Terry Fox Video Response Journal Essay Example for Free

Terry Fox Video Response Journal Essay After watching the video and discovering a little more about Terry Fox with the guest speaker and all, it has reminded me once again about Terrys courageous achievement. For many years, ever since I came to Canada, I learned about Terry Fox, ran the Terry Fox Run, Terry Fox fundraising for Cancer Research, watched videos about Terry during assemblies, and have discussed about Terrys bravery; each time I hear about him, he never ceases to make me look back at myself and think, If Terry can run the Marathon of Hope with an amputated leg, what can anything else stop me from achieving my goals? Terry was a normal teenager just like me, my peers, and anybody else, but the little something that made him special was his courage to actually do something about what he eventually came across. He knew what he went through, he felt what cancer was, and he knew that he wanted to do the best he can do to lessen the suffering for children that were going through the same pain as he did. And so, he made a difference. Every year, as I hear about Terry and his big accomplishments, it makes me think that really, it does not take much to achieve your goals as long as you have the courage and bravery to do it. Terry really showed that when you have the motivation and mind set to do something, you really should do it, because everything really comes from your heart; nothing more is needed. His actions always makes me feel that I have to be brave, be proactive, and go for my goals when there is something that I really want to accomplish. Often times, I do not have enough bravery to just do it or I become lazy and I have indeed failed to accomplish my goals multiple times, but Terry really brings me back up that I should keep trying and never give up. If Terry can run across Canada with an amputated leg, why would anything keep me from achieving my goals, when my goal will probably be less of a big deal than running all the way across Canada? In my family, my dads father has had cancer and is now passed away. He once used to be an active, lively person who liked going fishing, playing with his friends, and going cycling. But in 2010 January when I last visited him in Korea, there I saw him, lying in the hospital bed, paralyzed by the effects of cancer. His face had gone yellow, his flesh was no longer in a condition of circulating blood, he had lost almost all parts of body fat, and his cheeks were almost about to touch the other side of his mouth that I could barely see any sort of fat on his face. The cancer had had totally distorted him. This was the worst day of my life, and it was the day when I realized that cancer was one of the most deadliest, and destructive sickness to have. But hearing that Terry Fox had fought this cancer the first time he got it, really makes me realize, how hard he must have tried to fight it. Cancer is such a stubborn disease to demolish, and at last Terry could not handle its powerful strikes in his body. But even being able to fight it the first time he got it is needless to say- brave. I really admire and respect how Terry took action on what he faced, because when I saw my grandfather not being able to do what he wanted to do was a painful thing to watch, and Terry really cared and showed what he could do for the Canadians who were fighting cancer, and for cancer research. Although I wont be running across Canada or anything big like Terry, but, when I set my goals, I will definitely look up to what Terry did: setting specific goals, train and prepare for my goal, and really plan out my goal of what I am willing to accomplish!

Exploring Modernism In Architecture: Louis Kahn

Exploring Modernism In Architecture: Louis Kahn For my essay on Modernism in architecture I intend to explore an architect of the modernist period in order to establish the form, philosophy and social ideas behind modernism. The term modern architecture is ambiguous. It can be understood to refer to all buildings of the modern period regardless of their ideological basis, or it can be understood more specifically as an architecture conscious of its own modernity and striving for change. Modern architecture is a category which usually complements buildings of the 20th and 21st century. It would include Bauhaus / International styles (sometimes used to describe Bauhaus architecture in United States) and also brutalism. Modernism was a reaction against eclecticism and the lavish stylistic excesses of the Art Deco, Art Nouveau and the Victorian ages. However, it is still a matter of taste. Even though Bauhaus, a German design school  (Operated from 1919-33 By founder Walter Gropius, then by Hans Mayer and Ludwig Mies der Van Rohe) which had profoundly influenced arts and architecture had been more concerned with social aspects of design; none the less, International style soon became a symbolism of Capitalism. Fig.2 shows an interesting and most famous example of this International style. This style of architecture was reserved mainly for office blocks, but was also seen in homes built for the rich and famous. Fig.2 shows another building widely known for its functionalist aesthetic and a masterpiece of corporate modernism. There were many architects who attached their name to this modernistic era, some of the best known being Frank Lloyd Wright(fig.6), Walter Gropius(fig.5), Le Corbusier(fig.2) and Ludwig Mies der Van Rohe(fig.3). 6Fig.6 shows Falling water which was a truly iconic building for many. Wrights design which was for a residential home was above a waterfall. This building portrayed his view of organic architecture. Modern architecture was found to be challenging traditional teachings which were thought to be suitable for architectural design and structure. Modernists designers went on to argue that architects should design everything which is necessary for society. From every detail and furniture in the interior and exteriors of buildings and even led to architects designing the most humble of buildings. I have looked at the broader definition of modernism along with the pioneers who drove this style. Louis Kahn is the architect I have chosen to study in depth. His views of modernism are well known through the modern world of architecture. Louis Kahn Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky (February 20, 1901 or 1902 March 17, 1974), or more commonly known in the world of architecture as Louis Kahn was an architect who was infused within the International style. Kahn graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Fine Arts in 1924. In the late 1930s Kahns was working as a consultant to the Philadelphia Housing Authority. His affiliation with modern architecture grew as he worked with Europeans Stonorov and George Howe with whom Kahn designed many wartime housing projects which can be seen in fig.8. From these experiences it gave Kahn a sense of social responsibility which was later reflected in his philosophy. 