Self Efficacy Among Academically Low And High Achievers

Self Efficacy Among schoolmanianianally Low And high school AchieversThe return take in aims to tax the relationship of heedfulness with self- might among donnishally low and lavishly achievers as authorization and flavour in achieving goals is a good predictor of success. mindfulness is an inherent landed estate of consciousness that differs among individuals for a variety of reasons and that g mount up be changed by individual. The definition of mindfulness points out that it is the sentience that emerges through and through counterbalanceing charge on purpose, in the present moment (Kabat-zinn, 2003). It is considered a capacity available to e preciseone, although individuals differ in their tilt to be mindful (Brown Ryan, 2003)When assimilators bathroom learn to be fully present they can increase the quality of their learning performance by cosmos to a greater extent focused and give out remedy able to deal with focusful situations and through their incre ased learning they can achieve considerably high grades (Langer, 1993). When a student is mindful he/she becomes able to approach learning situations from a revolutionary perspective while drawing upon previously learned material. They can learn the material and be better able to relate it with their previous knowledge (Langer, Hatem, Joss, Howell, 1989)Mindfulness is an element of consciousness that is characterized by a heightened state of aw atomic number 18ness in which an individual is attentive to being in the present moment. This enhanced vigilance to and aw beness of current experience or present reality has been shown to be associated with enhanced self-awareness, self-regulated behaviors, and positive emotional states. (Brown, Kirk Richard, 2003) Attention plays a role in a students tone to achieve high grades if they pay proper attention at the appropriate time. To be in a state of mindfulness in reference to schoolmans we taut conscious awareness in which the in dividual is aware of the background and content of information. Increasing mindful awareness can deepen and broaden the understanding of the context and content of the subjects.Attention is a complex construct and is related to a variety of cognitive processes (e.g., perception, memory, protrudening, and speech) (Mirsky, Fantie, Tatman, 1995 Zimmerman Leclercq, 2002). Be engender of its centrality in the education it is of substantive importance. The individual be in possession of tendency and opportunity to continually process information from various perspectives and it helps in increasing levels of creativity and knowledge. When students use mindfulness in their learning processes they utilize creativity, experience cognitive flexibility and are thus able to better use information and retain that information for a longer period of time (Langer, Hatem, Joss, Howell, 1989 Thornton McEntee, 1995). More new-made studies in education have revealed a sharp increase in memory a nd creativity for mindful treatment groups (Langer, 1997).It has been observed that mindful learners are more than mentally present and active (Langer, 1993). They plan what they impart learn and the strategies they will use and they control and self-regulate their learning. As readers, they use strategies to organize, elaborate on, and evaluate text (Paris, Wasik, Turner, 1996). They integrate what they learn in school texts with their personal experiences to actively construct their own meanings and ideas and to use them in flexible slipway.For the reasons that they are more constructive and give meanings to globe according to their understandings thats why they are considered to be more real and are original thinkers. More mindful individuals are generally perceived as being more genuine than less mindful individuals and this has been shown to increase positive effect (Langer Moldoveneu 2000).Attention is the nameation of better retention of information and better cogniti ve proceeds in our bread and butter style (Cooley Morris, 1990), where multi lineing has become the norm. Children also are multi working classing as they face information overload due to watching hours of television, playing video games, surfing on internet, doing their home works and preparing for their exams etc. Developmental look for indicates that baby birdrens attention to special(prenominal) information depends upon the importance they place on the information and that children in later stages of information are better able to logically control their chooseive attention (Wright Vliestra, 1975).In a study of mindfulness put on by Richart and Perkins (2000) in the classroom and took an example of a math lesson from a traditionalistic didactic instructional classroom and a mindful constructivist classroom where students had more freedom to explore answers on their own. Second grade students were given the following problem There are 26 sheep and 10 goats on a ship. How old is the captain? 88% of the students from the traditional classroom setting answered 36. Not one student commented that the question did not make any sense although they averaged in the 85th percentile on the tests. In contrast nearly a third of the students in the more mindful constructivist classroom questioned the sense of problem. (p29)In order for children to learn in the classroom they must(prenominal) be able to focus their attention. Mindfulness affects the grades in such a way that if the student present in the class is not paying attention to the lecture being delivered, then the understanding of the syllabus will not be as easy as it wouldve been had he/she been paying attention and then clearing fancys and asking questions to understand the confusions whence mindfulness is necessary for achieving academic skills. The more mindful the student in the class, the better is his achievement.In one of the studies by Langer, Hefferman, Keiester, (1988) mindfulness i n the workplace showed increase in creativity, fall downd burnout and greater enjoyment of tasks Researchers in social psychology have also found benefits of mindfulness in a range of areas including increased creativity, increased productivity in the workplace (Park, 1990), increased attention (Langer Bodner, 1995), greater liking of a task (Langer et al., in press), and use a lot of effective learning methods (Langer Piper, 1987 Langer, Hatem, Joss, Howell, 1989 Langer, 1997).Education is an area that often bes to prosper in mindlessness. Traditionally, children have been taught to memorize course content and view what is being offered in the classroom from the t distributivelyers perspective. Children need to make sense of what they learn instead of solely memorizing facts. In the educational context other mindful manipulations have involved asking students to make material more meaningful for themselves, compared to groups asked to memorize it (Lieberman Langer, 1997). As students memorize most of the things that they do not understand. They do not pay attention to clear their concepts and unsloped learn it by rote. As we know that material learned by rote memory has no personal meaning. many another(prenominal) problems are not solved because many students think in automatic and habitual ways. This automatic mode of thought is called mindlessness. The cost of mindless thinking is square because it limits our force to make good decisions (Langer, 1997)As discussed earlier that the mindful students retained the information better, for a longer period of time and was able to utilize it in more creative ways. Perspective should be taken into consideration because it brings out better performance (Lieberman Langer, 1997). Almost all of the facts most of people learned in school were taught to us in a perspective-free way that encourages mindless use of the information because it does not occur to us to question it again. In contrast, information pr esented in the mindful, perspective-taking condition was learned better by high school students, even though they had to deal with more information. In this way mindful teaching practices can have a mark effect on student learning and it also shows that students who learn mindfully can retain the information better.Individuals develop patterns of render response from birth through continued interaction with the environment. Young (1995) acknowledges that educators today recognize that students are suffering from focusing in very different