The Phenomenology of Fodor or the Modularity of Merleau-Ponty :: Psychology Psychological Papers

The Phenomenology of Fodor or the Modularity of Merleau-Ponty ABSTRACT: In 1983, Fodor’s Modularity of Mind popularized faculty psychology. His theory employs a trichotomous functional architecture to explain cognitive processes, which is very similar to Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception. Each theory postulates that perception is a mid-level procedure that operates on transduced information and that perception is independent of our cognitive experience. The two theories differ on whether perception is informationally impenetrable. This difference is essentially an empirical matter. However, I suggest that Merleau-Ponty’s allowance of cross-modal communication within perception explains our ability to identify features in noisy backgrounds better because his theory offers a more definitive ontology that matches human substantive behavior. Likewise, evidence within cognitive science suggests that Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology is a more accurate depiction of human cognitive processes. Introduction (1) Fodor’s modularity thesis popularized faculty approaches to cognitive psychology. This theory bears a striking resemblance to the phenomenological theory that Merleau-Ponty proposed two decades earlier. Both theories employ a trichotomous functional architecture to explain cognition and view perception as a mid-level processing of information that lies between the world and consciousness. The key feature that differentiates the views is whether that middle level of processing is completely impenetrable by consciousness. If Fodor was to relax his strong position of the impenetrability of information in modules, modules could both be somewhat encapsulated and maintain a general independence from consciousness. Then only the degree of perception’s independance from consciousness would distinguish his theory from Merleau-Ponty’s. Currently, both theories can account for the substantive, outward, behavior of humans. Only the procedural behavior, the internal process, differentiates the theories. The conundrum of deciding between the theories is resolvable by an empirical critical experiment. While this will require more knowledge of cognitive psychology, current evidence suggests that Merleau-Ponty was correct and the mind is less encapsulated than Fodor's original claim. The Two Theories and Their Resemblance Merleau-Ponty distinguishes three aspects of the psychological process; basic sensations, perception, and the associations of memory (Merleau-Ponty, 1994). Basic sensations receive raw information from the world and transduce them for our perceptual processes. Perception unifies the infinite amount of information about our environment, from our environment, into a meaningful structure. Perception is interpretive, but its presentation of the world is as distal and objective. There are three central features of perception for Merleau-Ponty. First, perception is synthesized independently by the body and not by the mind (consciousness).

Comparing Judaism and Islam Essay

Judaism and Islam are two of the world’s oldest, and largest monotheistic religions. These religions share a variety of customs, beliefs, and even practices. But at the same time, there are enough differences to make the two religions and cultures oppose each other greatly. Even some similarities between the two have been the source of conflict for thousands of years. Both the Jewish and Muslim faith believe in one God. Being monotheistic means just that, the belief in one God. This is the most obvious similarity between the two religions. In fact a Muslim is defined as anyone who says â€Å"There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God.† and the basic creed of Judaism says â€Å"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.† Judaism and Islam both have Holy Books from which religious teachings are taken. The Muslim Holy Book is called the Quran, it is spelled in English in many different ways Koran, Kuran, this is because Arabic is hard to translate. The Quran is the word of God as reveled by the prophet Mohammed. The Jewish Holy Book is referred to as the Hebrew Bible. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible is called the Torah. This is the part of the bible lays out a system of moral and religious conduct. The Hebrew Bible was put together in the 1st century A.D. by rabbis and teachers of the Jewish text. The Hebrew Bible and the Quran both set up a system of law for the followers of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. The Hebrew Bible, the book of the Jewish faith sets up more of a code of conduct, a system of moral and religious conduct that is called the halavhah. This addresses how families should be run, personal ethics and manners, social responsibilities, and what people of the Jewish faith should and should not eat. Dietary guidelines are very important in the Jewish religion, everything that is eaten must be Kosher, meaning it is prepared a certain way. The Quran goes one step farther in setting boundaries for it’s believers. This book of the Muslim faith sets the rules for an Islamic state. Also there are strict rules on women, families, and daily life that are addressed in deep detail in the Quran. Polygamy is accepted in the Quran, a man may have no more that four wives. And women are actually supposed to be mostly equal to men, yet modest.  