Gran Torino Review Film Studies Essay

Gran Torino Review Film Studies Essay Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a very moving and captivating drama. Its a simple story about tolerance and cultural differences, but also one of hope, self-sacrifice, and unlikely friendships. A former auto worker at Ford, Walt Kowalski has just had to put his longtime wife to rest when the story opens. From his scowl, it looks as if he would like to join her. Instead he sits on his front porch chugging can after can of cheap beer in the company of his yellow Labrador, Daisy, while watching the world at a safe distance with a squint and a stream of bitter commentary. The remaining members of his family, including two sons with big houses, big cars, big waistlines, have no choice but to let him stew alone. Gran Torino tackles racism head on. Although the main character Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood, is prejudiced against almost everyone, the film focuses on an Asian neighborhood, uncovering racism and violence. The neighborhood has gone down hill since it has become immigrant-dominated. The house next door is now owned by a Hmong family, a widespread South-east Asian minority, and Walt does not trouble to distinguish them from the Koreans he fought in the 1950s. Throughout the film, we learn Walt had to kill many Koreans as part as his duty as a soldier during that period of time. The film takes a twist when the bitter old war veterans life takes an unexpected turn after Thao, a shy, teenage boy who lives next door to Walt is bullied by his thuggish cousin and no-good buddies into joining their gang. His initiation test is to bust into Walts garage and steal his treasured 1972 Gran Torino. Sure enough, Thao does as the others ask. While trying to steal the Gran Torino Thao tr iggers Walts halogen security lights and Walt comes out running with an assault rifle. Little do Walt and Thao know, their meeting will change both their lives forever. Thaos family, led by his mouthy, friendly sister, Sue forces the teenager to do pay his dues from trying to steal Walts car by working for Walt, an arrangement that pleases neither the Walt nor the Thao. As the story unfolds and the gang members return and Walt reaches for his gun, the film moves from comedy into drama, and then tragedy into something completely unexpected. The film takes a hard look at a Hmong community and the gang life within as it twists tough situations until its truly exposed, finding a few laughs at the core. Gran Torino portrayals real life drama while injecting it with some necessary comedy, which gives it a bit of a balance and keeps viewers even more entertained. The way the comedy weaves effortlessly in and out of the gritty Clint Eastwood film makes it an even better film for most to enjoy. Clint Eastwood has a great and useful skill of creating terrific drama films with a message, Gran Torino is one of those films. Like many of Eastwoods other films, he plays a role that involves a stereotypical toughness. This film can be seen as a interpretation on many issues encompassing gangs, racism, the disrespect of the youth culture towards their elders, and forgiveness. To me, all of these issues tend to come to mind when reminiscing about the film. I truly believe these are what the film is really about and what it was meant to be about. Throughout the film, it is mind blowing to see many of the characters change for the better throughout the film, especially Walt. This is yet another great film from Clint Eastwood, and its a film that addressees important issues that cant be ignored. Although, some may say that Gran Torino may not be the greatest work by Clint Eastwood, I believe the film did a splendid job in terms of race issues. Gran Torino is a good example of a film th at takes an unbiased look at race issues. This is a well made film, and its not just giving you straight advice like most films dealing with similar subject matter. Melancholy is imprinted in every long shot of Detroits devastated, emptied streets and in the faces of those who remain to still walk in them. Made in the 1960s and 1970s, the Gran Torino was never a great symbol of American automotive might, which makes Walts love for the car more moving and emotional. It was made by an industry that now barely makes cars, in a city that hardly works, in a country that too often has felt recently as if it cant do anything right anymore except, every so often, make a movie like this one. The drama, Gran Torino provides a surprisingly enlightened view at understanding cultural diversity within a rapidly evolving American neighborhood. The movie interjects the need for communication, understanding, and a return to middle class values in a youth oriented culture. Gran Torino expresses an issue that has been one of conflict in our society today; racism. Walt Kowalskis attitude towards minorities seems very prejudice and close-minded. I believe Gran Torino is about two things. It is about the late blossoming of a mans better nature, and it is about Americans of different races growing more open to one another in the new century. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a drama/action film, and doesnt mind some foul language to go along with it. I think to some people this film can be a eye and mind opening experience. I believe it is important for people to see both sides of such a controversial issue, and that change is probably necessary in one way or another f or understanding, respect, and peace to surface

Bangladesh and Vietnam: Factors of Inflation

