JKL International plc. International Human Resource Essay Example for Free

JKL International plc. International Human Resource Essay INTRODUCTION With the trend of globalisation, the number of multinational companies is constantly increasing as well as expatriates (Business Recorder, 2011). Expatriate management now is an essential issue of human resource department because it takes a large amount of budget from the corporation. It is inevitable for expatriates to face culture barriers in subsidiaries because of unique national cultures in all countries over the world. National culture is cultural experiences, beliefs, learned behaviour patterns, and values shared by citizens of the same nation (Neale _et al_, 2006, p. 26). A national culture will significantly affect any employee working in firms and furthermore, national culture will influence the management framework in a company as well accompanied with organisational culture so that cross culture management is helpful not only for the supervisors decisions but also for employees especially for expatriates (Chen, 2006, p. 2). In the case study of JKL, it showed a range of problems in their expatriates which related national cultures and JKL will implement a British managerial system into its Russian subsidiary. This essay will first examine the problems and issues in managing expatriates in JKL and then evaluate the proposal from Jim Flinn, the CEO of Zagorski who will apply an entire British managerial system into a Russian subsidiary. ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT (CASE STUDY) JKL is a British pharmaceutical company which was founded in 1925 and it has expanded its business by acquiring other pharmaceutical companies in Malaysia, India, Greece and USA. Recently, JKL has made the largest acquisition of Zagorski, a pharmaceutical company in Russia. At the headquarter of UK, JKL applies a decentralised organisational structure. All managers are required to give their own opinions to avoid some drawbacks of group decision making which is conformity pressure in groups (Robbins and Judge, 2009, p.336). Employees are allowed to propose valuable ideas to manufacture and administrative systems as well. Supervisors will award monetary incentives (one of the physical needs) as motivation to employees and managers (Carrell, Elbert and Hatfield, 2000, p.129) if their initiatives are judged as potential innovations. On the other hand, in subsidiaries, JKL applied localised human resource practices in order to fit local cultural values and legal systems (Dowling, Festing and Engle, 2008, p.217) by keeping local managers with existing  organisational and managerial systems. In past years, those subsidiaries in Malaysia, India and Greece were continually making profits to JKL and JKL also regularly sent managers and specialists to those subsidiaries for expatriation in a period of time. After the acquisition of Zagorski, Dr. Jim Flinn will be the CEO who had spent last three years in the subsidiary of USA. PART ONE: EXPATRIATES MANAGEMENT AND CROSS CULTURE MANAGEMENT IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS INTRODUCTION Culture is a popular topic in literature research and it could be described as a software of the mind (Hofstede, 1991, p. 2) .With the trend of globalisation, managing cultural differences has become an important issue in human resource management of multinational corporations. Misunderstanding may be occurred if culture differences are not well-managed even these colleagues are working in the same organisation (Hall, 1995, p.6). In the case study, seven expatriates of JKL have their own problems and for JKL, there is a high expatriate leaving rate after repatriation (Appendix F). This essay will identify the problem of seven expatriates working in JKL and its subsidiaries and after that, rational proposals of changes will be given to them on the basis of improvements of JKLs human resource department. EXPATRIATES AND ORGANISATION PROBLEMS AND PROPOSALS FOR CHANGES EXPATRIATES In the case study it lists seven expatriates with their problems and in the following essay they will be numbered from A to G. A (RETURNED FROM PENNSYLVANIA, USA) According to the case study, expatriate A was the first expatriate to Pennsylvania because of an attractive salary. The reason of returning is that expatiate A was annoyed about following managers received better compensation packages than him although they were almost doing the same works. The main problems of the human resource department of JKL are rewarding system and lack of correct performance appraisal system. Every employee believes, and most experts believe, that pay and rewards are an important part of an organisations human resource management (Harris, Brewster and Sparrow, 2003, p.91). In fact, the first expatriate to a subsidiary will face loads of difficulties in practical and then try to solve them as a pioneer (Business Wire, 1998). As a result, the first expatriate is deserved to have a better compensation package than followers. As the perspective of organisation, the first expatriate may important to human resource managers because this person can be regarded as a training model of human resource management (Arusha Times, 2009, p.16). On the other hand, because of lacking effective performance appraisal, expatriate A had a lower compensation package compared with following managers and that may be the reason of the compensation package of expatriate A was retain unvarying for a long time as well. Expatriates sometimes will feel unfair if performance evaluate system is not effective enough because insufficient performance appraisal system may make expatriates uncertain of their performance especially for those hard working expats (Gordon, 2010, p.56). The possible solution of dealing this problem is establishing an effective reward system by performance appraisal (Performance -related reward system). Performance-related pay (PRP) can change the payment from a rigid structure to a flexible way depended on performance (Harris, Brewster and Sparrow, 2003, p.94). By applying this system, the productivity of employees will be significantly increased and for expatriates, they will be motivated and more  willing to finish their assignments as well (Gielen, Kerkhofs and Van, 2010, p.299). Furthermore, accurate evaluation is also a factor which company need to take account because there is an essential link between motivation and performance appraisal (Carrell, Elbert and Hatfield, 2000, p.315). B (RETURNED FROM INDIA) The reason of expatriate B returning to UK is that his spouse and child had enough of India living and schooling as seemed to be suffering (Case Study). The main problem of the human resource department of JKL is expatriate selection especially in cross-cultural suitability and family. Cross-cultural suitability and family are two of the most crucial criteria of expatriate selection (Dowling, Festing and Engle, 2008, p.120). In culture aspect, Hofstedes national culture model demonstrated the main various between UK and India in power distance and individualism (Appendix A). According to appendix A, the power distance column in India is much higher than it in UK as well as individualism so that there maybe the reason of his spouse had enough of India. In addition, unlike Western Europe civilisation, there is a caste system in India which cause the high power distance and many females in India basically are not regarded as equal to males (Robert _et al_., 2000, pp.654-656). Moreover, individualism in India is much less important than UK so that residents in India intend to work, study and live collectively (South Asian Studies, 2011) that is totally different to UK. As a result, the wife and child keened on back to UK because of the cultural adjustment problem while her husband was still working only with British colleagues (Case Study). The solutions will be provided here are selecting an appropriate candidate as an expatriate and putting more emphasis on cross-cultural suitability and family requirement. Cotemporary, the family element is having more important weight in expatriate selection because of non-working factors and potential influence to working expatriates (Andreason and Aaron, 2008, pp. 386-387). C (RETURNED AFTER A-FIVE-YEAR-ASSIGNMENT AND WOULD BE SENT OUT IMMEDIATELY) The