Examining a Business Failure

Examining a Business Failure Introduction It is the wish of all business organizations, both big and small, to succeed in whatever activities they undertake. Traditionally, all for-profit organizations endeavors to realize improved financial performance, maintain solvency, consistently retain, and increase their capital and client bases.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Examining a Business Failure specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, various factors, either internal or external, can cause business failure in a given segment of an organization or even the entire organization. This research paper explores a business failure that occurred at Chrysler Group LLC in 2009. The paper aims to describe how organizational-behavior theories could have predicted or explained the company failure. It also compares and contrasts how leadership, management, and organizational structures contributed to the failure. Organizational-behavior theories that can p redict or explain a company’s failure Chrysler Group LLC is an American multi-national automobile maker with its headquarters in the Detroit, suburb of Auburn Hills, in Michigan. It was positioned as Chrysler Corporation in 1925 under the leadership of its founder Walter Chrysler. In 2009, Chrysler LLC slipped into bankruptcy and on April 30, 2009, filed for chapter 11-bankruptcy protection from which it emerged on 30 June 2009 after collaborating with the Italian automaker, Fiat (Isidore, 2009). Typically, a well-established business organization like Chrysler Group LLC is run by a management team consisting of senior officials like CEOs and senior financial managers, board of directors, and internal and external auditors. All of these players actively take part in the decision making processes of an organization regarding all of its aspects including human resources management, production, marketing, financial management, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) among othe rs.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Even though, there is a tendency to hinge a company’s future success on the shoulders of the CEO, each of the above-mentioned key players is supposed to play his or her part in order to safeguard the future success of the organization. Concisely, a company’s success or failure can be determined by the role played by its key decision makers during a definite period. Former Chrysler Group LLC board of directors failed to play their role effectively or professionally. They over relied on the leadership of CEOs as the principal key to the company’s future success especially during the early years of the 21st century. Even though, the CEOs of an organization play a critical role in guiding an organization along the path of success, they cannot run an organization singlehandedly. The necessary input of all relevant senior stakeholders is a requisite for success of an organization. Chrysler’s board of directors was wiling to approve exorbitant salaries and bonuses for its CEOs at the expense of the corporation’s ability to pay its debts. Moreover, the board of directors did not consider the company’s ability to continue remunerating its other workers and remitting their employment benefits. The result of this trend was an abnormal accumulation of debts, which nearly pushed the 85-years old automaker out of the market. Fortunately, the company was saved from an inevitable liquidation by Obama’s administration bail out and a successful merger agreement with Fiat. Financial managers viz. internal and external auditors, bear the greatest blame for the failure of the Chrysler Group LLC because they aught to have raised a red flag for other stakeholders following the evident accumulation of debts. In any case, the inability of this category of officials to provide relevan t financial information to the board of directors and the CEOs should have pointed to a possible company failure in the future. Apart from providing key decision makers with reliable financial information on which they can base their strategies, financial officers of an organization should offer reliable insights on how a company should perform in coming days, in relation to possible business and market conditions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Examining a Business Failure specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In short, financial performance of an organization should remain closely monitored under the guidance of the relevant stakeholders including senior financial managers, internal, and external auditors because it is one of the key indicators or pointers to the fate of an organization’s future success. The CEOs and former board of directors of the Chrysler Group LLC probably ignored this fact and hence, the e ventual failure of the company was inevitable given the unfavorable economic conditions of the year 2009. Leadership, Management, and Organizational contribution to the failure Proper and professional management of an organization’s resources, both human and non-human, is central to its success. Leadership, management, and organizational structures provide the needed framework within which control of organizational resources takes place, as well as the running of the day-to-day activities of an organization. These important features of an organization can therefore, contribute to the failure of a company. Chrysler Group LLC leadership, which was expected to emanate from its CEOs and board of directors, similarly failed to find out the cause of the consistent accumulation of debts. They also equally failed to guide the company on how to reverse the trend in order to sustain its solvency. In contrast, one leadership segment, that is, the board of directors, contributed to the f ailure of the company because of its hands-off attitude that left the company’s future success at the mercy of the CEOs who were also unable to avert the eventual failure that befell the company. Both the leadership and management were unable, and/or unwilling, to read possible pointers to possible failure due to the unpleasant debt accumulation that proceeded its eventual slippery into a detrimental bankruptcy. Chrysler LLC’s organizational structures contributed to the failure by failing to unite the CEOs and board of directors into a constant platform, which could foster teamwork needed in the making and approval of all sensitive decisions that guide a company to its future success.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, the lack of teamwork orientation between the CEOs and the board of directors prevented them from seeing the looming failure from a similar perspective. This, in turn, meant that they did not have an opportunity to put in place the necessary measures at the right time in order to prevent the failure that befell their company. Conclusion All for-profit organizations aim to realize improved financial performance and retain their ability to pay their debts and employees in order to survive in the increasingly dynamic markets. However, that is only possible through able and competent guidance of its leadership and management. The leadership and management of an organization should be able to establish organizational cultures that nurture behaviors, which are congruent to its desire to succeed such as teamwork and professionalism or risk failing to achieve its set goals. Chrysler LLC’s poor leadership, management, and ineffective organizational structures, was its undoin g that culminated into an unfavorable bankruptcy that nearly drove the 85-years old automaker out of markets; but thanks to the federal government bailout, the company remained in the market. Its leadership and overall management failed to read signs of a possible failure; the company‘s financial performance deteriorated as indicated by its adverse preceding debts accumulation but the management was too busy or ignorant to realize it. Reference Isidore, C. (2009). Chrysler files for bankruptcy. CNN Money. Retrieved from https://money.cnn.com/2009/04/30/news/companies/chrysler_bankruptcy/