Equality of women is not always practiced in some Middle Eastern and Islamic countries. As with most religions Islam and Judaism have a variety of holidays. Some are to commemorate an event of the the past, some to celebrate a new year, or maybe the passing of a certain number of years. Ramadan, a holiday celebrated mostly by Sunni Muslims, happens during the ninth month of the Muslim year. This was the month when the Quran was reveled for the guidance of mankind. During this holy month Muslims fast and abstain from sex during the daylight hours. It is a very holy time and is taken very seriously. In the Jewish faith there is a similar holiday called Passover. This holiday lasts for seven days and commerates the deliverance of Israel from slavery. Passover more specifically refers to the evening when the angel of death passed over the houses of all in Egypt killing the first born of each home that did not have lambs’s blood around the door. During this holiday Jews are permitted only to ear unleavened bread called matzo during the daylight hours, much like the Ramadan fasting. Jews also hold feasts during the first two nights of this holiday. A house of worship is an important component of most religions in our world today. Islam has the Mosque, a place of prayer and teaching. Judaism has the Synagogue, also a place of prayer and teaching. In both these places people gather to perform the customs that are laid out in their religious scriptures. Unlike some religions in the world today both Judaism and Islam require their believers to pray multiple times a day. Jews pray three times a day, once in the morning, once in the noontime and once in the evening. Though this practice is more of a personal choice than the strict guidelines of prayer set in the Muslim religion. In the Quran there are five pillars of the Muslim faith: The first is profession of faith which basically means a Muslims must constantly and openly profess their faith. The second is prayer, which happens five times a day. The third is giving alms to the needy. The fourth is fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. And the fifth is the pilgrimage to Mecca. The second pillar of faith is the  practice similar to the Jewish practice. Five times a day Muslims must pray facing the holy city of Mecca. This however is a very strict prayer, maybe a bit different from the Jewish tradition, but still the same basic concept. Judaism is the oldest of the three major monotheistic religions. The religion began in the time of Abraham which would have been about 1900 B.C, over 3,000 years ago. In many ways this has made the Jewish religion and it’s followers very strong in their beliefs. Islam, on the other hand, was not founded until 570 A.D., some 2,000 years after the beginning of Judaism. Many Jewish believers will use this difference as an argument. They are the older of the two religions, and so they were the first people in the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine) and so they should be entitled to it and no one else. However, Abraham had two sons, Issac the leader of the Hebrew people and Ishmael, the leader of the Arab people. Though not all Muslims are Arab, the majority of the Muslims in Israel are Arab. So Muslims will use this argument by saying that Ishmael was the first son of Abraham and God told Abraham that He would take care of his first born, so the Muslims have just as much right to the area as the Jews, no matter who was there first. Though there are many similarities between Islam and Judaism, the few differences however large or small seem to greatly outweigh the amazing likenesses for the thousands of followers of both beliefs. These differences as well as the continuing argument over the promised land of Israel/Palestine continue today to escalate the war in the sacred area and drive a wedge even further between the two groups. The truly frightening part of all this is that Holy Wars are extremely hard to resolve. When two groups are fighting over land that was promised to them by a divine entity that’s existence can’t even be proven, there aren’t a whole lot of options for peace. All the world can do is educate themselves and try to accept the different religions and continue to look for some sort of compromise.