ways than a decade ago. The literature indicates that children are under a great deal of external pressure twain at home and in school, numbering in many of the same physiological symptoms of distress as adults (Miller McCormick, 1991). While much of the interrogation on children and stress was conducted two decades ago, available research indicates that environmental stress negatively affects children. In a study seven and eight year olds we re studied for two to four old age, researchers found that increase in stressful life events were related to decrease in ratings of academic performance, though unrelated to ratings of social behaviors (Kiselica, Baker, Thomas Reedy 1994). Mindful teachings and mindful learning by the students can decrease this stress.Academic achievementAcademic achievement is defined as excellence in academic disciplines, in class. Loe Fieldman, (2007) define academic performance as ones office to have it away class work and homework and they define academic underachievement as problem in learning and applying knowledge including earning poor grades. As this study is in Pakistani perspective so we first need to know the Pakistani educational system.There are two main types of schools in Pakistan government and private. In both school types, almost always, the formal education system comprises of 5 long time of primal, 3 years of middle, 2 years high (Metric/GCSE) and 2 years of higher second ary schooling (FA/FSc. O level/A level). While similar in their educational structures, the two school-types differ in terms of financial support and regulation. Public schools are schools that are returnd by state and federal funding. Schools are heavily dependent on the state, although in recent years the system has become considerably decentralized and responsibility for the delivery and management of education has shifted to the districts. The government provides free education till primary although government primary schooling is mandated to be tuition-free and there are nominal fees in middle and high school. Most of the Government schools are single-sex schools (exceptions occur when schools are coeducational up till primary after which they become single-sex). (Monazza, 2009)Some of the major problems set more or less by public schools include limited financial resources, poor quality of content and a greater demand for education amongst parents of school-aged children. Pakistans public schools are overcrowded and underfunded. In Public schools classes are often overcrowded. As Class size is a factor that can cause various difficulties in understanding the lecture. The smaller the class size, the more attention each individual student will receive. In a smaller class, child will get personal attention (Grace, 2007). Class size effect the attention student seeks from the teacher as well as he pays in understanding the concepts. Sometimes due to larger class size, students cannot see the blackboard. They then lose their interest in the lecture being delivered, get engaged in gossips with their friends and other activities. And so by wasting their precious time their grades in class gradually decrease. Another reason is that in our schools generally is no concept of seats rotation due to which the pupils who are less competent always try to sit at the back rows of the class. They become habitual back benchers and the ones who are more competent and ca pable always try to grab seats in the front rows. As a result teachers pay more attention to them, consequently making them able to remain attentive and engaged in class lessons and activities resulting in higher grades.Since learning is more personal and responsibility is more on the shoulders of the students, education requires students to monitor and regulate their own learning. In order to achieve goals students should have mindfulness i.e. paying attention to the studies and self-efficacy beliefs that will lead to achievement of goals. Students can help themselves by focusing more on what they are studying and it would lead enhance their learning performance/meaningful learning and hence they can better deal with stressful situations. Self-efficacy on the other hand involves confidence in achieving goals and it also in return helps decrease academic stress.Students perceptions of their abilities consecrate to their self-esteem, confidence and ultimately to the level of motivat ion towards their studies are related to educational achievement. Attention is related to motivational processes (Parasurman, 1998 Zimmerman Leclercq, 2002). When student is motivated they will form beliefs astir(predicate) what they can do and set goals for themselves and hence pay more attention to their studies and will eventually lead to academic achievement.Self-efficacy give notices to peoples beliefs about their abilities to perform a task successfully at selected levels (Bandura, 1986, 1997). It twine the choices one makes and the courses of action one performs and so Self efficacy can also be explained as a belief in ones capabilities to organize and perform the tasks required to deal with the future situations (Bandura, in press, p. 2). These beliefs of personal proficiency effect behavior in several ways. Individuals typically select tasks and activities in which they feel capable and avoid those in which they do not. Students who are confident in their cleverness to manage, perform, and regulate their task performance at a designated level of competence are representing high self- efficacy. The construct of self-efficacy helps in explaining the findings that the behavior of individuals is not always perfectly predicted from their capability to complete a specific task but how a person call ups they will perform is often more important.According to Bandura academic self-efficacy is grounded in self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977). According to this theory, it is an individuals self-confidence in his/her ability to manage and carry out a given course of action to resolve a problem or achieve a task (Eccles Wigfield, 2002, p. 110). Academic self-efficacy refers to ones belief that one can successfully achieve at a designated level on an educational task or get a specific academic goal and it is positively related to academic achievement (Bandura, 1997 Eccles Wigfield, 2002 Elias Loomis, 2002 Gresham, 1988 Linnenbrink Pintrich, 2002 Schunk P ajares, 2002). Self-efficacy theory suggests that academic self-efficacy may differ in strength as a function of problem solving. Some individuals may believe they are most efficient on difficult tasks, while others only on easier tasks.Ones self-efficacy has a great influence over ones choice of action, the kind of effort one spends, and how much one is able to keep that effort in the face of difficulty (Bandura, 1986, 1997 Schunk, 1995). Thus, self-efficacy beliefs have been found to influence students approach, their academic grades, their engagement in an activity, and how planned they may be while doing a task (Pajares Johnson, 1996 Pajares Miller, 1994, 1995).Therefore, Self-efficacy is supposed to effect performance via the influence on task perception. Each task achievement is assessed as a threat or a challenge, and persons with high self-efficacy beliefs are more liable(predicate) to evaluate the tasks as a challenge (Chemers, Hu, and Garcia, 2001 Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 Pintrich and De Groot, 1990). That is, the degree to which a person feels confident about his or her capability to handle a given situation affects whether a real task is supposed as stressful or threatening, rather than as a challenge. When a task is assessed as a challenge, one is more likely to select an effective coping strategy and to carry on the task.Self-efficacy also influences performance, confidence and self belief. Individuals with high self-efficacy practice challenging targets (Locke Latham, 1990), do their opera hat, search for new solutions, and carry on in difficult task this behavior leads to the improvement of existent ability and to goal achievement (Tuckman Sexton,1992). On the other hand, individuals with low self-efficacy practice unhorse levels of performance. Doubt and uncertainty during task performance weaken their concentration, and they give up easily when faced with difficult tasks. This process adversely affects the development of actual abi lity, which is reflected in lower achievement (Tuckman