problem of JKL here is about repatriate management and in detail; it will be related to re-entry management. In general, after completing an international assignment, an expatriate will go back to the home country as called re-entry or repatriation (Harzing and Ruysseveldt, 2004, p.337). However, most repatriates will cope with culture shock after they back to the home country. Using an example of India and UK here, although many British work in India as expats for its booming economic and after their finishing assignments, back to UK, they therefore only find they cannot work under a UK context (The International Herald Tribune, 2009). That may be the reason that JKL sent employee C abroad again without hesitation in order to avoid coping with culture shocks (Case Study). It is obviously that JKL need to improve their repatriate management and there are many models here from other multinational companies. JKL could Offer repatriation training, pre-departure training, and re-entry orientation to employees and their families (Liu, 2005, p.129) and expats can increase the awareness of repatriation and decrease the uncertainty after back to the home country . Moreover, JKL could prepare a job vacancy in expatriate management division of human resource management because expatriates have various working experiences in other countries (Berman and Ursula, 2009, pp.80-81). D (NOW WORKING IN GREECE AS AN EXPATRIATE) The major issue of expatriate D in Greece now is adapting the local customs and culture in Greece although JKL had a prepared pre-departure training programme (Case Study). In Hofstedes national culture demonstration of UK and Greece (Appendix B), the uncertainty avoidance is extremely high and no long-term orientation in Greece. In the case of expatriate D, a problem of communication is occurred as well. In theoretical aspect, there four problems in cross-cultural oral communication: semantics, word connotations, tone differences and differences among perceptions (Robbins and Judge, 2009, pp.407-408) and English and Greek are classified to two different language system. As a result, it will take a longer training  programme to completely learn and understand a foreign language. Likewise the body language and gestures in England are slightly different to the world, for example, a V gesture means victory or peace in many countries but in England, if the palm and fingers face inward, it means up yours especially if executed with an upward jerk of the fingers (New York Times, 1996, p.E7). Consequently, post-departure training is a rational option for expatriate D to continually make adjustments into Greek culture. The reason is that post-departure training is suit for expatriates living in a country which has an entirely different culture and it can accelerate accustoming another culture (Managing Training and Development, 2005). E AND F (CONFUSED AFTER REPATRIATE) Expatriate E and F have similar problems after finishing their international assignments because JKL currently have no response about their repatriate (Case Study). The problem of JKL must be repatriate management. The possible solution will be provided here is putting emphasis on repatriate management. In fact, in last ten years, there is an increasing number of multinational corporations focus on repatriate management while in 1990s, only few companies would hold a re-entry discussion. According to a survey in 1997, only 27% firms supposed to hold a discussion about re-entry and it had been improved in 2000s. In 2004, there are 86% companies intended to discuss the re-entry issue (Dowling, Festing and Engle, 2008, p.199). JKL could offer repatriate supports to repatriates such as give interaction to human resource management to increase the sense of loyalty so that the company can avoid losing these experienced employees (Harzing and Ruysseveldt, 2004, pp. 343-344). G (THOUGHT GREEK DISCRIMINATE AGAINST FEMALE) From expatriate Gs case, it seems Greek dislike the idea of female even she is well qualified or experienced (Case Study). Thus, for JKL, it shall  investigate the culture and even the working environment in Greece. From Hofstedes national culture model, UK and Greece possess almost the same figure in masculinity and Greece actually has a lower masculinity figure than UK (Appendix B). However, the power distance in Greece is much higher than it in UK which means whatever a male or female, their ideas are hardly applied to supervisors as an employee. In Greek working condition, it is surprisingly to find much evidence of discrimination against female. According to an official report written by Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) (2002, pp.13-21), there are approximately 4500 rapes in working communities every year and only 6% are reported to police. Furthermore, Sexual harassment in communities is common in Greece due to no specific legislation of sexual harassment. Those factors may be the reasons of Greek male employees discriminate against female in the working place. In JKLs view, it is a challenge to solve this problem as well, one of the effective ways is sending a male expatriate instead of female employee in Greece to prevent any hidden risks in Greece and make further investigation in Greek subsidiaries. ORGANISATION From the case study, JKL have a high expatriate failure rate (Exceed 46%) in subsidiaries except USA (Appendix F). JKL has paid a low attention on cross culture management because it applies a localised managerial system and most managers in the subsidiaries are from the host countries. In fact, many multicultural corporations which apply localised managerial system have the same issue in manage culture difference (National Centre for Vocational Education Research, 2006, p.1). According to Brunstein (1995, pp. 275-280), a localised managerial system will positively fit the local context and it is easier to bring profit like autonomy units in a shorter of time than centralised management system. However, the drawbacks are employees especially the expatriates from the parent company will probably face a huge  culture shock in the subsidiary if their cultures are totally different. As a result, JKL must release many improvements in human resource department especially in expatriate management field. If JKL continually applies a localised managerial system in acquired firms, it may only have problems on expatriates management. However, once the supervisors intended to transplant the whole management system into a country with entirely different national culture like flag-planting, it definitely will bring a serious impact to the target subsidiary and the worst consequence may like the failure of Japanisation entering UK in 1990s. CONCLUSION The main problem that JKL has is on its international human resource management as a part of managerial system. In the case study, seven expatriate had a range of typical expatriate problems comprising training, expatriate selection and repatriate management. Moreover, 43 per cent of expatriate left JKL after their repatriation and at least 46 per cent of expatriate cannot complete their tour in subsidiaries except USA. In short, those fundamental factors of expatriates problems are totally based on various national cultures that JKL need to take account in its cross culture management. PART TWO: APPRAISE THE DECENTRALISED MANAGERIAL SYSTEMS OF JKL APPLIED IN RUSSIAN AFFILIATE INTRODUCTION Like national cultures, many companies have developed their own organisational culture as well as managerial structure. Organisational structure is important to multinational corporations because it will definitely interact with different national cultures in host countries (Francesco and Gold, 2005, p.236). In the case study, JKL applies a  polycentric control system in Malaysia, India and Greece and decision making authority is awarded to subsidiaries in order to avoid drawbacks on the motivation and political problems in these countries (Stonehouse _et al_, 2004, pp.382-383). As a result, those subsidiaries make profit very shortly (Case Study). This essay will evaluate Jim Flinns proposal who intends to transplant a whole managerial system from JKL headquarter to its Russian affiliate. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF JKLS AND ZAGORSKIS STRUCTURES AND MANAGERIAL SYSTEMS At the headquarter in UK and its affiliate in USA, JKL uses a decentralised management structure and employees will be empowered to make decisions on their own works (Case Study). Currently, many European multinational companies applied decentralised managerial structure and developed an organisational culture called old boys network with high autonomy (Bartlett, Ghoshal and Birkinshaw 2003 pp.342-343). Decentralised structure is one of the most successful management systems in transnational corporations which has experienced a long time modification and has generated many derivative systems. Under this system, diverse standards are made to fit specific manufacturing cases and it will enhance developing new and innovative products (Johnson _et al_, 2008, p. 166). For JKL, it is a brilliant choice because innovation is actually a crucial factor to a pharmaceutical company. Yet, the weak point of this system is hard to implement global business strategies because those subsidiaries are working as autonomies while Zagorski used to apply a centralised structure which renowned for the efficiency of implements business strategies. Furthermore, JKL developed a monitoring system with performance appraisal in headquarter and USA which can significantly motivate employees in working place (Decenzo and Robbins, 1999, pp. 292-294). However, there are a few weaknesses of performance appraisal system. For example, a report from General Electric (GE) which applied performance appraisal system and it found that those employees who received a honest but negative feedback from supervisors would actually not motivated them but decrease the motivation in their work  (Oberg, 2000, p. 64). On the contrast, a centralised structure has a formal bureaucracy system with a tall hierarchy and fixed official duties (Francesco and Gold 2005, pp.240-241). This structure is therefore suit for small or middle-sized companies at the beginning stage for effective control power in strategy implementation (Jeong, 2001, p. 446). One the other hand, the Economist (2004, p.33) found that with the increasing size of firms, a centralised structure will constantly lose the efficiency of decision making process through the complicated bureaucracy system and the employees will get used to receive orders from supervisors instead of expressing their own idea. In addition, there is no performance related rewards in Zagorski because a tall hierarchy management system proposed to make a uniform management system by formalised, vertical and fair control so that regulations are designed to fit every employee as a same unit (Czinkota, Ronkainen and Moffett, 1999, p.712). NATIONAL CULTURE DIFFERENCES JKL used to transplant their management system to its subsidiary in USA and it successful worked. This is the main reason that Jim Flinn, the former manager in US affiliate wants to transplant the system to Russia again. Before making the final decision, it is necessary to analyse the reasons of this success in USA. As main economics in Europe and North America, there are many similarities in the national culture of UK and USA. According to Harris, Moran and Moran (2004, pp.297-298, pp. 437-440), free enterprise, culture affinity, English speaking, private, good manners, aggressive and self-realisation are the common key words of American and British. Moreover, in Hofstedes national culture model (Appendix C), the national culture of USA and UK are almost the same and in uncertainty avoidance column, USA is slightly higher than UK. However, Russia is totally a different country in East Europe. First, employees in Russia are regarded as a kind of cost rather than a resource (Organizational Dynamics, 1999, p.75). Second, beside the language usage, all management decisions are made by supervisors in business context.  Furthermore, Russian basically have a slow time sense and they intend to work collectively (Harris, Moran and Moran, 2004, pp.497-500). In Hofstedes national culture demonstration (Appendix D), Russia has a higher power distances, lower individualism, higher uncertainty avoidance and no long term orientation compared to UK and USA. From a report, Russian firms used to apply a reactor business strategy in order to meet immediate need instead of long term benefits but most of those companies are finally failed (Milles and Snow, 1978, p. 353). RELEVANT CASES After culture analysis, it is showed that there is a huge difference in national culture between Russia and UK. Hence, it is not sure that Jim Flinn will still succeed again in his transplanting programme. Look back at history, in 1990s, Japanisation once became a popular word in UK and Toyota established its manufacturing plant in Derby in 1992 because there was an existing skilled engineering workforce there (The Independent, 1992, p.23). During the early 1990s only about 55000 people were employed by Japanese companies in the UK (The Journal, 1999). Japanisation is a Japanese managerial system with Cost-centred Just in Time System, long term contracts, vertical integration to supplier and low labour turnover rate (Hasegawa, 2001, pp.165-166). However, once Japanese manager attempted to entirely implement this system into British subsidiaries, it was not worked effectively with British employees and many Japanese companies like Nissan finally failed in UK market because Japanese manufacturing method did not fit British economic and culture conditions with collective working method (Procter and Ackroyd, 1998, p. 241, pp.244-245). In Hofstedes national culture model (Appendix E), Japan is a collective, success oriented and long term oriented country with high uncertainty avoidance which is almost an opposite of UK. It is recommended to apply a centralised managerial structure in Russia because many most Russian companies applied a traditional production-oriented culture with strong factory patriotism just like a  typical Soviet traditions (Clarke, 2004, p. 418). In 2003, IKEA opened its first store in Russia and many Swedish worked in IKEA Russia as expatriates. After repatriation, their feedbacks are high power distance in the working place accompanied with rigid centralised management structures (Jonsson, 2008, p.34). Despite the nation culture of Russia possess a high power distance, there are some autonomous states in Russia which has rich unexplored natural resources such as Komi and Sakhalin actually have a more decentralised culture and many Dutch petroleum and pharmaceutical companies had established their affiliates with decentralised management structures in those regions (Condon, and Dauman, 1993, p.31). FORECAST According to the case study, Jim Flinn intends to use a top-down change approach to transplant the managerial structure which may be imposed in a coercive manner (Balogun and Hailey, 2004, p.27). Once Jim Flinn has completely applied the management system that used in the headquarter and USA, the employees in Russian subsidiaries have to cope with a huge culture difference from West Europe. Jim Flinn may draw attention on the success of Dutch pharmaceutical companies in Russia as mentioned before. Thus, in a short term, transition will be a main issue in Russian subsidiary and it probably will take a long time in this process. However, in a long term perspective, the management structure of JKLs headquarter may bring a range of benefits because a decentralised management system is exactly helpful in research and development department although the Russian employees are used to reluctant in changes (Case Study). CONCLUSION The main problem of JKLs Russian affiliate is culture adjustment if Jim Flinn transplants the whole management structure from JKL to Zagorski. In fact, national culture will strongly influence the organisational culture as well as managerial framework of a company. Changing management system in a  subsidiary is not a flag-planting work because of various national cultures involved. In the first part of essay, some expatriates actually have problems on their international assignments in India and Greece. Hence, it can be estimated that, after the transplantation, many local employees working in Russia subsidiaries may have the same problems. Furthermore, many previous cases above are provided which could be used as a reference to Jim Flinn as well. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS This essay examined the problems in managing expatriates in JKL and evaluated the proposal from Jim Flinn who will transplant a British managerial system to a Russian subsidiary. Through these analyses, it is concluded that national culture will influence both expatriates and organisational cultures. It is essential for multinational corporations to have a good command of human resource management because of the large proportion budget of expatriates and efficiency of implementing business strategies. Managerial structure, on the other hand, it cannot be easily changed and sometime it will bring a series negative consequences in real business context because national cultures are involved as well. JKL have to improve its human resource department especially repatriate division and training programme to offer better supports to expatriates and eventually, there is a suggestion to Jim Flinn which is making further investigations on previous cases and local subsidiaries REFERENCE: Andreason and Aaron, W. (2008), Expatriate Adjustment of Spouses and Expatriate Managers: An Integrative Research Review, _International Journal of Management_, 25(2), pp.386-387. Around The World in Eighty Years. Arusha Times (2009), Trends in Management of Human Resource in Civil Service, p.16, 28 March, 2009. Balogun, J. and V. H. Hailey (2004), _Exploring Strategic Change_, p.27. Pearson Education Limited, Essex, England. Bartlett, C., S. Ghoshal and J. Birkinshaw (2003), _Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management_, pp. 342-343, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. Berman, W. and Ursula (2009), International Assignments and the Career Management of Repatriates: The Boundaryless Career Concept, _International Journal of Management_, 26(1), pp.80-81. Brunstein, I. (1995), _Human Resource Management in Western Europe_, pp. 275-280, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany. Business Recorder (2011), Economic Development, 27 February, 2011. Business Wire (1998), Expatriate Resources: Corporate Update, 26 March, 1998. Carrell, R. M., F. N. Elbert and D. R. Hatfield (2000), _Human Resource Management, Strategies for Managing a Diverse and Global Workforce, Six Edition_, p.129, p.315, The Dryden Press, Harcourt College Publisher, Orlando, USA. Chen, Y. R., (2006), _Research on Managing Groups and Teams_, p.2, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK. Clarke, S. (2004), A Very Soviet Form of Capitalism? The Management of Holding Companies in Russia, _Post-Communist Economies_, 16(4), p.418. Condon, J. and J. Dauman (1993), New realities and prospects for Western business in the new Russia of decentralising regions, _European Business Journal_, 5(2), p.31. Czinkota, M. R., I. A. Ronkainen and M., H., Moffett (1999), International Business, pp. 712, The Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Orlando, USA. Decenzo, D. A. and S. P. Robbins (1999_), Human Resource Management, Sixth Edition_, pp.292-294, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, USA. Dowling, P. J., M. Festing and A. D. Engle (2008), _International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context_, p.120, p. 199, p.217, South-Western, London, UK. Economist (2004), Centralised intelligence?, 373(8405), p.33. Francesco, A. M. and B. A. Gold (2005), _International Organisational Behaviour, Second Edition_, p. 236, pp. 240-241, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA. Gielen, A. C., M. J. M. Kerkhofs and O. J. C. Van (2010), How performance related pay affects productivity and employment, _Journal of Population Economics_, 23(1), p.299. Gordon, K. (2010), What Employees Want, _Campaign_, p.56, 1 March, 2010. Greek Helsinki Monitor and the World Organisation against Torture (2002), _Violence against Women_ _In Greece_, pp.13-21, July, 2002. Harris, H., C. Brewster and P. Sparrow (2003), _International Human Resource Management_, p. 91, p.94, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, CIPD House, London. UK. Hall, W. (1995), _Managing Cultures, Making Strategic Relationships Work_, p.6, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., West Sussex, England. Harris, P. R., R. T. Moran and S. V. Moran (2004), _Managing Cultural Differences, Sixth Edition_, pp.297-298, pp. 437-440, pp. 497-500, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Harzing, A. W. and J. V. Ruysseveldt (2004), _International Human Resource Management_, p. 337, pp. 343-344, SAGE Publications Ltd., London, UK. Hasegawa, H. (2001), Globalization and Japanisation: implications for human resource management in Britain, _Japan Forum_, 13(2), pp.165-166. Hofstede, G. (1991), _Cultures and Organisations_, p.2, McGraw Hill, Maidenhead, UK. Hofstede, G. (1992a), National Culture of UK and India. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom-and- india.html. Accessed 20 December 2011. Hofstede, G. (1992b), National Culture of UK and Greece. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom-and-greece.html. Accessed 20 December 2011. Hofstede, G. (1992c), National Culture of UK and USA. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom-and- united-states.html. Accessed 20 December 2011. Hofstede, G. (1992d), National Culture of UK and Russia. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom-and- russia.html. Accessed 20 December 2011. Hofstede, G. (1992e), National Culture of UK and Russia. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom-and- japan.html. Accessed 21 December 2011. Jeong, J. (2001), Pursuing centralised bargaining in an era of decentralisation?, _Industrial Relations Journal_, 32(1), p. 446. Johnson, Gerry, Scholes and Kevan (2008), _Exploring Corporate Strategy (8th edition)_, p. 166, Harlow, Essex: Financial Times and Prentice Hall, London, UK. Joneeon, A. (2008), a transnational perspective on knowledge sharing: lessons learned from IKEAs entry into Russia, China and Japan, _International Review of Retail, Distribution Consumer Research_, 18(1), p. 34. Liu, C. H. (2009), The Effects of Repatriates Overseas Assignment Experiences on Turnover Intentions, _Journal of American Academy of Business_, 7(1), p.129. Managing Training and Development (2005), Culture Training How to Prepare Your Expatriate Employees for Cross-Cultural Work Environments, p.2, February, 2005. Milles, R. and C. Snow (1978), Organisational Strategy, Structure and Process, p.353, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA. Neale, M. A., M. A. Elizabeth and Y. R. Chen (2006), _National culture and groups_, p. 26, Bingley, U.K National Centre for Vocational Education Research (2006), Managing CultureMaking Culture Work for You, p.1, March, 2006. New York Times (1996), Whats A-O-K in the U.S.A. Is Lewd and Worthless Beyond, p. E7, 18 August, 1996. Oberg, W. (2000), Make performance appraisal relevant, _Harvard Business Review_, 50(1), p. 64. Organizational Dynamics (1999), Doing Business in Russia: Effective Human Resource Management Practices for Foreign Firms in Russia, 28(2), p.75. Procter, S. and S. Ackroyd (1998), Against Japanisatoin: Understanding the Reorganisation of British Manufacturing, _Employee Relations_, 20(3), p.241, pp. 244-245. Robbins, S. P. and T. A. Judge (2009), _Organizational Behavior, Pearson International Edition_, p.336, pp. 407-408, Pearson Education Inc., New Jersey, USA. Robert, C., Probst, T. M., Martocchio, J. J., Drasgow, F. and J. J. Lawler (2000), Empowerment and continuous improvement in the United States, Mexico, Poland, and India: predicting fit on the basis of the dimensions of power distance and individualism, _The Journal of Applied Psychology_, 85(5), pp.654-656. South Asian Studies (2011), The State, Media, Religion and Emerging Challenges in India, 26 (1), July, 2011. Stonehouse, G., D. Campbell, J. Hamill and T. Purdie (2004), _Global and Transnational Business, Strategy and Management_, pp. 382-383, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, West Sussex, England. The Independent (1992), Britains motor parts suppliers learn Japanese, p.23, 8 June, 1992. The International Herald Tribune (2009), A Reverse Culture Shock in India: Workers Returning Home Find It Hard to Cope with Clash between Two Worlds, p.10, 28 November, 2009. The Journal (1999), Japanese bring 150 more jobs  £5m investment in Tees Valley, p.26, 8 September, 1999.

