Winning Bassanio - Literature Essay Samples

Among the many and varied plotlines interwoven throughout Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merchant of Venice, the story of Bassanio’s rivalled affections for his friend Antonio and for his eventual wife Portia is one of the more significant. Bassanio begins in the story firmly in the affections and influence of his friend, Antonio, the Venetian merchant who seems to overshadow all the action done in the play. His wooing of Portia is no more than an attempt to gain her wealth and he does not intend or desire to fall in love with her. This makes the story all the more fascinating as Shakespeare shows the subtle shift in Bassanio’s affections from Antonio to his wife and the competition between the two as they attempt to gain, maintain, or reestablish his love. Antonio is firmly in control of Bassanio at the beginning of the play, but Portia triumphs in the end and wins her husband’s devotion. Antonio is the first main character to be introduced. He is portray ed as more serious and morose than his companions: â€Å"He seems to be older than the friends who surround him, and detached from their thoughtless extravagance† (Muir 36). He only seems to cheer up when Bassanio appears. Antonio establishes himself as the most important figure in the play: â€Å"the play is rightly named for the merchant, who is its centre† (Evans 56). Everything moves around him. Bassanio’s potential marriage is contingent on Antonio’s approval and aid. The villain is bent on having his revenge on this particular merchant and no other. From early on, Portia has formidable competition in Antonio. When Bassanio is first brought into the play, he is coming to Antonio with his dilemma, establishing the fact that Antonio is both his friend and his mentor. Antonio has Bassanio’s trust as his confidant, despite an apparent disparity in their ages. Bassanio has already told him about his financial state of affairs: â€Å" ‘ Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, / How much I have disabled mine estate† (Merchant of Venice, 1.1.121-122). He willingly tells Antonio his entire plan to win the hand of the beautiful Portia in order to secure her wealth. He wants Antonio’s approval as much as his aid. He already owes Antonio money, but as a friend, not as a business partner. Antonio obviously enjoys Bassanio’s friendship and his dependency: â€Å"My purse, my person, my extremest means / Lie all unlocked to your occasions† (MV 1.1.138-139). He does not fear Bassanio’s change in loyalties from friend to wife. Bassanio’s initial opinion of Portia as he describes her to Antonio is less than affectionate. He admires her greatly in appearance, but sees her more as a conquest and a means to attain financial security than as a woman to win the love of. He describes her as â€Å"like a golden fleece / Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos’ strond, / And many Jasons c ome in quest of her† (MV 1.1.170-172). She is a prize to be won. The scene shifts to this golden fleece to be won and Portia is first introduced. She is portrayed in this scene as a woman with intelligence and opinions, but no freedom. She is trapped by her own late father’s edict to be married to whichever man can guess the correct casket containing her portrait. She has no choice in the matter and must bow to her father’s wishes in a world ruled by men: â€Å"she may neither choose whom she would – her choice has already been hinted at – nor refuse whom she dislikes† (Parrott 141). She does show that she has a mind of her own and desires of her own. She and Nerissa make witty mockery of some of her potential suitors. She ends with a recollection of Bassanio: â€Å"He, of all men that ever my / foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving† (MV 1.2.108-110). But despite her attraction to him, she cannot choose him and is for ced to watch other men vie for her hand. Both scenes establish the fact that Bassanio is well loved and two main characters greatly desire his affections. Antonio has the confidence that he controls the love of Bassanio as both friend and benefactor. Portia’s situation is less secure. She cannot act upon her attraction to him because her father’s will demands she wait upon the suitors. At this point in the beginning of the play, Bassanio’s loyalties are firmly in the hands of Antonio, not Portia. It does not take long, however, for things to begin to change. Antonio has an easy chance to further ingratiate Bassanio to himself when Bassanio asks him for a loan of three thousand ductas to outfit himself for his courting expedition. Antonio is forced to borrow the money from the unprincipled Jew Shylock with the payment being the forfeiture of his own life. Bassanio does not like this situation: â€Å"You shall not seal to such a bond for me! / I’ll rat her dwell in my necessity† (MV 1.3.150-151). But Antonio makes the deal, agreeing to give a pound of his own flesh if he cannot make good on his loan at the appointed time. Bassanio is now even more in debt to his friend. If he wins Portia, he will have Antonio to thank for it. And if he does not succeed, he risks endangering Antonio, whose debt to Shylock may cost his life: â€Å"we must wish also that [Bassanio] win her and her gold for Antonio’s sake† (Evans 57). Even the courtship of Portia is overshadowed by Antonio’s situation. Bassanio leaves for Belmont to woo the lady. He is now away from Venice and has left Antonio behind. Portia has her chance to win her lord. Despite Bassanio’s intentions, he does, in fact, appear to fall in love with the lady. Her money doubtless helps the situation, but he genuinely seems to love her. Portia is also completely in love. Now is her chance to take charge and win the complete loyalty of Bassanio. T his is the first significant instance in which she first begins to take control. There has been some disagreement as to whether or not the song Portia has played while Bassanio attempts to choose the correct casket is actually meant to be a clue or if it is simply a poetic accompaniment to his thoughts. Many scholars believe that Portia has too much honor to even give him an indication of which casket to choose: â€Å"Portia was a woman of her word. To imagine that she was forsworn would detract from her moral stature† (Wilson 100). However, whether this is true or not, Portia has found the man she wishes to marry and while she is not willing to outright tell him which casket to choose, she has come to the point where leaving her fate to chance seems to be an unnecessary risk. She has music played in which many of the words rhyme with â€Å"lead† and â€Å"Let us all ring fancy’s knell† (MV 3.2.70), warning him against selecting the fancier caskets. B assanio gives some indication that he has understood the meaning of the song, repeating some of the rhyming words in his subsequent comments: â€Å"The echoes of these rhyme words clearly indicate that Bassanio has, indeed, heard Portia’s song and the important clues which it provides† (Rasmussen 12). There can be little question that Portia is clever enough to think of this way to help win her lord without truly going against her father’s commands. She is certainly of a manipulative mind, as is seen later in the play. Whether due to his own devices or Portia’s, Bassanio makes the right choice and he is permanently joined with his lady. She has her chance to truly begin winning his supreme love. At this point, Bassanio still considers Antonio his greatest friend, but he is being torn two ways now. Portia gives him her ring: â€Å"Which when you part from, lose, or give away, / Let it presage the ruin of your love / And be my vantage to exclaim on youà ¢â‚¬  (MV 3.2.172-174). She is giving Bassanio indication of her desire to claim his loyalty. Bassanio seems sincere when he swears to protect the ring, as symbol of his fidelity to her above all others: â€Å"But when this ring / Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence; / O then be bold to say Bassanio’s dead!