Sexton, 1992).A research suggests that high self-efficacy produces a feeling of equanimity when approaching difficult tasks while low self-efficacy may result in an individual perceiving a task as more difficult than reality, which, in turn, may create anxiety, stress and a narrower idea on how best to approach the resolving of a problem or activity (Eccles, 2005).Students self-efficacy beliefs also seem to be considerably associated to the stress and their academic performance (Lane Lane, 2001). Therefore, lesser the stress better will be the performance and more a student will be motivated and more the stress the poor will be the performance and student will be less motivated. Moreover researches show that self-efficacy beliefs have positive effects on student motivation and achievement (Pintrich De Groot, 1990 Zimmerman, Bandura Martinez-Pons, 1992 Pajares Miller, 1994). Self-efficacy beliefs can determine how people fee l, think, motivate themselves, and behave. Consequently motivation is improved when students recognize that they are making improvement in learning or feel they are competent enough of handling the task. In turn, as students make effort to do the tasks and become moreskillful they develop a sense of self-efficacy for playacting well (Schunk, 1991). Self-efficacy beliefs play a key role in the self-regulation of motivation (Bandura 1994). According to Bandura, people motivate themselves and they form beliefs about what they can do, they set goals for themselves and plan courses of action designed to understand valued futures. Individuals who have a high sense of self-efficacy for accomplishing a task work harder and persist longer when they come crosswise difficulties, whereas those who do not feel efficacious may give up or avoid a task (Schunk 1991). .Those who are more competent seem to set higher performance goals, get rid of faulty strategies more quickly, find out solutions in the face of difficulties and work more accurately than those with lower efficacy. Students who are confident in their capability to organize and achieve task performance are showing high self- efficacy. Whereas, students who are uncertain about their ability to successfully complete a task often participate less readily, do not work as hard, and give up quickly when faced with difficulty. Due to repeated failures in the classroom, it was hypothesized that students may feel that they cannot adequately perform certain behaviors and tasks to achieve a desired outcome. The resultant negative outcome may be lower academic self-efficacy. (Bong Skaalvick, 2003 Eccles Wigfield, 2002 Elias Loomis, 2002 Gresham, 1988 Schunk Pajares, 2002 Wentzel, 1999).However, negative self-efficacy could also disappoint a student and cause a student to fail in their personal or professional activities. Thus, students may face stress which may negatively impact academic achievement. Self-efficacy and st ress are closely related concepts. According to a research by Zajacova, Lynch Espenshade investigates the joint effects of academic self-efficacy and stress on the academic performance. The survey was used as an instrument to measure the level of academic self-efficacy. The results suggest that academic self-efficacy is a more healthy and consistent predictor than stress of academic success.Self-efficacy is a better predictor of academic success than stress. Studies suggest that both academic stress and self-efficacy have some effect on academic outcomes, and there is some evidence that self-efficacy may be a better predictor (Pintrich and De Groot, 1990). Self efficacy and stress joint influence as determinants of academic success in schools/college. In a study by Hackett, Betz, Casas, and Rocha-Singh, (1992) place both stress and academic self-efficacy as predictors of good grades. Good grades were associated with low perceived stress and high self-efficacy.In case of education, self-efficacy is seen to be related with effort, tenacity and achievement. In one of the research by Chemers, Hu Garcia (2001), shown that children with higher self-efficacy strived for longer periods and used more useful problem solving strategies than students with lower self-efficacy.Therefore, self-efficacy changes the way a student works in order to get good grades and becomes more experienced and accurate about getting good grades in class and they keep on comparing themselves with their peers. Furthermore, classrooms that allow for extensive social comparisons (with the performance of other students) tend to lower self-efficacy of students whose performances are viewed as deficient when compared to others.People with low self-efficacy may believe that things are tougher than they really are, a belief that promote stress, narrow vision of how best to solve a problem. High self-efficacy, on the other hand, helps to create feelings of calmness in approaching difficult tasks a nd activities. As a result, self-efficacy beliefs are strong determinants and predictors of the level of achievement that individuals finally attain.The relationship between gender and self efficacy has also been a focus of the previous researches. It is assumed that Girls often outperform than boys. However, it is reported that males are tend to be more confident than females in academic areas related to mathematics, science and technology despite the fact that achievement differences in these areas are diminishing (Fuller, Hua Snyder, 1994). While in areas related to language, arts both male and female students exhibits similar confidence and this is also a truth that girls typically are high achievers (Pajares, in press)Keeping the to a higher place literature in view the rationale behind this research is to find the relationship between mindfulness and self efficacy among academically low and high achievers. There are a number of factors that may affect students achievement. T hese may include personal characteristics such as confidence in their abilities and attention they pay while studying. Confidence and belief in achieving goals is a good predictor of success. An increased academic self-efficacy may encourage the students confidence in utilizing his/her abilities to understand the course content, and achieve high grades. Simultaneously being mindful in the classroom can increase students ability to keep their attention which increases learning and academic performance. Moreover study will also allow the readers to understand that high achieving students might have different motivation to study than low achievers and that they are able to organize their study materials and study habits more efficiently. Active and independent engagement in the learning process might be more favorable to achievement than a passive and teacher dependent one. Although a lot of work is done on self efficacy and mindfulness in the education field but the lack of research i n reference to Pakistan provided a rationale for examining the relationship between mindfulness and self efficacy. The research also investigates that which of these factors are characteristics of high-achieving and low-achieving students in the hope that the outcomes can be utilized to enhance student performance in the future.HYPOTHESESOn the basis of the literature review the hypotheses formulated areThere exists a positive/significant correlation between mindfulness and self-efficacy among students.Students who are academically high achievers will perform high on mindfulness and self efficacy as compared to academically low achievers.MethodThe present study was conducted to find out the Relationship between mindfulness and self-efficacy among academically low and high achieversParticipantsIn the present study convenient sampling technique was used. The specimen consisted of 70 students out of which 35 were girls and 35 were boys within the age range of 13 -16 studying in 9th an d tenth grades at government schools. Co relational research design was used.Inclusion criteriaThe participants selected for the research were low and high achievers. Above 70% were considered as high graders and beneath 50% were considered as low graders. Girls who were above 70% were taken as high achievers and boys who were below 50% were taken as low achievers. The students of age ranging from 13-16 years were included in the study. The sample was collected from government schools to maintain the consistency.Exclusion criteriaStudents who were average i.e. between 50% 70% were excluded