Meccan people Essay Example for Free

Meccan people Essay Zoroaster’s miracles are often very similar to Jesus’s, although most of Zoroaster’s miracles focus on healing others, rather than displaying power. He often healed people of blindness, lameness, and other physical conditions suffered by those he encountered. One particular miracle proved to be very significant for Zoroaster’s role as a prophet. When called before a king of a neighboring country, Zoroaster was asked to cure the king’s horse, which had fallen lame. Zoroaster agreed to perform this miracle if the king agreed to convert to Zoroastrianism and provide his army to protect the faith. The king agreed to this provision, as long as Zoroaster was able to assure the king where he would reside spiritually after his demise. According to the Zoroastrianism followers, Zoroaster healed the horse and the king was immediately visited by a group of angels who showed him the true way of Zoroastrianism. The king converted and spent his life protect the faith of Zoroastrianism (Quinn 116-118). Unlike Jesus and Zoroaster, Muhammad never performed any miracles. He instructed his followers that such displays were counterproductive to understanding the true nature of God. He also suggested that the vast majority of miracles performed by numerous other prophets, other than Jesus, were artificial productions (Fatih 156). The three prophets are also said to have had similar instances were each was tempted by the Devil. Zoroaster met Ahriman, or the Devil, while having a vision where he traveled both to heaven and to hell. He was tempted many times to renounce his faith in Ahura Mazda, but Zoroaster resisted this temptation through his prayers to Ahura Mazda (Hambartsumian 34). Jesus was tempted three times by the Devil after having fasted in the desert for forty days. For the first temptation of Jesus, the Devil told him, â€Å"If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread† (NIV, Matt. 4:3). Jesus was also tempted to jump for the roof of the temple, and, finally, to worship the Devil. After each of these temptations, Jesus rebuked the Devil and reaffirmed his commitment to God (Anwar 155). The temptation of Jesus and Zoroaster are well established traditions within the literature of both religions. While there are literary records of Muhammad’s temptation, most Muslims refuse to acknowledge these reports as being true. According to these accounts, known as the Satanic Verses, Muhammad was â€Å"tempted to acknowledge another polytheistic religion in order to convert the Meccan people† (Najmi 12). The account given by the Satanic Verses states that Muhammad succumbed to this temptation and acknowledged the polytheistic deities. The angel Gabriel then appeared to Muhammad and chastised him for giving in to such temptation. Muhammad then recanted his statement and asked for forgiveness. Various reasons have been given to deny this account. Prominently, most Muslims agree these verses were added by unhappy Meccans to discredit the message of Muhammad (Anwar 156-157). Another substantial dissimilarity between these religious figures is their use of the word â€Å"prophet† went describing their own actions. Muhammad was the only figure to actively refer to himself as a prophet. He believed that he was a continuation of a long line of prophets that included Abraham, Moses, and Christ. Even though Muhammad elevated himself to the standing of prophet, he never considered himself divine in any way (Beki 209). Jesus, on the other hand, never considered himself a prophet, but promoted himself as being a combination of divinity and mortal and as being the one true son of God (Eve 44). Zoroaster refused to refer to himself as even a prophet. He claimed that he has a learned man who had been able to achieve some connection with God, and was used, by God, to relay His messages (Quinn 115). While each of these religious figures is held as prophets or deities in their own religion, their ultimate successes and failures seem entirely unrelated to their similar experiences in life. Muhammad successfully united his followers in order to conquer Mecca and convert its people. Jesus was thought to have been crucified by the Roman government, and then resurrected as a fulfillment of Judaic prophecy (Anwar 158). Zoroaster was murder in his old age by a disgruntle member of an opposing religion (Quinn 153). Ultimately, Christianity and Islam, the religions inspired by the lives of Jesus and Muhammad, succeeded in attracting vast masses of people to the teachings of their leaders. The two religions globally dominate as two of the world’s largest organized religion. Zoroaster, on the other hand, has gradually faded throughout history. The religion is currently only practiced by a few devout followers in Iran and Northern India. Although it has seen a slight resurgence in recent years, Zoroastrianism will probably never reach the level of popularity enjoyed by both Islam and Christianity (Choksy 430).. All three religions have many characteristics in common, but these similarities have not been enough to create a similar success for each of these religions. Works Cited: Anwar, Etin. â€Å"Prophetic Models in Islamic and Christian Spirituality. † Islam Christian- Muslim Relations 15. 1 (2004): 142-162. Beki, Niyazi. â€Å"The Concept of Revelation According to the Bible and the Quran. † Journal of Academic Studies 7. 26 (2005): 191-210. Choksy, Jamsheed K. â€Å"Hagiography and Monotheism is History: Doctrinal Encouncters Between Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity. † Islam Christian-Muslim Relations 14. 4 (2003): 407-432.