† (MV 3.2.183-185). But it does not take long for Bassanio to remember his previous allegiance to Antonio. Bassanio discovers that Antonio’s investments have all failed. His attentions are immediately directed back to Antonio: â€Å"the dearest friend to me, the kindest man, / The best-conditioned and unwearied spirit / In doing courtesies† (MV 3.2.292-294). Antonio writes to him and tells him of his woes and says: â€Å"if your love do not / persuade you to come, let not my letter† (MV 3.2.320-321). He reminds Bassanio of his previous loyalties. Antonio still has a hold on Bassanio. Now that he is going to die giving his po und of flesh to Shylock, Bassanio will always be in his debt. In a way, this situation is to Antonio’s advantage in his play for Bassanio’s affection: â€Å"He foresees that his sacrifice will forever cast Portia’s love for Bassanio into the shadow of his own greater love† (Hamill 232). However, Portia has begun to take more control of the situation: â€Å"First go with me to church and call me wife, / And then away to Venice to your friend!† (MV 3.2.303-304). She plans to turn Antonio’s trial in her favor. Portia’s plan is shrewd on several levels. When Bassanio leaves as soon as he is married to Portia, she understands that his loyalty goes first and foremost to Antonio. She recognizes that in order to win the respect of Bassanio for herself over his friend, she must first win the respect of Antonio. She gives Bassanio more than enough money to repay the debt, which would certainly put not only Bassanio more firmly in her affectio ns, but would subordinate Antonio to her as well. When she makes plans to become â€Å"accoutered like young men† (MV 3.363), she is essentially planning to infiltrate Antonio’s world and, by rescuing him, rise above him. In Venice, Portia will make her second attempt to win Bassanio. She appears at the trial and, in short, demonstrates keen intelligence and cunning when she outwits Shylock at his own game and exacts justice on the villainous Jew. Antonio is saved and nearly prostrates himself with gratitude to the young lawyer who has rescued him. Bassanio is equally thankful. Portia is not yet satisfied, however. During the trial, Bassanio makes it very clear which person he loves best when he says to Antonio: â€Å"Life itself, my wife, and all the world / Are not with me esteemed above thy life† (MV 4.1.282-283). Portia’s retort is cutting, although Bassanio does not recognize its full implication coming from an unknown doctor of law: â€Å"You r wife would give you little thanks for that / If she were by to hear you make offer† (286-287). Simply having the gratitude of Antonio and Bassanio is not enough for her. She devises a test for Bassanio. As a gift for her services, she requests the ring from Bassanio which she herself had given him and made him swear to protect as a symbol of his love for her. She demands it of him, hoping that he will not give it up and thus will prove his devotion to her. At first, he seems to pass the test: â€Å"this ring was given me by my wife, / And when she put it on she made me vow / That I should never ell nor give nor lose it† (MV 4.1.440-442). Portia is satisfied and takes her leave. However, Antonio here demonstrates that he still has sway over Bassanio, at least to some degree. He urges him to give up the ring: â€Å"Let his deservings, and my love withal, / Be valued ‘gainst your wife’s commandement† (MV 4.1.448-449). To Portia’s dismay, Bassanio listens to his friend and gives up the ring. She has not yet established herself over Antonio. Antonio has been given a surprising second chance. While his rather poetic moment of self-sacrifice is now lost, due to Portia’s intervention, he still has Bassanio’s affection. But this will not last long. It is notable that when, in his gratitude, Antonio asked the still disguised Portia what she would have of him for her services, Portia demanded his gloves: â€Å"Give me your gloves; I’ll wear them for your sake† (MV 4.2.424). Portia is taking over the position of an oblivious Antonio. She will become to Bassanio what Antonio used to be. Finally, the scene shifts back to Belmont, where Portia is in her element and she makes her third and final major play for Bassanio’s love. She arrives just before her husband and Antonio and prepares to receive them and execute the final act in her plans. She is very aware that Bassanio still holds Ant onio’s devotion over hers, but she now wears Antonio’s gloves, figuratively as well as literally, and she has both men irrevocably in her debt: â€Å"Portia gives more than Bassanio can ever reciprocate, first to him, then to Antonio† (Newman 26). She is ready to finish triumphantly. With the help of Nerissa, Portia brings Antonio to a state of abject terror and utter guilt at his giving up the ring. He sorely regrets it: â€Å"Why, I were best to cut my left hand off / And swear I lost the ring defending it† (MV 5.1.177-178). Acting surprised, Portia’s wrath is righteous and eloquent. She reminds Bassanio of his vows and of his love for her: If you had known the virtue of the ring Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, Or your own honor to contain the ring, You would not then have parted with the ring. (MV 5.1.199-202)Antonio attempts to justify himself, using Antonio’s trial as his excuse. Antonio is also reduced to begging for f orgiveness from the indignant lady: â€Å"I dare be bound again, / My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord / Will never more break faith advisedly† (MV 5.1.251-253). He is willing to offer himself as forfeit to Portia, perhaps out of guilt, for his part in the situation. He seems to be beyond fighting for his hold on Bassanio’s loyalty: â€Å"Antonio steps forward and finally yields his claim on Bassanio† (Boose 249). Portia makes it very clear that she is in control: â€Å"Then you shall be his surety. Give him this, / And bid him keep it better than the other† (MV 5.1.254-255). She is letting Antonio know that she understands who influenced Bassanio to give up the ring before. Bassanio is being given another chance to hold onto the ring. Portia adds one more comment, almost as an aside to Antonio, telling him that his investments have indeed succeeded. How she has come to know this is a mystery which must, in the end, be ascribed to her new posit ion as the dominant figure in the play. Antonio can only say: â€Å"I am dumb!