Example Sentences of the Verb Come

Example Sentences of the Verb Come The irregular verb come is one of the most common in English. Come is usually used when returning to a place one is at such as in come home, or when speaking about a person going from one place to another to see another person as in the phrase come over here.   Come is also used in many phrasal verbs such as, come up, come through, come over, come to. For example: Tom came up with a solution.  Could you come over tonight? Here are two example sentences with the verb come in each of the tenses. There are also examples in the  passive voice,  modal forms, and  conditional forms.   Example Sentences Using 'Come' in Each Form Base Form​ come / Past Simple came / Past Participle come / Gerund coming Present Simple I often come to this supermarket.Alan comes up with great ideas. Present Continuous Look! he is coming up the street.Jennifer is coming over this evening. Present Perfect Mary has come to this school for the past four years.MY friend Peter has come through for me many times. Present Perfect Continuous Mary has been coming to this school for the past four years.The students have been coming to the grammar class for two weeks. Past Simple We came here yesterday.What did the teacher come up with on Monday? Past Continuous We were coming home when we got the telephone call on our cell phone.She was coming to my help as the police arrived on the scene.   Past Perfect We had just come home when he arrived.Alessandra had come up with a solution before they suggested the change. Past Perfect Continuous John had been coming to their house for years when he decided not to visit anymore.Id been coming to this class for two weeks when I met Alan. Future (will) Peter will come next week.When will you come over for dinner? Future (going to) Mary is going to come to the party next week.I think hes going to come up with an idea. Future Continuous This time next week I will be coming home.Will you be coming over for dinner at eight? Future Perfect Many people will have come by the end of the party.This meeting will have come to an end by six oclock. Future Possibility She might come tomorrow.Peter should come to this class. I think youll enjoy it. Real Conditional If he comes, we will have lunch at a good restaurant.Unless he shows up soon, shell have to come over and give us a hand. Unreal Conditional If I came to the party, I wouldnt enjoy myself.I would come over tonight if I had the time. Past Unreal Conditional If he had come, he would have resolved all the problems.Tom would have done his homework if he had come home on time. Present Modal You really should come to the show.The children can come with you this evening. Past Modal They must have come! Im sure I saw them.He could always come home on the weekend.   Quiz: Conjugate With Come Use the verb to come to conjugate the following sentences. Quiz answers are below. In some cases, more than one answer may be correct. We ____ here yesterday.Peter _____ next week.Mary ____ to the party next week.Mary _____ to this school for the past four years.We _____ home when we got the telephone call on our cell phone.I often _____ to this supermarket.This time next week I _____ home.If he _____, we will have lunch at a good restaurant.We _____ just _____ home when he arrived.Many people ____ by the end of the party. Quiz Answers camewill comeis going to comehas comewere comingcomewill be comingcomeshad comewill have come

Consensus Building Week 11 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consensus Building Week 11 - Coursework Example The meetings enable all the members to contribute their views; for example, when there are complains, they will be dealt with in the meetings (Li, Kuo, Huang, & Wang, 2013). The Head Nurse also needs to define the job roles clearly to avoid the contradicting complains about overworking and under working. The Head Nurse may improve staff relations by motivating employees by rewarding, and training them. The nurses and assistants in this floor may be trained on how to complete their tasks efficiently and how to work as a team. This is because through training, workers understand the significance of each member in the floor and they appreciate one another. Another way of improving the staff relations is by treating the workers fairly by rewarding them for their hard work. This is because dissatisfied employees may be resistant and hostile at the workplace. The unit should, therefore, ensure that it rewards the nurses by paying them wages that are equal to their effort, promoting them, and offering them job security (Cox, 2001). The quality of care may be improved by developing communication and team work in this unit. Communication is the most essential factor in the delivery of services because it enables nurses to attend to patients and it also enables the nurses to seek help from their assistants. The unit needs to install a proper communication channel that allows everyone to participate in decision making. The communication channel should also determine how parties resolve conflicts when they arise. In this case, for example, Mitchell may ask the nurses and their assistants to inform her when conflicts arise at the workplace. She may then solve the disagreements without taking sides as soon as she gets the information to avoid wastage of time and delay of services to customers (Li, Kuo, Huang, & Wang, 2013). Team work may also improve the quality of healthcare. All the workers should undergo