Mulveys Theory Of The Male Gaze |Critique

Mulveys Theory Of The Male Gaze |Critique In masochism, as in the infantile stage of the helpless dependence that marks its genesis, pleasure does not involve mastery of the female but submission to her. This pleasure applies to the infant, the masochist, and the film spectator as well. (Studlar 782) How does Studlars work on fetishism and masochism challenge Mulveys theory of the male gaze? Discuss in relation to films from classical era and contemporary cinema. Refer to film screened in this unit and films of your choice, with attention to mise-en-scene and narrative structure. Studlar challenges Mulveys theories on the male scopic pleasure as the bearer of control. Studlar also challenges Mulveys statement of the female as lack and instead suggests a sense of power from this lack; the female as a film complexity, being not necessarily the subject of the male gaze but rather the holder of the gaze. Firsly, I will discuss Mulveys theories and Studlars challenges, and compare and contrast the two. After discussing both theories in relation to one another, I will then call on examples from classic and contemporary cinema to justify my arguments and discuss the trends of Contemporary cinema with regards to psychoanalysis. In article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey argues in mainstream cinema, in relation to patriarchal society, women are being portrayed as an erotic object to be looked at in movies as well as an attraction to male gaze. Her theory explains that women are playing passive part in movies while men hold the strong and active character and play as a prominent subject. Therefore, Mulveys theory on male gaze is determined as a sexual pleasure in which male are able to obtain by looking at portrayal of female. (Laura Mulvey (1975). Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in Gerald Mast, Cohen Baudry (eds). Film Theory: An Introduction. 5th ed, pp 746-757. Objectification of women in classical era and contemporary cinema as erotic and sensual figure is still applied. Mulveys work in this theory has been supported by feminist theory; it can be seen in the following quote from literary critics standpoint: In 1975, when Laura Mulvey published her groundbreaking study of woman in film her position as a signifier for the male other, as a projection of male fantasies, and, finally, as a bearer not maker of meaning she gave new shape and direction to the interdisciplinary field of womens studies, motivating scholars in many subject areas to examine and, most interestingly, re-examine the political, cultural, social and literary achievements of women through the ages (Despotopoulou, 569). (Despotopoulou, Anna. Fannys Gaze and the Construction of Feminine Space in Mansfield Park Modern Language Review 99 (2004): 569-583) Films such as The War of the Worlds (1953), The Thing from Another World (1951) give close to no female role/s who take part in advancing the narrative. But that is not to say that all films painted women as an indispensible element of spectacle (Mulvey 750). For example the 1939 film The Women by Metroà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Goldwyn Mayer Productions is notable for its allà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ female cast. Although the content of the film could be argued, this is a clear example of women controlling the film narrative. Furthermore, her theory of male gaze can be seen in film Fifth Element. The character Leelo which is played by Milla Jovovich in the movie portrayed her as passive object erotic to be looked at. In mise-en-scene and narrative term, it can be shown that her character was touted as the Supreme Being and regarded as the ultimate weapon to counteract the attack from the evil being harming the world. However, the Supreme Being is also subjected to objectification with repetitive display of her breasts, body and being gazed by the casts (which, in effect, also enables its spectators to look at her in an erotic manner). While she is labeled as the Supreme Being, she certainly looked inferior, weak and vulnerable to Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis). Korben was the one who rescued her after being shot in the air duct. Mulvey argues women are regarded as fetishistic display for male viewers pleasure and the spectators embodies the subject (the active role), while the narrative film stands for the object which is the passive position (Carolina Hein, 2006, p. 4). Her concept of to-be-looked-at-ness, exemplifies that women were simply shown on screen in classic Hollywood in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argues that the distinctive key protagonist within a classic Hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men. In classical era as well as contemporary cinema, women are generally passive characters who looked to males for protection and rescue. Gaylyn Studlars theory of Masochism and Perverse Pleasure refutes Laura Mulveys theory of Male gaze. According to Studlar, the viewing pleasure are transmitted to the spectators is derived from total submission to the female. Her theory believes that by using masochism, women are portrayed as idealized power figure, which are both dangerous and comforting, not such as discarded object (Studlar, 1985) (Gaylyn Studlar (1985) Masochism and the perverse pleasure of the Cinema, in Gerald Mast, Cohen Baudry (eds). Film Theory: An Introduction. 5th ed, pp 773-790). In my point of view, Studlars theory of masochism enables bisexual dualism. It means this theory creates an ability of freeing up gendered subjectivity to spectators in mainstream cinema. It technically enables viewer to see both genders, male and female as powerful object. Moreover, this theory confirms the conventional perception of womens incapacity, means that it can influence and change peoples perspective towards woman as being lack and weak. In classical era, movie like Alien (1979) exemplifies women as powerful character. The female character Ellen Ripley leads strong, independent and professional women character. In Alien, Ripley is the strong female character who makes active judgments and survives what is trying to kill her. The male characters activity is largely passive most die quickly, others wait for her command. It is Ripley who makes the plan to defeat the alien which works, while the powerless male Captain makes bad judgments as his unsure plan fails. (Movie analysis: Women in horror films: Ripley, the alien, and the monstrous feminine by Daniel Stephen, http://www.helium.com/items/132886-women-in-horror-films-ripley-the-alien-and-the-monstrous-feminine). Studlars theory in submissive masculine look term, the masculinity factors which are men supposed to portray is symbolized through women character. Instead of being passive character in the movie, Ripley plays as an active and protagonist character which is the opposite of Mulveys theory of male gaze. Ripley holds the gaze from the beginning of the movie until the end of it. One of the final scenes of the film takes place in an escape pod where singleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ handed, Ripley manages to overpower the invading alien. Ripley is shown as a character that is able to complete tasks that men were otherwise unable to complete. Likewise, Aliens representation of feminism shows women as alien to themselves (Jeffords 74). Jeffords, Susan. Battle of the Big Mommas: Feminism and Alienation. Journal of American Culture 10.3 (1987): 74. This portrayal of women releases the character of Ripley and eventually feminism. Ripley is shown as a Company Woman, reaffirmed at the end of the film when despite The Companys betrayal of herself and the entire crew, [she] disposes of the alien only to sit down and complete her captains log (Newton 297). Newton, Judith. Feminism and Anxiety in Alien in Symposium on Alien. Science Fiction Studies 7. Ed. Charles Elkins. 1980. 297. Her place in this Company Creates the questioning of her position in a patriarchal society. Another example of Studlars theory in contemporary cinema is Disney movie called Mulan.