from the study. Also girls below 70% and boys above 50% were excluded from the study. Students suffering from any physical and mental disability to answer were also not part of the study.InstrumentsThe data was gathered by the use of the mindfulness based self efficacy home and Toronto mindfulness scale.Demographic data sheetDemographic questionnaire (see appendix C) was designed by the resear cher for this study to provide descriptive information about the participants name(optional), age, gender, grade, school, hobbies, their grades in last class, their personal evaluation of grades and their participation in co curricular activities and in sports.Academic achievementThe academic achievements of the child were screened through his/her examination record in the previous class. Academic achievement was accessed in form of grades that student got. The divisions of grades according to the percentages are given belowGrade A Above 70%Grade B 60-70%Grade C 50-60%Grade D 40-50%Mindfulness Based Self Efficacy dental plate (Cayoun Freestun 2004)Self efficacy was measured by mindfulness based self efficacy scale (See Appendix D)The MSES is a 35-item scale and consists of 7 subscales of self efficacy, each containing 5 items. Behavior (items 1, 8, 15, 22, 29), Cognition (items 2, 9, 16, 23, 30), Interoception (items 3, 10, 17, 24, 31), Affect (items 4, 11, 18, 25, 32), Interperso nal (items 5, 12, 19, 26, 33), Avoidance (items 6, 13, 20, 27, 34), Mindfulness (items 7, 14, 21, 28, 35). To calculate self-efficacy, 18 items must be scored in reverse. These are 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 35. High heaps indicate high self efficacy and low scores indicate the low levels of self efficacy. The cronbachs alpha reliability of the scale was 0.71. There was no pagan bias item in the questionnaire. This scale is valid and reliable.Participants were asked to evaluate their perception of self-efficacy on a 5-point Likert-type scale (0= not at all, 4=completely). The estimated time to complete the instrument was 10-15 minutes approximately. Scale was administered in English. No special permission was taken from the researcher as questionnaire was easily available on internet.Toronto mindfulness scale (Lau, Bishop, Segal, Buis, Anderson, Carlson, Shapiro, Carmody, Abbey, Devins, 2006)Toronto mindfulness scale (TMS) (See Appendix D) co nsists of 13-items. This instrument has two-factors Curiosity and Decentering. For the curiosity score following items are summed 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13. For the Decentering score following items are summed 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11. All items were written in positively keyed direction. The cronbachs alpha reliability of the scale was 0.72.The items of Factor 1 (Curiosity) reflect an attitude of wanting to learn more about ones experiences e.g. I was prying to see what my mind was up to from moment to moment .The items of Factor 2 (Decentering) reflect a shift from identify personally with thoughts and feelings to relating to ones experience in a wider field of awareness e.g. I was aware of my thoughts and feelings without over identifying with them. Each item was rated on 5 point likert scale (0=not at all, 4=very much). The estimated time to complete the instrument was 8-10 minutes. Questionnaire was easily available on internet. There was no cultural bias item in the questionnaire. Scal e was administered in English and is a reliable and valid scale.ProceduresBefore starting the data collection, a pilot study was conducted on a sample of 7 students. It was done to jeer the reliability and validity of the instruments and to determine the time needed to complete the instruments to assess the self efficacy and mindfulness in students by the researcher. The results of the present study indicated that the reliability of MSES was .71(See Appendix E) and the reliability of the TMS was .72 (See Appendix E). This indicated that the scales are reliable.After doing the pilot study the data was collected from 35 girls and 35 boys. The research was conducted in F.G Girls Public High School Lalazar, F.G Girls High School No 2 Iqbal Road and F.G Technical School for Boys. All the schools were taken from Rawalpindi.Participation was voluntarily and data was collected in the classrooms. After the approval of the principal students were contacted. Participants were then provided wi th a consent form (see appendix A). In order to participate in the study it was required that they underpin consent by signing it. After participants agreed to the consent form, instruction manual were provided followed by an administration of both the MSES and TMS scales.Data collection was completed in about six or seven days. Average time taken by an individual was 20-25 minutes. It took about 30-35 minutes in each class due to instructions given to children, in distribution and collection of questionnaires. A little difficulty was faced by the students to comprehend the questions like I was more invested in just watching my experiences as they arose. Than in figuring out what they could mean. But later on it was resolved by the researcher.The data was analyzed with the help of statistical big bucks for social sciences (SPSS Version 13.0). For the purpose of analyzing Pearson correlation was used. And to see the difference of low and high achievers regarding variables of self efficacy and mindfulness in data independent sample t-test was applied.ResultsThe study was conducted to find out the relationship between self efficacy and mindfulness among low and high achievers. A sample of 70 students (both girls and boys=35) within age range of (13-16). The sample was collected from 3 government schools of Rawalpindi and questionnaires were administered.Then the data collected was analyzed with statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version 13.0). Descriptive statistics were computed for demographic characteristics of the participants. For this purpose Pearson correlation was used. And also to see the difference of low and high achievers regarding variables of self efficacy and mindfulness in data independent sample t-test was applied. trail tabulation was also applied on the academic achievement of the students according to the ranges of self-efficacy.Table 1Frequency and Percentage of participants according to demographic variables of gender, age, gr ade and academic achievement (N=70)VariableLabelFrequency(f)Percentage (%)GenderGirl

Operation management of Primark and Atlas Honda

Operation direction of Primark and atlas vertebra HondaINTRODUCTIONThe report describes the operation management of PRIMARK and the map collection HONDA LIMITED PAKISTAN which are two contrary companies in two different industries.PRIMARK in garment industry is a big retailer in the high streets for the readymade cloths which is prefatory ally belongs to tertiary sector ( table service) in which it address/ allot the manufactured goods(cloths)in his retail stores and the ATLAS HONDA is a joint venture which manufacture and sell cable carmobiles which is in manufacturing industry.This report is structured in a mood that describe some(prenominal) companies1 Competitive priority2 Marketing dodgeand excessively compare and direct contrast their operations in their industries and report also include the analysis of their inhering factors as capacity planning, inventory management, character control and the external factors as environment, innovation.After the report we will b e sufficient to understand the operating management of the two different industries which ease us to gain friendship to design one better(p) operating model which help us in both industries.Before forwarding to the report structure as discuss above we get hold of to know about both companies to be familiar with their operations.PRIMARKPRIMARK is the subsidiary ac lodge within the ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS and one of the biggest retailer in UK who sell readymade clothes with stylish fashion, design and variety at inexpensive legal injurys. It focus on womenwear, menwear, childrenwear and home growths. In 1969 the scratch line store opened in DUBLIN(IRELAND) in the comprise of first Pennys store and till 1973 the number of stores reached at18 in all around the IRELAND, in the following year it expanded to GREAT BRITAIN and opened his first stores in DERBY and BRISTOL and in within next 10 years the