A Case Study Of Apple Inc

A Case Study Of Apple Inc In the course of this paper, the author discusses about the practices of Reverse Logistics in Enterprise with Apple Inc being the case study of this discussion. This course work will be focusing on the key characteristics, benefits, implementation issues, barriers to implementation and risks of the practice. All the practices of reverse logistics would be correlated with the case study so a clear understanding is achieved on how reverse logistics really works, also a brief history of the case study is discussed herein. In previous years Reverse Logistics has been side lined and never given a serious thought, companies/organizations did not welcome the idea until recently, this was due to the fact that its introduction and implementation was perceived as a cumbersome, mainly because of its broad impact on environmental and human health (Rogers and Tibben Lembke, 1999). However today this is not the case as consumer electronics firms such as Apple, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, etc. are now in stiff competition with each because they all practice a well organised reverse logistics scheme, this is so because such companies have come to a realisation that reverse logistics really does work boost profits, profits being the ultimate goal for every company. Furthermore firms that have not embraced and accepted the importance of an effective RL program are at very high risk of harming their organisations reputation and customers. However before one can understand the term Reverse Logistics we must first know and understand what Logistics is and what it is really all about. Gen.3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW Logistics is the planning and management of the flow of resources between the initial point of manufacture to the final point of sale or destination. These resources can be from manufacture, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing, information flow etc. (Council of logistics management, 2004) Logistics simply emphasizes the movement of products from one stage to the other (manufactures to customers), it has a number of fields but in the course of this work we will look at just one which is Reverse Logistics. Reverse Logistics is very similar to Logistics, as all the afore mentioned processes are carried out the only difference being that the activities or processes take place in the reverse or opposite direction. Reverse logistics according to Aviral Gupta 2009 can be explained in two simple steps: 1. Removal of new or used products from their original point in a supply chain and this includes, returns from consumers, over stocked inventory, or redundant merchandise. 2. Redistributing products using product return management procedure that will result in maximized value at the end of the products original useful life. Reverse Logistics is the process of removing original or used products from consumers back to the manufacturer; it is the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of re-capturing value, recycling or proper disposal. It is the process of removing new, old, unwanted or used products from one point to another, for the purpose of revalue or proper disposal. (REVLOG, 2004) Reverse Logistics is basically the process of returning a faulty, defective or no longer in use products from the customer to the manufacturer in order to recapture value, for example if one was to recycle a bottle or a piece of paper that is taking part in the reverse logistics process. 1.3 PRM and SPM The two important points within any reverse logistics process come under the areas of products return management (PRM) and service parts management (SPM). PRM is based on the receiving, processing, and nature of product that come back from the customer to the manufacturer, while the service part management focuses on having the right inventory and management at the appropriate location to support service repair operations with spare parts. An effective PRM programme offers the possibility for value improvement and cost reduction. (Michael, 2012) CHARACTERISTICS OF REVERSE LOGISTICS Some of the characteristics of a good reverse logistics process are: A reverse logistics operation must have suitable collection and service support points to receive the used products from the customer. Packaging and storage systems must ensure that the remaining value in the used product is not lost due to careless or poor handling. The transportation mode must be compatible with existing forward logistic system. Disposition includes returning goods to storage warehouses, returning goods to the original manufacturer, selling goods in secondary markets, recycling, to get maximum value realization. Landfill has to do with disposal of products or parts that cannot be used. (Aviral,2009) Below is a cycle of the process of reverse logistics. Customer Production Dept Packaging Dept Distributor Testing Disassembling Service Support Receiving Dept Re-use/Re-sell Recycling Remanufacturing Figure 1.1 The cycle explains that the product comes from the customer and goes back to the manufacturer. The customer returns the product, the product goes either to the distributor or the service and support department this then goes to the test and disassembling department when it is tested and when the problem has been diagnosed it goes to the remanufacturing department it is either the product is refurbished and re-sold or recycled and most times when the products cannot be recycled it has to be disposed of (Landfill). Regardless of the issues all products need to be collected and sorted before transporting to the next phase. People return goods for various reasons and these reasons are stated below: Commercial Returns- customers dissatisfaction or due to catalogue sales. Repairable Returns- if the product has defective components. End-of-Use Returns- when the components are no longer useful to the original owner but can be useful to another person. E.g. trade-in End-of-Life Returns- Recalled by the manufacturer LeBlanc, H.M in his PhD thesis stated that there are 5 stages in the processing of returned goods, which are: Product Acquisition Collection sorting, testing Disposition Recovering Redistribution sales. This also agrees with the process in fig 1.1 BENEFITS OF REVERSE LOGISTICS Reverse Logistics is beneficial to both customers and manufacturers, below are some benefits of reserve logistics. (Liz et al, 2000) Consistency Transport costs Improved customer service Labour saving and