Bangladesh and Vietnam: Factors of Inflation Question 2(a) Discuss and analysis the factors of inflation in your selected countries Bangladesh and Vietnam are our selected countries. Inflation is a continuous increase in the general price level of goods and services in the economy. Inflation has three types which are creeping inflation, mild inflation and hyperinflation Bangladesh Inflation in Bangladesh has a lot of factors. There are wages in the major employment, increase in the supply of money, oil price, low production and higher price of imported commodities. Based on the factor for increase in wage rate in the major employment, wages in Bangladesh has been increasing for more than the last two decades due to both strong or moderately strong labor union. Due to political, social and cultural tradition and for a humanitarian reason, the Government cannot make a distinction between productive, unproductive, and moderately productive sector in their attempt to increase the wages. Wages increase without any production increase, easily transferred to higher cost of production and higher prices of consumer goods, allowing for sustained inflation. Under the assumption of little or no improvement of workers’ productivity growth, wage inflation at such high level is an indication of cost escalation over time. Money supply is an important determinat of inflation. Production in agriculture and fisheries sectors in Bangladesh is still subject to the whims of nature to a notable extent. Therefore supply of money in Bangladesh is increasing every year in order to get it. It has been claimed that one of the main causes of the high food inflation throughout the FY05 was poor harvest of aus, aman and wheat crops.6. The yearly production of these three crops went down by 18.12, 14.76 and 22.11 percent respectively in FY05 over the FY04.7. An instance of price hike due to this fall of production is that the price of aman rice rose within the range of BDT 16 to 19 in FY05 from the range of BDT 14 to 16 in FY04. This excessive rise in the total supply of money may contribute to the cause of high inflationary pressure in Bangladesh. Oil price is a factor of inflation in countries include international. Oil is a fundamental input of production, it constitutes a significant portion of production cost in every sector of the economy. Although there are some recent adjustments in the administered price of energy products, much of the increased cost of imported fuel has not been passed on to end users, especially on diesel and kerosene. Iraq has the second largest oil field. Oil production in Iraq has been cut by 5,00,000 barrels per day since the U.S. invasion in Iraq for more than three years. Crude and refined oil is used in all sphere of life including manufacturing and production of consumption and material goods. Once increased oil prices, it have increased the cost of production world-wide. The firms and suppliers have no other choices except to raise the price of goods and materials. Therefore it has caused a cost-push inflation. In Bangladesh the output growth rate is always lower than the population growth rate. This low productions is not only for reason of human resources, weather is also included. As an example, the production of wheat in Bangladesh has declined drastically over the years. Further, except for the Boro, the areas of rice cultivation have declined in recent years. The production of pulses and oilseeds has also declined significantly. Erratic weather in Bangladesh had caused crop failures. Therefore Bangladesh often faced with problem of food shortages. As the net domestic production of food is not sufficient to meet demand such as oil, supply gap of cereals and food items, Bangladesh forced to import these from external markets. Therefore the greater percentage of increase in the populaion has brought about a scarcity of goods. As a result, excess demand occurs that contributes to rise in prices. Bangladesh has to import huge capital goods, necessary consumer goods and even huge quantity of food grain. The most of the essential food items are imported like sugar, rice, wheat, onion and edible oil and also included machineries, intermediate goods and raw materials used in production. Huge import will increase the price of import. The inflation in foreign countries causes a rise in prices in Bangladesh through the importation of commodities from those countries. When the relationships between import price index and non-food inflation in urban and rural are insignificant, the former is found to have economically as well as statistically highly significant association with the categories of food inflation. In a short word, the reasons for increase in import price are twofold which is exchange rate depreciation and increase in international commodity prices. Vietnam Inflation in Vietnam has also a lot of factors. There are excessive service spending and bias allocation in the market, supply and demand mismatch, governement’s increased wages policy, boom of foreign direct investment (FDI) and unbalance money used for economic development and society. The monetary factor is excessive service spending and bias allocation in the market. Inflation can be caused if government doesn’t plan and manage amount of money circulation which include in society and commodity. As an example if government allocates too much money to society like education loan, there will caused a loss of money to contribute to eonomy. Excess cash will happen if the number of commodity production is sustaining and has not increased. It will increase consumer purchasing pressure and leads to hyperinflation. In Vietnam supply and demand mismatch is a problem or cause of inflation pressure in the country. The evident is the signs of overheating the economy such as severe electricity shortage and congested roads and ports, a tight labor market with skilled and semi-skilled labor supply falling far behind demand and a sharp widening of trade and current account deficit. But even year to year core inflation which excludes food and fuel is stimated to have increased by 18% as Benedict Bingham, senior representative of International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted. Because of the output gap in Vietnam willn’t overcome easily, so he dominant effects of demand effects will persist to the next years. Within this context is important to underline, that persistent excess liquidity in the domestic markets can stoke inflationary expectations over time. In Vietnam, government has been provided an increased wages policy. Analysis of the movements of nominal wage rate inflation generally gives an idea about the labor cost scenario. In Vietnam, government encourages workers’ salary income can be increased if their performance is improved. Due to