Philosophy of Mind Essay

Since centuries, our philosophers have been trying to unravel mysteries of our memory, thought processes, different emotions, will power and imaginations culminating into what is known as different intellectual and conscious part of our personality.   Our mind, as our great literary figures have posited, is a stream of our consciousness and is a part of our brain’s inherent processes. Our mind is a place where our reasoning power gets the shape and takes the practical form. As also said in Indian Vedic philosophy, He who knows the receptacle (Ayatana) verily becomes the receptacle of his people. Mind is verily the receptacle (of all our knowledge).† – (Chhandogya Upanishad, V-i-5.) Different studies by our philosophers have been compounded into various theories each delving into the depth of various aspects of our mind processes. Its earliest studies have been found in the works of Zarathushtra, Mahatma Budha, Plato, Aristotle, Adi Shankara and many more ancient Greek and Indian Philosophers.   Many of the pre scientific philosophers based their theories on relationship between the mind and the soul, supernatural elements of faith, having a feeling of closeness with divinity or god, but on the other hand modern theorists based their theories on their research and scientific studies of the brain. These theories rely heavily on the fact that the mind is a phenomenon of the brain and is a tantamount of consciousness. The study of the relationship between the body and mind is the most central aspect to the philosophy of mind, despite of the fact that there are number of issues related to the nature of the mind which does not take into consideration its relationship to the physical body. The most crucial and complex differences of thoughts are arising among different theorists regarding the exact and most appropriate theory of mind. Though various theorists have developed their own different versions to make us understand our own functioning of mind yet as more and more theories are coming up, more and more it is getting difficult to come out with the best theory of all. As all theories are able to capture the intensity of readers to make us understand the core of our mind and thoughts, yet it is very challenging to understand â€Å"Which is the best?† Here I am trying to unravel the mystery to understand which theory-Dualism, mind-brain identity or functionalism is a correct theory to understand all about mind. Dualism is a most important school of thought that has tried to solve the most paradoxical and most important relationship of mind and body problems. It has tried to make several attempts to sure that mind and body in some way or the other detach from each other. Roots of Dualism dates far back to Plato, Aristotle and the Sankhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy but in a most precise way it was understood by Rene Descartes only in the 17th century. His philosophical disposition is based on the fact that the mind is independent in itself and constitutes two different kinds of substances like â€Å"res extensa meaning extended things, physical things† and â€Å"res cogitans means thinking things†, (Descartes, Online Edition ). The thinking things are beyond the dimensions of time and space and are thus separate in itself whereas Property dualists thinks that there are several independent properties known to us. It is quite clear from his disposition that he is trying to explain the importance and concept of soul, giving religious discourse. But in this all, he has tried to explain that there is an interaction of mind in pineal gland, from where there is a control on bodily actions and receive sensory perceptions. But this approach of Dualism is not without criticism as its properties are more of dubious in nature. Their theory is based on religion and their ardent faith but no element of scientific fact is found in this. If we visualize and understands that if there is a soul in our physical body and the soul can have drastic effect then it is quite natural that it should be able to generate new energy to bring the bodies into moment.    It is argued that if the soul exists and it can affect the body then it must be able to create new energy to move the body, but this is sheer violation of the theory of the conservation principle.   Owen Flanagan, in his The Science of the Mind says,†If the mind according to Descartes is not a physical system therefore it also could not have any energy to prove herself but in-order to increase this physical energy, the need of the hour is to get it transferred from other physical system but it is not possibl†e. (Owen Flanagan, pp. 21, Mind creators.com). To overcome the limitations of the Dualism, several philosophers and psychologists began to ignore the very concept and existence of mind itself and by doing so their expectations to touch the cord of mind began to flow towards the realistic parts of our lives. Therefore in the beginning the new generation of philosophers came up with what is known as Type Identity Theory.  