Information Systems and Software Applications Essay

Information Systems and Software Applications - Essay Example Marketing Information System (MkIS) implements softwares for the marketing department. It deals with activities related to compilation and investigation of marketing research information. It involves consumer response surveys, analysis of supply and deliverance of the product and an overview of profit. This information helps in marketing related decision-making (Marketing Decision Support System software, MDSS) like what improvements can be done in the product, should the cost be reduced or increased, should it be marketed through other types of media, and etcetera. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software applications, which deal with the relationship between consumer and organization, â€Å"are used to increase the return on marketing efforts† (Harmon, 2003) through analyzing the history of customer-organization interaction. CRM systems give an analysis of consumer behavior toward the product through market monitoring and research. MkIS also facilitates sales labors a nd customer service and helps in the development of effective marketing strategy. Human Resources Information System (HRIS) implements human resources software applications that deal with â€Å"data entry, data tracking, and data information needs of the Human Resources, payroll, management, and accounting functions within a business† (Heathfield, 2010). HRIS records, manages, analyzes and creates reports relating to all kind of employee information such as enrollment, salaries, vacancies, attendance, vacations, bonuses and other personal information. HRIS integrates with the organization’s payroll and accounting departments for salary calculation. It also deals with applicants, their interviews and selection. (Ajayi & Omirin, 2007, p. 110) where this system is specifically called Decision Support System (DSS). MIS generates reports such as monthly and yearly financial statements,

Islam and Women Essay Example for Free

Islam and Women Essay If a woman is married and her husband is niggardly, the wife has the right to take of her husband’s property without his consent, to satisfy her own and her family’s reasonable needs. Also, if a woman was comfortably maintained as a daughter, then as a wife, she is entitled to the same economic standard of living if her husband can afford it. Employment Islam gives the woman the same work rights as men, so long as her important role as a mother and a wife is not neglected. The sacred role of a wife and mother is paramount and indispensable to society. Without her, the future generation would lack the healthy moral conscience that is needed for the success and stability of any individual and community. Professionalism, hard work, and loving commitment are the natural skills that a woman as a mother, imparts. However, Muslim women are free to pursue employment if they are able to, and with the agreement of their husbands if married. History is witness to Muslim women’s contribution to civilisation in various professions such as teaching, medicine and other fields. Inheritance Islam gives the woman the right of inheritance whereas in some cultures, women were considered themselves objects to be inherited! The woman is allotted a share of inheritance and this is hers to retain and manage no one can lay any claim to it, including her father or her husband. Allah says: â€Å"Unto men [of the family] belongs a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, and unto women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whether it be a little or much a determined share. † (Ouran 4:7) Generally, (but not always), her share is one half the man’s share. The woman is her own â€Å"manageress† in Islam; in discharging her responsibilities, she fully enjoys the fringe benefits that her position offers while her independent decisions and duties are accountable to Allah. Indeed, throughout history, the integrity, chastity and maternal role of Muslim women has attracted admiration from even the most impartial observers. For it is only Islam that covers the woman with the robe of modesty and crowns her with the bonnet of purity, providing her with the unique opportunity to contribute comfortably to society. What Grace and Mercy the Beneficent showers upon the woman! For every joy experienced and every effort made, willingly and lovingly on the Path of Allah’s Pleasure, the woman, just as the man, receives the same good-tidings of the happiness and delights, that are ever-flowing from Allah. â€Å"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him We will give a new life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such, reward according to the best of their actions. † (Qur’an 16:97)

Angelas Ashes :: essays research papers

Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt is a genuine memoir that vividly tells the story of a young, Irish Catholic boy during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. Frank’s memory of his impoverished childhood is difficult to accept, however, he injects a sense of devilish humor into his biography. He creates a story where the readers watch him grow beyond all odds and live through the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. â€Å"People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty, the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years†(McCourt 11). His interaction with his family proves that despite the hunger and pain, love and strength come out of misery. Although the book tells the experience of an individual, the st ory itself is universal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. Due to the Great Depression, Malachy could not find work in America. However, things did not get any better back in Ireland for Malachy. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Week after week, Angela would be home expecting her husband to come home with money to eat, but Malachy always spent his wages on pints at local pubs. Frank’s father would come home late at night and make his sons get out of bed and sing patriotic songs about Ireland by Roddy McCorley and Kevin Barry, who were hung for their country. Frank loved his father and got an empty feeling in his heart when he knew his father was out of work again. Frank described his father as the Holy Trinity because there is three people in him, â€Å"The one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland† (McCourt 210). Even when there was a war going on and English agents were recruiting Irishmen to work in their munitions factories, Malachy could not keep a job when he traveled to England. Angelas Ashes :: essays research papers Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt is a genuine memoir that vividly tells the story of a young, Irish Catholic boy during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. Frank’s memory of his impoverished childhood is difficult to accept, however, he injects a sense of devilish humor into his biography. He creates a story where the readers watch him grow beyond all odds and live through the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. â€Å"People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty, the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years†(McCourt 11). His interaction with his family proves that despite the hunger and pain, love and strength come out of misery. Although the book tells the experience of an individual, the st ory itself is universal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. Due to the Great Depression, Malachy could not find work in America. However, things did not get any better back in Ireland for Malachy. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Week after week, Angela would be home expecting her husband to come home with money to eat, but Malachy always spent his wages on pints at local pubs. Frank’s father would come home late at night and make his sons get out of bed and sing patriotic songs about Ireland by Roddy McCorley and Kevin Barry, who were hung for their country. Frank loved his father and got an empty feeling in his heart when he knew his father was out of work again. Frank described his father as the Holy Trinity because there is three people in him, â€Å"The one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland† (McCourt 210). Even when there was a war going on and English agents were recruiting Irishmen to work in their munitions factories, Malachy could not keep a job when he traveled to England.