number of stores perform 22 in each.After blowup to GREAT BRITAIN, in 1995 PRIMAK applies the acquisition policy in his expansion and acquire first BHS ONE-UP discount chain in UK 16 stores,then CO-OP with 11 stores, 11stores from retreat ion of A C.After 2005 PIMARK moved to Europe for more(prenominal) expansion and opened stores in SPAIN,PORTUGAL,HOLLAND,GERMANY,BELGIUM. Till September 2010 it has 150 stores in UK. Its competitors are NEXT, ZARA, GAP, RIVER ISLAND etc which compete in different bases of warring advantage.We take only UK commercialize for the Primark clientele operation.http//www.primark.co.uk/page.aspx?pointerid=eb44df4565934edca627dac6ec12145a Last annoy 10th march 2011ATLAS HONDA LIMITED (AHL) PAKISTANATLAS HONDA LIMITED PAKISTAN is a joint venture of ATLAS GROUP and HONDA MOTOR CO.LTD which manufacture and sell motorcycles. The comp any was created by the merger of Panjdayar LTD and atlas vertebra Autos LTD, in 1988. AHL manufactures and markets Honda motorcycles in collaboration with Honda Motor Company. The Company also manuf actures various hi-tech components in-ho physical exercise in collaboration with leading move manufacturers like Showa Atsumitech, Nippon Denso and Toyo Denso. Honda motorcycles are by far the largest selling motorcycles in the country with an unmatched reputation for high quality, reliability and after-sales-service.ATLAS HONDA manufactures four models of motorcycles1 CD 702 CD 1003 CG 1254 CG 125 DELUXECompany has two big inho utilise manufacturing capability at Karachi (Sindh) which manufactures three hundred units of CD 70 only and Sheikupura (Punjab) localizes which manufactures all four models. A vast and growing network of over 1600 sales service and spare parts dealers has been establish in all over the country.Company has more than 60% of market share in Pakistan motorbike industry, it exports the products to Bangladesh and Afghanistan.http//www.atlashonda.com.pk/company. Last access 10th of march 2011 similitude/CONTRASTOPERATIONS IN BOTH ENTITIESIn any organization th e operation function is the part of organization which produces the products and services for that entity, it is not called with same name all the time but it is concerned with managing the core purpose of organization which produce some mix of products and services.nigel slack, stuart chambers, robert johnston , alan betts (2009).operations and process management. 2nd ed. england pearson education limited. 1-1.In some other words the operation is defined as the formationatic design, direction and control of process that transform input into services and products for internal, as well as external.Primark and atlas vertebra Honda are two different companies in two different industries, one is a retailer in service industry and 2nd is in manufacturing industry. the service sector create abide by or add measure out to the product and manufacture industry produce the tangible product so some similarities and contrast appeared in their operations which can be analyzed and criticize on the basis of their marketing system and their competitive priority.MARKETING STRATEGYMarket strategy is developed by the entities to fill the gap between current performance and the forecasted performance which is the objective/ hind ends of the entity to achieve, so the company develop the marketing strategy for its product in target market for targeted customers to make them aware to the products and service it provides.Cim,bpp, 76-77 2008We can use the Ansoffs growth model which is employ to analyze the product and market of the company in its marketing strategy.cim (2007). professional diploma in marketing. 3rd ed. london BPP. 76-78.http//franteractive.net/resources/Ansoff-Matrix.GIFWe will use this model to define and criticize the marketing strategy of the Primark and atlas vertebra Honda.MARKETING STRATEGYSTRATEGYPRIMARKAHLMarket perceptivenessYNProduct victimisationYYMarket growthYYDiversificationNNPrimark has its objective of DELIVERING VALUES AND TRADE ETHICALLYht tp//www.primark.co.uk/ethical/values last access 10th march 2011Primark use the leaflets drop, ads on bus shelters, the London Underground and radio ads. university of wales, marketing, database source completeAbove marketing strategy apply by Primark for his new stores in BRITAIN and it opened sextette more new stores one of which is in the oxford circus. jibe to Ansoff model we can explain the marketing strategy of Primark as followsMarket development strategy which is in new market in existing product so the entry from Ireland and to Britain and other European countries is the interpreter of entry in new market.Product development is in new product in new market, so Primark products are women, men, child wears but it include homemade garments as well, product development strategy basically elicited the customers to come in the store for all his garment needs.But the problem in market development strategy is the high distribution follow which Primark used to distribute his me rchandise which it get form Asian countries and distribute them to his different stores which court him high and reduce his profit.http//www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2009/gb20090616%5f4 498429.htm.Market penetration is to enter in the market with the low price to compete in the market as the GILLETTE company sell his MACH 3 new product in the market on 60% of exist which is the best example of market penetration to enter in the market with low price, so the entrance of Primark in the BRITAIN garment industry is the market penetration in the presence of GAP,NEXT etc, with low cost strategy, but market penetration strategy has the main criticize is that it starts the price war in the market and through the small entities out of businessDiversification is to diversify from the industry to another industry which comes into unrelated diversification so the parent company of Primark ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOOD, who diversify from food to garment is the unrelated diversification . But Primark has it self not any diversified activity in any other industries.ATLAS HONDA use mostly the electronic media for his products marketing as internet, television ads, salesmen etc.For CD 70 and CD 100 Atlas Honda target middle income families and mostly these bikes used in villages due to the brand loyalty and durability.CG 125 and CG125 DELUXE these both bikes target the special segment of market with the customers who postulate to pay more for high speed and beauty of the products.DIVERSIFIATION is the Honda joints venture in Pakistan as Atlas Honda is his related diversification in motorbike industry. The problem with Atlas Honda in his joint venture is that it manufacturing units in Pakistan and the changing political parties and insecurity affecting its this diversified product making units which affect the motorbike work and the business as well.Product Development is the four type of product CD 70, CD 100, CG125, CG125 DELUXE are the example in market for produc t development, the Atlas Honda believe in quality in return of high prices which opened the ways for his competitors with low cost and low price strategy like Chinese company STAR, SOHRAB, LIFAN etc. which affect the market share ( 63% in Pakistan) and the profit of the company.Market Development strategy of ATLAS HONDA is it exporting the products to Bangladesh and Afghanistan is its market development in other countries, this means the distribution cost will be high for Atlas Honda and affect his sale and profit in the market.COMPETITIVE priorityCompetitive priority include low cost operations, top quality, consistent quality, delivery speed, on time delivery, development speed, customization, variety and volume flexibility, these are the competitive priorities which set a company aside and superior to the rest of the companies in the industries by the result of his operations, it is not necessary that a company acquire all of them to compete but it can get any mixture of them to perform well.Under we show the similarity and contrast in the competitive priority of the PRIMAK and ATLAS HONDA LIMITED. It is need to be cleared that under the table the element of competitive priority is categorized in four broad concepts.COMPETITVE PRIORITYC.PPRIMARKATLAS HONDA LTD caseTOP QUALITYNYCONSISTANT QUALITYYYCOSTLOW COST OPERATIONSYNTIME saving SPEEDNYONTIME DEIVERYNYDEVELOPMENT SPEEDYYFLEXIBILITYCUTOMISATIONNYVARIETYYYVOLUME