† (MV 5.1.279). Portia is finished in her quest. Portia has changed dramatically from the beginning of the play to the end: â€Å"there was a crying incongruity between the siren’s first role and the part she plays as the deliverer of her husband’s friend† (Parrott 143). She takes up Antonio’s role as the central character through the three shifts of power demonstrated in the casket scene, the trial, and the ring game and eventually assums complete control. It is worth noting that Antonio’s last words are to Portia when he says in helpless admiration: â€Å"Sweet lady, you have given me life and living!† (MV 5.1.286). In the play for the affections of Bassanio, Portia is the clear victor in the game. Works CitedBoose, Lynda E. â€Å"The Comic Contract and Portia’s Golden Ring.† Shakespeare Studies. 1998. Vol. 20: pp 241-255.Evans, Bertran d. Shakespeare’s Comedies. London: Oxford Press. 1960.Hamill, Monica J. â€Å"Poetry, Law, and the Pursuit of Perfection: Portia’s Role in The Merchant of Venice.† Studies in English Literature. Spring 2001. Vol. 18, Issue 2: pp 229-245.Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare: The Comedies. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. 1965.Newman, Karen. â€Å"Portia’s Ring: Unruly Women and Structures of Exchange in The Merchant of Venice.† Shakespeare Quarterly. Spring, 1987. Vol. 38, Issue 1: pp 19-33.Parrott, Thomas M. Shakespearean Comedy. New York: Antheneum Publishers. 1949.Rasmussen, Eric. â€Å"Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.† Winter: 1986. Vol. 44, Issue 2: pp 12-13.Shakespeare, William. â€Å"The Merchant of Venice.† William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Ed. Alfred Harbage. New York: Viking Press. 1969. 672-702.Wilson, John. Shakespeare’s Happy Comedies. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. 1962.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 1632 Words

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Should Children Be Exposed From Gender Roles - 973 Words

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Definitions of Creativity and Innovation-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the definitions of Creativity and Innovation are studied. Answer: Introduction Creativity and innovation are two inter-related concepts which have been defined in different ways. Though there is basic difference between the concepts of creativity and innovation but creativity is the starting point of innovation. Creativity is often the product of individualistic mind while innovation is not only about collective human interaction but also about interaction between human minds and its artificial environment. Creativity and innovation is of paramount importance for sustainable development of an organization. The world is constantly changing with technological advancement and tough competition posed by globalization. In order to adapt itself to this constantly changing environment, every organization should foster a culture and an environment of entrepreneurship where employees are encouraged to think out of the box, new ideas are appreciated and there is open communication among departments which leads to intra-departmental co-ordination and functioning of the bu siness as a single unit (Serrat, 2017). Organizations and countries should invest on research and development, else new technology of competitors can pose potential threat to business (Dawson Andriopoulos, 2014).For example, Nokia failed to sense the new technology of the android market and hence business of Nokia was potentially harmed. Similarly, the digital film and photography hampered the traditional business of Kodak .The invention of Aero plane by Wright brothers and the invention of credit cards are examples of creativity and innovation of past. The human race is constantly progressing through creativity and innovation which is depicted by modern examples like research in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics or manufacture of electric cars by Tesla. Discussion Creativity and innovation defined in several ways Creativity is the ability to present new ideas and innovation is the way the new ideas are implemented practically. Creativity emerges when an individual discards preconceived notion and looks at a matter in a way that might seem odd to others. Creativity is encouraged when a leader does not direct his subordinates but creates a supportive environment that nurtures out-of-the box thinking .This kind of environment is vital for creative people to give birth to fresh ideas and solve a problem (Auernhammer Hall, 2014). Innovation follows creativity or creativity leads to innovation (Sarooghi, Libaers Burkemper, 2015). The leaders who are innovative encourage a culture of questioning, openness to experience, risk-taking and a healthy attitude towards failure among his subordinates (?erne, Jakli? kerlavaj, 2013). People who are creative generally possess the following three qualities that make them different from others. 1) Expertise-technical knowledge and skills 2) Creative thinking skills-Thinking out of the box and ability to solve problems 3) Intrinsic motivation There are two types of methods established by psychologists to enhance creative thinking .These two methods are free association method and brainstorming Free association method This method to enhance creativity was studied by psychologist Freud and Carl Gustam Jung .This technique is often used in marketing and advertising and consists of asking questions to oneself or to others of the type This here ..what does it bring to mind? And what else? ..and? This should be continued until our mind is blank or the question is exhausted. Brainstorming Brainstorming is the allowance of free flow of ideas even though the ideas seem ridiculous or bizarre. The practical feasibility of ideas is not checked while brainstorming .Every idea is considered to be a good idea. Therefore, brainstorming allows free flow of ideas without criticism (Wilson, 2013). In 1864,Carlo Cattaneo, an Enlightenment thinker explained that when multiple human beings solve a problem together by comparing and discussing, the result is always better than the same problem being tackled by a single individual. Therefore, organizations support group-thinking or constructive conflicts among groups as this lead to creativity .However, a scientific or artistic creativity is often the product of an individual mind. For instance, writing a book, composing music, gaining scientific insight on something requires individual effort (Henry Mayle, 2016). In this context, the basic difference between innovation and creativity can be noted. Creativity in scientific or artistic discovery is individualistic but innovation by definition is a social phenomenon. Innovation is not only the result of collective human interaction but the association between human minds and artificial system like technological instruments often lead to innovation. The process of innovation has following steps: idea generation, idea screening, feasibility and implementation. Sources of new ideas for an organization can be economy, technology, customers, competitors, management, suppliers, and distribution channel and government regulations. Creativity and Innovation in Organizational context Creativity and innovation has several examples in history .One such example is of Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright, who were interested in flying in the 19th century. For doing so the Wright brothers built and tested several gliders, flaps