1947 was a year where the Kahn started to emerge. His career had established to a point where he had started a teaching career at Yale University as the Chief Critic in Architectural Design and Professor of Architecture, until 1957. Then at the University of Pennsylvania as Cret Professor of Architecture until his death lonely deat h in a mens room toilet in Pennsylvania Station in New York. Kahn died in deep debt despite his affluent career. Louis Kahn was a critique of mainstream modernism; his work represented the New Monumentality movement which was also promoted by Siegfried Gieldion, Josep Llios Sert and Kahns mentor George Howe. Kahns buildings are incredibly precise in their construction of places for people. I found some pieces of Kahns work particularly interesting to study from a modernistic architectural view. From the list of his most important works I have selected a few which I believe to be particularly symbolic to this essay. From more than a dozen houses which had been designed by Kahn Esherick House was the most renowned. I found Esherick house to one of his most wonderful pieces of work which shows us the direction which he later followed in. A critique says: The Esherick House is definitely one of Kahns most important works which defined lessons hed go on to use in later projects. By this I believe he means that Kahn was finding his element which he had then go onto use in later projects. Kahns career comprises of a lot of interesting work, however, Esherick house stands as one of his most important pieces of work. In the making of the house the control of light had been the preoccupation since the start, and he truly had achieved harmony through natural light as well as distinct style through the transcendence and geometric detail. Kahns principles of light, materiality and geometry are clearly visible here. He starts to impose his future views of form in subtle characteristics of this house. At a glance it is simply concrete and wood which combine to create the facades and interior spaces. The house features a textured mortar finish, with keyhole window which are framed with natural Apilong wood placed at irregular intervals on the front faà §ade. The floor plan is a refined design by Kahn. It is shown to contain two symmetrical rectangles which allow struc tural support and openness. This truly modernistic structure shows how Kahns work would unfold in later years. The Esherick houses pure use of geometry and abstract form reflect his modernistic approach to architecture. Kahns work is much greater dipected in his later and much larger projects. The Salk Laboratories which was developed by Dr Jonas Salk, the developer of polio vaccine had intended for a laboratory which was not just somewhere for biological research, but a place which you could invite a man like Picasso.13 The materials used for this vast project were concrete, wood, marble and he also used the element of water in his design which as the massive complex was juxtaposed against the Pacific Ocean was fitting. I found a very fitting description of The Salk laboratories: Kahns use of order before form shows us how he depicted a building to be like a perfect organism with complexity of use inside as well as on the outside. I found a very interesting quote from Kahn about the Salk laboratories. His philosophy of design shows use the kind of man he was and intentions he perused: I did not follow the dictates of the scientists, who said that they are so dedicated to what they are doing that when lunchtime comes all they do is clear away the test tubes from the benches and eat their lunch on these benches. I asked them: was it not a strain with all these noises? And they answered: the noises of the refrigerators are terrible; the noises of centrifuges are terrible; the trickling of the water is terrible. Everything was terrible including the noises of the air-conditioning system. So I would not listen to them as to what should be done. And I realised that there should be a clean air and stainless steel area, and a rug and oak table area. From this realisation form became. I separated the studies from the laboratory and placed them over gardens. The garden became outdoor spaces where one can talk. Now one need not spend all the time in the laboratories. When one knows what to do, there is only little time one needs for doing it. It is only when one does not know what to do that it takes so much time. And to know what to do is the secret of it all. I deduce from this extract Kahns knowledge and confidence. I see how Kahn believed in a new modern form of architecture. He says it as if he already has the thoughts and ideas to transform buildings into styled and ordered space. Kahns interpretations were seemingly much clearer; he wanted a modern architecture less concerned with aesthetics and what the building looks like. He was more intrigued by the spaces of the building and how the spaces were being used, and what order this would create for them. He wanted to make spaces which would affect the experiences of those who inhabited those spaces. Salk laboratory shows us a design which had predominantly established the foundational significance; order of space an then the geometries. He used this structure of thought for his designs of all institutions such as Salk laboratories. The final version of the Salk laboratories brought him to accept a solution in which services were as repressed or concealed as in any office building by Mies Van der Rohe From this large project he moved onto a next, however, this one remaining unbuilt whilst he was still living. Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban in Dhaka, Bangladesh is regarded to be on this is great monuments of international modernism. This building was considered as his masterpiece of his lifetime. Construction of this building had stated by 1961 however due to its vast enormity didnt finish construction until nine years after his death in 1983 which means it took around 20 years to build. The national assembly building was Kahns most important piece of work. The space was very grand. The interior area for the Assembly building was spilt into 3 sections. The zone in the centre provides circulation. The main area or central zone is for the main assembly. The exterior zone is where the offices and lounges are, also this is where the entrance to the main mosque is. In the design we can see how natural light is a very important element in this building. The building seems as if it is solely for religious purposes and has a heavy spiritual flair. In the assembly I have introduced a light-giving element to the interior of the plan. If you see a series of columns you can say that the choice of columns is a choice in light. The columns as solids frame the spaces of light. Now think of it just in reverse and think that the columns are hollow and much bigger and that their walls can themselves give light, then the voids are rooms, and the column is the maker of light and can take on complex shapes and be the supporter of spaces and give light to spaces. I am working to develop the element to such an extent that it becomes a poetic entity which has its own beauty outside of its place in the composition. In this way it becomes analogous to the solid column I mentioned above as a giver of light. Here Kahn talks about the Bangladesh project. He reiterates the importance of light in the space and his poetic entity which he adds to every design to create a great sense of beauty. In the designing of these three projects we can see how Kahn has used his knowledge to help create spaces which execute both form and function desirably to the client. Kahn talks about how his greater understanding of what is needed helps him complete his task easily. Kahn talks about beauty as the great