Daily Routines

Your Daily Routines: Then and Now Day| Before College| After College| Sunday| My daily routine before college on a Sunday was to attend church service and was to decide what our Sunday dinner plans were. | My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Sunday are to attend church service, decide what our Sunday dinner plans are, and to make sure that all of my assignments and discussion questions are submitted, and all participation posts are completed for the week. .| Monday| My daily routine before college on Mondays were to go to work and come home to watch my favorite TV shows to wind down from my day. My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Monday is to go to work try to complete a participation post or a discussion question during my lunch break, and then come home and make dinner while studying. | Tuesday| My daily routine before college on Tuesdays were to go to work and come home to watch my favorite TV shows to wind down from my day. | My daily rout ine now that I am enrolled in college on a Tuesday is to go to work try to complete a participation post or a discussion question during my lunch break, and then come home and make dinner while studying. Wednesday| My daily routine before college on Wednesdays go to work and come home to watch my favorite TV shows to wind down from my day. | My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Wednesday is to go to work try to complete a participation post or a discussion question during my lunch break, and then come home and make dinner while studying. | Thursday| My daily routine before college on Thursdays were go to work and come home to watch my favorite TV shows to wind down from my day. My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Thursday is to go to work try to complete a participation post or a discussion question during my lunch break, and then come home and make dinner while studying. | Friday| My daily routine before college on Fridays were go to work and come and decide what our weekend plans were with our friends are and maybe have a date night. | My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Friday is to go to work try to complete a participation post or a discussion question during my lunch break, and then come home to spend time with my husband. Saturday| My daily routine before college on a Saturday was to sleep in late, make a nice lunch fore my husband and then go out with friends and enjoy each others company later that night. | My daily routine now that I am enrolled in college on a Saturay is to wake up a bit earlier than usual to try to complete a participation post or a discussion question before cleaning my house and going out with friends. | What are the major differences in your daily routine now that you are in school? The major differnces that I see now that I am back in school are that I have a more structured schedule and am able to focus on completeing assignments before doing extracuricular activities. Have you included enough time into your schedule for academics? What information in the chart demonstrates evidence to support your answer? I have included enought time into my schedule for academics by cutting out alot of television watching and minimizing the activites I do with friends prior to completeing my class work. The information on the chart that demonstrates evidence of this is there not being any extra activites or television watching during the week or prior to completeing assignments. Do you have an effective balance in the use of your time and your priorities? Why or why not? I do feel that I have an effective balance in the use of my time and my priorities by my cutting out the things that will not assist me in acgieving my goal of and education and earning my diploma. I have substituted watching television by watching the web tutorials. What are some time management strategies you have learned this week that you can implement to make your daily routine effective? A time management strategy I have learned this week is to learn to comprimise with myself I have to buckle down and do my works on certain days so that I can reward myself and be afforded the time for fun activities on other days when my classwork has been completed.

To what extent are writers also detectives in the novels you have studied?