on wings and rudders. After several tests and efforts the Wright Brother was successful in flying a plane with a man on it. The name of their fist powered Aeroplane was Flyer and in 1909, the Wright Brothers received a contract from the United States military to build fist plane from them. This example depicts how creativity and invention made the dream of flying come true for the human race (McCullough, 2016). Creativity and Innovation in light of todays organization The fashion giant Zara is one of the most innovative retail stores of the World. In 1975, the first store of Zara was opened by Amancio Ortega in Spain. The group is a part of Inditex which is worlds largest clothing and fashion company with its presence in eighty two countries. The turnover of the group in 2011 was $18 billion and Zara employs more than 100,000 people across the globe. The success of Zara is based on innovation in supply chain management which helps Zara to bring new fashion to the market at a faster rate. The innovative and creative business model of Zara is explained The design team of Zara produces more than 18,000 new designs of products every year. The design team gets their idea of design from books, magazines, fashion shows but most importantly from customer feedback. Zara never adapts its clothing to the local market but it implements the universal design of clothes in all the stores across the globe which helps Zara to achieve economy of scale. It takes less than four weeks for Zara to put their clothes on the shelves starting from the initial process of product design. This innovative concept makes Zara unique and different from the competitors. Zara is not only innovative in its product design but the company is creative and innovative in all of its business processes like inventory and supply chain management, store layouts and manpower management. At the headquarters of Zara in Spain there are 25 full-size shop windows which are equipped with different displays and lighting. This innovative visual merchandising concept helps Zara enabl es designers to figure out how the windows of various retail stores of Zara look like in different conditions like day and night, sunshine and rain. In Zara stores, staff use wireless technology to communicate the customers feedback to the team of suppliers so that the clothes which are on demand are supplied more but Zara uses the concept of creative destruction by bringing new fashion items inside the store after every four weeks(Qrunfleh Tarafdar, 2014). Even the top selling fashion items in Zara stores are replaced by new collection every four weeks .This innovative and creative concept increases the footfall of customers in all the stores of Zara across the globe because customers are interested to check the new fashion trends implemented by Zara in all the stores every four weeks. The company adopts a flat organizational structure with less hierarchical levels which makes the company more innovative with respect to its competitors (Somech Drach-Zahavy, 2013). Space X is an American aerospace company founded by Elon Musk in 2002 .It was the first private company to send spacecraft in the International Space Station (Seedhouse, 2013). Elon Musk also used his personal creativity and innovation to manufacture electric cars. He is the founder of Tesla Motors (Hardman, Shiu Steinberger-Wilckens, 2015). ISRO also known as the Indian Space Research organization is headquartered in Bangalore, India and the organization was successful in sending the Mars orbiter which entered the orbit of Mars in September 2014. With the help of innovation and creativity ISRO was able to accomplish its Mars Orbiter Mission making the organization the first in Asia and the fourth space agency in the world to enter Mars (Math, Moirangthem Kumar, 2015). ALDI is considered to be one of the top 10 Australian retailers. From the opening of its debut store in Australia in 2001, the expansion of Aldi has grown strong with the presence of more than 470 stores throughout. The corporate objective of Aldi in Australia is to deliver customers quality products at low prices, maximize sourcing only from Australian suppliers and create employment (Carpenter et al., 2013). ALDI has been trying new marketing strategy for gaining higher market share in Australia by opening trial stores of a new- style in Australia. These stores will use LED lights to reduce energy consumption, will have improved product displays and will have new layouts which will improve navigation and will shorten average check-out waiting times of customers. Thus Aldi uses innovation and creativity in its business process in Australia. Self-Reflection In the above examples, the concept of creativity and innovation was studied in organizational setting. An individual can also be creative and innovative and give birth to new ideas and implement these ideas into reality by being an entrepreneur and founding a start-up company (Drucker, 2014). I would like to open a beauty clinic and slimming center business if I had the funds.This clinic will cater to the beauty and slimming needs of clients. There will be a slimming center which will use machines to enhance the metabolism of overweight clients .Therapist will provide hand massage by hand-held machines which will target stubborn cellulite of clients body. .The clinic will have an open-air gym, hair and skin clinic which would use advanced machines like laser treatment for hair removal, chemical peels and Botox treatment for the skin. The skin clinic will provide one-stop solution to clients of Australia who are fashion and fitness conscious and will like to enhance their looks. The s limming center and clinic will first be inaugurated in cities of Australia like Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and then will expand on franchisee model. The clinic will provide customized beauty and slimming solutions to clients by making use of the modern innovative technology in the arena of slimming and beauty Mind-mapping and creativity Mind mapping is a graphical technique used to unlock the full potential of the brain. Mind map always starts from the center and spreads in different directions and this colorful graphical technique helps to solve problems more effective and enhances the creative potential of human brain. Mind map therefore has the shape of a tree that revolves around a central topic; branches of the tree can be considered as subtopics (Noonan, 2013). Figure 1 Mind Map (Created by Author) Conclusion It can be concluded from the above report that creativity and innovation is a concept that has a wide range of definitions. Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas and to solve a complex problem. Innovation is the implementation of new ideas and entrepreneur is someone who commercializes new ideas. Therefore, creative people with entrepreneurship skills are the need of the hour. The human race has evolved by using their creative thinking and innovative skills in various fields of art and science. Creativity and innovation has its application in several fields like advertising, marketing and business, science and technology, art and culture. Entrepreneurs are social reformers and famous entrepreneurs like Elon Musk of Space X and Tesla, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Richard Branson of Virgin group and Amancio Ortega of Zara is well-known for their brilliant contribution to the human race. Creativity can be nurtured by every individual in his personal life. It is possible for an ordinary individual to be creative and innovative in his own small way by giving birth to small start-up companies in his home country or just by pursuing intrapreneurship within the office premises. Organizations can adopt a culture of creativity by adopting a flatter structure and building a culture of open communication. Reference Lists: Auernhammer, J., Hall, H. (2014). Organizational culture in knowledge creation, creativity and innovation: Towards the Freiraum model.Journal of Information Science,40(2), 154-166. Carpenter, J. M., Moore, M., Alexander, N., Doherty, A. M. (2013). Consumer demographics, ethnocentrism, cultural values, and acculturation to the global consumer culture: A retail perspective.Journal of Marketing Management,29(3-4), 271-291. ?erne, M., Jakli?, M., kerlavaj, M. (2013). Authentic leadership, creativity, and innovation: A multilevel perspective.Leadership,9(1), 63-85. Dawson, P., Andriopoulos, C. (2014).Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage. Drucker, P. (2014).Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge. Hardman, S., Shiu, E., Steinberger-Wilckens, R. (2015). Changing the fate of Fuel Cell Vehicles: Can lessons be learnt from Tesla Motors?.international journal of hydrogen energy,40(4), 1625-1638. Henry, J., Mayle, D. (2016). Creativity and Innovation. Math, S. B., Moirangthem, S., Kumar, N. C. (2015). Tele-psychiatry: After mars, can we reach the unreached?.Indian journal of psychological medicine,37(2), 120. McCullough, D. (2016).The Wright Brothers. Simon and Schuster. Noonan, M. (2013). Mind maps: Enhancing midwifery education.Nurse education today,33(8), 847-852. Qrunfleh, S., Tarafdar, M. (2014). Supply chain information systems strategy: Impacts on supply chain performance and firm performance.International Journal of Production Economics,147, 340-350. Sarooghi, H., Libaers, D., Burkemper, A. (2015). Examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational, cultural, and environmental factors.Journal of business venturing,30(5), 714-731. Seedhouse, E. (2013).SpaceX: making commercial spaceflight a reality. Springer Science Business Media. Serrat, O. (2017). Harnessing creativity and innovation in the workplace. InKnowledge Solutions(pp. 903-910). Springer Singapore. Somech, A., Drach-Zahavy, A. (2013). Translating team creativity to innovation implementation: The role of team composition and climate for innovation.Journal of Management,39(3), 684-708. Wilson, C. (2013).Brainstorming and beyond: a user-centered design method. Newnes.

Motivation at Work Place Essay Example

Motivation at Work Place Essay Motivation, in a plain language, is what makes people do things, to provide with a motive to impel one to action. This paper discusses how to motivate employees at workplace to perform well. There are many reasons and methods to successfully motivate employees. Firstly and obviously, motivated employees are much more productive than employees who are not. Therefore Managers need to know about the factors that create motivation in order to be able to induce employees to work harder, more efficiently and with greater enthusiasm by knowing their employees’ needs. The objective of this paper is to explore three theories of motivation, Instrumental (focusing on Scientific Management), Content (covering theories by Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland) and Process (Covering equity, expectancy and goal setting theories). It will also identify the advantages and their shortcomings. Secondly this paper will look at NMB bank case to identify motivators and demotivators in a workplace. Finally provide practical recommendation that will effectively address the demotivators in the workplace. 2. Theory of Motivation Motivation studies have aimed to discover what triggers and sustain human behaviour at work. Motivation can be described as goal directed behaviour i. e. the will to work and achieve certain goals e. g. earn more money or achieve promotion. It can also be referred as external or internal factors/forces that influence an individual positively (Gibson et el, 2000). We will write a custom essay sample on Motivation at Work Place specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Motivation at Work Place specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Motivation at Work Place specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Motivation Theories try to describe why people at work behave the way they do. The theories describe what organizations can do to encourage employees apply their efforts and abilities to achieve organizations’ goals. Motivation theories are also concerned with job satisfaction and factor that create satisfaction and its impact on their behaviour (Gibson et el, 2000). There are a number of different motivation theories and these theories do not all reach the same conclusion. Motivation theories can be classified into three categories, Content Theory, Process Theory and Instrumental Theory (Armstrong, 2008). 2. Instrumental Theory of Motivation Instrumental Theory assumes that a person will be motivated to work if rewards and punishment are tied directly to performance (Armstrong, 2008) i. e. people are rewarded for behaving as expected. This theory originated from scientific management theory, and according to this theory, it is impossible to get people to work much harder than others unless assured on rewards. However, according to Armstrong (2008), Instrumental Theory failed to appreciate the fact that the formal control system can be affected by informal relationships between employees or between management and employees. . 2Content Theory of Motivation Content Theory falls in the second category, it emphasizes that it is needs that motivate people. There are a number of theories on providing the need for motivation. However, this paper will look on three most influential theories that advocate needs as motivators. These are Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory and McClelland’s acquired needs theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs proposes that people are motivated by five levels of needs, first Physiological needs, these are the most basic human physical needs like food, shelter, clothing etc. Secondly Safety and Security needs, these are concerned with physical safety and emotional security. Third is Belonging and Social needs, the need for friendship, affiliation, interaction and love. Most people are motivated by the social contacts they make at work. There is a need to belong to a certain group and this need is a motivator in a way. Fourth is esteem and recognition needs, the need for respect and recognition from others. And finally Self-actualization needs which is the highest level of needs in Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Needs theory. It is the need for self-fulfillment and using abilities, skills and potential to the fullest. In proposing this hierarchy of needs, ranging from basic to highest level, Maslow suggested that a person attempts to satisfy the more basic needs before directing behaviour towards satisfying upper