philosopher St Thomas Aquinas did. Aquinas believed that beauty consisted of four ingredients: Integrity, wholeness, symmetry, and radiance. By integrity he meant that something is complete on its own without any being dependant on anything outside it. By wholeness he means every part has a reason and cant be taken away without destroying the whole beauty of it. Symmetry referring to balance, something cant just change without a corresponding result. This was similar the constants which had appeared in Kahns work. The sense of composition, the integrity of a building reverence for material, sense of room, light as the maker of the structure and architecture of connection Kahn tried to apply these models into all of his projects. One even described him as: a philosopher among architects. This is from his every expressing philosophy on his work. Essentially Kahn saw architecture as being a spiritual form of communication. He grew a strong relation with each project by applying a strong hierarchy with order being the most important. Kahn was famous for being a critique of modernism. He found many influential architects of the time to have been misjudging the order of their designs. Kahns critue started with him rejecting a free plan; a concept which Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier had attached themselves to, along with modernism. Kahn believed that separating these two concepts of form from the structure, would mean the free plan as previously interpreted by Van de Rohe and Le Corbusier had opened up a void that could only be filled with subjective intuition. Essentially Kahns work did seem consistent with that of the broader view of architecture however, his view of modern architecture was something which was unpredictable and had no rules to follow or principles to ad ear to. He found that the international style of modern architecture at the time which was being used by many architects in America and Europe had been too concerned with the form and not the function. Kahn was concerned with the things man has been looking for since the beginning and in this he was a fundamentalist was not interested in the realization, of something which had already occurred, but in the possibility that something will occur within the walls This tells us that Kahn was more of Prophet than simply a preacher. He wanted to change the views on architecture and introduce what he believed to be the necessary condition for the presence of architecture. Miess sensitivites react to imposed structural order with little inspiration, Le Corbusier passes through order impatiently and hurries to form. Kahn talked about Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier imperfection in structural order, and their rush of order leads to an imperfection in form. Kahns order derived from nature and this is reflected in his projects. In the nature of space is the spirit and the will to exist in a certain way. Design must closely follow that will. The pure order, form and geometry is why Louis Kahn still influence the world today. His work directly impacts and inspires forms of architecture today such as post modernism and neo rationalist. More than this Louis Kahn redefined modernism. He has thrilled onlookers with his vast philosophy; however his patrons only appeared in his later years. Kahn adapted architecture and had an input as to what we see when we analyse today. He showed us in his vast texts, to every detail the visions he had, and how he intended to erect these visions. Predominately we can see that he was drifting away from modernism, however, I have studied how Kahns vision set modernism into track somewhere that it wouldnt have been without his influence. It was not belief, not design, not pattern, but the essence from which an institution could emerge

Types of Communication and the Barriers

Types of Communication and the Barriers Definition, Types of communication Communication is known as a medium of communicating, is a simple act of transferring information from point A to point B. Although this definition can sound as simple as it is, but when it differentiate the different type of communication it become more complex. Spoken, Verbal/ Non Verbal Communication Communication can be known as spoken, and it is called as verbal communication, an effective verbal or spoken communication depends on the clarity of speech, the listening skill of the listener. Verbal communication can either be face to face, through radio and also television. On the other hand, non verbal communication would be depending on the body language of someone, the gestures when they’re talking. Interpersonal communication does not only contain of words but also movement of the speaker, non verbal communication are most likely to contain messages that are conveyed by the speaker. Non verbal communication can consist of face expression, the tone of speaking, and the body language displayed on the speaker while he/she is speaking. The non verbal communication gives a lot more of clues and information about someone compared to verbal communication. Writing Skills Writing skills is also another important part of communication; good writing skills can allow you to send your message to the audience through face to face or even through writing. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation is crucial in writing skills, for example, when you’re writing a CV to apply for a job in a hotel, the better the writing skills the higher the chances you will get the job. Visualizations We could also communicate by visual graphs such as charts or graph, logos, and other form of visualisation figure. This is mainly used during a conference or a meeting to send information of the company or the data, for example the annual sales of the hotel or the marketing plan of the hotel. Social Media Social media is also a form of communication to interact, using the network and applications that are commonly used examples, emails, Whatsapp, Wechat, Facebook. We can easily interact with anyone at anytime. The network have created a zero distance for us, for example, having video conferencing meeting with the head quarters of the company that are in United Kingdom when the office is in Singapore. The network has been the greatest creation ever to break almost every communication barriers that we have. Communication barriers Communication between two individuals can be simple if there’s not much barriers between them, but there are huge differences between talking and communicating. When we communicate, we can successfully in getting the points that the other person is trying to say on the other hand, when we talk, we would just ignore the barriers that might hinder the ability to communicate between each other. There are seven different types of communication barriers to more effective communicating, this includes Physical barriers Emotional barriers Cultural barriers Genders barriers Interpersonal barriers Perceptual barriers Language barriers There are a few reason that might have been the main barriers among human communication, for example the main reason why we can easily encounter communication barriers is due to the language differences that we might speak, even if we could speak the same language, the differences of the accent might come unfamiliar to us and it might be quite hard to understand. On the other hand, another reason why communication will