increase in salary income, workers have higher chance to spend more on consumption. Demand excess supply. If promotion of distributors and manufactures is helding, it will stimulate the market to increase buying power and creates leverage for a result of demand exceeds supply. After that inflation will happen. Booming of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam will have a high rate due to Vietnam often do FDI projects that can pull up their investors’ population. As an evidence, there were more than 16,300 active FDI projects in Vietnam that have collectively pulled in a total of $238 billion. These investors came from 100 countries and territories, and many of them are some of the world’s leading multinational corporations. In 2013, FDI inflow exceeded $22 billion, an increase of more than 35% from 2012. The figures indicate that Vietnam has become a destination of choice for foreign investors Vietnam often do FDI projects that can pull up their investors’ population. Therefore high influx of foreign exchange will often happens into the economy. It will increase money supply and if too high influx of foreign exchange, it will be a reason of inflation. Demand will also rise due to influx of foreign exchange. When a rise in demand cannot meet same level by import wil l push up the price of product until inflation. In Vietnam, unbalance money used for economic development and society will always be conducted. Because of wars against French-American in the past, government need to spend enormous money to restore the economy. Therefore money which used for economic development such as subsidiares to help suppliers is less and make a situation of demand exceed supply. The product prices will increase and It leads to the inflation. Therefore the government didn’t use monetary effectively means don’t lead consumers to a way nof controling the production and consumption of the society. Then, national budget will be reduced due to the lack of income or money. Government always lived beyond its means they must use government funds either from local or foreign country to compensate for the expenses. In conclusion, Bangladesh and Vietnam are easily face the situation of inflation based on those factors above. Who Should Own Indigenous Lands? Who Should Own Indigenous Lands? Christopher Wood F469950 Evaluate the claim that the governance of indigenous lands is best left to local communities. Due to the expansion of globalisation, concerns over the management of resources has grown from local issues to worldwide issues on how people should engage with the sustainable development and administration of global resource systems or commons. Common resources can be overseen and governed by a mixture of institutional arrangements that can be generally represented as governmental, private or communal. This essay will look at the merits of both private ownership of resources as endorsed by Ronald Coase and common property regimes often employed by communities, a solution advocated by the economist Elinor Ostrom, whilst using further evidence of these two competing ideas, by examining the plight of the indigenous group of people known as the Dongria Khondh in their battle against the powerful private multinational company Vedanta. One of the issues that arise with common resources, is the question of ownership and who has the right to manage and divide these resources, especially as the marketplace expands and the resources of the planet begin to be depleted (Shipman, 2015, p.119).   Ronald Coase investigated this problem of exhaustible resources and suggests a solution to protect resources by arguing that ownership of the commons by assigning property rights would by its action promote a positive outcome. The assignment of exclusive property rights and the potential for bargaining results in behaviour that is changed or altered to account for the negative impact our choices have on others, regardless of which party is initially assigned property rights. Private ownership and the resulting economic benefit for both parties encourages an equitable solution to rights, ensuring resources are used in a way that prevents overuse and preserves sustainability (Shipman, 2015, p125). A clear example of Coases ar guments can be seen by comparing a public communal space surrounding a residential area to that of the grounds surrounding a private residence where the owners have to pay a service charge to maintain the grounds. Public areas tend to be unkempt and abused, private grounds are generally better kept and preserved, this action suggests that individual ownership and financial incentive motivate an innate positive outcome (Shipman, 2015, p.130). Further evidence of the positive outcome of using property rights can be seen in the real-life case study of the collaboration between the Vietnamese government and the World Bank. The Land Administration Project, assigned land rights to citizens, enabling them to grow crops and feed their families, along with having the extra benefits of allowing family members to gain access to education and the owners to leverage this land to get finance, so they could expand and increase their wealth, this, in, turn, would encourage growth within the family unit, regionally and then nationally (The Open University, 2016a). However, assigning property rights doesnt always have a positive outcome, especially when the rights of the smaller landowners clash with the development of large real estate projects. In this case, the same Vietnamese government decided to seize inherited land from citizens, leading to violence and arrests. Free market economic policies of larger private concerns dominating the individual citizens claims and rights to land (The Open University, 2016b). An alternative to managing common resources can be found in the theories of  prominent economist Elinor Ostrom. Ostrom suggests that many issues surrounding  rights, ownership and depletion of resources, are better-taken care of by  cooperation, assigning rights to collectives and not individuals (Shipman, 2015, p.133). This is especially useful when dealing with resources such as the fish rich waters off Alanya in Turkey. Here