Ã‚   They posters the view that though the structure of every person’s brain is similar yet in the brain of every person there are certain differences therefore it is not possible to find oneself in a position of same neurological state. Therefore this theory soon took the shape of Token Taken theory implying that if there are two people having different neuropsychological states, then what is it that brings them into the same mental state? And to this they answered that it is due to the function of those two states only that had created them same. This leads to functionalism theory, which says that, â€Å"Two different brain-state tokens would be tokens of the same type of mental state if the two brain states had the same causal relations to the input stimulus that the organism receives, to its various other â€Å"mental† states, and to its output behavior†. (Functionalism, online edition). In simple words, he said that there were supposed to be two thoughts, which are same, and all of the inputs, internal and external, lead to the same output. With this statement, psychologists tried to bring all the conditions of the mind set in equilibrium. This leads to the functionalism theory. Though there are several problems to this approach too yet we can very say that if this theory of functionalism is adopted, it will take us into next major breakthrough, but all is not well with Functionalism too as it failed to explain in clear terms the fact that even if there are conditions of different physical states which gives different material phenomenon, then there is no possibility of different physical structures to regain equality.  Ã‚   . While there is a great controversy to come at the concrete conclusion about which one is correct â€Å"theory of mind,†, but it is a matter of fact that functionalism is the most popular theory among scientists as well as philosophers of today. According to this theory, all the aspects of mental state like beliefs, pains, hopes, fears, etc. depends and are divided on the bases of their activity and are characterized by the jobs they do, or in other words according to the functions that they perform. Just like computers understands the main idea behind our thoughts process in the same way our brains captures our thought processes from our mind and induces us to act accordingly. WORKS CITED Anderson, David. â€Å"Introduction to Functionalism† Consortium on Mind/Brain Science Instruction. Internet. (2006) Available: http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/functionalism_intro/functionalism_intro.php?modGUI=44&compGUI=1403&itemGUI=2447, March 5, 2008   Cofer, David. â€Å"Dualism† MindCreators.Com Internet. (2002) Available:   http://www.mindcreators.com/Dualism.htm, March 5, 2008 Cofer, David. â€Å"Functionalism† MindCreators.Com Internet. (2002) Available: http://www.mindcreators.com/Functionalism.htm, March 5, 2008 McAdoo, Oliver. â€Å"Critically discuss the idea that mental states are identical to physical states† arrod.co.uk Internet. Available: http://www.arrod.co.uk/essays/mind-brain-identity.php, March 5, 2008 Chance, Tom. â€Å"Mind-brain identity theory† Internet. Available: http://tom.acrewoods.net/research/philosophy/mind/identitytheory, March 5, 2008 Swamy   Sivananda, â€Å"Mind – Its Mysteries & Control†, The Divine Life Trust Society, 1994, World Wide Web Edition, 1998, A Divine Life Society Publication, Internet Available, http://www.dlshq.org/download/mind.htm Flanagan, Owen (1991). The Science of the Mind, 2nd edition. MIT Press. pp. 21.

“Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David Essay

Behind every great piece of artwork lies a story. Each story told by art is defined by the era in which it was created. For one to truly comprehend what message an artwork conveys, one must be familiar with the historical context from which it was taken. One great example would be â€Å"Death of Socrates† by Jacques-Louis David. The meaning of the painting can only be derived from an understanding of the 18th century, an era where the Enlightenment occurred and Neoclassicism flourished. The painting â€Å"Death of Socrates† was created during the 18th century. Despite this, the artwork depicted personalities from ancient philosophy. One would be prompted to ask, â€Å"Why did the artist choose to paint figures from antiquity in an 18th century art piece? The answer lies in the historical period in which the artist was included. In 18th century, Europe was immersed in an era known as the Age of Reason or Enlightenment. During this time, reason prevailed in all aspects of human life. The dominance of reason altered the political and social landscape, as people began to challenge traditional institutions and beliefs. The Enlightenment was very influential in France, which is why it is no surprise that Jacques-Louis David had applied Enlightenment ideals in his paintings. It must be noted that the late 18th century was also known for the â€Å"renewed interest in classical antiquity† (Gardner, Kleiner and Mamiya 646). The revival of Greek and Roman culture was most apparent in Neoclassicism, a movement which borrowed the basic elements of classical art. Neoclassicism became evident in architecture, painting and sculpture; all these disciplines integrated the styles and themes of the ancient world. David was part of the Neoclassicist movement and became one of its most prominent painters. This was the reason he chose Socrates as his subject. Hence, David’s style and technique as an artist was shaped by the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism. The painting describes the last moments of Socrates (â€Å"Jacques-Louis David†). The philosopher is seated upright on a bed in the middle of the painting, surrounded by his companions. His left hand points in an upward direction, which is an indication of the ancient Greek belief in the transmigration of souls. According to this belief, the soul lives forever. This is the reason why Socrates is seemingly unconcerned with his impending demise and had freely accepted his fate. Meanwhile, his right hand reaches for the hemlock. The hemlock was placed in the middle because death is the central theme of the painting. One would wonder why David chose to depict Socrates with the physique of a young man when the