fail it may be lack of interest of the person which is talking or the listener might have distractions from the other people nearby or even the noises of the crowds. Another misjudgement of common error is that people tend to expect what they hear rather than what is actually being spoken and jumping straight into inaccurate conclusions. Physical barriers The environment has been one of the main reason that causes physical barriers among employees and employers, for example, if the environment in the hotel isn’t quiet, the speaker isn’t talking in a loud voice, the listener wouldn’t be able to hear what messages is being delivered. Distance also plays an important role. For example, if the organisation in the company is made to sit in different floors or departments in the hotel, they likely would have difficulties on communicating face to face and due to long term relying on technology such as phone calls and emails; it distances the relationship of the employees and employers. Emotional barriers In a workplace, facing staffs and bosses might be a stressful task. Maintaining a good relationship in the workplace is crucial. According to Bud Craig,(2008) the classical emotions such as anger and fear, will always leads an individual to fight or fail to cooperate, therefore this is why working in an environment that does not make us happy and make us felt mistreated will lead the employees to lost interest and brings out negative impact. Cultural barriers Working in the hotel, there might be employees of different group age; every different age group would have different ways and perception of working. The age group of people would always have conflicts of describing older workers as â€Å"out of touch’ and those who just went into the organisation would be criticised by the older workers as ‘slackers’ during work time and not constantly focussing on work. Another reason of cause of cultural barriers is that the staffs would always believe in status and resistance in any sort of work place, staffs who assumed themselves as seniority status may find it hard to adapt into environments where the job tittles might be de-emphasized. Gender barriers According to Heather R,(2005), being well aware of the following generalizations will always help the organisation to have more effectively in the work place, for examples, women staffs would likely talk about people, and on the other hand, male staffs like to talk about tangible things such as sports, food and drinks. Women staffs ask many questions to gain an understanding on an issue that they are not clear about while men staffs always gives information more than asking questions Women staffs focus on feelings and senses, while man staffs always focus on the facts and the logic of problems. Interpersonal barriers The lack of desire on participating organisation events might be another reason of interpersonal barriers, Some staffs of the older age would be more frustrated on work and do not really like to socialise among the community in the company. Some other staffs who might be an introvert might also have unwillingness to explore, giving out new ideas during staffs meetings, or even speaking out the own views of the organisation, in the long run, this may lead to more unwillingness on working and even extremely frustrating among themselves. Perceptual barriers As human, we always have our own preferences, self values, different attitudes and we see it as a own kind of â€Å"flitters† in making decisions and perception of thinking. Thinking in our own â€Å"filters† and ignoring other’s opinion may lend to all sort of assumptions and misunderstanding. Language barriers Working in the front office in the hotel industry, one must be fluent in different types of languages, while people in Malaysia can usually speak more than 3 different languages and dialects, the dialectal differences will make communicating with different individuals harder. Language disabilities are the physical impediments to languages, we could not talk person which have dysphonia or how have hearing loss. According to the Rwanda Development Board, (2008) indicates that around 85,730 of the staffs in the hospitality sector are not fluent in foreign languages and therefore have less efficacy on customer service. It is also identified that language deficiency is the major problem of the hindering growth in the hospitality industry. I went to a hotel nearby my house to interview the front desk manager about the barriers that might occur working in the hotel line. Questionnaire and Answers How long have you been working in this profession? According to Ms.Cheng, (2015) she have been working in the hotel industry for more than 20 years. How did you first get into this profession? According to Ms. Cheng, (2015) she stated that her mother used to be a hotelier for her whole life, her mother inspired her to become a person like her mom, being a hotelier that cares for the people, a dedicated staff and one who try her best to serve and satisfy the need of the people who lives in the hotel. Do you like your job? Ms Cheng is a really responsible worker and she never shown up late before for the past years of working. What is the toughest problem that you have encountered so far? Stated by Ms. Cheng, (2015), working to serve the community isn’t an easy job, people all throughout the world have different cultures and beliefs, but the hardest problem to cope with is the attitude of rude or bad mannered guests. What kind of communication barrier that will affect the job working in the front line of the hotel industry? Ms Cheng stated that the language barriers is the main problem to communicate among guests, because when we do not understand the language that is being spoke, we can’t communicate and this will lead the guest to lose their temper leaving a bad impression to the company. When problems occurred, what does the organisation do to help solve the problems? The company would do their best to settle the situation of satisfaction or misunderstanding between the guest and the staffs. (Cheng, Interview) What are the ways to avoid having these circumstances working in the hotel line? When interviewed on 4th May 2015, Ms Cheng confirmed that hiring only experienced staffs with higher education level is as important as hiring staffs that have good ethics, personality, and the company should be really serious on picking people to join the company and even conduct an evaluating between the people that are in-charged in the organisation before hiring new staffs to the company. What is the main reason that communication breakdown often happens in working front line? Cheng (2015) made the claim those companies not only in the hotel industry nowadays often hires foreigner workers that are from Bangladesh, Nepal to work, and as for foreigners they do not speak our national language well or even any other language such as Chinese, English and the main reason why organisation still hire them is because the wages that is needed to hire a foreigner worker is lower than hiring the people from our own country, it helps to cut down the cost and budgets for the company and hence leads to more and more barriers to be faced during working period. Conclusion and Recommendations In this task, I have learnt that how a company communicates among the employee and how an organization work together. Besides, I learned that communication barriers come in different ways such as language carriers, cultural barriers, and emotional barriers and so on. Throughout the questionnaire and listening upon the interviewer’s answers based on the questions I have asked, I realised that effective communication is the key of managing a good company to success because a company that is poor in communication will always lead to ultimately misunderstandings. According to Forbes, (2009) problem solving is the greatest enabler for growth and opportunity. This is why they say failure serves as the greatest lesson in business and in life. In my own opinion, realising the problem is the first step to success, knowing the problems of the company, analyzing why problems occur and performing appropriate action to fix the problem as soon as possible. In my own opinion, realising the p roblem is the first step to success, knowing the problems of the company, analyzing why problems occur and performing appropriate action to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Social Commentary in Blood Brothers by Willy Russell Essay -- Blood Br