the Fisherman became aware that unregulated fishing would lead to permanently exhausting stocks of fish. Using principles such as: Rules are well matched to local needs and conditions. Individuals affected by these rules can usually participate in modifying them. A system for self-monitoring members behaviour has been established. A graduated system of sanctions (against rule-breakers) is available. The fishermen devised a plan following these guidelines that provided a flexible arrangement for the community to gain rights and access to fishing stocks, whilst gathering approval from the government in the form of the Aquatic Resources Act, which recognised the communities right to administer their own rules. (Open University, 2016c) Despite this success, Ostrom recognises accomplishing a positive result in the management of common resource pools tends to have more success in smaller communities. Globalisation has presented problems concerning resources that need the varying parties to agree on a specified agency and a set of actions, which on this larger scale may prove to be difficult (The Open University, 2016d). A clear example highlighting the potential problems involving power imbalances between private commercial companies and local communities can be seen by examining the plight of the indigenous people Dongria Khondh and their battle with the mining company Vedanta. The dispute centred around the land surrounding the Lanjigarth region and holy mountain of Niyamgiri. This land held great spiritual importance and familial ties to the Dongria Khondh, being rich in biodiversity and holding a prime place within the local community. On the other hand, the mountain was also known to be rich in the mineral Bauxite, a valuable resource to a company such a Vedanta (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.150). Because of the inherent power imbalance between the two competing actors, it was necessary for outside agencies to become involved, to aid mediating in the dispute. These expert groups consisted of namely the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) along with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MO EF), these two groups visited the area and gathered information from Vedanta and representatives of the local communities (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.151). Prior to this Vedanta had established mining facilities, assuming terra nullius or no mans land assuming that this land belonged to no one, the invisible cultural significance to the indigenous people wasnt recognised (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.151). Conflicts between homogeneous cultures and private entities are fraught with difficulties, especially in jurisprudential precedents. This issue of jurisprudence concerning governance presents complex problems, despite formal international rights as set out by the UN, there is very little political will to enforce them. Consequently, access to valuable resources where there isnt clear governance, can leave the productive potential of such lands greatly underused and can be a barrier to economic progress, whilst confusion reigns for the indigenous peoples perceived inher ent right to keep resources that are vital for their survival. Using the examples above it is clear to see that governance of common resources can have different outcomes depending on the scale and complexity of the situation. Personal and local situations can be governed quite simply by cooperation and economic incentives based on private property rights. On the other hand interactions between governmental institutions, international private companies and local communities has proven to be difficult. The most important lesson to draw attention to, is that advocating a particular course of action for solving problems relating to the governance of common resources may work in some settings but fail in others. Further, policies also have to be adaptable to recognise the informal cultural setting and arrangements of those who depend on these diverse ecosystems. Cooperation between individuals, communities and governments along with flexible arrangements between the different actors is vital to ensure equitable access to common resources. Word Count: 1201 References Bhangwat, S. Jones, N. and Mohan, G. (2015) Indigenous lands and territories: mapping the commons, in Drake, DH. Morris, A. Shipman, A. and Wheeler, K.(ed.) Investigating The Social World 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Shipman, A. (2015) Putting a price on common resources, in Drake, DH. Morris, A. Shipman, A. and Wheeler, K.(ed.) Investigating The Social World 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University. The Open University   (2016a). 5: Vietnam: Securing the Future through the Formalization of Land-Use Rights [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=5 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016b). 5.3: Violence Erupts in Vietnam over Land Seizure [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=5.3 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016c). 6.1: Fisheries in Alanya   DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=6.1 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016d). 6.3: Ostrom: Could this Approach be Scaled up to Global Problems?   [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=6.3 (Accessed: 2/17/2017)

Culture as Social Legacy in Mirror for Man :: Mirror for Man Essays