The crime and the detective novel and their conventions have changed considerably over the last century. As societies have changed, these genres have adapted and branched out to meet the needs of writers attempting to express new concerns. Edgar Allen Poe's detective novel, The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) follows conventions we would now consider to be traditional in mystery writing. Bearing a close resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, we find a detective who relies on reasoning and deduction to solve a mystery that to all intensive purposes appears unsolvable; a locked room mystery such as Doyle's The Speckled Band (1892). In America, between the world wars, emerged the ‘hard-boiled' private eye novel, featuring tough private investigators, often themselves outcasts from society. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are examples of authors from this school of detective fiction. After the Second World War there was increasingly a feeling that literary fiction was an inadequate means of accurately describing the horrors of the modern world. ‘New journalism' emerged, a term coined by Tom Wolfe to describe non-fiction novels by authors such as Truman Capote. His true crime novel, In Cold Blood (1965) is one of the texts that will be examined in this essay. Later in the century literature became more preoccupied with issues of alienation as a result of city living and capitalist expansion. Postmodern concerns were expressed in detective metafiction, such a Paul Auster's New York Trilogy (1987). This novel will also be examined. Lastly, this essay will look at James Ellroy's My Dark Places (1996). Ellroy himself has described this as an â€Å"investigative autobiography†, but it also contains elements of the police procedural novel, which came into being in 1940's America. This sub-genre deals with the more detailed elements of police detection, in comparison to that of the private eye. The extent to which writers are also detectives in these three texts varies greatly. The fact that they are all very different in terms of the sub-genres of detective or crime fiction makes direct comparison difficult. Therefore this essay concentrates on each in turn, drawing together the main arguments in the conclusion. I have tried to give equal attention to each text, but the fact that each story in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy can stand alone as an individual piece of writing has made this difficult. In New York Trilogy, the distinction between writer and detective is particularly indistinct. This is complicated by the fact that Auster continually subverts the conventions of the detective genre that are expected by the reader. For instance, in a detective novel there is generally an expectation on the reader's part that a crime has been committed, and that the mystery surrounding this crime will be solved thereby restoring the social order. In the first story of the novel, City of Glass, no crime takes place. The central character, I will for now call Quinn (this term as I will later explain is also problematic), accepts a surveillance job, which only becomes a mystery when his employers, Virginia and the young Peter Stillman disappear. Rather than providing a solution to this mystery the novel instead throws up more questions and leaves the reader increasingly confused. It is with this central character, Quinn, that the distinction between writer and detective first becomes unclear. Quinn is an author of detective fiction. He has created the character Max Work, a private eye, under the pen name of William Wilson. At this stage Quinn has already to some extent become a detective. For Quinn the roles of, â€Å"the writer and detective are interchangeable†1. Both the writer and the detective must look out in to the world and search for thoughts or clues that will enable them to make sense of events. They must both be observant and aware of details. Quinn appears to exist only through the existence of Max Work, â€Å"If he lived now in the world at all, it was only at one remove, through the imaginary person of Max Work. â€Å"2. He even finds himself imagining what Max Work would have said to the stranger on the phone after receiving the first call. Perhaps this is why the next time he answers the phone to the stranger he finds himself taking on the identity of the unknown detective, Paul Auster. Surely this is not an action one would expect from the uncomfortable writer Quinn, but one that could be easily identified with the confident private eye Max Work. From this moment on, Quinn the writer has also taken on the physical duties of the detective. Adding to the complication, by taking on the identity of an unknown and apparently non-existent detective named Paul Auster, Quinn also takes on the identity of an existing writer Paul Auster, who agrees to cash the checks paid to Quinn by the Stillmans. At this point Quinn (as his name suggests3) has five identities. Three of these are writers and two are detectives. As a detective, Quinn finds that the thought processes in which he must engage are not dissimilar to those of a writer. As â€Å"Dupin says in Poe†¦ ‘An identification of the reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent'†4is necessary. In this case Stillman senior is the opponent. This is similar to the process in which Quinn must put himself in the fictional Max Work's place in order to determine what course of action he might take in order to make him appear realistic to the reader. In the second story of the trilogy, Ghosts, the reader is introduced to Blue, a professional rather than sham detective. A man named White hires him to watch a man called Black, and to make weekly reports on his movements. In contrast to the first story in which the writer becomes detective, in this we see the detective become writer. Faced with very little understanding of the case he has embarked upon, Blue finds himself making up stories in order to bring some meaning to the position he is in, â€Å"Murder plots, for instance, and kidnapping schemes for giant ransoms. As the days go on he realise there is no end to the stories he can tell. â€Å"5. Blue is hardly restricted in the number of theories he can advance because he possesses only a small number of facts they have to meet. The detective becomes a writer in his attempt to reconstruct a possible crime. This can be seen in any number of detective or crime novels, including In Cold Blood and My Dark Places. According to Peter Huhn in his article ‘The Detective as Reader: Narrativity and Reading Concepts in Detective Fiction', †¦ he text of the novel can be said to have two authors (at least): the criminal (who wrote the original mystery story [by committing the crime]) and the detective (who writes the reconstruction of the first story). As a detective, Blue has never previously had difficulty with writing reports. It is only when he sits down to write his first report on Black that he encounters a writers struggle to find a way of adequately expressing events. Before, action has always held â€Å"forth over interpretation†7 in his reports. As he feels pulled towards interpreting events he becomes more a writer than detective. In one report he even includes a completely fictitious observation, that he believes Black is ill and may die. The incident in the Algonquin Hotel, in which Blue approaches Black under the guise of a life insurance salesman named Snow, the reader is made aware that perhaps Black is also a private detective (unless he is lying). If we take this to be the case then it could be considered that Black the private detective is also a writer, in that his actions determine those of Blue. Blue must follow him wherever he goes, is trapped by Black's routine and so Black is, in effect, writing Blue's life. Conversely then, the same must be true for Blue. If Black really is a private detective, as Blue is, then Black must follow Blue, becoming trapped in his routine. Blue is therefore the writer of Black's life. In the third story, The Locked Room, the central character, an un-named author is a writer who turns detective in an attempt to locate his childhood friend Fanshawe. Until Fanshawe contacts the narrator in a letter, he has been presumed dead. Initially, the process of detection begins under a pretext of writing a biography of Fanshawe's life. As a writer of a biography, one is expected to stick to facts, as is a detective. However, as this biography would be written under the illusion that Fanshawe is dead it would actually in effect be a work of invention rather than accurate reconstruction. The narrator tells us, â€Å"The book was a work of fiction. Even though it was based on facts, it could tell nothing but lies. â€Å"8. Thus, in this story, the central character even through the process of detection remains, in essence, a writer. The extent to which writer is also detective in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood must be looked at in a very different way due to the type of crime novel it is. Tom Wolfe has as I have mentioned, described it as ‘New journalism'. Capote himself, however, distances his novel from this school of writing. He views his work as â€Å"creative journalism† as opposed to for instance, a â€Å"documentary novel†9. The distinction for Capote is that to be a good creative journalist a writer must have experience in writing fiction so that he has the necessary knowledge of fictional writing techniques. Writers trained in journalism for example would not possess the skills needed to write a creative journalistic piece, but are more suited to writing documentary novels. Capote's distinction is relevant to the question because it gives us an insight into the extent in which In Cold Blood was created as a compelling true crime novel, largely based on fact (by a writer), in comparison to the extent in which a crime and it's effects was accurately reconstructed and completely based on fact (as a detective would attempt to do). In order to determine the real extent to which Capote as author of this novel was also a detective a number of issues need to be addressed. To begin with the opinion that in researching and writing In Cold Blood Capote was in fact acting as a detective will be examined. The research Capote