Social Commentary in Blood Brothers by Willy Russell The play, Blood Brothers by Willy Russell, is a twisted tale of two brothers born on the same day and from the same womb, yet they live in two entirely different worlds. In the scene with Russell Eddie and Mickey meeting for the first time. At first Mickey is suspicious of Eddie, (Mickey – â€Å"hello† suspiciously), but at that innocent age they talking and quickly bond. Eddie is well-mannered in all his ways – â€Å"ill look it up in the dictionary† and says â€Å"pardon†. This shows Eddie has a polite comportment in his speech– â€Å"ill looks it up in the dictionary† and says â€Å"pardon†. This shows Eddie is well educated and polite because of his wealth. However, Mickey isn’t and Eddie is innocent and because of his overprotective mother therefore doesn’t know much about reality and the world around him – Eddie says, â€Å"Pissed of. You say smashing things don’t you? And Mickey says, â€Å"Do you know the F word?† Eddie – â€Å"pardon, what does it mean?† Because the boys are young, they’re innocent and honest about everything. When they start sharing background information, they soon find out they are very similar and even share the same age, the same date of birth. They choose to become blood brothers which will mean a new stronger relationship. Mickey says,† this mean that we’re blood brothers† their affection is strong, because they bond so quickly. When Sammy enters the scene, it becomes tense as he makes fun of Eddie. Sammy _ â€Å"he’s a friggin poshy†, this means Sammy makes fun of his accent, he instantly recognizes he’s posh. Because Mickey is Eddie’s blood brother, he defends him as that was one of they’re vows they made when becoming blood brothers. Mickey and Eddie – â€Å"I al... ...u as well as everything’ else? Does she? Eddie does she?† Russell is trying to show that if you’re wealthy you aren’t going to be happy unless you have something to keep you going, he needs an achievable goal in life, Mrs Johnstone had her children, but Mickey only has his pills to keep him going. He has no hope of a job because of his criminal record, or his own home. He is terrified that Linda will leave him. In conclusion Russell is trying to portray that your situation depends entirely on the way you’re brought up. According to Russell it depends on nurture; the child that was given away got the better life, it wouldn’t have mattered which one was given away. As Eddie had the experience of a wealthy family he got the best opportunities in life. Mickey has to struggle with reality of being underprivileged, hence the unfairness of living in Britain.

The Maturity of Men :: Media Movies Maturing Essays

The Maturity of Men It has been said that men mature slower than women and often become the joke of many conversations. Even Hollywood can sell movies based on this humor. Is it fair to say that all men are immature for their age? Of course it is not, but it seems that it is a growing epidemic among American jokes and allows a reasonable explanation as to why men are so different from women. Men take a little longer to process information and may need to make a few mistakes along the way in order to view the world as it exists. It is almost easier to say that men are immature than going into depth of how their mind works, and why they do the things they do. Although sometimes it may seem impossible for men to finally grow up, they eventually do because they realize from their own experiences what is proper and what is not. Many Hollywood films, including American Wedding and School of Rock, view men with an immature mentality but are able to explore a plot where they grow through their expe riences. In the film American Wedding, directed by Jesse Dylan, the plot follows the same theme as the first two in the American Pie trilogy. It has most of the same characters except now Michelle and Jim are getting married. The last person they would ever plan on inviting would be Steve Stifler because of his immature personality and obsession for sex. As the movie continues Stifler pretends to be sophisticated so that Jim’s future mother-in-law will invite him to the wedding. Of course there are other motives involved; but the tables turn quickly when Stifler realizes how important growing up is in order to finally settle down in life. Although in American Wedding the man characterized as immature is much younger than the one in School of Rock, it still follows the same path. This just proves that men can mature at all ages. This film, directed by Richard Linklater, has the famous Jack Black who is stereotyped as the immature male. Jack Black’s character is in his thirties but still lives in the dream that he will become a famous rock star.

Discuss the Aphorism “Small Firm Growth Being the Only Measure of an Entrepreneur’s Success”.

INTRODUCTION Business growth is a good goal for most firms in general and is given great weight by the society. This could be seen with the list conjured up by the media, such as ‘Forbes Fast-Growing Companies’ and ‘Inc Fastest Growing Companies’ lists (Hupato 2011). The reason small firm growth has been prioritised by policy makers and the society is mainly due to its contribution to the economy (Bridge, O’Neill & Martin 2009). Small firm and entrepreneurship have so often been linked together, and it has become common to acknowledge that all small firms are established by entrepreneurs.Hence, the terms such as growth, success and performance are often linked in the research of entrepreneurial success (Reijonen & Komppula 2007). However, if entrepreneurship is defined as creation of new economic activity, the aspect of firm growth is already defined the moment the entrepreneur introduced new products or services (Davidsson, Achtenhagen & Naldi 2010). In other words, growth is not an aspect of entrepreneurship if growth is measured solely on volume expansion of existing products or through acquisitions of existing business.Schumpeter has also mentioned that one can be entrepreneurial without being self-employed and vice versa (Utsch, Rauch, Rothfufs & Frese 1999). Entrepreneurship remains an enigma till date and the assumption that all small firms are creations of an entrepreneur is arguable. Davidsson, Achtenhagen & Naldi (2010) has described, even a superficial reading on the complexity of small