In Clyde Kluckhohn's Mirror for Man, he explains the differences and similarities among the world's peoples by stating two important ideas: 1) People are similar because they have the same biological equipment and undergo similar life experiences "such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death," but, 2) people are culturally different because of the way they were brought up and they may live in a different environment created by human beings, and acquire a distinct social legacy from their own people. Kluckhohn suggests that where a person lives is one of the factors that determines one's culture. In China, people have a strong dislike for milk and milk products. In the United States, a person drinks milk from the time of birth because American society has made a pattern for its people; Americans make milk a integral part of their meals because they are told it's the only way to remain healthy and develop strong bones and to avoid disease such as osteoporosis, a disease brought on by the lack of calcium (which is found in milk). Therefore, the Chinese may not understand why Americans drink milk so often, and Americans may wonder why the Chinese do not know the health benefits of milk. Kluckhohn implies that there are cultural misunderstandings between different sets of people because they are not aware that "each specific culture constitutes a kind of blueprint of all life's activities." I do support Kluckhohn's theory that culture is determined by a person's environment and their "design for living." I have been raised in Los Angeles and I have friends of varying ethnic backgrounds, languages, birth places, and cultures. My best friend came from Korea nine years ago and has assimilated to the ways of American behavior. Yet, I do not understand why Sandy remains stoic when she has a serious problem or why her parents never display public affection to her or to themselves. I asked my mother if Sandy's behavior was strange and she replied "no" because she said Sandy is from Korea where she was brought up in a different environment, where her culture taught her ethical and moral values that differ from values taught in the United States. I came to realize that although Sandy will remain in the United States for the rest of her life, she may never "give up" her Korean values or her Korean upbringing.

DOUBLE SPEAK Essay -- essays research papers

Doublespeak  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Doublespeak, whether intentional or unintentional is communication that is obscure, pompous, vague, evasive and confusing.() In most instances, doublespeak tries to achieve a particular objective as is the case in President Bush’s address to the nation on September 11, after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The objective of this speech is clearly to mollify the emotions of a frightened nation and at the same time set the tone for what is to come as a result of the attacks. In this speech one can find many examples of doublespeak. These examples seem to be intentional although they defy typical doublespeak in that the doublespeak is not intended for any personal gains and is not concealed with a lot of convoluted language. If one can understand some of the basic principles about making sense of media-speak then the domino effect of this type of speech can be reduced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the first statements President Bush makes in his speech can be classified as doublespeak. When he say’s â€Å"Our way of life, our very freedom came under attack,† he is indirectly saying that everything Americans are accustomed to and enjoy is at stake. With these simple words and the tone chosen to deliver them President Bush is strategically taking the emotions of the American people for a ride while making it clear that the American people are his target audience. An important principle for properly deciphering this instance of doublespeak is to unload first responses and get them out in the open so the rest of the message can be received clearly and unobstructed by inner thoughts. Other examples of doublespeak that fit into the same category as the previous one are when President Bush uses the phrases, â€Å"Foundation of America† and â€Å"Steel of American Resolve.† Both of these examples attempt to evoke an emotional resp onse although, the emotions attempting to be extracted are different from those in the beginning of the speech. They differ because they set the tone for new offensive and secure feelings opposed to the original feelings of defense and endangerment. This example also illustrates how obscure doublespeak can be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  President Bush regards the attacks as despicable and evil acts. The word evil is the doublespeak in this example. The way he uses this word automati... ...nbsp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  G-d is stronger than any human on earth. Walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not fearing the terrorists because of such a tragedy in close proximity. Every walk of life  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All races, genders, and cultures. Resolve for justice and peace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We are going to war. Eliminating Mediaspeak: Is it Clear Now?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doublespeak is deceptive as are most of the examples mentioned from this speech. On the contrary, doublespeak as explored through this example is sometimes a necessary tool to address an issue in a manner that is politically correct. When the doublespeak present in this speech is eliminated the underlying themes are not entirely lost and the speech is still effective. I think given the circumstances the audience was pleased with the underlying messages delivered and probably expected them making it easier to decipher President Bush’s jargon. The speech could have been delivered without doublespeak and more directly, but the perception of the audience would likely remain the same.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Eudaimonia :: essays research papers

