Women and masculinity in science fiction literature
Science fiction has always been a masculine genre, no matter that Mary Shelley invented it in her novel Frankenstein. Until fairly recent times, most science fiction writers were men, and they dealt with subjects like technology, power, space battles, featuring male heroes, explorers and adventurers. In film, science fiction has been a perfect subject for ultra-masculine actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, although Lieutenant Ripley in the Alien trilogy proved that women could be masculine heroes as well and very effective at destroying hostile creatures that threaten humanity. Joe Haldeman's novel Forever Peace certainly fits within this conventional masculine narrative in science fiction, since the story is related by a male narrator named Sergeant Julian Class, an alienated soldier of the First World who opposes his own government and society. He is a class type of alienated and disillusioned male hero who nevertheless hopes that the world can achieve peace and prosperity through better use of technology. Even though it was written thirty years before, Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness is a radical departure from these types of themes and characters, since it takes place on an underdeveloped planet called Gethen far in the future.
Fascination and repulsion from Otherness in Song of Kali and The City of Joy
In this chapter, I examine similarities and differences between The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre (1985) and Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (1985) with regard to the themes of the Western journalistic observer of the Oriental Other, and the fascination-repulsion that inspires the Occidental spatial imaginary of Calcutta. By comparing and contrasting these two popular novels, both describing white men's journey into the space of the Other, the chapter seeks to achieve a two-fold objective: (a) to provide insight into the authors with respect to alterity (otherness), and (b) to examine the discursive practices of these novels in terms of contrasting spatial metaphors of Calcutta as "The City of Dreadful Night" or "The City of Joy." The chapter further argues that these spatial metaphors are redolent of what Peter Stallybrass and Allon White (1986) refer to as the "phobic enchantment" (p. 124) of the Occidental social imaginary for the poverty, squalor and the horror of the Third World.
Secret the Power by Rhonda Byrne
Rhonda Byrne's The Secret: The Power (2010) is truly an incredibly bad book, simplistic, repetitive and divorced from real history, politics or economics, yet it has sold 19 million copies. A cynic might say that the real secret to wealth is writing a bestselling book that millions will buy. Her 2006 book The Secret sold more over 19 million copies and was translated into 46 languages, and she was also a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and many others on the daytime TV chat circuit. Like all self-help writers, she has a talent for publishing the same advice repeatedly in new books that claim to offer even greater insights than past philosophers and religious teachers and in 2007 Byrne wrote The Secret Gratitude Book, followed a year later by The Secret: Daily Teachings. Her latest offering is about 250 pages long and quickly appeared on the bestseller lists, which indicates the type of strong cult following that all publishers desire. Byrne's central thesis is that human beings can change their entire lives and have everything they want simply by wishing for it, including money, wealth, happiness, careers, and romantic relationships.
Planning and controlling the supply chain
Supply chain management is a process conducted by several business entities, which involves planning, implementing and controlling any production and supply activities, with an aim of providing it to consumers in efficient ways. While supplying, there are intermediaries who play a role in connecting producers and consumers, who ensure efficiency in the supply chain too. Supply management is done to ensure collaboration between the intermediaries (Catholic Relief Services. pg 14). Planning and control system aids in define rules under which the business operates and within a given set of resources. Planning and controlling department depend on the information given by supply department for effective control of the business.
Strategic planning, process design, and flow optimization in business operations
Strategic planning has been used throughout the history of mankind and is a process that sets out the direction that the organization will take in the short- and long-term. The strategic planning process is visionary, conceptual, and directional in nature and serves as the building block or framework for the business plan of the organization. benefits of the business plan include such as better decisions, increased energy, increased capacity, improved customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, better solutions, and market recognition. Key ingredients to strategic planning includes the creation of vision and direction that is both simple and clear, a good plan, great execution, and communication of the plan.
Lawler, JE (nd) The Importance of Strategic Planning. Practical Decisions. Retrieved from: http://www.practicaldecisions.com/strategic-planning.pdf
Business Planning Papers: Developing a Strategic Plan (2012) Planware.org. Retrieved from: http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm
Zuckerman (nd) Is Strategic Planning Still Relevant? Chapter 1. Retrieved from: http://www.ache.org/pubs/Zuckerman_Ch1.pdf
National Geographic, 160 Million of the Indian
as a global company, IBM operates in different national environments and comes in contact with a wide array of cultural traditions and customs. In India, this translates in the caste system, a very rigorous division of society into castes that leaves people at the lower end on the outside. While cultural differences are something that any global company takes into consideration, not hiring untouchables just because they belong to the lower classes is not something that IBM can do.
As a global American company, IBM has a global image that it needs to protect and support and this image also implies equal opportunities for all its potential employees. It cannot afford to damage its global image only so as to pay attention to local traditions in this case.