firm growth literature could easily leave the reader confused. Thus, the aphorism of small firm growth being the only measure of an entrepreneur’s success should be looked upon from different perspectives.The dimensions of small firm growth and also the perspectives of entrepreneurial success will be analysed to see the degree of its correlation and to judge how true the mentioned aphorism is. What is small firm growth? Generall y, growth of a business occurs in phases in a small business life cycle. A business venture would normally encounter three-stage development process, namely the ‘seed’ stage, the ‘start-up’ stage and the ‘expansion’ stage (Mukherjee 1992).The ‘seed’ stage brings a well-conceived idea into existence, while the ‘start-up’ stage included employment and accumulating business capital, and the ‘expansion’ stage involves manufacturing or service capacity increment (Mukherjee 1992). On the other hand, Bridge, O’Neill & Martin (2009) has suggested five stages of small firm growth, namely ‘existence’, ‘survival’, ‘success’, ‘take-off’ and ‘maturity’. Helms & Renfrow (1994) has supported the concept of the five stages of various developmental growth stages when they conducted a research in United States.Bridge, O’Neill & Martin (2009) defi ned the five stages as the following: the ‘existence’ stage is similar to the ‘seed’ stage explained previously, while the ‘survival’ stage involves customer familiarisation with the firm’s product or service. The ‘success’ stage is when there are options for further growth, thus the ‘take-off’ stage where the owner opted to grow the business larger. The business will reach the ‘maturity’ stage when it displays the characteristics of a large company.However, the mentioned researchers have concluded that it is difficult to clearly define the business development stages clearly during throughout the business cycle (Bridge, O’Neill & Martin 2009). Despite the challenging task to categorise growth, researchers would still generally use the small business growth as indicator of success since it is common parlance to suggest that success requires growth, to stand still is to die (Geneste & Weber 20 11). There are enormous literatures on theories of growth and are most commonly associated with generation of jobs.In the early years, entrepreneurship has been the main focus due to its significant employment opportunities that was created. This reason remained strong today thus gaining the attention from policy-makers in each country. In fact, the number of employees a firm has become an important factor for classifying a small firm (Helms & Renfrow 1994). Research shows that young high-growth firms (also commonly known as ‘gazelles’) generate a large share of all new net jobs (Roper 2012).Robbins, Pantuosco, Parker & Fuller (2000) has also confirmed in their research that a state with large quantity of small business has lower rates of unemployment compared to other states that has little quantity of small businesses. The reason employment rates are valuable in measuring growth is because each firm will grow until they reach the optimal size that corresponds to minim um average cost (Hart 2000). Thus, each firm will continue to employ during its growth stage until it reaches the efficient scale or natural decay.However, other research has proved that it is difficult to measure small firm performance by employee growth. This is due to moderating variables such as outsourcing activities, productivity changes and replacement of employees with capital investments (Fitzsimmons, Steffens & Douglas 2005). When business grow in this the rapid changing modem world, many production and service functions has been contracted out (Bridge, O’Neill & Martin 2009). In other words, a business can grow without having any increase in employment rate.Several academicians argued that sales precede other yardsticks for business growth, as pointed out that it is the increase in sales that necessitates the increase in the number of employees hired (Davidsson, Achtenhagen & Naldi 2010). Sales revenue performance is used as small firm’s growth because it mi rrors the consumer’s demand for the product or services provided by the firm (Fitzsimmons, Steffens & Douglas 2005). In this world of constant returns, the consumer’s demand for the product or services determines the limit on the firm’s growth.Sales figures easily reflect both short-term and long-term changes in the firm, hence measuring the growth and performance. However, there are two reasons that deviate sales as business growth yardstick. Firstly, the typical downward sloping demand curve is not applicable in practice. Just as a habitual entrepreneur starts more than one business, a firm can also have product differentiation (Hart 2000). Hence, it is difficult to determine the demand and cost curves in imperfect competition market condition.Secondly, sales are not an accountable measure during first few stages of the business cycle. During the seed and the start-up stage, employment and assets may grow more extensively before any significant sale has been d one (Fitzsimmons, Steffens & Douglas 2005). In this context, assets are in the form tangible ‘fixed’ assets and intangible assets such as of entrepreneur’s knowledge asset, the reputation of the firm (Bridge, O’Neill & Martin 2009) and quantity of registered patents. Hence, business growth could not be measured by sales alone.Looking from another dimension, a firm’s profitability could be suggested as an important measure of growth for the simple reason that a firm is unable to sustain without profits. The difference between maximised sales and maximised profit is that the marginal revenue is zero when sales are maximised but the marginal revenue is positive when profits are maximised (Hart 2000). A firm’s growth on profitability can be considered in term of the net profit margins, return on assets (Fitzsimmons, Steffens & Douglas 2005) or return on equity (Durguner & Katchova 2009).High profit margins, return on assets and return on equity p rovide more confidence for shareholders and potential investors to invest in the firm, enhancing business growth. However, growth rates are highly volatile over duration of time and research has shown that there is no evidence of a relationship between growth and profitability (Fitzsimmons, Steffens & Douglas 2005). In accordance, many articles have reached a conclusion that financial measures alone are not sufficient as business growth and performance measure for small firms (Reijonen & Komppula 2007).This is due to the fact that, just as entrepreneurship, small business sector is hardly homogeneous, and not all of these businesses are operating in the same direction. Some research has even shown that not all small firms are even capable or willing to grow (Papadanki & Chami 2002). What is entrepreneurial success? The capability and willingness to grow of small firms are directly influenced by the business owners’ intention to grow and their self-perception of success.In oth er words, the growth of small business is not a self-evident phenomenon, but it is actually driven by the business owner’s motivations and intentions (Morrison, Breen & Ali 2003). Most business decisions are made by owners, and their own personal judgement will impact on the business growth orientation (Geneste & Weber 2011). Consequently, it can be considered that the role of