The Term 'Eudaimonia': 'Flourishing' or 'Happiness'? I have a number of very roughly-formulated things to say about eudaimonia in this essay. I hope that focusing later on other specific aspects of NE will help me to pull all this together better. I think the problems my sources discuss are the products of contrived readings; all of those sources recognized this fact, and cleared up the confusions accordingly. At the level at which I have so far studied, the Nicomachean Ethics seems unproblematic, though demanding in the sense that Aristotle seems to find so many of his connections too obvious to explain. I mention this by way of partial explanation of the naive way that I fill out the connections that Aristotle leaves for us to make on our own. A good place to start is with Ackrill's brief characterization of eudaimonia: eudaimonia "is doing well, not the result of doing well" (Ackrill, p. 13). Even though Irwin translates 'eudaimonia' as 'happiness', I will use Cooper's translation 'flourishing' instead. The reason for my choice comes mainly from Book X, where Aristotle tells us that eudaimonia is a process and not a state (1176b5). It is easier to keep this in mind if the word 'flourishing' is used, since 'happiness' names a state, rather than a process, in English. Furthermore, there is popular prejudice, especially among philosophers, against the idea that being happy is consistent with being virtuous. Hence, the use of the word 'happiness' psychologically weights the case against the credibility of Aristotle's doctrine, since he does think that eudaimonia is virtuous action (1176b5). His doctrine is at least rendered more worthy of consideration by such critics if they are first appeased by the more neutral term. Ackrill has different reasons for thinking that 'happiness' is not the proper translation. eudaimonia is the final end. While many things may be final ends, only eudaimonia is the most final end--the "one final good that all men seek" is happiness.(Ackrill, p. 12). This is where he sees the difference; what is true of happiness is not true of eudaimonia. Happiness may be renounced in favor of some other goal, but eudaimonia may not. In suffering in order to do the right thing, one sees one's life fall short of eudaimonia. But it is comfort that is renounced (Ackrill, p. 12). If this is true, then the idea of equating happiness with eudaimonia makes nonsense of Aristotle's discussions of the virtues.

Managing Customer Relations Essay

This helps them to gather customers feedback by collating the responses and discussing about them during meetings, to see if there is an alternative, or a solution to the problem. However, not all feedbacks can have a solution as there are shortages of certain resources such as manpower, turnover rate and space in shop area. Overall, Food For Thought is a successful organisation despite not having a CRM system. They are able to generate high profits every month due to loyal customers and customers who frequent that area. Company’s Background Food for Thought is a Food and Beverage Restaurant (F&B) that sells western-styled food. It started out as a cafe in North Bridge Road. After a few years of establishment, the company decided to open another outlet at a nearby location of a larger space and closed down the cafe. Currently, there are 2 outlets (Queen Street and Botanical Gardens). They sell a variety of foods including salads, pastas, pancakes, cakes and desserts. The company has 2 selling points that differentiate them from other restaurants. First, the ambience provides a good place for customers to relax and hang out with family or friends. The overall layout emits a homely touch. Using recycled items, they decorate the restaurant with 540 jars of emptied pasta sauce. Secondly, they practice societal marketing concept by giving back 10% of their yearly profit to charity organizations. Their 5 missions include ‘Give clean water, ‘Feed good food, ‘Make poverty history ‘, ‘Teach them all’ and ‘Inspire kind acts’. (Refer to appendix A) CRM Planning Process Through the interview conducted, we found out that Food for Thought have yet to implement CRM system. However, they are considering implementing it after the organization is stable. Food for Thought connects with their customers through the use of Facebook and Twitter by learning customers’ needs and wants. Their target markets are the SMU students and the people working around the area of their location. In order to increase the awareness of their organization, they place their advertisement on the SMU daily newsletter and provide promotions for the students. Food for Thought staffs focuses on creating customer’s experience in order to build relationship with the customers. The staffs recognize their loyal customers and create a personal friendship with them. Likewise for new customers, the staff will create a customer relationship as they exercise relationship marketing. CRM Implementation Process In our opinion, Food for Thought has the basic foundation for implementing CRM system as they focus on managing customer’s experience. They start out by creating a Facebook page in order to encourage feedbacks from the customers. The management then analyzes the comments before deciding appropriate measures that should be carried out. Even though Food for Thought doesn’t have a CRM system, they collect their customers’ name card and sent out emails to update them on various promotions and competitions. They initiated the use of smart-phone apps such as chope. com or hungrygowhere. com to provide customers the convenience of making a reservation online. On the other hand, they are able to track their customers’ spending and number of times of reservation made. When queried on why they have yet to implement CRM system, Mr. Pala stated that the organization will only consider implementing a proper CRM system when the organization faces the situation whereby there is a need to analyze customer’s needs and wants to an extent. Impact of CRM on Sales and Marketing Strategy Food for Thought sales strategy focuses on the need to develop solutions to meet customer’s specific needs. The management team conducts a meeting every two weeks to review on the feedbacks mentioned through email, Facebook and Twitter (as mentioned above) to analyze on the customer’s needs. They collect verbal feedback from different customers and inform them about their menu recommendations based on customer’s individual needs and preferences. While they are collecting payments from the customers, the staffs will focus on being dialogue-oriented by engaging in small talks with the customer to understand their needs better before stating the feedback of the food to the head chef. The head chef will then make alternative recipe to meet and satisfy the customer’s needs. Through the use of sales forces, Food For Thought is able to process customer information quicker to meet customers’ need. They focus on sales