philosopher was in his 70s. It must be noted that â€Å"Death of Socrates† is a Neoclassical piece, which means that David followed the style of ancient Greek art. Ancient Greek art is known for its ideal, perfect depiction of human beings. Compared to Socrates, the people who surrounded Socrates display a completely different attitude. The companions of Socrates are depicted as figures overwhelmed with anguish due to the philosopher’s impending death. The people on the right side of the painting are obviously distressed by death. They are depicted as excessively emotional, which rendered them remarkably distinct from Socrates. Only three figures in the painting seemed more in control of their emotions. The wife of Socrates, who is found in the left side of the painting, is leaving the prison with an indifferent facial expression. Crito is seated on a stool on the foot of Socrates’ bed, with his head down. Meanwhile, Plato has a firm grip on the leg of Socrates. Such action implies that Plato did not want his master to surrender to death. In this painting, the philosopher’s attitude and way of thinking becomes apparent due to the different reactions towards death as shown by the figures. While others mourn his last living moments, Socrates’ remain indifferent and unaffected. He accepts his death while keeping his beliefs intact. The philosopher has a more accepting perspective of death; instead of fearing death, he embraces it. David meant for the painting to be a reaction towards the political situation of France during that time. As a part of the French Enlightenment, he and his friends demanded change in the leadership of the monarchy. The painting was made prior to the French Revolution and the painter wanted his work to serve as an inspiration to those who would be involved. He sought to tell the French people about their duty to the nation. He wanted to convey the message that they must sacrifice for the good of the people and fight against unfair leadership. This was the reason why he chose Socrates as his subject. The Enlightenment called for freedom of thought. The era was about the transformation of society towards the truth. Socrates was a man who defended freedom of thought. However, he was killed by the Athenian government who wanted to diminish the doubt that his beliefs aroused. The death of Socrates was the death of truth. Through the painting, David criticized the French monarchy for suppressing the truth. Like Socrates who chose to defy the government and stay true to his beliefs, David wanted the French people to fight against unjust leadership and defend freedom of thought. The play of light and darkness in â€Å"Death of Socrates† helped showcase the message David wanted to express. For instance, the brightest part of the painting is in the middle, where Socrates was situated. Meanwhile, the darkest areas of the painting are on the sides. In the left side, there is the dark hallway as well as the staircase through which the wife of Socrates leaves the scene. The upper right hand side of the painting, the area which is found above the mourning people, is also rather dark. There is a reason behind such distribution in the painting. David envisioned Socrates to be a role model; the latter proved to be formidable figure that was not swayed by the coming of death. He was a man who willingly gave up his life and refuses to deny his ideals. This was the reason why the light was fixed upon him. Those who are situated the dark areas are the people David wanted to change. The darkness touches upon the weeping companions of Socrates, those people who surrender to grief when confronted with death. The wife of Socrates is depicted as fleeing from the scene, as if she cannot bear to deal with the philosopher’s demise. David wanted virtue and sacrifice from the people who are confronted with a revolution and those in the dark areas in the painting represent those who lack these notions. The movement of the figures is also instrumental in demonstrating the meaning of the painting. The viewer can clearly see the contrast between the stance of the philosopher and the stance of the people around him. On one hand, Socrates is in a straight sitting position; the painting makes him appear full of life and energy. It is also evident that he possesses self-control at that moment. On the other hand, the figures who surround him reveal lifeless body language. The philosopher’s companions are shown to be stooping, with their heads dropped. The posture of the figures alone highlights the difference between Socrates and his companions. The difference in posture contributes to the meaning of the painting because it asserts the position of Socrates as the one to emulate in the time of the French Revolution. David wanted the French people to be like Socrates, a man who stood by what he believed in and was not afraid of the consequences. All artworks have a story to share. The story behind an artwork can be best understood when one is familiar with the historical era from which it was made. In the case of â€Å"Death of Socrates† by Jacques-Louis David, one must know about the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism in the 18th century to know what the artist wanted to convey. David was an artist who was strongly influenced by the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism, so the only way to truly understand his work is to look through history. Works Cited Gardner, Helen, Fred S. Kleiner and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Florence, Kentucky: Cengage Learning, 2005. â€Å"Jacques-Louis David: The Death of Socrates. † Boston College Web Site. 27 Nov. 2006. 31 March 2009 .