How does war affect relationships in Regeneration? Essay example -- En

How does war affect relationships in Regeneration? "Regeneration" is a novel that combines fact and fiction to describe a soldier's experiences of the war. It does this successfully through a series of relationships, not only of a sexual nature but also relationships between Rivers and his patients, which reveal how difficult it is for rivers to form a trust relationship with patients and how stressful their revelations are on him. There are also examples of friendships, between Sassoon and Graves, and love, in particular between Priors and Sarah. One of the first relationships we come across is the doctor - patient relationship between Sassoon and Rivers. Evidence from their first conversations seems to suggest that at least on an intellectual level they are equal. Sassoon indicates his intelligence when Rivers questions him about his declaration, he is quite aware of how it sounds for a "Second Lieutenant" to say "The war must stop" however he doesn't see how any war can "justify this level of slaughter." Sassoon appears defensive at times during the first conversation, particularly when Rivers refers to Sassoon throwing his medal in the river as "agony." He appears to snap back almost immediately "No agony is lying in a shell hole with your legs shot off" indicating his bitterness towards civilian ignorance at emotional and physical suffering for soldiers in the war. At this point Rivers, indicating the honesty of the relationship, makes his opinion on Sassoon's state of mind clear and tells him that he seems to have "very powerful anti-war neurosis" and that it is his duty to "try and change that." This honesty is essential in the relationship between Rivers and his patients. At this time in the n... ...ctant at first she agrees, as "the thought of being collected from her lodgings by an officer was too much for her." There is irony here, as she complains about the class system and wants it to change, however she is thrilled at the thought of being courted by an officer. In the novel "Regeneration" the portrayal of the different relationships gives us an idea of the effect war had on, not only the soldiers but also the people back home, in particular the women. Which as Prior pointed out in the novel "seemed to have changed during the war." These relationships can also give us an idea of how the soldiers felt connected and became comrades, but also of how, after being at war for so long, the soldiers began to hate the civilians back home for being so ignorant as to what was actually happening and being to concerned with trivial things in everyday life.

IDA B. WELLS-BARNETT Essay -- Essays Papers

IDA B. WELLS-BARNETT Ida B. Wells-Barnett is first among many. She was a civil servant and fought injustices amongst the black community. Ida was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862. There she witnessed the Civil War and the dramatic changes it brought to her life. During Reconstruction she found possession of previously unheard-of freedoms, her civil rights. The most dramatic change was the institution of schools for the education of blacks. The establishment of the Freedman’s Aid Society founded by Shaw University, later renamed Rust College, and was where Ida attended classes. Ida possessed an interest in school, and she quickly worked her way through every book in the Rust College library. At an early age she demonstrated leadership and a strong liking to journalism. Growing up in Memphis opened opportunities for Ida to further her education at LeMoyne Institution and Fisk University. Her impact among the Negro community was first felt in May 1884. On her way to work, I da boarded her usual seat on the first-class ladies coach, she was asked by the conductor to move to the forward car, which was a smoker. Wells refused, got off the train, returned to Memphis, and filed suit against the Chesapeake, Ohio, and SouthWestern Railroad Company for refusing to provide her the first-class accommodations for which she paid. In December, 1884 the Memphis Circuit Court ruled in her favor and awarded her $500 in damages. The reaction within the white community was expressed in the Memphis Appeal, â€Å"Darky Damsel Gets Damages† (Klots, 32) Although her success was short lived when the company appealed the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which reversed the decision. Wells-Barnett’s willingness to use the courts to challenge Jim Crow laws was well ahead of her time. Using her forceful pen to write of her experience and outcome soon led her to writing regularly for the black press throughout the country. Ida gained a reputation for fearlessness because of her militant opinions she openly expressed in print. Through her writings she was able to influence the black community, nonetheless educate them and sympathizers of injustices against them. The impact of Ida B. Wells-Barnett was felt within the Negro community through her anti-lynching crusade, journalistic writings, and prominent organizations. With the sharpness of her pen... ...tion. Wells-Barnett was a woman with a strong sense of justice. She was the pioneer of the anti-lynching crusade raising her voice in protest, and writing with a fiery pen. She was direct and possessed strength during a time when this was unheard of by a woman especially a black woman. A reformer of her time, she believed Negroes had to organize themselves and fight for their independence against white oppression. She roused the white South to bitter defense and began the awakening of the conscience of a nation. Through her campaign, writings, and agitation she raised crucial questions about the future of black Americans. Today we as black Americans do not rally against oppression like those that came before us. Gone are the days when we organized together, today we live in a society that does not want to get involved as a whole. What we fail to realize is that there is strength in numbers and that we must not lose sight of the struggles that went on before us that granted our civil rights. Sure, gone are the days of Jim Crow and even though there is not a movement that will define this generation it is important to realize that the fight for equality is never over.