undertook in writing this non-fiction novel was indeed extremely thorough. He arrived in Holcomb in November 1959, the same month of the murders and a month before Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested. He was therefore present during the time in which the initial police investigation was taking place. He conducted hundreds of interviews with residents of Holcomb, and other individuals who had come into contact with the two murderers. Some of these interviews, as he told George Plimpton in an interview for the New York Times in 1966, went on for three years. Capote also undertook â€Å"months of comparative research on murder, murderers, the criminal mentality,† as well as interviewing, â€Å"quite a number of murderers† in order to gain a perspective on Smith and Perry10. In his interviewing of Smith and Perry after their arrest, he acted to a great extent as a detective is expected to. As the men were kept apart following their arrest, Capote was able to cross-reference their interview answers in order to determine fact from fiction, â€Å"I would keep crossing their stories, and what correlated, what checked out identically, was the truth†11. In Cold Blood has been widely accepted as an extremely accurate portrayal of the Clutter murders and the following investigation. However, the opinion that In Cold Blood was as much a work of fiction as of fact needs to be considered. Within this novel there are several instances in which Capote could be said to have used artistic licence. The clearest example of this is the last scene of the novel in which Detective Alvin Dewey meets murdered Nancy Clutter's childhood friend at the graveyard in Holcomb, four years after the family's deaths, ‘And nice to have seen you, Sue. Good luck,' he called to her as she disappeared down the path, a pretty girl in a hurry, her smooth hair swinging, shining – just such a young woman as Nancy might have been. 12 We know this to be an utterly fictitious scene because, according to Dewey's biographer Gerald Clarke, Dewey never met Susan Kidwell until the executions of Smith and Hickock in 196513. According to Capote, however, the meeting at the graveyard took place the previous May, in 1964. In the novel, the reader also cannot escape a feeling that Capote is somewhat biased towards Perry Smith. As a writer, personal opinions and feelings are perfectly acceptable inclusions in a reconstruction, but as a detective they are not. Of course this bias may arise directly from Capote's observations of the two men, and of factual, psychological evidence. In which case this would be a fair assessment. However, it has been suggested by some that this bias arises from Capote's feelings for Perry Smith and the relationship they developed whilst Capote was conducting his research. Ned Rorem, referring to a dinner conversation with Truman Capote in 1963, said of Capote â€Å"he seemed clearly in love with him [Perry]. It must be remembered however that this is just speculation. In Cold Blood has also been seen as a polemic against capital punishment and the American justice system. By indicating in the novel that Perry Smith was in a â€Å"psychological cul-de-sac†15 at the time he committed the murders he insinuates that the death penalty was an unjust sentence. With regard to Capote's attack on the justice system, his criticism can clearly be seen in his account of the jury selection for the trial, The airport employee, a middle-aged man named N. L. Dunnan, said, when asked his opinion of capital punishment, ‘Ordinarily I'm against it. But in this case no' – a declaration which, to some who heard it, seemed clearly indicative of prejudice. Dunnan was nevertheless selected as a juror. 16 If this is indeed a polemic, it must be the case that opinions and facts in opposition to Capote's argument would have been left out. This would make him more writer than detective. He himself confessed that, I make my own comment by what I choose to tell and how I choose to tell it. It is true that an author is more in control of fictional characters because he do [sic] anything he wants with them as long as they stay credible. But in the nonfiction novel one can also manipulate. 17 Ellroy's My Dark Places is also a true crime novel containing, as I have mentioned, elements of autobiography and of the police procedural. Unlike In Cold Blood, in which the reader is aware of the culprits' identities from the beginning, it is more of a ‘whodunit' in that the reader does not know who the murderer is. Through the process of detection, and with the help of a homicide detective named Bill Stoner, Ellroy retraces the initial investigation into his mother's murder in the hope of finally solving it. As in New York Trilogy, however, the reader is denied the solution and restoration of order generally expected from (and often desired in) a detective novel. The novel is written in four parts, and the extent to which Ellroy is both writer and detective varies with each one. The first part, ‘The Redhead' is Ellroy's reconstruction of the original investigation. Although true crime, this section reads as a police procedural novel, involving meticulous detail of each piece of evidence and information collected at the time. Ellroy has had to take on the role of detective in this section in order to reconstruct events as they happened at the time, 1958, thirty-five years before his own investigation. Unlike a fictional police procedural, in which the reader expects at least a portion of the evidence to be significant in solving the case, in the end it proves to be useless. It is Ellroy's inclusion of this irrelevant information that increases the extent to which he is also detective. Rather than using it as a plot device, he has included it for the purposes of accuracy. This section is also largely devoid of emotion, regardless of the significance of the case to Ellroy. The title, ‘The Redhead' is an example of this emotional absence; it provides a superficial physical description of Ellroy's mother with no real clue as to her identity. Ellroy himself, as narrator, is absent. He appears only as a character in the drama, the murdered woman's son. Unlike the last section in the novel, Ellroy does not appear as a detective. The second part of the text, ‘The Kid in the Picture', is autobiographical. It traces Ellroy's personal involvement in crime, such as going on â€Å"righteous burglary†18 runs, and his development as a writer of crime fiction. In this section Ellroy is clearly writer rather than detective. This is made even more evident as he mentions novels written by him during this period, such as L. A. Confidential – which he describes as a novel â€Å"all about me and L. A. crime†19. The third part of the novel, ‘Stoner', introduces the reader to the detective Bill Stoner, the man who will eventually aid Ellroy in the search for his mother's killer. This section is a biography of Stoner's life and cases as a homicide and later as an unsolved crime detective. Ellroy himself is again absent from this section. As a writer he would had to have investigated the events in Stoner's life that are mentioned here. Thus, in writing this section Ellroy has had to, in effect, engage in detection. The other way in which Ellroy could be seen to also be a detective in this part is the language he employs. Much of the information we are given reads as would a police report. As Blue in New York Trilogy is accustomed to writing reports in which â€Å"action holds forth over interpretation†20, we see Ellroy writing in the same manner. This can be seen in the following extract, The Soto guys let her in. Karen verbally attacked John's common-law wife and ran out of the apartment. The wife chased her. They traded insults on the sidewalk until 2:00 in the morning. John Soto ran down. He made his wife go upstairs. The whole of this section is written in the same manner. In contrast to In Cold Blood there is no emotion or interpretation, only facts. For this reason, as Ellroy's novel also deals with true crime, it could be said that Ellroy is a detective to a greater extent than Capote because he sticks more rigidly to the facts. The fact that the reader finishes this novel with a sense of dissatisfaction (as the case is not solved) could also add credence to this idea. This is because as a self-consciously literary exercise, rather than accurate detection, In Cold Blood manages to create a sense of suspense even though the reader knows who has been killed and who committed the crime. Ellroy instead recounts facts as they were rather than attempting to satisfy readers' expectations. Conversely, if we are talking about conventional detective literature, we could say that Ellroy is less of a detective (in the traditional manner) for the very reason that he fails to solve the crime, thereby failing to restore social order. The final section, ‘Geneva Hilliker', is that in which Ellroy is most evidently a detective as well as writer. This section of the novel details Ellroy's own investigation. It follows his collation of evidence, false leads followed and the final (if unsatisfying) resolution to Ellroy's story. Even if the reader does not find out who killed Geneva Hilliker, they, as Ellroy does, find out about her and her life. For Ellroy this provides some closure, as we would expect from a crime novel. It is not conventional to the genre but does resolve some of the questions Ellroy hoped to answer when he embarked on the investigation, thus consolidating his position as detective (however temporarily). In each of these novels, writers have to a considerable extent also been detectives. It is difficult to determine whether this is truer in any of the texts than in the others due to the different ways in which this has been the case. In My Dark Places and In Cold Blood, the authors of the novels have also carried out acts of detection in the research carried out for those novels. In New York Trilogy we see characters that happen to be either writers or detectives exchanging these roles. It may be said that any author is to some extent a detective, whether they are researching a factual book, or writing a fictional novel in order to discover something about the world in which they live. As Quinn believes, â€Å"the writer and detective are interchangeable†21.