Strategic Marketing Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic Marketing Managment - Essay Example An evidence of modification in strategies is that Steve Jobs introduced the idea â€Å"to transform merchandising outlets into miniature theme parks for children† (Clark, 2009). The idea has proven successful since it helped enhancing customer base. The young customers appreciated and welcomed the surprising / fascinating change in display and internal outlook of stores, which then resulted in an overall increase in number of customers that showed up at outlets for purchase of toys, games, videos and costumes. The retail segment that plays the important role in growth of Disney has become a successful and sustainable contributor to revenue streams primarily because of Jobs. In simple words, Steve Jobs has contributed to Walt Disney his experience and strategic initiatives he took at Apple, thereby turning Disney a highly profitable conglomerate. As far as the vision is concerned, it is justified to argue that Steve Jobs has encouraged the strategic planners and policy – makers of Walt Disney to take new risks for business growth and sustainable development. Nonetheless, Jobs made Disney realised the fact that risks and decisions when taken rationally and prudently always lead to expansion, consumer acceptance and competitive advantage even in a challenging environment (Clark, 2009). 2) How and to what extent are Disney’s new products planning initiatives likely to benefit from Jobs’ successes at Apple Computer? As far as the successes of Apple Computer are concerned, it should be pointed out that CEO and Board member Steve Job is the actual contributor towards the internal developments and growth in brand value of Apple. Indeed, Steve Jobs highlighted the importance of innovation and differentiation across Apple; therefore, he specifically focused on Research & Development function to produce new products such as Iphone, Ipad, Ipod, and other digital devices etc. In this way, he identified the gaps in music and entertainment industry that have been met through product and market development strategies. Apple has now become one of the major competitors of Nokia because of phenomenal growth in sales of cellular phones. Similarly, Steve Jobs could also contribute the similar experiences to Disney by identifying the gaps that exist to be utilised for media conglomerate. Jobs has already initiated the display changes in existing retail outlets and he could contribute in new product planning initiatives, especially those related to recreational activities at display centres. Nonetheless, Jobs is aware of the fact that Disney’s core target market is children (tween agers) so introduction of activities for children such as â€Å"watching film clips, pressing buttons to operate displays, chatting with animated characters and participating in karaoke contests† (Clark, 2009) will actually be quite beneficial for Disney. In this way, Jobs will have significant contribution in Disney’s product developme nt initiatives on the basis of aforementioned reasons. 3) What are the changes that may occur in Disney’s marketing strategies resulting from Jobs’ influence? According to my understanding after reading the case and information obtained from relevant magazine and newspaper articles, the appointment of Steve Jobs may

Cost Analysis for Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cost Analysis for Decision Making - Essay Example will continue making the containers and performing maintenance.)   Alternative B: Liquid Chemical Co. will continue making the containers, but it will outsource the maintenance to Packages, Inc.   Alternative C: Liquid Chemical Co. will buy containers from Packages, Inc., but it will perform the maintenance.   Alternative D: It is completely outsourced. Packages, Inc. will make the containers and provide the necessary maintenance Alternative A: In case if Liquid Chemical Company opt this alternative in which it will continue to make containers and performing simultaneously, the company will have to incur all the necessary costs as all those costs would be relevant costs needed to make and maintain the current production. Relevant costs pertaining to this particular alternative are full material costs amounting to $500,000, full labor cost which includes cost of supervisors and workers amounting to $500,000 cumulatively. Moreover, the full departmental costs of Dyers’ tha t amounts to $358,000 would also be a part of this alternative. Overall, this alternative would incur $1,717,000. The costs that are not relevant to this particular alternative are contract costs to Packages Inc in relation to maintenance and container, severance cost and pension cost. The advantage of this alternative is that the company will have control over its production pattern, job security of Dyer’s departmental workers etc. ... There will be a reduction of $50,000 in material cost, $90,000 in labor cost and $65,000 in departmental overhead costs. But additional $375,000 contract cost need to be