advantage. Lynch (2003) refers to CSFs as KFS or Key Factors for Success. Lynch states that KFS are those resources, skills and attributes of the organisations in the industry that are essential to deliver success in the market place. There are endless issues that can be explored by an organization, but due to limited time and resources, it is better to narrow them down to KFSs and focus the resources on the most important matters. KFS are common to all organizations in an industry but they do vary from industry to industry. They are dependent on customers expectations, quality of competition and corporations own resources and skills. The author agrees with Lynchs view of the need to concentrate the organizations resources to KSFs. But the author also feels that they are not easy to pin-point and measure. Moreover, an organization should also create new CSFs through innovation and invention. For example, the creation of digital cameras completely changed the CSFs in that industry. Another point of view is provided by Sousa et al. (1989), who call it shared experience view. The shared experiences school maintains that the area of business strategies is amenable to research aimed at finding nomological statements. It is believed to be possible to find out how different strategy types are linked to business success under various conditions. This school can be called the shared experience school, because it builds on the expectation that, if experience on business strategies is shared, it becomes possible to build up general, empirically based theoretical knowledge, which then can guide the selection of business strategy. For this school, business success is governed by causal relationships, which exist as an objective truth, and which gradually can be uncovered by research. 2.2.1 Strategic Drift and Scenario Planning. Johnson et al. (2006) describes strategic drift as the stage where strategies progressively fail to address the strategic position of the organisation and performance deteriorates (see figure 2 below). For example, GM find themselves far behind in the environment innovation sector. Therefore, the organization needs to understand and address the contemporary issues that are challenging them. The figure shows environmental change and strategic change. An organization has to keep pace with the changing environment via incremental changes and when required, transformational changes. If it fails to do so, the organization is at the risk of completely failing. Johnson et al. (2006) provides a possible solution to prevent these risks through scenario planning. Scenarios are detailed and plausible views of how the business environment of an organization might develop in the future based on groupings of key environmental influences and drivers of change about which there is a high level of uncertainty. While it is not possible to correctly predict the future, but it is valuable to have different views of possible futures. Managers should form multiple, equally plausible futures and develop contingency plans for each scenario. They have to do so by limiting the number of assumptions and uncertainties to minimum by focussing on factors that are uncertain but can have a high impact. Such scenario planning will no doubt consume some resources currently, but it can prevent huge losses in the future by limiting the number of shocks and surprises and help create a pro-active organization which moves with the changing environment. 2.3 Other Factors 2.3.1 National competitive advantage: Porters Diamond It is argued that some nations provide better environment to foster innovation than others. Porter (1990) devised a diamond to explain the four main factors helping a country build and maintain competitive advantage These are: Porters Single diamond framework 1. Factor conditions: These include the human resources; physical resources such as land, water mineral deposits, infrastructure etc; nations stock of knowledge resources such as scientific, technical and market knowledge which can affect the quantity and quality of goods and services and finally, the cost of capital and availability. Although Japan was low on natural resources, they more than made that up with their excellent human resources. Morita (1992; cited by Trott 2005) argues that ‘you will notice that almost every major manufacturer in Japan is run by an engineer or technologist. However in the UK, some manufacturing companies are run by CEOs who do not understand the technology that goes into their own products. Indeed, many UK corporations are headed by chartered accountants whose major concern is statistics and figures of past performance. How can an accountant reach out and grab the future if he or she is always looking at last quarters results? Therefore, it is i mportant for an innovative firm to have the right leadership at the top who can guide the firm into the future. 2. Demand conditions: These include the composition of demand in the home market, size and growth rate of home demand, ways through which domestic demand is internationalized and pulls a nations products and services abroad. The demand for cars in Japan was low, so Toyota ventured into US shores to feed their ever-growing ambitions. 3. Related and supporting industries: These include the presence of internationally competitive supplier industries which can create advantage through speed and efficiency. Also related industries which are internationally competitive can create value when competing or by complementary products. Toyota was competing in Japan with the likes of Honda and Nissan who themselves, were very effective in their production methods. Moreover, Toyotas JIT was successful due to efficiency of their suppliers and their ability to keep up to Toyotas high standards. 4. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry: This includes the way in which firms are managed and choose to compete; companys goals and their employees motivation and the amount of domestic rivalry and the creation of value in the respective industry. Apart from the above four main factors, two other variable play an important role. 1. The role of chance: Some unexpected, odd events can sometimes nullify the advantage of competitors and change the entire competitive position of a market. These could be new inventions, political decisions, wars, drastic changes in economy, oil price surges and major technological breakthroughs. Toyotas innovations like JIT, lean manufacturing, TPS and hybrids were all responsible for its meteoric rise among soaring oil prices and environmental concerns in the USA. 2. The role of government: Government can influence all four of the major determinants through actions like subsidies, policies, regulation of market, product regulations, tax laws and antitrust regulations. While some countries like Japan, provided extensive support and subsidies to promote industrial innovation, others such as United States, have aimed to create positive effects in the economy by letting the market achieve the most efficient allocation of resources with minimal possible intervention. The so-called Chicago school paradigm for promoting competitiveness and innovation, which created a belief in the free market to maximise innovation and productivity has, for more than two decades, been the dominant perspective in the United States (Rosenthal, 1993). Critique of Porters Diamond Although Porter diamond provides us a useful tool to study national factors in competitive advantage, it has some shortcomings according to Rugman et al. (2003). First, it was constructed on the basis of aggregated data on export shares for ten countries: Denmark, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA and West Germany. And it took only case studies from four industries. Therefore, it cannot be applied in every case without modification. Second, it fails to accept the notion that sometimes governments action can end up protecting a domestic industry excessively and in turn, make it less competitive internationally. Third, it considers chance as an important factor but it fails to acknowledge that it very hard to predict any such events and therefore not possible to include in an organizations strategy. Although a solution to this problem is scenario planning. (See page 14) 2.3.2 Lean and Multiple-project approach Michael Porter, could encapsulate the lean manufacturing strategy as being one which comprised (amongst other things) â€Å"a wide line of models offering multiple features†, based on â€Å"standard products† with a â€Å"wide range of options† (Porter et al., 2000).