level need. For example, once basic needs (physiological safety) are taken care of, people look for love, affection and affiliation and after they meet their social needs, people focus on matters such as self-respect, status, recognition etc. However, needs are never completely satisfied. Maslow’s theory has been criticized for its apparent rigidity since not all needs are equally important to different individuals, different people have different needs and priorities, each person has different intensities of each need and these intensities change in different situations. Furthermore, the theory is neither that accurate nor thorough enough to explain individual levels of behaviour. The second Content Theory is Herzberg’s two-factor Theory. Herzberg identifies a number of fundamental needs with his two factor theory. Herzberg advocates that work satisfaction and dissatisfaction arise from two different factors. Work satisfaction came from motivating factors and work dissatisfaction come from hygiene factors (Gibson et el, 2000). Motivating factors are concerned with what will make employees satisfied while Hygiene factors addresses why are employees dissatisfied. According to Herzberg, motivators include achievement, recognition and advancement and hygiene factors refer to policies procedures, working conditions, job security and salary (Armstrong, 2008). Motivators lead to positive satisfaction and hygiene factors only prevents dissatisfaction and they do not in themselves lead to employees’ satisfaction. However, the theory relies on the findings from the study done on accountants and engineers and this has brought up questions about its validity and accuracy to other fields and occupations. Another content motivation theory is McClelland’s acquired needs theory, which states that three needs i. e. achievement, affiliation and power are major motives determining people’s bahaviour in the workplace (Armstrong, 2008). McClelland believes that people are not born with needs but they acquire them from culture and life experience and the need to achieve is a primary motivating factor. Graham Bennett (1998) look at McClelland’s needs theory, and according to them Achievement-oriented people are said to prefer tasks which they had sole responsibility, avoid risks and monitor continuously the effect of their actions. Power-oriented were motivated by the prospect of controlling subordinates, while Affiliators wanted pleasant relationships with colleagues. 2. 3Process Theory of Motivation The final category of motivation theory is the Process motivation theory. This theory is more concerned with the thought of how people decide to act, i. e. how employees choose certain behaviour to meet their needs (Gibson et el, 2000). It attempts to explain and describe some of the factors that are typically outside of the individual. Whereas Content theory simply try to understand employees needs, process theory goes further and try to understand why employees have different needs, what behaviours satisfy them (Armstrong, 2008). The three most influential Process motivation theories include, Expectancy Theory, Goal Achievement Theory and Equity Theory. Goal theory, which was developed by Latham and Locke, states that motivation and performance are higher when individuals set specific and difficult goals and there is feedback on performance (Armstrong, 2008). The attributes highlighted are goal specifity, goal difficulty and goal intensity. According to Gibson et el (2000), Goal setting techniques has offered viable motivation techniques to many managers. However, in order to motivate employees, it is strongly recommended that setting of goals should be both specific and challenging and this leads to increase in performance. Generally, the more difficult the goal the higher the level of performance is expected. The Equity theory of motivation asserts on employees own assessment of whether he/she is being treated fairly, in comparison to his/her colleagues, as a major factor influencing motivation. Employees are motivated to see fair treatments, no matter how fair managers think the organization’s policies, procedures and reward systems are, each employee’s perception of those factors is what counts (Armstrong, 2008). Employees’ participation in important decisions that affect their welfare helps to promote perception of fair treatments. Expectancy Theory suggests that employees are motivated by two things. Firstly, how much they want something and secondly, how likely they think they are to get it (Armstrong, 2008). In other word, when people have choices they will make the choice that assures them best outcome or best rewards. According to Expectancy theory, your motivation depends on the relationship between your efforts, performance and desirability of the outcomes i. e. recognition for your performance. 3. Motivators and Demotivators in the workplace Taking NMB Bank as point of reference, this section will look into motivators and demotivators in the workplace. NMB Bank is the biggest Bank in Tanzania with more than 130 branches all over the country. 3. 1Motivators: It is NMB’s policy to recruit internally first, this helps to ensure employees career growth within the Bank. Employees take pride, as they feel Management recognizes their contributions and hence give them first priority when filling any vacancies within the Bank. This policy also provides opportunities for more responsibilities, that is when a more challenging job is advertised within the Bank, all employees qualifying for the post have equal opportunity to grow and achieve their career goals. It is also the Bank’s policy to give bonus at the end of every year depending on the performance of the Bank for that year. This promotes recognition for employees’ performance hence they feel valued and seen as part of the winning team. Another motivator to employees of the Bank is training opportunities for employees. Every new and fresh graduate who joins the Bank must go to a two week induction course. This training has two parts, theory and practical on how to do the job. This increases the interest of the job to the new employee. And the Bank does have in-house training programs for other employees. Job enlargement, challenging and complex tasks motivate NMB employees. Due to the size of the Bank, it increases the number of tasks in a job and therefore the work is challenging and complex. Employees deal with big volumes of workload they encounter different and complex challenges. For example, with large number of customers’ transaction bank reconciliation becomes complex. And even more for employees in the Zone offices who have to oversee the more than 10 branches within the zone and similarly to the Head Office employees. Working under such environment give employees a good chance of learning new things almost every day and this motivates employees for good performance. 3. 