expertise Increased flexibility and agility through management by exception Improved partner retention and satisfaction. More key benefits are improved inventory management and high revenue by offering new products in place of the old one. (Aviral, 2009).Reverse logistics is a tool to cut cost and improve customer satisfaction; it is also a competitive strategy. The drivers of reverse logistics can act as both benefits/incentive and as barriers depending on the company. BARRIERS TO REVERSE LOGISTICS There are several reasons and explanations why companies in the past did not accept and introduce reverse logistics but today a change in the perception and understanding of RL has been noticed as several companies have not only embraced but also implemented this idea. Change for the better they say is always met with obstacles and barriers, little wonder that such a great idea that would frontier a major positive change production and manufacture has been faced with barrier and implementation issues, it is important to differentiate between these two issues, the main difference being Barriers are legal related whilst implementation issues pertains to issues relating to the company and organization. (Rogers Tibben-Lembke,1999). Some of these barriers are as follows: Legal issues Environmental issues The government has strict rules and regulations about recycling sites and also companies do not want to have to carry the extra burden of paying tax for recycling sites. The major proof of environmental problems comes from the rapid need of waste disposal. Previously the majority of the public wastes disposal was land filled, and this however poses an unacceptable environmental risk because of location of the landfill, which in hindsight have posed hazardous risks to human health through ground water contamination and toxic air emissions. (Gungor, A., Gupta, S. M., 1999) Landfill sites have become a major issue as it pertains to the environment and human health because it has played out that the cons of having a landfill far outweighs its pros, strains on the natural environment as well as sickness from contamination became the order of the day. Hence the government, environmental bodies and individual are very sceptical about Landfill sites. 4.1 ISSUES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND RISKS Lack of publicity and knowledge of Reverse Logistics Under-development of recycling technology Misconception Lack of management attention and company policy Companies with little or no knowledge of reverse logistics think that reverse logistics has a high cost of operation and most of these companies have low financial resources. (Kwok, H U. Yiming, W., 2009) Many companies are of the opinion that returns compared to sales generate little or no money but with the introduction and initiative of the internet, sales returns of goods products by customers have improved. (Anindya R, 2003) Forward logistics systems are not designed for reverse logistics system, some companies do not understand this fact and it leads to poor services and eventually to failure. (Laura M. Joseph S, 2002) Poor inventory deployment is also a factor because if the inventory is not managed and organised properly then companies would not know what is in their inventory and what parts they need to ask their suppliers for, when there is lack of knowledge of reverse logistics then there is bound to be risks of failure. But these issues of implementation to reverse logistics were a traditional way of thinking because these days companies have embraced the practice of reverse logistics. Financial risks are also involved when a company does not have the means and financial status to run a reverse logistics practice, practicing a good and organised forward logistics does not necessarily mean that the same company can manage a successful reverse logistics scheme without adequate knowledge and top management planning. Another issue of implementing reverse logistics is the decision to carry out the operation in-house or to outsource, this decision can be based on a number of factors; Volume: if returned goods are low in number then the need to outsource isnt necessary. Cost-control: if the subcontract can perform the tasks more cost effective then the enterprise in question then the need to outsource can be considered. Complexity of Task: if there are varieties of tasks like inspection, testing, repair, repackaging, recycling, refurbishing etc, all these are time consuming for an enterprise that isnt well into the reverse operation then the enterprise can decide to outsource. Other factors of outsourcing may include: accuracy and data control, security etc. (Jade, 2002) REVERSE LOGISTICS: IMPACT ON THE PERMONANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN The performance of reverse logistics can directly influence the entire supply chain system (Blumberg, 2005). Reverse logistics is better in information sharing between customer, supplier and manufacturers (Curran Ladd, 2000).It improves the flexibility, reliability of the supply chain system (Chopra Meindl, 2001). It helps in product development, shortened product life and development cycles can help companies to improve on their products and services. Reverse logistics helps in operational excellence and expertise, the management of products from manufacturing and into the closing stage which is sales and brings about cost and efficiency benefits of reverse logistics to the supply chain. The result of reverse logistics improves services to customers and better financial performance for the supply chain as a whole and its members individually, it reduces cost, increases revenue and customer services and help to obtain market advantage. (James, 2007) CASE STUDY: APPLE INC. 6.1 A Brief History: Apple Inc is an American worldwide enterprise which was established on April 1, 1976 and founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne with headquarters in California. According to statistics it is the worlds third largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia (Linzmayer, 1999). Apple manufactures and sells a variety of electronics computers (Mac), phones (iphones), iPods, ipads, application software printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones etc. It is a highly competitive market. Apples brand is driven by 3 elements: confidence, competence and customers, it sells worldwide through its online stores and retail stores, third-party, resellers etc. Apple sold more than 45 million units of iPod according to their annual sales report in 2007, on May 19, 2001 and it opened its first official Apple retail store in Virginia and California. 