The Manhattan Project Essay -- American History

The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was the code name of the America’s attempt to construct an atomic bomb during World War II. It was named after the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because a lot of it’s earlier research was done in New York City. An atomic bomb is a weapon that uses the energy from a nuclear reaction called Fission for its destruction. The idea that mass could be changed into energy was predicted by Albert Einstein in the earlier part of the 1900’s. John D. Cockcroft and Ernest Walton confirmed this by experiments in 1932. Then in 1938, nuclear fission was discovered by German scientists, and it was feared by many of the U.S. scientists, that Hitler would try to build a fission bomb. Three Hungarian-born physicists, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and Edward Teller asked Albert Einstein to send a letter to Franklin Roosevelt. Compelled by the letter in late 1939, Roosevelt ordered an effort to obtain an atomic weapon before Germany. At first, this program was led by Vannevar Bush, head of the National Defense Research committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Then it came under control of Leslie Groves of the Army Corps of Engineers. Groves quickly bought a site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as a place for processing the Uranium-235 from the more common Uranium-238. Uranium-235 is used because it is fissionable, it releases many neutrons, and does not capture many. However, 99.3% of uranium in nature is the U-238 isotope, and only .7% is the lighter, more â€Å"fissionable† isotope U-235. Next, he gathered and combined research from many East Coast universities under direction of Arthur Compton, at the University of Chicago. He appointed theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer as the director of the weapons laboratory, which was built on an isolated mesa located at Los Alamos, New Mexico. After much work, a porous barrier that could separate the isotopes of uranium was made, and it was installed in the Oak ridge gaseous diffusion plant. In 1945, uranium-235, pure enough for use in a bomb was produce and sent to Los Alamos, where it was made into a gun-type weapon. One small piece of Uranium-235, which was not big enough to hold a chain reaction itself, was fired at another small piece. This was done by means of a explosive charge, inside a cylinder shaped tube, which for... ...he U.S. built thousands of atomic bombs, and different types of smaller of fission weapons. A much more powerful bomb, the Hydrogen Bomb, became the leader of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In general, the Hydrogen Bomb was like an atomic bomb with a Hydrogen fuel. The fuel would fusion (opposite of fission) from the bomb’s fission explosion, which would further strengthen the original fission, causing a much larger chain reaction. The United States was the only nation that had atomic weapons in 1945. Then in 1949, the USSR learned how to make them. Great Britain followed in 1952, France in 1960, the People’s Republic of China in 1964, and India (it was claimed that they were for peaceful purposes only) in 1974. In 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which was signed by the U.S., the USSR, and Britain. It set up precise requirements for any â€Å"non-nuclear† nations that want to build nuclear energy industries. However, several other countries are believed to have some nuclear weapons, like Israel and South Africa. North Korea, Iran , and Pakistan may be on the verge of nuclear discovery. When the Soviet Union broke up it added to risks of the spreading of nuclear power.

Changing Self Essay Essay

How do composers use texts to explore concepts of Changing Self? Discuss ideas and techniques. In Gwen Harwood’s poems Prize-Giving and The Glass Jar, the prescribed text Sky-High, and the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith, the composer have used many varying ideas and techniques to investigate and illustrate concepts of Changing Self effectively. The ideas looked at in Gwen Harwood’s poetry include imagery, retrospect, metaphor, and inversion of the connotation of adjectives. Ideas conveyed in Sky-High include imagery, retrospect, and comparison. The techniques and ideas in White Teeth, to name the most important, are long and erratic chronology, removing characters for a period and the exposing of the least important change are evident in the texts that are compared. In Gwen Harwood’s poem Prize-Giving, the composer has adeptly used imagery to examine and represent the Changing Self evident in this poem. This striking imagery at first portrays an egotistical middle aged man, such as his inurbane behaviour when he â€Å"scowled with violent distaste†. This works in revealing the major change of Eisenbart, in comparing the self-righteous man at the start of the poem, to the awkward and confused man at the end. The imagery used to describe the titian haired girl is also evocative, especially when comparing her supposed insignificance in contrast to Eisenbart, and the affect she has on him. She seems to be nothing but a cheeky, though attractive, schoolgirl: â€Å"one girl sat grinning.† This thought of her insignificance is reinforced when she â€Å"winked at nearby friends†, possibly reinforcing to Eisenbart her immaturity that was earlier established through her audacious behaviour during the opening prayer. However, Eisenbart was flung from his â€Å"calm age and power† merely by a touch of this ‘immature schoolgirl’, indicating a change. This change in the girl’s attitude is reinforced when she changed â€Å"her casual schoolgirl’s for a master’s air†, indicating the power that she has that Eisenbart has not detected thus far. In the text Sky-High by Hannah Robert, the concept of Changing Self is analysed and emphasized through retrospect, apt imagery, and change of language. â€Å"The best climbing tree† indicates the experiences of a child and their joy in everything no matter how small. However, the responsibility in the statement â€Å"it is unlikely the washing line could support me† divulges that the persona is now more responsible, and, it is discovered, also older, revealing a physical change of self. The comparisons in the final stanza show the insight that the persona now has; as seen in â€Å"I was once the curious onlooker, I now write my own semaphore secrets in colourful t-shirts†. It also shows, however, that no matter how much a person changes, that he or she is still the same person, and that they still retain what they were before. The metaphors used in The Glass Jar, and the way in which they are developed and often exaggerated, shows and typifies the change of self that is experienced by the persona, so that greater audiences may understand the experiences of a small child. Only a small child could imagine an ordinary glass jar as a â€Å"monstrance† in which the sun could be caught for the night. This vision of the â€Å"holy commonplace of field and flower† coming to save the boy is lost when he awakes from his nightmares. The religious metaphor is now lost except for the mocking image of the â€Å"resurrected sun† in the final stanza. The inversion of the usual use of adjectives shows the confusion associated with the change of self for the persona, such as the â€Å"malignant ballet†. The novel White Teeth, by Zadie Smith, develops the concept of Changing Self with a long and somewhat inconsistent chronology. All the characters in this novel, which reaches from World War Two to the end of the century, obviously change physically due to this long chronology. However, the retrospect as to how much the characters have changed in other ways is far more potent because of the extensive chronology. The comparison, for example, Josh Chalfen turning away from his family and becoming less of a nerd: he was the kind of guy â€Å"who could measure an eighth with his eyes closed (so fuck you, Millat)†. The original focus of the book on Archie Jones beguiles the reader into thinking that he is the main focus for the book. However, Archie serves  merely as a connection between all the original characters. From these characters the Jones, Iqbal, Chalfen and Bowden families and their stories emerge, and all the adults, in the end, only accentuate the changes that the children (Irie, Millat, Magid, and Josh) undergo, that is, comparing where the children have ended up to what their parents expected of them. The later and extended focus of the novel on Millat Iqbal, who changes in the most radical way out of all the characters, hides the slow and, in the sense that Millat changes, insignificant changes of Irie Jones, but her changes are more symbolic and emotional. The removal of Magid from the story means that his change of self seems sudden, because the persona is taken away at the age of nine years and only returned at the age of seventeen. In the texts Prize-Giving and The Glass Jar by Gwen Harwood, Sky-High by Hannah Robert, and White Teeth by Zadie Smith, ideas and techniques are flaunted in terms of how they are used to display the change of self in the personas. The numerous ideas used in each of the texts, often overlapping to be used in more than one text show the skill of the composers and their flexibility in applying various techniques.