My Educational Philosophy Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching

My Educational Philosophy To describe my educational philosophy, I needed to combine two philosophers into one making it my own. I plan to explain my philosophical view by discussing the purpose of public education in society. I felt that essentialism, popularized by William Bagley, and progressivism, led by John Dewey, best described my attitudes and views towards education. I feel the overall purpose of education is to teach students traditional academic subjects such as math, reading and writing, social studies, the sciences, music, art, computer science, health, and physical education. These classes are the foundation needed by students to survive in today’s society. However, I also believe that some students need activities that satisfy personal needs. Some stud...

Looking at Eyewitness TEstimony :: essays research papers

Assignment #2 Article #17 Looking Askance at Eyewitness Testimony   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of eyewitnesses has been a constant in of criminal justice system since its very beginning. Unfortunately, people do not make the best witnesses to a crime. The person may not have seen the actual criminal, but someone that looks similar to them. The witness may lie about what he or she may have scene. Also the witness can be influenced by the police as to who or what they saw at the time of the crime. The witness or victims memory of the person may have faded so that they don’t remember exactly what had seen, which could be disastrous for the accused.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all these possible flaws in the testimony of witnesses and victims why do they continue to use them as primary evidence in criminal cases? The answer is simple; until recently there was no other way to prove whether or not a person was actually at the scene of a crime unless someone saw them or they left some finger prints behind that the police were able to link back to someone, which may have not been left on the victim but in the general vicinity. Until recently, with the recent breakthrough in DNA testing which allows police and investigators to gain an exact match as to who committed the crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I personally feel that this is a much more reliable and accurate than relying on the testimony of witnesses. I believe through the use of science we as a society can now make sure that the guilty are caught and punished while the innocent are protected from wrongful prosecution. However the eyewitness should not be completely left out of the case against the possible offender. After it is determined through scientific evidence, in this case DNA, that the physically involved in the crime then witnesses can be brought in to give testimony that the offender was present at the crime scene or the victim can be sure that the accused was truly the one involved in the actual crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also the procedures for recording eyewitnesses testimony have to be revised.