6.2 Reverse Logistics Operations: Previously their take-back (reverse logistics) program comprised of 2 methods: Customer drop-off Direct shipment to their centralized return centre When customers drop off the products at the service centres the products are merged before being shipped to the centralized return centre and customers do not have to pay for shipping and handling. In recent times Apple has added an online return system, in which a customer fills out the return form and once the application is completed successfully and it meets all required criteria Apple Inc sends a packaging box for the customer to ship the product back to them for either trade-in or whatever the case maybe. A case was published in an SC Digest about a customer who requested for his defective iPod to be returned online at the Apple website. He keyed in relevant information asked and within 12hours he got a mail from Apple confirming that the product was still under warranty and approving the return. Within 2days Apple delivered via express package service a box for shipping the product back to one of its source centres, within weeks a new iPod was delivered to him.( SC digest, 2009) Basically even if a customer goes to a service and support centre of one of the retail centres and asks for a take back or replace, the product is checked and if it is still under warranty or has a defect it is taken and shipped to the testing and disassembling centre for testing, remanufacturing, recycling or disposal if necessary and the customer does not have to pay for shipment. A personal case happened that a customer went to an Apple retail shop with a defective product for a trade-in, the product was tested and within 1week a new phone was sent to the customer. 6.3 Environmental issues and means of improving For many years Apple has been working on means to minimize the impact their products have on the environment. Their first policy was developed in 1990, since then they have been designing new means of energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact via digital consumption. In 2010 Apple introduced the Apple Battery charger for recharging batteries, instead of the disposal alkaline batteries and this reduces waste by 78%. (Apple Inc, 2012). In recent times Apple faced an enormous number of concerns about toxic pollution and industrial unit accidents at an overseas suppliers factory in China, and that environmental examinations would be separate from an independent investigate of working conditions at the overseas factory of the supplier. Apple Inc reviewed this problem and hopes to make public the results of the review. (Kathy, 2012) Greenpeace international campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues regarding a particular chemical called polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants BFRs toxins in their products, on the 2nd of May 2007 Steve Jobs released a statement announcing the policy to eliminate the toxins by the end of 2008 (Apple Inc, 2008), the enterprise has since eliminated the toxins from their products becoming the first laptop manufacturer to do so. (ABC News, 2007) Because of the issues about landfill sites Apple has devised a means to meet the energy requirements of their landfill site in Carolina using renewable resources. The energy efficient design element of Apples facility will include a construction process that utilizes 14% recycled materials diverted 93% of construction waste from landfill and sourced 41% of purchased materials within 500 miles of the site (Apple,2012). Apple is devoted to protecting and shielding the environment, health and safety of employees, customers; in fact the whole planet from environmental hazards and this is stated in their environment health and safety policy statement. Apple Inc has a life cycle assessment process that evaluates the effect a product has on the environment throughout its life cycle and the objective of the assessment does is to improve resource efficiency while trying at the same time to reduce the impact the product has on the environment during the activities of recycling, manufacturing, re-manufacturing, distribution, usage and disposal. Apple is market driven, has strong leadership, strong direction, and great software support, has a good financial analysis report so the basic implementation issues like financial issues, lack of knowledge of reverse logistics, misconception etc are not factors for Apple as compared to some other companies. 6.4 Success/benefits of implementation. Apple has mastered the act of reverse logistics and they have success stories in the following fields: impact on supply chain management, relative price performance, product quality, reliability, design innovation, marketing and distribution capacity, service and support, corporate reputation, constant development etc (John, 2010) A previous challenge that Apple had was the consumer mindset about environmental issues but the public have a better opinion about Apple products in recent years because of the extent on how Apple has gone to tackle and improve the environmental issues they had in the past. Reverse logistics has helped to improve expertise and also helped to satisfy customers. According to the table below Apple has a 45% inventory return. source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amr-research-apple-has-the-best-supply-chain-dell-no-2/18791 CONCLUSION: In the course of this paper, the author attempted to analyze reverse logistics activities in the manufacturing/ consumer company. There are several issues in the recycling, reuse, refurbishing, or appropriate disposal of products. The primary barrier to the practice of reverse logistics programs in some organisations is lack of knowledge and misconception. The reasons to implement reverse logistics are very basic; to reuse products and salvage redistributing unsold products. Though initial studies indicate that reverse logistics practises once implemented, yield cost-savings, these examples are far and few between as has been seen with the case of Apple Inc. Information Technology plays a vital role in reverse logistics because its applications are used to trace and track the goods and products on their return trip from the customer to the initial point of manufacture. Apple has grasped this fact and it has enabled them operate in the reverse supply chain channels efficiently.