2Demotivators: Like any other workplace, there are factors that create dissatisfaction (demotivators) at NMB. As it has been prior illustrated, absence or inadequate of demotivators or hygiene factors promote dissatisfaction to employees. These factors include working conditions, relationship with subordinates/supervisors, policies and procedures and pay. It is the policy of the Bank that the entire Bank’s operations are centralized. Therefore employees especially in the branches have very little room to make decisions and command. With so many customers and most approvals are required to come from Head Office, employees’ job become dull. This causes dissatisfaction to branch employee as their participation on important and challenging tasks is taken away from them. For example, Head Office may change or give different instructions to Branch management on certain procedures. Sometimes such instructions may not be very practical and consequently may be the cause of long queues in the Branches. This may lead to customer complaining and in return employees are also dissatisfied with their jobs as they could be involved in decisions regarding their work. For instance, when the server is down they have to wait for assistance from Head Office of which takes more time. Working environment (not internal working conditions) of employees working in the rural areas may not be satisfactory. This refers to the external environment of these branches, since many of the Bank’s branches are located in rural areas. NMB Bank has a branch in every district in Tanzania, although this is good for business and customer base, in terms of life styles for employees working in those branches the external environments may not satisfy their personal and private lives. And this in turn may influence their performance in the workplace. As a sign of being demotivated, absenteeism and labour turnover in some of these branches is high as most of these employees are trying to look for better environment for their personal and private needs. Moreover, since rural areas are areas that are technologically challenged areas, employees do not have access of internet for communicating, information, learning or researching and thus they cannot be in touch with the rest of the world. While it is very expensive for the Bank to provide internet to rural branch employees, employees feel that they are neglected and this leads to dissatisfaction and demotivation. Salary is another demotivating factor in NMB, employees are not paid well compared to the market rate. Additionally there is no proper salary scale that has uniform across the Bank. More so, there is no real essence in the fringe benefits provided to the Bank to its employee. For example, interest rate for employees’ loans is 9% compared to 6% of other banks. Relationship with subordinates is another factor that may create dissatisfaction if not well managed. Some of the Branch Managers and line Managers do not interact with their employees in acceptable manner, i. e. with respect, transparency and trust. For example, some managers will not inform or allow their employees to apply for any job advertised within the bank for fear of losing them, but this leads to losing these employees to other employers. According to Graham Bennett (1998), instead of controlling, Managers and supervisors need to motivate and inspire employees. 4. Practical Recommendations There are two types of motivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic Motivation comes from outside the performer, for example pay/money (high salary), performance pay system, promotions, pleasant working conditions and trophies. Extrinsic is normally a short term motivating approach. Intrinsic is self motivation, comes from within the performer and it is more effective and long term approach because a person has a real interest in doing what is doing. Intrinsic motivations refer to achievement, responsibility and competence. There different factors that promote motivation, for example challenge, curiosity, competition and recognition are factors that promote intrinsic motivation. To effectively address the demotivators in the Bank, the Management may focus on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Some research conclude that interesting work, appreciation, pay/salary, good working conditions, company policies, supervision and job security are important factors helping to motivate employees. People like to take pride in their work, belong to a winning team and be part of their organization they believe in. Therefore to address Supervision, Managers should be responsible to create an environment in which people can motivate themselves. This can be done without relying on merit increases, incentives and bonus but through non-monetary motivation for example open communication, recognition and career developments plans. Moreover, Managers should assist in making difference in motivation levels of their employees by leading by example. According to Gibson et el. 2000), if employers wish to have motivated, passionate and energetic staff, leaders/managers should demonstrate the attitudes, values and mindset that they wish staff to develop and demonstrate. Secondly managers should create job satisfaction and provide employees with more challenging work and should encourage creativity by providing recognition and rewarding creativity. The rewards need not to be costly to have an impact, for example a simple ‘thank you’ has much bigger impact to employee. Employees will be more motivated to work hard if they know Employer/manager recognize and appreciate their contributions. Thirdly, the Bank should promote employee participation. This refers to the process whereby employees are involved in the decision making processes rather than simply acting to orders. Manager should act as his employees advocate. For example when communicating with other departments or head office, manager should act as an advocate for the employees and be visible champion for them. That is if there are instruction from head office or other department that is not as practical as it seems, the manager should be able to stand up for his department and provide/offer a true scenario from practical point of view, rather than accepting everything. This will increase employees’ commitment and eventually motivation. In addition managers should provide the resources and support required for employees to do and complete their jobs to the required level and restrictions that are preventing employees from doing their job well should be removed. Employee participation is part of empowerment in the workplace. Fourthly, to implement work/life balance initiatives, this helps employees cope with their responsibilities at work and those outside of work. It is now accepted that external pre-occupations can cause stress, absenteeism, resignations and reduced motivation (Armstrong, 2008). Other ways to reduce demotivators at workplace include, promote and provide two-way feedback, redesign jobs, learn through exit interviews and trust and respect to employees. An environment where it is safe to take risks and staff are trusted to try new things can be inspiring and motivating to employees. For example employees should try out new ideas and improve the way they do their job without fear. Therefore the Bank has ensured that every employee has clear job description, thus operating tasks and duties are clear and organization structure is clear. . Conclusion Motivation Theories are study of human behaviour and can be used as guidelines for Managers and Employers to create motivated teams within their organizations to achieve their desired goals. Understanding motivation begins with understanding the employees. That, it