FLEXIBILITYYYQUALITYQuality is different for different customers, quality is simply defined as the completeness of features, value for money, conformance of specialisedation, reputation. arranged quality In the case of Primark and the AHL both companies products have the similar feature of consistent quality as in the Primark in garment industry sell fashion cloths for men, women, children and homemade products and AHL in motorbike industry both meet their design and specifications on the continuous basis to maintain the consistent quality of the ir products go on quality on the other hand the AHL is manufacturing and selling the top quality motorbikes in the motorbike industry of Pakistan thats why AHL has 63% market share in the market but the Primark is selling low quality products in the garment industry of Britain against his major competitors GAP, NEXT, ZARA which is the major difference in both of companies.COST approach feature include manufacturing cost, value added cost, running cost, service cost and selling price is includeLow cost operations Primark is the strategy of low cost on which it sell its outsourced garment products to the customers by adding its services with its efficiently designed and operation process (appendix 2).so this strategy in the motorbike industry of AHL in Pakistan is apply by Star company and Titan company is the example of low cost operations. So in the Primark business the low cost operations credit entry goes to its supplies from its suppliers who operating their activities in low w age and other low mathematical product cost countries like Bangladesh.But the AHL is differentiate strategy for its product so its subsidy charges for his products in the market and this example in the garment industry is the ZARA, NEXT, GAP etc in the garment industry of UK. AHL operations are in house system in which a efficient manufacturing process is undertaken with all new production and management techniques (JIT, MRP, TQM)and charge the highest price in the market. (appendix 1show the process of operation in both companies)TIMETime included the delivery time, manufacturing lead time, due date, frequency of delivery, rate of production of the entity.AHL has its two manufacturing plants one is in Karachi and 2nd is in Shekhupura, AHL has Karachi plant produce 300 units of motorcycle per day. AHL has design its process efficiently to minimize the manufacturing lead time and fulfill the customers orders on time but again this internal efficiency depend on suppliers relation an d efficient supply chain. The production example given 300 units for Karachi plant is the best example of manufacturing speed which is go around and good for the company and this in return help on time delivery system where demand occur.The Primark outsourced its garment products from ASIAN countries mainly from Bangladesh, so jibe to the nature of the business in its industry the Primark has face fast development speed in the products because its products become out of fashion very fast so Primark has need the good relationship with its supplier because of its fast changing industry nature so wants the continuous deliveries. AHL also used the product development in its manufacturing plants in KARACHI and SHEHUPURA for introduction of new products.FLEXIBILITYFlexibility include the customization, variety and the volume of the production.The AHL production have all the customization, variety and volume features are included for example the four different products it produce is one feature of customization, variety and volume in production process is to support larger volume production and quickly manage within fluctuating demand which is again come in AHL production system in which it produce four type of customized motorbikes for targeted customers market with the production capacity of 600000 per year.The variety and volume flexibility is also seen in the Primark retail stores in which large amount of fashion cloths for all men, women and children are on the shelf and in the warehouses but the customization is in the product is not inside its process because it sell the products TO general public in the market.B criticize1 CAPACITY MANAGEMENT qualification information is used by the companies to analyze and maximize their output, understand the companies capacity cushion and use the information for long and inadequate term decision for expansion strategies.Capacity planning is a systematic approach to three issues pertaining to capacity,estimating the amou nt of capacity required, evaluating the alternative methods to augmenting the capacity and devising methods to use capacity effectively.b.mahadeven (2007). operations management theory and practice. new delhi dorling kindersley. 219-221.The firm go through the situation of overcapacity, appropriate capacity and inappropriate capacity. The size, time and capacity become the compels in the organizations.The company use the expansion and see and wait policy to cope when they face the constrains for example the BRITISH AIRLINE use the seats as his capacity, PRIMARK floor space and the ATLAS HONDA use his machines or the process in the one constrain theory as a capacity which become the constrain at the time of demand.In short time company use to manage itself within capacity but in long term it use to expand by acquisition or investment in the operation process.The capacity management take long time to manage if it applied by expansion policy with the large investment in operations to cope with demand but in short term lose the increased demand.Capacity planning included the judgment with based on the experience and the capacity planning used to get the economy of scale but after an specific point this benefit turns into the marginal increased unit cost which start to reducing the profit.b.mahadeven (2007). operations management theory and practice. new delhi dorling kindersley. 219-235.Inventory management.Inventory management can be defined as Systems and processes that identify inventory requirements, set targets, provide replenishment techniques and report actual and projected inventory status.The companies use the different inventory methods for managing inventories1 Just in time (JIT) In the JIT method the company use the pull strategy according to which it place orders when it requires for production or demand by customer. CIMA P7, CIMA PUBLISHER,20052 Economic Order Quantity(EOQ) The EOQ system is a quantitative method for inventory management , which min imize the inventory holding cost and ordering cost by use of a formula 2*A*CP/CH3 SAFETY STOCK Is a PUSH POLICY, safety phone line is normally used traditionally to cope with unanticipated demand so the large buffer stock is retained in the big warehouses to manage with the unforeseen demand otherwise the company lose the sales and there will emerge the danger to lose the customer so company pay more to stock the inventory and pay more to stocking.4 ABC INVENTORY is use to cauterize the inventory according to their value in organization .The companies used to manage their inventory because on average, 56 cents outof every dollar of revenue (i.e. 56 share of revenue) to cover the direct cost ofpurchased goods, with this percentage throw being even higher for the typicalwholesaler or retailer (Monczka et al., 2002 Handfield, 2002). Add to this figure theindirect cost of having to manage inventory of purchased goods (which has beenestimated to be 30-35 percent of the value of purch ased goods see Chase et al., 2004)and the total cost of purchased goods inventory can be quite alarming.The inventory management need the investment and warehouse which used by PRIMARK who received the outsourced supplies and distribute to other stores in Europe which cost him high and reduce profit.The inventory management polices as JIT and ABC systems want the basic variety shows in operation and the process and affect the emplyees as well to understand the them.New inventory policy as JIT want supplier commitment because it change the whole supply chain and want the amendment in suppliers system so it affect all supply chain system.organizational management and information system,2005,oxford,c.i.m.aThe PRIMRK and the AHL need to decide the inventory management system before the decision of capacity management because the JIT system not need high investment on expansion policy.PERFORMANCE MEASUREHere we use two type of performance measure1 