Parent Teacher Behavior

Parent Teacher Behavior The correlation of a good parent and teacher relationship Parents and teachers constitute two of the most important information sources of young childrens social skills. However, Parents and teachers often are very influential adults in childrens lives, and thus they can provide important perspectives and information concerning childrens behavior. Parents are unique compared to other adults in that they often have observed their childrens behavior across time and across diverse situations. It declared that parents often are aware of subtleties in their childrens behavior and are able to observe them in different contexts, and, therefore, they should be included in the assessment of their children. Inclusion of mothers, fathers, and teachers as assessors allows for comparisons regarding their agreement about childrens behavior across situations with consideration of physical location as well as with sensitivity to differential behavioral values. (Mouly, 2000) In research it has been found that teachers benefit from involvement with parents. Teachers who had high involvement with parents indicated that they were more proficient in instructional and professional activities, devoted more time to instruction, and maintained better parent relationships than did teachers who had little contact with parents. As a result of these reciprocal benefits of parent-teacher relationships, others have encouraged the use of home school collaboration programs to help modify childrens academic and social behavior in school. (Slavin, 2005) Parents play an important role in an exceptional childs life and must inform teachers of their special conditions since no two children are alike. (Mouly, 2000) Teachers can be very helpful in supporting a childs treatment once parents inform them about the disorder. Parents can provide information to the teachers and school personnel about their childs medication or other special needs. From here, teachers can provide parents with occasional progress reports. Even if a child is not active at school, teachers should be informed that treatment can improve the childs ability to learn. However, misunderstandings between student, parent and teacher are common, but can be lessened with early communication between parent and teacher. The first contact between parent and teacher should be made before problems arise with the student. Parents can get involved in school activities in many ways, they can assist teachers with class once a week, volunteer to talk to the class on a particular topic, help with field trips or donate supplies for special events or projects. Some techniques that have effectively been used when working with parents of exceptional students are as follows, effective use of home liaisons, teachers who go on visits with home liaisons to enhance communication between school and parents, treating the parents with respect, encouraging their continued assistance with their childs education, and complimenting them on participation in their childs education. Some other suggestions for improvements that could be made are, training parents specifically in their roles in Individual Education Plans and School Evaluation Teams; obtaining through interviews and observations, viewpoints and feelings of parents; communication through media forms (announcements about appropriate meetings); guest speakers for parent meetings who would give in depth training concerning parental rights, early intervention, and transition plans; all teachers should be required to make personal contact with parents even if there is no apparent intervention neede d, this will keep the door of communication open; activities taught at school that would have a parent participation component included at home. It is very important that teachers help the parents of exceptional children to learn their rights. (OCD, 2005) Some of these parents dont know them at all and some only know bits and pieces that seem misconstrued. Teachers are required to have the parents sign their parental rights at all the meetings with the Diagnostician that would be concerning the childs education. It would be helpful for the parents to know and understand what they are signing for them to feel more comfortable. Most parents are kind of scared to sign things that they are unsure about, and then they are tense and unable to really make the best decisions about their child. (Slavin, 2005) In conclusion, I feel that working with parents of exceptional students will cause a mix of emotions. You are required to be on your toes at all times and they expect you to know everything, but as long as you treat them with respect and follow the simple guidelines from this paper, you shouldnt have a problem. You just have to keep in mind that you are teaching their pride and joy exceptionalities and all. References Mouly, G. (2000). Psychology for effective teaching. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. OCD Resource Center, (n.d.). Child adolescent ocd. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2005. Slavin, B. (2000). Learners with exceptionalities. Ford, D. (1996, Aug 05). Good parent-teacher relationship benefits children. College ofAgriculture and Home Economics, Retrieved Mar 20, 2005 Jones, D. (1997, Mar ), Working with navajo parents of exceptional children. Communication is the key. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2005, from Children, Youth and Family Establishing a parent-teacher relationship. (1998).

Financing the Future Essay -- Essays Papers

Financing the Future The Quest for Educational Equality "So", writes the immortal Dr. Seuss, "be your name Buxaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So†¦get on your way!" Unfortunately, unlike the graduating class this speech was addressed toward, many students in today's urban education system are not of to "Great Places", and will never get the chance to move mountains. These students attempt to learn without textbooks, proper laboratories, or even pencil and paper. The schools are falling apart around these children; in some cases sewage continuously floods the halls, the crumbling roof cannot shut out the weather, and there are even gapping holes in classroom walls. It is definitely not "their day". The problem with our education system finds its roots in funding. We live in a capitalist society where some have the money and others do not. In a poor community, where a family struggles just to put food on the table to feed their kids; the funding necessary to support the schools just is not there. Conversely, in a