is not necessarily employees are to be blamed (for being lazy or unskilled or unwilling to perform the task at hand) if their performance is not what the em ployer/manager expected. The wise manager tries to understand why the employees are not performing to his expectations. While it may be that the employees do not have the requisite skills, however there may be other factors involved which are more complicated and need to be addressed by the management. In conclusion, it can be established that, there are a wide variety of human needs operating at work place, and to motivate employees management must do analysis to identify which particular needs are most important to employees and develop a reward system that would address it. This paper has discussed the theories of motivation, their advantages and disadvantages. It has also look at NMB Bank as example case in identifying motivators and demotivators in the workplace. The paper, also gave practical recommendation on how to effectively address and get rid of the identified demotivators at NMB Bank. 6. References: i. Armstrong, M. (2008) A Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice, 10th Ed. , Kogan Page Ltd, Philadelphia. ii. Gibson J. L. , Invancevich J. M. , Donnelly J. H. (2000) Organizations: Behaviour, Structure Processes, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Columbus. iii. Graham H. T. Bennett R. (1998) Frameworks: Human Resources Management, Pearson Education Ltd

Free Essays on The Euthyphro

The moral dilemma involving Euthyphro and Socrates begins when Socrates challenges Euthyphro by asking him what holiness really is, since Euthyphro claimed he was an â€Å"expert† in religious matters. Euthyphro defines holiness as persecuting religious offenders. Socrates found this definition unacceptable, seeing that there are many other more worthy deeds than persecuting people. Euthyphro went on to say that whatever the God’s found agreeable was indeed holy. Socrates then went on to say that the God’s fought with each other, so what might be agreeable to one might not be to another. Basically, Socrates was trying to prove that holiness cannot be defined by the Gods. Therefore, neither the Gods nor holiness can be defined because each was inherently based on the other. This left Euthyphro in a dilemma, unsure of what constituted holiness. He believed that holiness was a kind of justice that was for â€Å"looking after the Gods†. Socrates again disagreed by saying that the Gods are all powerful and don’t need to be looked after in any way. Again, Euthyphro rebutted by saying that sacrifices are made to the Gods in order to grant prayers. All this really accomplished was bringing the argument back the beginning, leaving the dilemma unsolved.... Free Essays on The Euthyphro Free Essays on The Euthyphro The moral dilemma involving Euthyphro and Socrates begins when Socrates challenges Euthyphro by asking him what holiness really is, since Euthyphro claimed he was an â€Å"expert† in religious matters. Euthyphro defines holiness as persecuting religious offenders. Socrates found this definition unacceptable, seeing that there are many other more worthy deeds than persecuting people. Euthyphro went on to say that whatever the God’s found agreeable was indeed holy. Socrates then went on to say that the God’s fought with each other, so what might be agreeable to one might not be to another. Basically, Socrates was trying to prove that holiness cannot be defined by the Gods. Therefore, neither the Gods nor holiness can be defined because each was inherently based on the other. This left Euthyphro in a dilemma, unsure of what constituted holiness. He believed that holiness was a kind of justice that was for â€Å"looking after the Gods†. Socrates again disagreed by saying that the Gods are all powerful and don’t need to be looked after in any way. Again, Euthyphro rebutted by saying that sacrifices are made to the Gods in order to grant prayers. All this really accomplished was bringing the argument back the beginning, leaving the dilemma unsolved....

Lenovos Brand Strategies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lenovos Brand Strategies - Case Study Example Mr. Yang Yuanqing, The acting CEO of Lenovo Group reported to Xinhua news agency in April 2009 that the recent cost cutting operations tagged to an aggressive branding and marketing strategy, unleashed by the company are expected to lead to an additional income of $ 300 million (Chao 2009). This will not only bring the company back on the profitability track, but will also strengthen its position as a brand in China and the other emerging markets. There is no denying the fact that Lenovo is definitely not immune to the ongoing meltdown that has hit China as well. Thus, the branding strategy and marketing communications of this firm certainly deserve the attention of interested individuals and concerns. The astounding fact is that in the Chinese PC market, Lenovo commands the most commendable brand awareness. In fact, it is amazing to acknowledge that the brand awareness of HP in China stands second to Lenovo (China Business News 2007). As per a survey conducted by the search engine Baidu, based on a sample of 43,400 cookies, associated with the data pertaining to PC related searches, nearly 16.38 percent of searches were attributed to Lenovo, with HP standing second, commanding a pathetic share of 9.19 percent (China Business News 2007). The same survey also declared Lenovo to be the top ranker in the Chinese notebook market, accruing an impressive share of 16.9 percent of all the searches (China Business News 2007). The given survey concluded beyond doubt that Lenovo commands exceptional brand awareness in the Chinese PC and notebook market, courtesy its innovative branding and marketing strategy. The effective branding strategy of Lenovo dose not happen to be a very recent phenomenon, but a plan that was conceptualized and unleashed by Lenovo at least half a decade ago. In 2005, Lenovo unravelled its new global brand strategy, which was to be first tested and fine-tuned in China. This new strategy was rolled on and implemented in the Chinese market by the end of 2005. The spike end of this strategy was to exploit the Think trademark that Lenovo inherited from IBM to target the elite corporate customers having a detectable predilection for Lenovo's high-end products. In contrast, Lenovo chose to retain its original corporate name to attract the marginal corporate customers and individual buyers interested in the company's regular and mainstream products. Hence, this double brand strategy chalked out by Lenovo turned out to be utterly successful in covering a whole range of customers located in China. Lenovo's brand integration with IBM materialized into a huge success that ce rtainly bolstered the company' brand appeal in China and the related markets. Yet, Lenovo was well aware of the possibility of diluting its brand identification to the much popular IBM brand. Hence, the top management decided to use IBM brand name for its PC products for a period of five years only. The main objective of this strategy was to eventually give way to a more identifiable and strong Lenovo brand appeal in the Chinese and world markets. Simply speaking, Lenovo intended to use the brand appeal of IBM as a launch