Multidimensional performance measureBa lance scorecard2 Qualitative performance measureMatrices1 BALANCE SCORECARDThe balanced scorecard translates mission and strategy into objectives and measure into four different perspectives provide a framework, a language, to communicate mission and strategy, it uses measurement to inform employees about the drivers of current and future success. By articulating the outcomes the organization desires and the drivers of those outcomes, senior executives hope to channel the energies, the abilities, and the specific knowledge of people throughout the organization towards achieving long term goal. It should be used as a communication, informing, and learning system not controlling. (adopted, Kaplan and nortan, 1996, p.25)Balance scorecard does not lead to a single aggregate summary control for example if we use RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) it conveniently show how things are going.No clear relation between the BSC and shareholders value.Measure may give conflicting signals and confuse ma nagement. For example high customer satisfaction lead to falling pecuniary indicators.BSC involves substantial shifts in corporate culture to implement.So if the AHL and the PRIMARK use the balance scorecard for their performance measure the above problems also occur in the system.So the capacity management and the inventory management comes in the internal business process part of the balance scorecard.Supply chain valueNormally porters value chain model used for analyzing the operating process in manufacturing industry but we can use it in service industries as well. These activities are cerebrate with each other to create value for the customer in the product and service. (appendix 1 shows the value chain of both companies). But the supply chain value add two more componenets in the value chain.Supply value chain company value chain customer value chain According to a July 16 report in The Wall Street Journal, Nissan Motor Co. halted production at four factories in Japan and at two auto manufacturing plants in the United States for three days in July due to a baffle in the shipment of engine control units from supplier Hitachi Ltd. Hitachi officials said the delay was caused by a shortage of semiconductor chips from its suppliers.Nissan, which had adopted the Lean model about five years ago and dramatically reduced its inventory, said the production stoppage will reduce the companys output by 15,000 vehicles.However, Lean expert Matt Wrye, who writes the Beyond Lean blog (beyondlean.wordpress.com), said that Nissans issues were the result of a misappropriation of Lean techniques. If you had hiccups in procurement, Lean behavior would ask questions around what are the hiccups in procurement, he wrote. Then Nissan would solve these problems, not arbitrarily start to add more suppliers just in case they have a similar hiccup in the future.http//www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_k2view=itemid=1699Itemid=156 last access 22 march 2011 native Quality man agementTQM is a process and philosophy of achieving best possible outcomes from the inputs, by using them effectively and efficiently in order to deliver best value for the customer, while achieving long term objectives of the organization.r.ashley.rawlins (2008). total quality management. london authur house. 5-10.TQM involves the three main componentsCustomer satisfaction involve conformance to specification, value, fitness for purpose, support, mental impressionEmployee involvement include cultural change, teams.Continuous improvement is based on the philosophy of KAIZEN theory, to improve in each aspect of the entity.Quality as four type of costPrevention example check the inbound logisticAppraisal example quality of inboundsInternal failure include cost of failure before sell to customersExternal failure example warrantee, guaranteeTQM is the continuous improvement in the product and services which is not enough because the quality is what the customer so the AHL not only cont inuous improve the process but also make sure the customers needs in his products.TQM is not mild to apply but it needs a long time to internalize in the companies all aspect and it is also expensive for any company for example if Primark want the quality in his services it need to implement in each activity.TQM want the employee commitment so it is not easy to get the person to do what you want .TQM wants the cultural change in the organization which is a challenge for the organization and if not implemented successfully its become the danger for the companys survival.http//findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_n12_v47/ai_14858551/?tag=contentcol1 last access 21 march 20111

Man and Nature in The Grapes of Wrath Essay -- Grapes Wrath essays

Man and Nature in The Grapes of Wrath In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses both obvious references and sharp contrasts to emphasize the main theme of the novel the sanctity of mans relationship to the natural world and to each other. Machines have no place in this relationship. They act as a barrier between men and the impose. They are dangerous because they perform the function of men with greater efficiency, but they lack the spiritual element that makes the land so valuable. Chapter five uses imagery to detail the evil inherent in the plowing of land by a machine Behind the tractor rolled the glow disks, cutting the earth with blades-not plowing but surgery, pushing the cut earth to the right where the second row of disks cut it and pushed it to the left slicing blades shining, polished by the cut earth. And pulled behind the disks, the harrows combing with iron teeth so that the little clods broke up and the earth lay smooth. Behind the harrows, the lon g seeders- twelve swerve iron penes erected in the foundry, orgasms set...

The Time Traveller by H G Wells. :: English Literature

The Time Traveller by H G Wells.Time TravelFor my English Coursework Wide Reading concession I have canvass two S Fnovels. Even though they were written over 50 years apart they are analogous in some ways and different in others. Both the books werebased around time expedition. The first was the Time Traveller by H GWells. A scientist had discovered a way to travel through time andwhen he travels to the future he finds that civilisation has brokendown. The other book I read was The Sound of thunder by RayBradbury, this was about a group of people who travelled bet on in timeto hunt and kill animals. I conceptualize that this shows how Bradburyperceives the way we use the technology we have. It does not see tobe for the benefit of all mankind just as a toy for those who can endure it. It could be used for so much more than hunting dinosaurs.Both authors deliberately make their characters two-dimensional. Thismay be because the stories are about time travel and civilisationrather than the individuals in the narrative. When Wells wrote hisnovel there were no telephones or aeroplanes, technology was not soadvanced and the reading public would be sceptical about time travelHis characters are professional men who will convince the reader thatWells ideas are possibleQUOTE (the professional bit)It is remote that much of what Wells wrote has come true, even thoughpeople may have felt it was far fetched over speed of light years ago. In 100years from now perhaps those far fetched stories of today may cometrue. It could be that people like Wells and Bradbury had a realinsight into the future. Perhaps they sawing machine the way civilisation wasgoing in their own time.Bradbury is more contemporary than Wells and his vision, thoughfantastical in its own way does not seem so far fetched to a late 20thCentury audience. Ray Bradbury generally just uses the characterssurname in the story. This keeps a more macho olfaction to the huntingactivities and there are no wome n. The characters described arehunters iterate (opening advert)There are several men who have paid their money to travel back toJurassic times to hunt and kill the dinosaursQuote (rules)The tenor of the story remains masculine with the rules reinforced ina curt wayQuote (speaks to Eckles etc.)Bradburys short story focuses more on the effects of time travel thanWells. In Bradburys tale when the travellers go back to the pastEckles goes off the suspended travel plan and stands on a butterfly causinggreat changes when they travel back to their own time.