Lets Party!

Lets Party! Lets Party! Lets Party! By Maeve Maddox From a reader comes the question: Could you cover the term carousing and how to use it correctly, along with other party-related terms? Thanks! Carousing suggests noisy, drunken celebration. People leaving bars singing and shouting can be said to be carousing. Examples: The neighbors caroused into the early morning hours. Jack and his friends were carousing in Florida when the accident occurred. The word comes from Middle French carousser drink, quaff, swill. Swill, as a verb, suggests piggish over-indulgence: He swilled one drink after another. Here are some other expressions, some of them euphemisms, for partying in the sense of over-indulging in drink or other mood-enhancers. celebrate party party down rave it up make merry paint the town (paint the town red) whoop it up let your hair down live it up have a ball have a wild time have an orgy (connotes sexual indulgence as well as inebriation) who live at her mansion, Ekeby Manor, and work in her iron mine. These men, the Cavalieri di Ekebu, are certainly a carousing bunch of good-for-nothings. But Giosta joins them, and through various plot contrivances everyone is redeemed (www.nytimes.com) of marches and parties that can easily overwhelm even the most extroverted among us. But there are plenty of ways to celebrate Pride away from some of the weekend’s most crowded events - including Ms. Minogue’s Sunday appearance a (www.nytimes.com) national Democrats have celebrated the President Trump-inspired surge of activist energy coursing through the party in their efforts to take control of the House, many of those same leaders have moved to tame that energy, from Co (www.nytimes.com) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and ExpressionsHang, Hung, Hanged50 Tips on How to Write Good

