The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien - 1039 Words

â€Å"My life is storytelling. I believe in stories, in their incredible power to keep people alive, to keep the living alive, and the dead.† Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, was filled with embellished stories and memories of war veterans. O’Brien’s reasoning for writing that particular book was because he believed that while a memory can die with a person, written words are forever set in stone. In his book, War was every one of the soldier’s enemy; It did not matter which side they fought on. War took men physically and mentally. O’Brien displayed how war stories were based on a certain soldier’s experiences, morals, and personality; Readers never truly knew fact from fiction. O’Brien’s intended audience were readers who were†¦show more content†¦He chose war and went home. â€Å"I feared war, yes, but I also feared exile†(O’Brien 42). O’Brien considered himself a cowar d because he chose war, but above all, he feared that his family would dishonor him. He was embarrassed not to go to war and ended up putting others’ morals before his own. In addition to the theme of morality found in â€Å"Rainy River†, it is also noticeable in the chapter â€Å"Church†. During the war, O’Brien’s unit had just come across a pagoda, a buddhist temple, and a pair of monks who lived there. The monks invited them to set up camp and helped the soldiers with water, cleaning guns, and more. Henry Dobbins chatted with Kiowa about joining the monks when the war was over, because he believed in the friendliness of religion by being amiable and helping others. Both exchanged words about what religion meant to them and Kiowa stated that he had always been religious and enjoyed the comfort and silence of being inside a church. â€Å"Setting up here,† he says, â€Å"It’s wrong. I don’t care what, it’s still a church†(O’Brien 116). Kiowa did not believe in setting up the unit’s base operations inside of a holy place. Growing up religious, Kiowa’s morals impacted his decisions and opinions made in war. Similar to the theme of morality, O’Brien discusses storytelling and memory in the chapter â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.† Rat Kiley told the story of a man named Mark Foisse who flew his girl, Mary Anne, to visit him in Vietnam. The

Civil Rights †Naacp Free Essays

The iris case was not a success because the supreme court agreed with the board, but the second case In 1953, came to the agreement that segregation was wrong on the grounds that separating black students from others that are the same age and Intelligence as them because of their race, â€Å"generates a feeling of Inferiority†¦ That may affect their hearts and minds In a way unlikely ever to be undone,† (Chief Justice Earl Warren). This was a major success for the NAACP although Implementing the new ruling proved to be more difficult because the federal government did not force he state governments to apply them to their cities. This ruling did change some districts but most did not comply. We will write a custom essay sample on Civil Rights – Naacp or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many schools and school districts were closed because the cities would have rather close them than integrate. Also because of President Eisenhower lack of support, the ruling was never enforced therefore making the ruling pointless. Similar problems occurred with other rulings and acts such as the Civil Rights Act of 1957 which attempted to end voter discrimination, but ended up being a useless law because of the loopholes left by the federal overspent. The only few times where the NAACP changes of the law actually worked such as the case about the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her bus seat, and that was only because of the non-violent movement that got the publics attention and more involvement in the issue. The other legal successes for the black community such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which made it so African Americans could vote without being taxed, given impossible tasks, or being intimidated by racists groups; this time not leaving loopholes. This act along with there beneficial acts such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 were mostly due to the many marches, movements, and riots that demanded change and the assassination of JEFF which happened right after he publicly announced that he was for the rights of African Americans by trying to put through the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Because this was one of the last things that JEFF was remembered for, LB had to live up the citizen’s expectations for him to do the same as JEFF so that he would not have died In vain. In addition, the groups AIM and CLC participated in the Civil Rights Movements. In the event of Birmingham In 1963 lead by CLC was a major focus for the call rights activists. This event resulted In church bombings as the group CLC and other protesters marched for their rights and this movement later turned Into massive violence from the white society. As a continuation of Birmingham, James Bevel gave Dry. King the Idea to use children for marches arrested, and Jailed and more chaos prevailed. In (Source E) It displays a photograph from the event of the Birmingham Marches during the time period of 1963. It shows he violence and a African American male was being attacked by the local police with police dogs. This event was somewhat successful at the end because stores were desegregated and some other public places. In the event of the Meredith March in 1966, Its main purpose was to protest against racism and other civil rights activists, including Dry. King and his group AIM, CLC, along with SYNC continued this march to protest for their civil rights in 1966. The start of this march was from James Meredith attending the University of Mississippi and was rejected his acceptance from the allege because of his race which was African American and James Meredith filed a complaint to the Court systems and the court ruled that the University of Mississippi was managing a policy of segregation. In the duration of this Many race riots broke out in the result of this setting. There was not only violence against the African Americans but there was violence against the U. S Marshals who were helping the African Americans. Referring back to the James Meredith march â€Å"March against Fear† the African Americans faced violence as well as when they were registering to vote. In he March James Meredith was shot and the Civil Rights activists Dry. King and Carmichael decided to finish the march on Meredith behalf. Therefore, this event was somewhat successful because it allowed the U. S to pay attention to the African Americans although it was not particularly in the way that King and other civil rights activists wanted to. The civil rights organizations the CORE and SYNC both proved to be vitally important during the civil rights movement. They often times worked in conjunction in order to work