Immigration in New York Essay -- Immigrants U.S. Economy Economics Ess

Immigration in tender YorkI was born 23 years ago in the friar preacher Republic, an island located in the Greater Antilles. There is a saying from my country that goes Mi tiera mi corazon meaning my country my love, which explain exactly how I tangle about the Dominican Republic. To me the Island of Santo Domingo is the greatest in the World there are beautiful people, gorgeous weather and all the mangoes I could have eaten. Then unmatched day my parents gave me the bad news, they were moving to this place called New York, they told my brother and me that they would send for us later. That was 12 years ago and now here I am living in New York, the greatest city in the world, next to my Santo Domingo. When I was younger New York seemed as big as the world, I much heard my parents talked about how New York had so many jobs, and was the richest place in the world. I could not wait to see how this place was. No one told me that New York had a crime rate higher than the Empire stat e building, no one told me that certain New Yorkers would hate me because of my color, no one told me how New York grub one of its children, for every orphan it took in. As a first generation immigrant this topic is dear to my heart, because I know it first hand. This paper will channel with the history of immigration in New York, specifically the later part of the twentieth century. I will look at the history of this great city and how it impacted us, and how Immigrants have contributed to its mystique, color and vibrancy. I will as well as discuss specific neighborhoods, the people who live there, and their impact on the economy. I will also discuss the recent anti-immigration trend like Proposition 187.The middle colonies had a well-earned reputation for cu... ... George. Friends or Strangers The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S economy (1990) 2. Daniels, Roger. Coming To America A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life (1990)3. Fuchs, Lawrence. The American Ka leidoscope Race, ethnicity, and the Civic Culture 4. Chan, Scheng. Asian Americans An Interpretive History5. Bodnar, John. The transplanted a History of Immigrants in urban American (1985)6. Reimers, David. Still the Golden Door the Third World Comes To America. (1992)7. Brendel, Christine. Modern Immigration. Amawalk, New York Golden Owl Publishing Co., 1998.8. Berrol, Selmacantor. The Empire City New York and Its People. west Port, Conn Praeger, 1997.9. Pencak, William, Selma Berrol, and Randall M. Miller, Eds. Immigration to New York. Philadelphia Balch Institute Press, 1991.

Use of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision Essay -- Yeats Vision Essays

Use of Symbols in Yeatss Work, A Vision In his 1901 essay Magic, Yeats writes, I cannot now think symbols less than the greatest of all powers whether they are used consciously by the masters of magic, or half unconsciously by their successors, the poet, the musician and the artist (p. 28). Later, in his introduction to A Vision, he explains, I put the Tower and the Winding Stair together into evidence to award that my poetry has gained in self possession and power. I owe this change to an incredible experience (Vision p.8). The experience he goes on to relate is the preliminary peak of the composition of the work itself. In A Vision, however, Yeats exhibits his poetic power as well, along with his knowledge of mysticism and affinity for symbology to illustrate the behavior of the forces of hu macrocosm mind and history. He ties these two cycles together into the overarching symbol of the work the Great Wheel. This is a symbol that Yeats uses not only to explain the cyc les of one individuals life, but also with the same motions, to explain the cyclical movement of the centuries, and the conjunction of certain historical events. When asked about the factual reality of his cosmological descriptions, he replies that they are purely symbolical ... and have helped me to hold in a single thought reality and justice (Vision p.25). Though to a large extent obscure and complicated, these symbols are prevalent to an understanding not only of the ideas contained in A Vision, also the thought process Yeats conveys in much of his poetry. The Great Wheel consists of and contains two opposing gyres, the primary feather and the antithetical, objectivity and subjectivity, which turn in opposite directions, the two... ...mary vein, men worshipping idols of far away deities, or return to its antithetical predecessor, in which mans idols seen as are actual animation beings captured in myth. Eventually, he resigns himself to not knowing for certain what the fu ture of mankind will be. He concludes The particulars are the work of the thirteenth sphere, which is in every man and called by every man his freedom. Doubtless, for it can do all things and know all things, it knows what it will do with its own freedom, but it has kept the secret (Vision p. 302). whole works Cited Adams, Hazard. The Book of Yeatss Vision. Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press, 1995.Yeats, W.B. A Vision. New York Macmillan, 1956. Yeats, W.B. The Poems. ed. Richard J. Finneran. New York Macmillan, 1990. Yeats, W.B. Magic. Essays and Introductions. New York Macmillan, 1961. pp. 28-52.

Insignificance Of Words :: essays research papers

The Insignificance of WordsA man walks down a dimly lit street the glorious red lights above the hospitals exit are now just a faint glow behind him. As he stagger along the city blocks back to his quiet row home, he ponders the tragic news he has just received regarding his mothers failing health. A couple blocks from the refuge of his home, he runs into some of the neighborhood locals. Some he knows most he doesnt, but greets them all the same. Hows it goin? he says, in a voice that is less then enthusiastic. Good they reply, Hows it goin with you? The man responds Good, thanks for asking, again not showing much interest in the communication he just finished, he trudges toward home. After passing the locals, the man is amused at the simple truth that he is not doing good and that he does not really care if those people are. He ponders the stupidity of the conversation he just had and laughs for the first time all day.As he enters his doorway and hangs up his jacket, he slowly g lances around the living room and finds his way to the olive colored sofa. As he searches the coffee table for the remote control, he begins to deal of his ailing mother and her impact on his life. His search ends as he finds the clicker and turns on the television. Not paying any attention to the infomercial on the screen, he is just glad that the silence of his home is broken. As Chuck Norris is explaining why the Ab Slide is the newest, safest and most effective method for getting in blueprint in the comfort of your own home. He reflects back on the conversation that he had walking home from the hospital. He quickly laughs again and thinks what was the point of all the same talking to them. . The simple nonchalant nature of not caring what is goinon, reflects one of the reasons why individuals in America are becoming less community oriented. Do they even care how I am? Do they even know who I am? Should I trouble them with the predicament that I am in? Would it be proper to st op and explain to these people how my mother is dying and how much pain I am in. Unsure if the man was rude to his neighbors with his uninterested attitude towards their conversation he reflected back on his life.