incurred as a result of outsourcing the maintenance task. The main advantage of this alternative is that the company would be in a better position to concentrate on its core activity of making the containers and outsource the secondary activity of maintenance. The disadvantage of this alternative is that it is more costly than alternative A resulting in addition of $188,500. Alternative C: This alternative requires that Packages Inc. should provide containers to Liquid Chemical Company but the Liquid Company should perform the maintenance. This alternative would lead to substantial cost reductions in terms of material, labor and overheads including the departmental head’s salary of $80,000 as his services will no longer be required because of closure of this department. However, he would be compensated by tran sferring to some other department. The main contract fee of providing the containers that amounts to around $1,250,000 would be the most relevant cost in this regard. Overall, this alternative is more costly than previous two alternatives incurring around $1.6m. Alternative D: The final alternative provides Liquid Chemical Company to outsource both making of containers as well as performing maintenance services. This alternative would result in vanishing of all material, labor and overhead costs. At the same time the huge costs relating to contract fees, severance and pension would make this alternative as the most costly alternative as a whole. This alternative would snatch the control of Liquid Chemical Company over the quantity and quality of the desired level. Part

Book Report on Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up by Frank Pacetta Essay

Book Report on Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up by Frank Pacetta - Essay Example Although he mentions that an individual is an essential element in any organization, the role of the team or group is emphasized more in the book. This perspective eliminates possible jealousy and unhealthy competition within the organization, thus creating an atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation. Pacetta outlines principles that are doable in both non-military and military settings since the underlying principles of motivation and teamwork are essential in any successful organizational environment. LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT 3 Leadership Principles in Management There are several principles on effective leadership that Frank Pacetta discusses in his book. According to â€Å"The One Minute Manager† author Kenneth Blanchard, leadership skills focused on people are significant for leaders who know that the work force is the primary resource of any organization (Nohria & Groysberg, 2008). In Pacetta’s (1994) book, he touches on the extraordinary potential of a well-directe d and highly motivated human spirit. Although some say that the book is more of a marketing and sales guide because Pacetta (1994) first applies his ideas on marketing and sales, the overall concept discussed in the book is applicable to any organizational setting, corporate or non-corporate. In the book, creating loyalty and developing trust is one of Pacetta’s (1994) important leadership principles. Loyalty and trust creates an atmosphere of teamwork and dependability. Additionally, he mentioned that establishing accountability and encouraging the process of giving constructive feedback is a vital part in an organization. The value of accountability pushes the concept of professional ethics, while feedback encourages working on possible areas of improvement that support continuous development. Generating passion and enthusiasm is also deemed essential. One must remember that a happy employee is a productive employee (Mrudula, 2006). Pacetta (1994) also mentions that a leade r’s ability to enliven, manage, and rebuild an organization is a necessary attitude that encourage employee trust to the organization’s management team. It reflects the internal strength of the organization, thereby promoting a sense of security among employees or members of the organization. To top it off, a leader’s capacity in pushing the organization to the top and maintaining its status at that level develops a sense of pride among every member of the organization. A leader is considered as the LEADERSHIP IN MANAGEMENT 4 one having command responsibility in every aspect of the organization, therefore making the position both challenging and crucial. Pacetta (1994) asserts that although there are normally 3 main reasons for organizational failures --- namely poor leadership, lack of enthusiasm, or skills deficiency --- poor leadership is almost always the main factor why organizations fail. The practicality of the leadership principles presented by Pacetta ( 1994) makes them applicable not only in corporate situations, but also in military settings. In order to realize success and continuous growth within any organizational set-up, there must be strong leadership skills and tactics, and flexibility in methods and processes building and