wealthy community, where the families never go hungry or worry if they will have shelter over their heads, there is a comfortable pool of funds to support their schools. This creates a clear division between the poor schools in urban areas and the wealthier suburban schools. The Wall Street Journal once wrote that "Money doesn't buy better education†¦The evidence can scarcely be clearer" (Kozol 133). They argue that the per-pupil spending has increased, while test scores and other student achievements have remained the stagnant. This conclusion, however, was based on the fact that the spending rate had increased in both urba... ... you will say, 'I don't choose to go there.' With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street." Unfortunately, like so many of our improperly educated, it looks like our schooling systems are going down that "no-so-good street" and we must use our "head full of brains" to turn away and fix the inequalities right before our eyes. Works Cited "Addressing Violence in Oklahoma." The Addressing Violence in Oklahoma Coalition. June 1995: pg. 1. Online. Internet. 16 November 1997. Giuliani, Rudolph. "A vision for education". 11 August 1995. "It's Not the Money, It's the Principal." Editorial. TIME 27 October 1997: 92. Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1991. Seuss, Dr. Oh, the Places You'll Go! New York: Random House, Inc., 1990

Self Discovery in Saul Bellows Henderson the Rain King :: Henderson the Rain King

Self Discovery in Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King Have you ever felt like a complete social out cast? Some one who has trouble fitting in and has never quite found their true calling. Being shunned by those closest to him and being unaccepted by society, the character in this novel is a perfect example. Saul Bellow's character Eugene Henderson, in, Henderson the Rain King, (1959), is a man who struggles to change his ways and find out his true calling. In this novel, a 55-year old man, tries to get through a mid-life crisis. The millionaire decides to go to Africa in an attempt to find himself. He meets two tribes while there. The first one he nearly destroys in an attempt to rid their watering hole of frogs. The next tribe helps Henderson the most on his quest. He unknowingly participates in a ritual to bring rain to the tribe, the success of which leads to his acclamation as Sungo, or Rain King. This experience with the tribe helps him to realize that his true destiny is as a healer. He returns back to America, planning to enter medical school. Eugene Henderson starts off the book as a unpredictable man, with little conscious to guide him. It seems as though he almost intentionally hurts those closest to him. After telling his wife that he has had enough of everything, and that he was going to "blow his brains out," he explains that this hurt his wife for more than one reason. Perhaps the most apparent reason was that "Her father had committed suicide in the same way, with a pistol (11)." Throwing tantrums like these, cause him to be very unlikable in the beginning of the novel. Once he has arrived in Africa, you start to see a different side of him. Then after leaving the first tribe and staying with the second one for a while, his personality really begins to grow on you. He explains that, "At one time, much earlier in this life of mine, suffering had a certain spice (263)." I feel that this shows how he is growing as a person and being able to find out more about who he really is. Towards the end of the novel, the change that has come over him becomes really apparent. After a conversation with the king, he says, "For his sake I accepted the discipline of being like a lion.

Voice, Words and Sound in Heart of Darkness Essay examples -- Heart Da

Voice, Words and Sound in Heart of Darkness  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   To Marlow, voice is the supreme symbol of civilization, and civilized understanding is expressed through words. The absence of words, or the inability to express something in words, signals meaninglessness. The psychedelic experience brings one into direct confrontation with the breakdown of language (the ‘transcendence of verbal concepts’ cited in the introduction), its inability to express the hidden truth of existence. Marlow becomes aware of this—primarily through his direct experience with Kurtz—yet he does not fully allow himself to believe in the failure of language. After all, language is still the most effective tool he has for communication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sound is a signifier of meaning to Marlow. If sound is comprehensible, i.e. English or the sound of the sea, then it belongs to civilization and intelligence. If it is incomprehensible, not English, or the silencing of sound, then it belongs to savagery and ignorance. Thus, understanding is represented in sound as well as in thought or action. For example: ‘With one hand I felt above my head for the line of the steam whistle, and jerked out screech after screech hurriedly. The tumult of angry and warlike yells was checked instantly, and then from the depths of the woods went out such a tremulous and prolonged wail of mournful fear and utter despair as may be imagined to follow the flight of the last hope from the earth. There was a great commotion in the bush; the shower of arrows stopped, a few dropping shots rang out sharply—then silence, in which the languid beat of the stern-wheel came plainly to my ears’ (Conrad, 82). The whistle is the signifier of civilization, of all that is incomprehensible to the primi... ...For the story is full of silence, full of the memory of the savage. Does his telling allow him to let go of the savage, erase the memories of the palpable force of the wilderness? Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Editor Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton, 1988. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Editor Paul O’Prey. Middlesex: Penquin Books Ltd., 1983. Cox, C. B. Conrad: Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Under Western Eyes. London: Macmillan Education Ltd., 1987.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Guetti, James. ‘Heart of Darkness and the Failure of the Imagination’, Sewanee Review LXXIII, No. 3 (Summer 1965), pp. 488-502. Ed. C. B. Cox.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ruthven, K. K. ‘The Savage God: Conrad and Lawrence,’ Critical Quarterly, x, nos 1& 2 (Spring and Summer 1968), pp. 41-6. Ed. C. B. Cox. Watts, Cedric. A Preface to Conrad. Essex: Longman Group UK Limited, 1993.     