force automation by using key account management such as the POS system to tabulate monthly and yearly sales. The sales activities allow them to identify the most favorable and least favorable items, via this method; they will up-sell the most favorable item to the customer while considering removing the least favorable items. The use of social media has provided the staffs with information to identify and differentiate their customers. By using this method, the staff will then be able to create a different marketing strategy to interact and customize various offerings to suit the needs of individual customers. For example, premium seating (bar table) are provided to their loyal customers, this allows the customers to not only observe the chef’s method of cooking but also engage in small talks with the staffs. Food For Thought focuses in building relationship. They believe in gaining true loyal customers by creating strong relationships through exchanging information while engaging  in dialogues with the customer. Through this method, customer knowledge will increase and therefore strengthening the relationship with the customer. Most of the loyal customers are under the undivided loyalty. They come from the workplace located nearby and only dine at Food for Thought. Loyal customers are more profitable as they help to spread positive word-of-mouth about the organization. Food For Thought implements retentio n strategies to the customers. One of which would be by rewarding loyal customers – for example, SMU students are entitled to 5% discount. This develops effective acquisition strategies to encourage word-of-mouth referrals for the customers. Loyal customers are entitled to preferential treatment as the organization treat loyal customers like family and refer to them by their name. Outcome of CRM implementation With limited resources, Food For Thought has to identify their desirable customers. Without CRM system, it is difficult to analyze customer from the restaurant. Food For Thought is currently in the stage of developing comprehensive CRM; therefore they do not have a fixed answer of the success or failure in implementing CRM in this restaurant. The current CRM implementation process has help gain customer knowledge, customer satisfaction and help building up the relationship with the customers. As Food For Thought is a developing business, there are rooms for improvement in the CRM implementation. They measure the effectiveness of CRM program through customer feedback. Using the feedbacks provided, the management is able to know the satisfaction of customers regarding the service or food of the restaurant. Unlike other restaurant that focuses on being profit-orientated, Food For Thought is customer-orientated. This implies that customer’s experience is more important than the profit gained. Moreover, customer interaction provides a measurement for the effectiveness of program. This shows that restaurant should improve on their service to retain existing customers. The increase in customer touch point will lead to an increase in opportunity in gaining customer’s knowledge thereby creating a learning relationship between the organization and the customers. Conclusion and future plans of company’s CRM strategy We have concluded that Food for Thought is a successful organization, where  they focus on building customer relationship rather than being profit-oriented. When there is a relationship built with the customers, trust will be built, and because Food for Thought believes in being customer-oriented, they never fail to recognize their loyal customers, which in turn would make the customers feel recognized and good, therefore bringing returned business. Not only do th ey build and strengthen the relationship with their external customers, Food for Thought has also built and strengthened the relationship with their internal customers, namely their co-workers. Food for Thought has also place customer satisfaction as their upmost priority, which is also another factor whereby they are successful in retaining their existing customers or acquiring new customers. Food for Thought currently has no plans to implement CRM yet as it is still a small organization. However, according to Mr. Pala, he has claimed that when the time comes when the organization faces the situation whereby there is a need to analyze customer’s needs and wants to an extent, it is then they will implement CRM, for now, they want to focus more on relationship building with their customers. Lesson Learnt Food for Thought and many other organizations faces the same problem which is the lack of manpower. Such situations are unavoidable and the turnover rate is usually higher in the F&B business as most locals prefer other lines of job than F&B. One way to overcome this problem is to have some employees, mainly the supervisor, to be on standby. Another method to overcome this problem would be to implement self-service in the outlet. However, Mr. Pala has claimed that this method may hinder the process of building relationship with the customers. Being customer-oriented, they value their loyal customers by treating them as a part of their family. Through this strategy, Food for Thought is able to build customer relationship and strengthen the bond between the organization and the customers. They gain customer’s trust by providing service beyond expectation by getting close to the customers and engaging small talks with the customer, proving that they value the relationship with each individual customer. â€Å"All customers are equal, regardless of them being loyal and long-term or new,† quoted from Mr.  Pala. They practice building customer relationship through breaking the ice by engaging in small dialogues with the customers either when they order food or upon settling the bill. When queried on how each and every staff managed to practice building customer relationship, Mr. Pala replied with the answer indicating that practice comes from the inner heart. They believe that by strengthening the bonds with ever y staff and treating them like a family will naturally bring out the courage in each and every staff to build a relationship with the customers.