Father-son Relationships and Conflicts in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays

Father-son Relationships and Conflicts in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman In many literary works, family relationships are the key to the plot. Through a family’s interaction with one another, the reader is able decipher the conflicts of the story. Within a literary family, various characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These are usually people that are emotionally and physically connected in one way or another. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In the Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of A Salesman, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allows Miller to comment on father-son relationships and the conflicts that arise from them. Â  During most father-son relationships, there are certain times where the father wants to become more of a "player" in his son’s life than his son believes is necessary. The reasons for this are numerous and can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to recollect himself, Willy perceives it as failure. Since Willy desperately wants his oldest son, Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he tries to take matters into his own hands. "I’ll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time" (16). The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Because Willy gets in the way, matters become more complicated. Partly due to Willy’s persistence in Biff’s life, they have conflicting ideas as to what the American dream is. Willy believes that working on the road by selling is the greatest job a man could have (81). Biff, however, feels the mo st inspiring job a man could have is working outdoors (22). When their two dreams collide, it becomes frustrating to Willy because he believes that his way is the right way. If a father becomes too involved in his son’s life, Miller believes friction will be the resultant factor. As unfortunate as it is, there are many instances where a father favors one son over another, which leads to social conflicts within the less-favored son. In most cases it is the oldest son that is being favored while the younger son is ignored. Usually the father doesn’t even realize what is happening. He simply gets too caught up in the successes of his eldest son and he may even try to live out his life through his son’s experiences.

Marx’s Theory of Alienation Essay

Marx used the ‘theory of alienation† to expose what he claimed as a highly exploitative, unfair social relationship existing in a capitalist system which effectively divides society into two opposing groups. He argued that this unfair social relationship came into being because of the â€Å"concept of private property† which, according to him, refers to a situation where the means of production (such as factories and plants) are owned by private persons. This private ownership of the means of production gave birth to the two antagonistic social classes: â€Å"the property owners [or the capitalists] and the propertyless workers.† (Alienation, n.d.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Marx, here lies the first alienation of the workers in a capitalist society. The capitalists own the means of production and the workers have only their labor to sell so that they could survive. Using the plants and factories at their disposal, the capitalists utilize the labor of the workers to enrich themselves by producing â€Å"surplus value† or profit. What worsens the situation for the workers is the fact that capitalists, in order to increase their profit or maximize their surplus value, are disposed to keep wages to the minimum, often barely enough for workers to live a humanely comfortable life. Needless to say, the lower the wages paid to workers, the greater the profit for the capitalists. (Alienation, n.d.) This led Marx to assert that under the capitalist system, the only way to go is for the workers to become poorer and for the capitalists to grow richer. He cited the fact that in capitalist societies, there is an ever increasing number â€Å"in the ‘working poor’ families who remain mired in poverty although every family member works, often more than one job †¦ [because] the wealth of the few depends on the poverty of the many.† (Introduction, n.d.) In other words, capitalism, according to Marx, was tailored so that capitalists who control the means of production should get rich and the workers, whose labor produce the coveted surplus value are shamelessly exploited.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Then the workers are alienated â€Å"from the activity of working† itself.   Marx claimed that workers in a capitalist society do not work because they want to, or enjoy what they do. Neither do they work to improve their lot nor to create a happier, more humane society. Rather, they work simply because they have to earn in order to live. In other words, Marx said that they are â€Å"forced† to work – implying that workers in a capitalist society are far from being happy individuals who have no control even over the course or objective of their labor. The decision rests solely on the capitalists who have already acquired control over their labor after paying for it. Since the only goal of capitalists is more profits, their only objective, therefore, is to utilize labor to gainful undertaking regardless of whether their enterprise benefits society or endangers it. Marx declared that â€Å"If greater profits can be made with weapons than with hula hoops, then that is where they will invest their capital.† In this context, workers who are anti-war are compelled to produce war materials. (Alienation, n.d.) Marx also suggested that in a capitalist society, people are alienated from one another. He argued that workers are not only â€Å"forced† to work under any conditions and for whatever purpose in order to survive – they are also kept separate from one another, pitted against each other. This is because in their desire to live, they have to compete for work. In their craving for a comfortable life, they have to practically elbow each other out for better-paying jobs. It is not only workers who are being alienated from their fellow workers. Capitalists also turn against other capitalists in their quest for profit and power. Marx said that this never-ending competition for jobs and profits â€Å"favors the most ruthless, at other times the most opportunistic or well-connected.† In fact, Marx insinuated that this rat race which characterizes life in a capitalistic society is the start of the process of the dehumanization of man. Their failure to shape society according to their needs, their desires, and their concept of civilization, completes the process because this ability to create the kind of society that they want is what distinguishes man from the lower forms of animal.   (Introduction, n.d.) References Alienation. (n.d.). Order #32797436 attachment. Introduction. (n.d.). Order #32797436 attachment.