Human Nature and War Essay

The twenty first century is known to have begun just the same way that the previous century ended-within a perpetual war set- the actual words of Pinker, Hobbes and Wilson appear to hit true indeed. Therefore, the Homo Sapiens’ nature, irrespective of the perspectives of idealists like Dennis Kucinich and John Lennon, is such that the Iraq, Palestine and other few forsaken lands may not attest to the peace failure, but stands for the unavoidability of human violence. With the primarily general acceptance, in case sometimes believed reluctantly, of every individual with regard to the truth, the left antiwar has dwindled into political ambition and prowess, while Islamic, Christian together with secular Dominionists amongst individuals rush along the perspectives of the â€Å"eventual days†. However, do all these actions and perceptions perfectly describe the truth that surrounds the human condition? Could it be possible that humans are trapped, genetically and or otherwise, by the circumstances within this downward spiral into oblivion? Could individuals like Wilson, Pinker, Lorenz, Ghiglieri and Stoessinger have picked a wrong perception of humanity? It might be prudent to note that humanism is often related to the fact that individual human beings ought to understand that habits are often picked, hence they are cognitive. Just like children’s brains have been said to develop with regard to the environment within which they are raised, so is the issue regarding human violence. Every individual possesses unique capabilities, whether acquired, developed or inborn, but issues regarding wars and violence are extremely cognitive and these capabilities within individuals only perform the role of catalyzing the war-like acts. The mainstream to the international relations’ contemporary discipline still depends on key principles that were first enunciated by the Second World War era’s scholars. The comprehensive arguments of the classical realists has attained a few defining concepts within the IR and still effectively shape the general scholarly study’s orientation within the field. Wilson effectively alleged that he saw a failure in idealism to take to consideration the entire underlying natural laws, which made mankind to tend towards aggression and violence. The issue regarding human aggression and violence has been a hotly debated issue amongst international relations theorists who have been known to concentrate on the analysis based on individual levels. The human nature theorists have been said to keenly focus on how individual attributes and characteristics might interact with the distinct social environment into producing particular violent situations e. g.wars. However, besides focusing on the physical, external environment, the cognitive theorists have been forefront in providing an explanation regarding the fact that the war-like situations or individual propensities to violence are often tied to their mental processes. These cognitive theorists are often convinced that personality, intelligence, as well as learning are often the key relations to aggressive behavior. Although there might never exist scholarly agreements that pin down the key motivator to war, there certainly is one factor that might seem too weighty with regard to the same. On the other hand, motivations might present themselves within different perspectives for the individuals initiating violence than for the individuals undertaking the violence acts. For instance, within the 3rd Punic War, the leaders of Rome might have wished to create war using Carthage in order to attain an effective means of eliminating an extremely resurgent rival, although the individual soldiers might have received the motivation from a desire to obtain money. Since several individuals are involved, violence activities might acquire a life of their own, from distinct motivations’ confluence. Within the text, Why Nations Go to War, written by Stoessinger John G. , this author effectively points out the fact that every side often claims that their fight is often justified by morality. He also argues that any rationale for starting a war often relies upon the overly optimistic outcome assessment of hostilities (costs and causalities), as well as the foe’s intentions’ misperceptions. Most cognitive theorists believe in the fact that previous war environments often lead individuals into planning, as well as assessing various other ways of executing activities that result to war. Since the tactical and strategic warfare aspects are dynamic, doctrines and theories associated with warfare are always created after, during or even before each major war. Grossman, another cognitive theorist claimed that each age had its own war type, its own limiting factors, as well as its own peculiar or unique preconceptions. However, the constant factor is the employment of an extremely organized level of violence by the war activities together with the life and property destructions, which necessarily follow. This depicts the fact that these activities are often linked to a sequence of activities that might have happened previously; thus adopted. The society, therefore, adopts previous aggressiveness and creates more activities that are geared towards war. With regard to aggression, most human nature theorists, including Lorenz have a belief that the attribute is often involuntary and often originates from within. However, although Fry agrees with the fact that aggression might have been a part of the nature of human beings, perhaps even neurologically or genetically, but the way in which aggression is often played out bases itself on culture rather than just nature. Nomadic hunters and gatherers (currently or in the past), are considered egalitarian societies that are not entirely absent of all limited violence or aggression, but all its members might not practice extreme or wide scale violence within warfare. Instead, they possess several methods of managing conflicts and reconciliation techniques that minimize aggression or violence. Therefore, in this case, it should be prudent to note that there might be several examples within human nature of cooperation and peace within the human history’s bulk than of war and violence. On the contrary, social democrats together with socialists happen to maintain the Marxist ideology that every human being is infinitely good and malleable, although this notion might not effectively work either. With regard to human behavior, it is obvious that nature takes up a considerable role regulating it. Pinker might be extremely right when he argues that individuals never get into this world in the form of ‘bank slates’. Moreover, the words ‘bad’ or ‘good are so superficial and vague that they cannot do individuals any real service. On the other hand, Left-Libertarians, anarchists together with other progressives joined hands with cognitive theorists in effectively agreeing that human beings are neither bad nor good, and that they are a combination of nurture and nature, and that under particular conditions, certain human adaptations (or traits) might effectively emerge penultimate. This, therefore, signifies the fact that every violence related activity is often fueled by both the nature of human beings together with the environmental influences that surround him (Alcock, 2001). Yet the classical realist conception’s legacy of an extreme