the entrepreneur should be emphasized as the dominant factor of growth (Reijonen & Komppula 2007). An entrepreneur’s motivation for business growth has to be complemented by his or her willingness to grow and assume risks.The risks involved are such as willingness to delegate control functions to others and the uncertainty to produce more output. The researchers found that due to the risks, small business owners are reluctant to grow and perceives profit-maximisation as only one of the motives for business growth (Papadanki & Chami 2002). This argument draws down to the psychological theories of motivation. The McClelland’s theory of needs defined ‘need for achievement’ as â€Å"the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, and to strive to succeed† (Robbins, Judge, Millet & Boyle 2011).Hence, characteristics of the business owners are linked to the business growth aspirations. In other words, each entrepreneur has their own perception of success depending on their own standard for ‘need for achievement’. To understand the business growth aspirations deeper, the owner’s clusters of traits and behaviours which affect the way they engage in their business activities are examined. The characteristic of the firm owner can be divided into three broad categories, namely ‘life-style’, ‘comfort-zone’ and ‘growth’ (Bridge, O’Neill & Martin 2009).The ‘life-style’ owners are defined to be those who establish the business to provide them a level of income and ha ve no intention for business growth. Geneste & Weber (2011) has identified owners that are not keen to expand their business due to deliberate ‘life-style’ choice, such as the small business atmosphere that engenders comradeship and job satisfaction. The ‘comfort-zone’ owners establish the business and focus on the benefits it can provide for the comfort he or she wants in life and the business growth will be stagnant once the desired comfort level has been achieved.The ‘growth’ owners are the almost ideal business person who maximises the earning potential and continue to grow the business further for the future. Clearly again, the intrinsic motivation of the owner should be examined further in order to understand what entrepreneurial success is. There are many studies that have been conducted to explore an entrepreneur’s intrinsic motivation for his or her business. One piece of research conducted was to compare the start-up motivation s and growth intentions between African-Americans (titled as ‘black’ by the researchers) and Americans (titled as ‘white’ by the researchers).Edelmen, Brush, Manolova & Greene (2010) has conducted a research to investigate new venture among black and white nascent entrepreneurs. In their research, they have discovered three important findings related to business growth. Firstly, nascent entrepreneurs do not associate business establishment outcomes with business growth intention. Secondly, entrepreneurs are motivated to start ventures to fulfil a need for self-realisation. Lastly, it is found that whites are more strongly motivated by the desire for financial success while blacks had higher levels of personal self-confidence.Hypothetically, the findings of this research suggested that blacks inherited the ‘life-style’ motivations while the whites are ‘comfort-zone’ motivated. This research has proved that expected financial outcome s are not as important as noneconomic concern in determining the entrepreneur’s attitude towards growth. The entrepreneurial success is not related to the growth of the firm but for intrinsic satisfaction instead; hence small firm growth should not be the only measure for the entrepreneur’s success.In another piece of research, (Utsch, Rauch, Rothfufs & Frese 1999) has investigated the rapid emergence of entrepreneurs and small firms in East Germany. During the research, the role of personality traits has been clarified and the researchers found an encouraging convergence result in two areas, namely the need for achievement and need for autonomy. In other words, entrepreneurs with high need for autonomy will be more motivated to begin small-scale business ventures and will develop the business further only if they have high need for achievement as well.In parallel to that, Lee & Tai (2010) has conducted a research to investigate the motivators and success of small busi ness in Kazakhstan. Empirical evidence has suggested the entrepreneurs are motivated to achieve financial independence and also to obtain social recognition. This is due to the fact that entrepreneurial endeavours are considered as honourable and also an upgrade on social-status activities. This theory is shows that entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan are more aligned towards the ‘comfort-zone’ characteristics.The mentioned researchers have also concluded that the success of some small firm growth is contributed by the creativity and commitment of all the entrepreneurs. From these two pieces of research, it is further confirmed that entrepreneurs have their own perceptions of success but each individual has different intrinsic motivation to achieve his or her goal, albeit from different geographic locations. Another aspect to consider on perception of entrepreneurial success should be the gender of the owner. Research shows that there are differences across entrepreneur’ s gender on perceptions of success.Male and females entrepreneurs differ in the way they measure their extrinsic and intrinsic dimensions. Previous study has verified that male entrepreneurs tend to emphasize on quantitative measures and economic values while female entrepreneurs emphasize on qualitative measures and social values (Justo, Cruz, de Castro & Coduras 2006). Hypothetically, male entrepreneurs describe success in term of achieving goals while female entrepreneurs define success in terms of doing something fulfilling. The research has also iscovered that the motivation for business success is moderated by the parental status of the entrepreneur. Female entrepreneurs are more motivated venturing into self-employment if they have dependent children under their care and perceived success when they are able to fulfil the need of independence. This hypothesis has been confirmed by Ahmad (2011) when he conducted a research on female entrepreneurs in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In this piece of research, female entrepreneurship has proved to be influenced by the female entrepreneur wanting to spend more quality family time.For these female entrepreneurs, the perception of success was when the desire for autonomy, independence, self-fulfilment and wealth has been achieved. In short, the gender status of the entrepreneur significantly impact on the perceptions of entrepreneurial success where female entrepreneurs depict more on social values as success. Conclusion In conclusion, the dimensions of small firm growth and the perspectives of entrepreneurial success have been discussed to judge how true the aphorism of entrepreneurial success can only be judged by small firm growth.The different stages of business cycle have been identified and the growth of the business occurs in almost all the phases in the five stages of small firm growth in their own way. Growth is included in many aspects, such as growth of the idea, or the growing numbers of customers, or gene rating more returns from the business. Generally, the