toward racial equality. Their first major movement was he Sit Ins in 1960 where college students refused to leave diners until served. The next thing was the Freedom Rides in 1961 in which black students tried to ride across in order to test the laws banning racial segregation on international buses. This effort was a failure in that there was extreme violence against the riders. â€Å"The racist mob had attacked with iron bars, and even bombs. Passengers escaped right before the bus burst into flames and it wasn’t until policemen shot into the air that the mob dispersed† (Source A). After the Freedom Rides SYNC turned its attention to the Albany movement (1962) in which students tried to desegregate the entire public sector of the city. It failed because the police never got violent, and after CLC Joined they didn’t allow King to stay in Jail. Malcolm X an influential leader of black Muslims used these types of instances to Justify the idea that â€Å"There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution and that the revolution is based on concepts of property, independence, freedom, Justice and equality’ (Source D). In 1994 SYNC attempted a new movement called Freedom Summer in which northern white students attempted o get blacks to register to vote. The southern states viewed it as â€Å"a planned invasion in which Northern students are causing problems under the pretext of bringing Freedom† (Source B). The huge difference between the northern mentality of equality to all verses the southern mentality of white and better than blacks and stay out of our business led to a horrifically violent summer. The very next year SYNC went to Selma, Alabama in order to register voters, but the police had a violent response. During a speech at Howard Lyndon Johnson said â€Å"The words â€Å"Give me overcome discrimination I will sent to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers. (Source F). How to cite Civil Rights – Naacp, Papers

Managing Developing and Implementing Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Managing Developing and Implementing Strategy. Answer: Introduction This report is all about the competitive business strategy being used or implemented by any organization. Basically, this report will talk about using the innovative and developed strategy in the business operation of any organization. For the discussion, Marks and Spencers will be taken. Marks and Spencers is very popular as M S in the retail market of clothes. The company mainly deals with the clothes, luxury products, food items etc. Because of its unique strategy and competitive advantage, the company became more profitable company. But having competitive strategy, the company became able to overcome from the crisis. In terms of customer services, the company treats its customers with high class quality value for money prices and fashionable clothes. The company also offers home products such as food which has high class quality, and best variety of food. The company has more than 700 stores in UK and many more stores in the international market. The company has unique competiti ve strategy and innovative strategy to stay competitive in the market (Marks Spencer, 2016). Competitive business strategy of MS The company adopts market development strategy that helps the company to stay competitive in the market. It is very important for the growth in the sales of the company. This strategy is also helpful to meet the financial results of the company. Because of the competitive advantage, Marks and Spencer use product development strategy (Spencer, 2015). The company is able to stay competitive in the market due to low cost structure. Having competitive advantage, Marks and Spencer can focus on the financial goals. To achieve long term growth and success, company is focusing on continuous product development strategy. Marks and Spencer is using the term competitive advantage as its employees. The company has good reputation in the market because of its best customer services. The employees in the company use their talents to serve the customers. Company seeks the competitive advantage with effective cost and leadership strategies (European Commission, 2011). Now, Marks and Spencer is adopting new strategies by strategic deployment of strongly committed people. By providing equal opportunities to the employees, company is able to increase the skills and potential to gain competitive advantage in the market. Along with this, company is directly connected to its clients and customers to maintain the business relationships as the company want to attain the customers and clients personally. By using the social media, company is able to provide cost effective marketing options to the customers. Along with this, by the social media, company is able to communicate with the clients directly. By these strategies, the Marks and Spencer is gaining competitive advantage in the retail industry (Vizard, 2015). Performance of Marks and Spencer over recent years Marks and Spencer is the biggest company is the retail market. Marks and Spencer is an iconic brand for the customers and it is considered one of the top ten brands. The company is having competitive advantage in the market and providing best quality of products to its customers. The company has invested a lot in the innovation and advertising for brand building during the recession. This was a successful decision to strengthen its brand image and position among the customers. This is the reason; the performance of Marks and Spencer is improving every year. Having strong brand position, the company is offering high quality and good value products to the customers. The performance of the company is same like the set business strategy for the success. The food business of the company is delivering good quality and growing in every quarter in the last financial year. The company is maintaining its profit margin every year. The company has strong focus on products under consumer-focused strategy which is very beneficial for the company. The main focus of the company is to provide great and superb experience to the customers including online sector. Having the online site i.e. MS.com, the company got growth and success in the last quarter of 2014 (Ruddick, 2016). The Marks and Spencer is working based on the set business strategy. Having the competitive advantage in the clothing market, Marks and Spencer has also strong hold in the food business. Through specialist strategy, company is able to increase its sales. By expanding its network of stores, food and fastest food opening program, the company is using this trend in its history in 2015/2016. In terms of competitors, the company is outperforming the market buy 3.5%. The Marks and Spencer has around six million online customers and it is expected that the number of customers will increase 14.5 million (Retail Week, 2016). Performance accepted by key stakeholders Shareholders are affected by the operations and performance of the company. Stakeholders have the significant role in the