aggressive and egoistic humanity may still be reflected within the several distinct ways within contemporary international relations. An individualistic and competitive view regarding human nature still appears to underlie a variety of arguments regarding international politics, informing the ultimate, key security dilemma concept. Because humans are often viewed as lustful towards power, as well as individual desires and gains, no group or individual may be secure from others’ threat. These others might be distinct, foreign, and alien and could thus be considered as opposed. Within the state system and the contemporary international politics, business as usual depends on the difference demonization and the expulsion and rejection of the other so as to reify borders and foster national identity. Although several human nature theorists strive to bring their ideology to table regarding the inner being that exhibits activities that relate to violence, none of them compares to Pinker, a master phrase-turner, as well as a handy individual with regard to concepts (Dawkins, 1981). He makes use of the gear concept to explain the fact that a gene, which disrupts a mental capability does not need to be defective; in a similar way, genes can effectively impact on the number of complex traits within humans. He, therefore, concludes that genes have the ability to result to a variety of social disruptions. According to him, these genes might be hereditary or acquired through transfusions (1981). Pinker effectively concentrates on three distinct ideological myths or dogma, which inform all academic theories regarding the human nature. First the notion of the blank slate that addresses the fact that the environment is the key impact to human nature (e. g. violence activities); often, lip service is accorded to innate structure, although after that, anything could be extremely possible to the unlimited ability of human brain to learn as long as the right environment is accorded. Second is the ghost within the machine that explains that the mind, soul and psyche are distinct from brain, body and matter (Dawkins, 1981). Often, this always attains a reference of dualism; it effectively sets up an extreme distinction between psychology-neurology, mind-brain, man-animal etc. This could be said to be among the considerable disasters of the western thought, and often gets into the way of human happiness. The third notion addresses the idea of romantics or savage, which claims that natural things are often good and unblemished as long as they are not tainted by the society. With this regard, Pinker explains that every individual human is responsible for his activities without any particular influence from the environment (Carl, 1991). It could then be argued after reading Fry’s piece that there could be extremely something distinct within nomadic hunters and gatherers than within states or chiefdoms that might lead individuals to ever increasing warfare and violence. Cognitive theories maintain that all human attributes and behavior including violent attributes are often learned via interaction with the entire social environment. The theorists assert that individuals are never born with any violent dispositions. Rather, they often acquire information and learn to act and think violently from their daily experiences. Proponents to the behaviorist tradition insist that these experiences might incorporate the observations made to friends and families being rewarded for their absolute violent tendencies, or even making observations regarding the media glorification of violence. For instance studies about family life exhibit the fact that aggressive children always reflect the behaviors or attributes of their parents. Several studies have also revealed that individuals who live within violent prone communities often learn to reflect the aggressive nature of their neighbors. Cognitive theorists have effectively argued that the following factors aid in yielding violent behaviors and wars: 1. A stressful stimulus or event- like a challenge, assault or threat. 2. Aggressive techniques or skills acquired through continuously observing others’ behavioral tendencies. 3. The belief that violence or aggression may be socially rewarded (for example by earning other individuals’ praise, providing material goods, enhancing self esteem or reducing frustration). 4. An extreme value system, which condones violent and aggressive acts in particular social contexts. Earlier, empirical tests to these four principles were perceived as promising (Bartol, 2002). Due to this, behavioral theory contributed directly to the effective development and integration of social learning, deviance theories, among the most influential and significant of all known criminological theories may be subject to detailed discussions within the report titled: Social Learning and Violence. Although social Darwinism might have declined within popular favor as a result of the World Wars’ experience, the 20th century might not have seen the eventual attempts to elaborate human behavior with regard to evolved genetic predispositions. The sociobiology founder, Edward Wilson, defined this as a systematic biological basis’ study of every social behavior. This evolutionary theory branch inspired a variety of scholars of the IR to revisit arguments that are classical and realists with regard to human nature, despite Waltz’s individual concerns together with investigating their confidence within evolutionary science. These scholars have been seeking to combine the rational choice theory’s elements with revolutionary arguments in a bid to provide proof of the claims that might have been previously considered insignificant and unknowable. This entire sentiment is effectively addressed within perhaps the boldest way by Thayer Bradley in an article International Security published in 2000.

Response to Shooting an Elephant Essay

George Orwell, one of the most famous English authors, was born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, India, in 1903. His father was a colonial official for the British and his mother’s family also had colonial ties. In 1922, Orwell worked as a British imperial policeman in Burma for five years but he finally returned to England again because he recognized the injustices of the British imperial rule in Burma and could not suffer the guilt of oppressing the Burmese anymore. Later, Orwell spent the next twenty years as a writer; the essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† set in the Burma of the 1920s and written in 1936, is one of his most famous works. In the early twentieth century, Burma was still a colony of Britain but anti-imperialism protests and social movements developed very fast, causing â€Å"great tension between Burmese, Indians and English, between civilians and police† (Meyers 56). Orwell’s essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† is based on this historical tension. In this essay, Orwell depicts an older narrator recounting his imperial policeman’s experience of killing an escaped elephant that destroyed a market and killed an Indian man in Burma. Throughout the story, Orwell chooses language carefully to develop his narration so as to help the readers explore a young imperial officer’s emotional struggle. First, Orwell begins his story with frequent use of carefully-chosen diction to indicate the young policeman’s