measurement of growth is mainly based on quantitative values such as employment rate, business sales and profitability among other yardsticks. However, research shows that small firm growth could not be measured on financial and economical terms only.The rate of employment becomes insignificant as the business can grow without hiring any new employees, while sales do not account for the first couple stages of the business cycle and there might be owners who deviate from the main product or service line. Research has also shown that there are no relationship between profitability and growth. Therefore, the entrepreneur’s perception of success should be moderated to measure small firm success. Three types of small firm owner’s characteristics has been identified, namely the ‘life-style’, ‘comfort-zone’ and ‘growth’.From the few pieces of research that has been examined, most of t he entrepreneurs are found to be ‘life-style’ and ‘comfort-zone’ and rarely the ideal ‘growth’ motivated characteristics. The gender of the entrepreneur will also affect the measuring manner of small firm growth success. Each attribute shows the willingness and capability of each owner to further grow their business. Hence, the entrepreneur’s intrinsic motivation plays a vital role in judging and predicting the small firm success.In this context, the intrinsic motivations are such as the need for achievement, autonomy and self-realisation are more important than business growth intentions. In a nutshell, it can be concluded that small firm growth can be a way to measure entrepreneurial success, but it should be based on the standard or level that the entrepreneur has placed emphasis on instead of strictly on monetary values only. REFERENCES Ahmad, SZ 2011, ‘Evidence of the characteristics of women entrepreneurs in the Kingdom of Sa udi Arabia’, International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 123-143.Bridge, S, O’Neill, K & Martin, F 2009, Understanding enterprise: entrepreneurship and small business, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire. Davidsson, P, Achtenhagen, L & Naldi, L 2005, ‘Research on small firm growth: a review’, 35th EISB Conference, Barcelona. Durguner, S & Katchova, AL 2009, ‘Measure of small business financial performance from a lender and a borrower perspective’, The Business Review, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 24. Edelman, LF, Brush, CG, Manolova, TS & Greene, PG 2010, ‘Start-up motivations and growth intentions of minority nascent entrepreneurs’, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 8, no. 2, p. 174. Fitzsimmons, JR, Steffens, PR & Douglas, EJ 2005, ‘Growth and profitability in small and medium sized Australian firms’, AGSE Entrepreneurship Exchange, Melbourne. Geneste, L & Weber, P 2011, ‘Relatin g small business growth with success: some findings from the 2008 Western Australian small business benchmarks survey’, 8th AGSE International Entrepreneurship Research Exchange, Melbourne. Hart, PE 2000, ‘Theories of firms’ growth and the generation of jobs’, Review of Industrial Organization, vol. 17, no. 3, p. 229.Helms, MM & Renfrow TW 1994, ‘Expansionary process of the small business: a life cycle profile’, Management Decision, vol. 32, no. 9, p. 43. Hupalo, PI, TiE Islamabad, 2012, ‘Measuring success in small business and entrepreneurship’, TiE Islamabad, 12 October 2012,< https://islamabad. tie. org/article/24/measuring-success-small-business-and-entrepreneurship>. Justo, R, Cruz, C, de Castro, J & Coduras, A 2006, ‘Entrepreneurs’ perception of success: examining differences across gender and family status’, IE working paper, Instituto de Empresa Business School.Lee, JW & Tai SW 2010, ‘Motivators a nd inhibators of entrepreneurship and small business development in Kazakhstan’, World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 6, no, p. 61. Morrison, A, Breen, J & Ali, S 2003, ‘Small business growth: intention, ability and opportunity’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 41, no. 4, p. 417. Mukherjee, TK 1992, ‘Financing the three stages of the small business cycle: a survey’, Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 33.Papadanki, E & Chami, B, Industry Canada, 2012, ‘Growth determinants of micro-business in Canada’, Government of Canada Publications Ottawa, ON, viewed 12 October 2012, . Reijonen, H & Komppula R 2007, ‘Perception of success and its effect on small firm performance’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 689-701. Robbins, DK, Pantuosco, LJ, Parker, DF & Fuller, BK 2000, ‘An empirical assessment of contribut ion of small business employment to U.S. state economic performance’, Small Business Economics, vol. 15, no. 4, p. 293. Robbins, SP, Judge, TA, Millet, B & Boyle, M 2011, Organisational Behaviour, 6th end, Pearson Australia, French Forest, NSW. Roper, Stephen 2012, Entrepreneurship : a global perspective, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. Utsch, A, Rauch, A, Rothfus,R & Frese, M 1999, ‘Who becomes a small scale entrepreneur in a post-socialist environment: on the differences between entrepreneurs and managers in East Germany’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 37, no. 3, p. 31.

Digital Fortress Chapter 26

Sitting on the bench across from the public clinic, Becker wondered what he was supposed to do now. His calls to the escort agencies had turned up nothing. The commander, uneasy about communication over unsecured public phones, had asked David not to call again until he had the ring. Becker considered going to the local police for help-maybe they had a record of a red-headed hooker-but Strathmore had given strict orders about that too. You are invisible. No one is to know this ring exists. Becker wondered if he was supposed to wander the drugged-out district of Triana in search of this mystery woman. Or maybe he was supposed to check all the restaurants for an obese German. Everything seemed like a waste of time. Strathmore's words kept coming back: It's a matter of national security†¦ you must find that ring. A voice in the back of Becker's head told him he'd missed something-something crucial-but for the life of him, he couldn't think what it would be. I'm a teacher, not a damned secret agent! He was beginning to wonder why Strathmore hadn't sent a professional. Becker stood up and walked aimlessly down Calle Delicias pondering his options. The cobblestone sidewalk blurred beneath his gaze. Night was falling fast. Dewdrop. There was something about that absurd name that nagged at the back of his mind. Dewdrop. The slick voice of Senor Roldan at Escortes Belen was on endless loop in his head. â€Å"We only have two redheads†¦ Two redheads, Inmaculada and Rocio†¦ Rocio†¦ Rocio†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Becker stopped short. He suddenly knew. And I call myself a language specialist? He couldn't believe he'd missed it. Rocio was one of the most popular girl's names in Spain. It carried all the right implications for a young Catholic girl-purity, virginity, natural beauty. The connotations of purity all stemmed from the name's literal meaning-Drop of Dew! The old Canadian's voice rang in Becker's ears. Dewdrop. Rocio had translated her name to the only language she and her client had in common-English. Excited, Becker hurried off to find a phone. Across the street, a man in wire-rim glasses followed just out of sight.