Drama and Handsome Captain Essay

Coursework Essay: Examine at least THREE dramatic devices used by any TWO playwrights studied in the course and discuss their effectiveness in terms of audience response and/or plot development. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n. pag. ), drama can be defined as, â€Å"a composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance. † In the two plays that I have selected, drama is definitely a depiction of life. The Ritual by Zeno Obi Constance and Your Handsome Captain by Simone Schwarz-Bart are two of the most phenomenal Caribbean performances that have been composed. They both incorporate evidence of Caribbean background and hold a certain level of credibility for situations that occur in present day society. While perusing these plays, I recognized that they both shared a number of commonalities. Some of the most evident similarities included the dramatic techniques; language, stage directions and recurring imagery. In the play, The Ritual, Constance utilizes language to make a connection with the Caribbean readers and allow them to fully comprehend the message that he is attempting to address, in their own society. It is the claim that Constance remains true to the old speech values of the Caribbean which is in relation to the last bastion of linguistic innovation known as the Calypso. Trinidad English Creole is utilized by the playwright to relate to the themes of anguish and struggle which creates an emotional unity between the audience and the actors. A quote that stood out throughout the play as a form of â€Å"branding† or labeling was, â€Å"all them little women in them school is whore† (Constance, 8). This was lamented by Omega’s mother who was very small-minded and was partially responsible for Omega’s downfall. The language employed by Constance allowed not only Caribbean dwellers to relate to the situations mentioned but also attracted persons from other regions of the world. This production was ranked one of the most performed plays in the forty year history of the Secondary School Drama Festival. Audiences from New York, Europe and the Caribbean exclaim, â€Å"There is a real need for this type of theatre†¦. I saw myself in all the characters- Great theme, great message, innovative and passionate. It made me think and feel. Bravo! † (New perspectives Theatre Company, n. pag. ). Constance believes that the language used to compose ‘The Ritual’ was symbolic as it related to â€Å"black† individuals in schools that were predominantly filled with white students during the 1970’s. He stated that it was a play that â€Å"forced the puritans to look at the pervasiveness of Omega’s situation which was a metaphor for all kinds of dysfunctional parenting and home-making† (Noel, 51). Critics believe that Constance use of language to communicate an abrasive reality and to stimulate rather than reveal on another level, the issues occurring covertly then, ‘The Ritual’ must be perceived as a triumph. Hence, language plays a pivotal role to the success of this production. Similarly, in the play, Your Handsome Captain, Schwarz-Bart utilizes the dramatic device known as language to relate her message in relation to her themes of identity, masculinity, separation and isolation, and labour and inequality. According to the New York Times (n.pag. ), the play, â€Å"relies primarily on its incantatory language and repetitious imagery to create a dream-like portrait of a couple struggling to maintain a long-distance relationship. † As we are well aware of, the script was originally written in French since the playwright is a native of Guadeloupe, however, it was later translated to English by Jessica Harris and Catherine Temerson. In â€Å"Ton Beau Capitaine†, the playwright attempts to illustrate the constrictions of poverty and the measures one must endure for love. Most of the dialogues that occur in the piece are in the form of Standard English. Traditional Haitian dances are choreographed which serves a dramatic function since they express the different moments of an individual drama rather than a collective state of mind. This is believed to be regarded as an additional language since the music and dance are expressive measures taken up by the actors to reveal their emotions. We observe that Wilnor is a very loving and faithful character who is willing to sacrifice in order to provide for his wife. Evidence of this is his migration from Haiti to Guadeloupe, in search of a job to better his state of living for himself and his wife who remained in Haiti. Language is not heavily concentrated upon in this piece, however, the dances, music and repetition of words and phrases like, â€Å"Shriveled-up†, â€Å"Wilnor, how are you? † and â€Å"Handsome Captain†. This illustrated that unlike Constance, Schwarz- Bart explored other mechanics involved with language to show Wilnor’s plight and the importance of the audio-cassette.