hatred and also sympathy toward the Burmese. When he describes he was always â€Å"an obvious target† to those Burmese who hated the British Empire, he writes: When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, then the crowd yelled with hideous laughter. This happened more than once. In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves. (Orwell 94) Using the strong emotional words â€Å"hideous,† â€Å"sneering yellow faces,† and â€Å"hooted† indicates the young officer’s disgust toward those Burmese. But in the following paragraph his emotions are suddenly described in a more complex way; the narrator says, â€Å"All this was perplexing and upsetting† (Orwell 94), which is opposite to the anger and bitterness that are suggested by the diction used before. By using these two words, Orwell changes the young policeman’s emotional voice to the older narrator’s more intellectual voice to suggests a more complex feeling about what the young imperial policeman experienced because of his job. In the next sentence, Orwell uses a series of strong phrases to describe what the young police officer observes in his â€Å"dirty work†: â€Å"The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos—all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt† (Orwell 91). From this specific and graphic description of the prison, readers can perceive the young officer’s sympathy and guilt toward the suffering Burmese. It makes them realize that the young imperial officer is not totally inhumane. In short, Orwell uses careful diction to create the first emotional struggle of the young officer within his policing duties under imperialism. In the essay, Orwell also uses repetition to show the young narrator’s complex emotions. For example, after the young officer sees the destruction caused by the elephant and finally finds his target on the paddy field, he mentions more than three times that he is not willing to shoot the elephant. When he sees the crowd following him, he reports, â€Å"I had no intention of shooting the elephant—I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary†(Orwell 94). After he sees the elephant, he comments, â€Å"I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him† (Orwell 94). Then, he starts saying that the elephant was â€Å"a huge and costly piece of machinery† (Orwell 95) and the elephant seemed harmless right now. The young officer continues claiming,â€Å"I did not in the least want to shoot him† (Orwell 95). These all shows the young man’s sympathy toward the elephant, but more importantly Orwell builds up a tension here by using three different versions of repetition to show how the young officer was wavering in his position. For the first quote, â€Å"no intention† somehow indicates the young narrator’s thinking: he seems to be saying, â€Å"I have no purpose to do that and I am not going to do it. † But then in the second quote, he says â€Å"ought not to† instead of â€Å"no intension of,† which contains much more certainty of not killing the elephant. It shows that the young officer knew he should not shoot the elephant, but he certainly felt a lot of pressure and his mind was not as firm as in the last statement. In the third statement, the young officer’s tone is obviously weaker than the last two; â€Å"I did not in the least want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this tone sounds just like a prisoner talking about how he does not want to commit a murder, finishes it saying â€Å"I didn’t want to kill that person. † The young officer’s mind was wavering and he was taking a step forward toward killing the elephant everytime he introduces his different expressions of unwilling to kill the elephant. Orwell uses this repetition not only to show the young officer’s internal conflict, but also to imply, as a possible result, that the young officer will change his mind from not shooting the elephant to actually doing that. However, under the crowd’s pressure and his position as an imperial officer, the young police officer has to kill the elephant in order to maintain his master figure. Orwell uses the change from the first person to the third person to comment on the young man’s revelation. When the young man sees that the Burmese watch him excitedly, he suddenly feels that he should shoot the elephant after all. And it is because â€Å"their two thousand wills [were] pressing me forward, irresistibly†¦[that] I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib† (Orwell 95). The narration shifts from the first person â€Å"I† to the third person â€Å"he,† indicating not only Orwell’s comment upon this decision of the young person, but also Orwell’s main argument in the essay: as a imperial officer, a person needs to betray his own good nature in order to maintain his superiority toward the colonized. Then, Orwell uses strong terms again to replay the emergency and tension that the young officer encountered earlier: A white man mustn’t be frightened in front of ‘natives’; and so, in general, he isn’t frightened. The sole thought in my mind was that if anything went wrong those two thousand Burmans would see me pursued, caught, trampled on and reduced to a grinning corpse like the Indian up the hill. And if that happened it was quite probable that some of them would laugh. That would never do. (Orwell 96) Here, words like â€Å"sole thought,† â€Å"trampled,† â€Å"reduced to a grinning corpse† are used to emphasize the young man’s anxiety in shooting the elephant, for he does not want to lose face in front of the natives. This is the remaining emotion occupying his mind at that time; even though he still has sympathy toward the elephant, as a imperial officer, he will kill the elephant to protect his â€Å"conventionalized figure of a sahib. † By way of these specific word choices, Orwell describes vividly how the young imperial officer’s pride finally defeats his good nature so that he can maintain his superior figure. Finally, Orwell ends the story using the young officer’s naive voice as opposed to the older narrator’s voice mentioned before to make his narration more believable: â€Å"I was very glad that the coolie [which is the Indian killed by the elephant] had been killed†¦it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant† (Orwell 99). Readers may feel sympathetic that the young man does not feel guilty but happy that he is not responsible for killing the elephant and saving his face or â€Å"avoiding looking a fool† in front of the natives. They may feel pity that the young man is likely to learn nothing from this incident and even to feel lucky that someone’s death can free him of responsibility for killing the elephant. But this naive voice can increase the old narrator’s credibility because readers can feel his sincerity; he is willing to admit that his younger self really felt a bit lucky that he was out of punishment because of the elephant killing an Indian man at that time. It convinces the reader to believe what the narrator argues at last: as an imperial officer, he has to do what the natives expect of him in order to conform to his â€Å"conventionalized figure of the sahib†(Orwell 95), which is â€Å"to avoid looking a fool†(Orwell 99) in front of the natives. Overall, in this essay, Orwell uses effective language to make his narration of the story more impressive and thoughtful, and to explore an imperial officer’s struggle between his good nature and his imperial role.