implementation of the strategy by the company. The stakeholders of Marks and Spencer are pleased with the operations of the company. The group of the stakeholders meets twice in a year and gives advice on the strategy for further executions. The board of Marks and Spencer focus the expectations of the stakeholders. Basically, the stakeholders of Marks and Spencer have great influence on the sustainability strategy of the company. The shareholders get their returns on the time from Marks and Spencer. So the performance of the company is accepted by stakeholders (Brignall, 2016). Assessment on environmental trends, forces, demands and drivers From the overall assessment, it can be said that the environmental trends and forces are impacting the operations of the company. The company has faced both a decrease in sales as well as increment in the competition in the market from the discounters, retailers, new fashion brands, and other entries in the clothing and food business. Despite of having strong brand image and strong position in the market, the company is facing the macro and microeconomic problems. Company has ongoing innovation and digital transformation in the operations by having social, environmental and ethical business strategy. There are some issues such as strict rules and regulations imposed by the government of the company. It has increasing the consumer pressure on the company. Further, the company has deeply affected by the European agreement free trade agreements which has decreased the sourcing cost (Makos, 2014). Along with this, there many legal factors such as consumers rights, health and safety regulations, antitrust regulations and other legal factors which have affected the operations of Marks and Spencer. The company has to ensure that the operations of the company will not be stopped by any law or regulation. Company needs a strategic plan to deal with the environmental factors. Although company is well prepared for the challenges in food and clothing retail sector but there is strong competition in the market where the Marks and Spencer is operating and the competition is continuously growing. The company is facing competition by the supermarket chains, fashion retailers and home wear stores (Krish, 2012). Key success factor of Marks and Spencer The key factor of the success of Marks and Spencer are as follows: To survive in the competitive market, Marks and Spencer has done various innovations and developments in the products. In terms of profit making, Marks and Spencer has also gain success by providing best quality of products. The innovation in the products was very useful for the company to attract new customers (The Marketing Society, 2010). Marks and Spencer has provided best quality of products and services to its customers. By managing the customers and identifying their needs and requirements, company is able to get success in the market of clothing and food (Ruddick, 2013). Major changes in Marks and Spencer By identifying the needs of the customers, Marks and Spencer has planned to open more stores for the convenience if the customers. By Only MS strategy, company has created unique storytelling based brand identity among the customers. Along with this, company is going to invest in the digital development sector by launching the marksnadspancer.com. Now, the company is using the customer loyalty data to target the market and promotional activities to increase the sales and for customer satisfaction. The company has introduced free delivery systems for purchasing more than $50. Stakeholders expectations and demands In Marks and Spencer, all the relevant stakeholders need information for their relative subjects. Almost every company reports to give the information to the shareholders. In Marks and Spencer, the stakeholders also want all the information related to business activities and strategies. There is the lack of communication between the company and stakeholders. In future, there is the need to improve communication system for effective communication with stakeholders. By management training and implementation of information system, company will be able to identify the need of stakeholders and try to fulfill them (TaylorWessing, 2015). Conclusion On the basis of above discussion, it has been ob served that Marks and Spencers is very popular in the market. The company is able to stay competitive in the market due to low cost structure. Having competitive advantage, Marks and Spencer can focus on the financial goals. Because of providing best quality products and customer retentions, the company is famous among the customers across the world. The company has invested a lot in the innovation and advertising for brand building during the recession. Through specialist strategy, company is able to increase its sales. So, Company has ongoing innovation and digital transformation in the operations by having social, environmental and ethical business strategy. It can be said that company is well prepared for the challenges in food and clothing retail sector. References Brignall, M., (2016), MS raises the stakes in battle over current accounts, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jan/05/ms-raises-stakes-battle-currentaccounts-marks-spencer European Commission, (2011), MS aims to become world's most sustainable retailer, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/about-ecoinnovation/business-fundings/united-kingdom/488_en.htm Krish, M., (2012), Porters 5 forces analysis Global Telecom Industry, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://monicakrish.wordpress.com/category/porter-five-forces-analysis-fortelecom-industry/ Makos, J., (2014), Analyze PESTEL for Monitoring your Business or Organization, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://pestleanalysis.com/category/pest-analysis/ Marks Spencer, (2016), Annual Report Financial Statements, London: Marks Spencer Plc Retail Week, (2016), Fashion Retail 2016: The future of fashion retailing in a digital age, London: Retail Week Ruddick, G., (2013), Should MS give up on clothes and focus on food? Accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10403348/Should-MandS-giveup-on-clothes-and-focus-on-food.html Ruddick, G., (2016), Welcome to the MS merry-go-round, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/07/welcome-to-the-ms-merry-go-round Spencer, J., (2015), Business Strategy: Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, and Enterprise, Oxford: Oxford University Press TaylorWessing, (2015), Technology trends in fashion, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://www.taylorwessing.com/download/article_fashiontech_trends.html The Marketing Society, (2010), Marks Spencer: Quality worth paying more for, Marketing Excellence 2 Vizard, S., (2015), Marks Spencer brand perceptions on the rise as it is rated one of the UKs top brands, accessed on 3rd January 2017 from https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/07/15/marks-spencer-brand-perceptions-on-the-rise-as-it-israted-one-of-the-uks-top-brands/