ICYMI, in Case You Missed It

ICYMI, in Case You Missed It ICYMI, in Case You Missed It ICYMI, in Case You Missed It By Mark Nichol Apparently, I missed it: Ten years ago, the initialism ICYMI entered the social media lexicon by way of Twitter. Like BTW, IMO, IIRC, and others, it’s employed as an entrà ©e to a discussion; ICYMI signals to you that the writer is going to provide context by referring to something you may not have read or heard about before. But I wasn’t aware of the initialism itself until I recently stumbled across it in an online article. I’ve somehow managed to get by without using it and most other examples of online shorthand, including two of the earliest specimens of the form: LOL and ROTFL (and the latter’s more effusive variation, ROTFLMAO). That’s because I’m not a twit- er, not a Twitter user- and I don’t use LOL-speak in text or email messages. But many people do lean heavily on such usage, though some of these condensed expressions, like ICYMI, are less prevalent than others. That means IAS: It’s a shibboleth. ICYDK, a shibboleth (in its original sense) is a word whose pronunciation by someone marks that person as an insider or an outsider; by extension, one’s very use of the word identifies one’s place within or outside of a social group. BTW, the meaning has also loosened up to refer to any behavior or custom that may, intentionally or otherwise, serve this function. (IIRC, the use of this odd-looking, odd-sounding word, which refers to the part of a plant from which grain grows, stems from a biblical tale of how one Hebrew tribe distinguished members of another tribe by how members of the latter group pronounced it differently than the members of the first tribe.) Our culture is replete with shibboleths, from slang and jargon to modes of dress and other visual cues about one’s self-identification (and one’s desire to belong). Initialisms that serve as abbreviations for standard phrases are part of the game: If you use them, you assume that the recipients of your written communication know what they mean. Anyone who doesn’t is L7 and either doesn’t belong on your blog or had better step up their game if they want to hang with the cool kids. That’s the danger of using language that is obtusely insular: Do you really want to exclude readers who may need a little hand-holding? If you’re a publisher, whether of a quirky little blog or of a book publishing company of international scope, that’s a choice you make- a choice that will affect the future of your enterprise. So, when you write, or commission others to write for you, consciously make a choice about how inclusive or exclusive the writing style is. I readily admit that I had to look up ICYMI (â€Å"in case you missed it,† in case you missed it). And though I was already familiar with many such initialisms, it’s not the only one I was unacquainted with before I checked out an online glossary of terms of this type. So, in a hand-holding spirit, here are translations of the other initialisms I have used in this post: BTW: by the way ICYDK: in case you didn’t know IIRC: if I recall/remember correctly IMO: in my opinion (IMHO- â€Å"in my humble opinion†- is a variation) LOL: laugh out loud ROTFL(MAO): roll on the floor laughing (my ass off) L7, BTW, predates the Internet: It represents the thumb and forefinger of each hand extended at a 90-degree angle (as if to simulate a gun) and held fingertip to fingertip with one hand reversed to form a rough square. An L7 is, therefore, a square, or a conventional or uncool person. This post by a fellow DailyWritingTips.com contributor lists some of the many other Internet initialisms. (An initialism, FWIW, is an abbreviation that, unlike an acronym, is pronounced as a series of letters, not as a word.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Based in" and "based out of"50 Latin Phrases You Should Know10 Functions of the Comma

Design a multi-story reinforced concrete office building Essay

Design a multi-story reinforced concrete office building - Essay Example The building is to consist of a 30 people meeting suite/conference, a restaurant, different sizes common room on the 3 floors of the building. Ground floor will consist of, conference room, restaurant, common room and all services associated. The remaining unused floor is aimed for facilities of leisure. 3.0 General Approach The general approach taken is to obtain the architecture of an office building:- Acquiring design of an office architecture of a multi-storey building basically adopted in the construction design (Alheyad, 2008). . Structural system establishment of the floors from the ground to first, second and third floor Foundation type, column design and system of resisting wind will be affected by taking into consideration the architectural drawings 4.0 Requirements for design Client’s requirements: The ground floor is to have: a reception, conference/meeting rooms, common room and entertainment room, a restaurant, and associated services. The remainder of the floor is to be occupied by the swimming pool. The main building is to include a small scale conference/meeting suite of a maximum 30 persons, a restaurant, a common room, as well as lodging. The minimum clear height for the ground floor is set to be3.0 m. The minimum spacing of vertical structural elements within the ground floor is to be 6.0 m. Access to bedrooms at the 1st and 2nd floor and the 3rd floor is by lifts or staircases located at the centre and end of the floors. The 1st and 2nd floor are different size offices with central access corridors. The floor upon completion will have a soffit height at the 1st and the 2nd floor of a minimum of 3.0 m in the floors and 3.6m in corridors, in addition to services allowance. All servicing plant including water tanks, heating boilers and lift mechanisms are to be located on top of the stair/lift towers at the ends of the building. Car parking of 450m^2is to be set near the hostel at ground level over an area of approximately 450 m2. There is need for allowance for future adjustments in demand for different types of services. This is achieved through structural arrangement not compromising the ability to adjust the width and mix of room compartments, though the central corridor arrangement will not be altered as per the client decision. A fire resistance period of 2hrs is to be put in the building. The building is to be exposed to XC-1 environment. Building requirements analysis The two-hour fire resistance requirement is vital in for the structural elements design of the building. According to Euro code 2, for two-hour fire resistance, the minimum width of a beam is 200 mm. The XC-1 environment that the building is exposed to implies the structure is always exposed to water or is dry. To attain this condition a minimum cement 240 kg/m3 for exposure to XC-1 together with a ratio of 0.07 environmental conditions. The set minimum cover for XC-1 environment is cmin = 15 m .This is calculated using the equation Cnom = Cm in + ?C, where Cnom is the nominal cover. (Eurocode 2). 5.0 Structural elements These are framing elements used to transfer the loads from the building to