Kant vs. Kierkegaard Essay Example for Free

Kant vs. Kierkegaard Essay I also believe that the issue that I am discussing is deep, and therefore interesting. Its weaknesses would be its lack of quotes. The difficulty with this paper was trying to find the idea in the first place. It took me a lot of time to find deep similarities and differences between the two. It also took me some time to figure out how I would lay the essay out and how I would flesh the essay out. As this paper is not superficial, I found myself finding new ideas and problem as time passed. This gave me another problem as I always had to rethink and re-edit. The goals for my next paper are to include more quotes, as my papers lack evidence. My other goals are to carry on writing interesting and thought provoking papers. I aim to try to make my essays as clear as possible, as tackling deep issues can sometimes make the writing quite convoluted. Love of Duty vs. Love of Choice In their essays ‘Lectures on Ethics Friendship’ and ‘Works of Love – Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbor’, respectively, Kant and Kierkegaard both appear as idealists: They each portray a utopia in which friendship is universal. Kant believes that perfection can be achieved if people put love of mankind before love of oneself, and Kierkegaard believes that perfection can be achieved if you love everyone as if they were your neighbor. Ironically, both also contradict themselves: Kant contradicts his other idea that one will never be able to achieve the ideal of friendship, where partners share everything with each other. While Kierkegaard contradicts himself by saying a true Christian is completely selfless. This is a contradiction, as someone who is selfless cannot have a choice (free will), but as rational humans we do have a choice. Given these parallels, are these two thinkers ultimately offering us the same sense of utopia? No – in fact, Kant is a realist who uses a scientific approach to figure out what it means to be a friend, whereas Kierkegaard is a religious thinker who applies his religious morality on people. Their utopias look very similar on the surface, but their underlying methods to reach them are vastly different. Both Kant and Kierkegaard come from two very different backgrounds. Kant was born in Prussia, and was interested in physics and mathematics. He didn’t have a positive view of religion was also asked to stop teaching Theology at the University of Konigsberg by the government as he allegedly ‘misrepresented’ the principles of Christianity. This shows that Kant was a thinker independent of religion. Kant believed that â€Å"mankind’s final coming of age,† was â€Å"the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error. † This is the opposite of Kierkegaard, as he was a devout Christian. Kierkegaard tried to incorporate religion (Christian morality) with reason. This is where he comes up with his idea of ‘loving thy neighbor’. Whereas Kierkegaard comes from a position that his way is the ‘right’ way, as it was mandated from God, Kant comes from a position which is influenced by Rousseau and Aristotle, in fact Kant’s idea of man having self-love and love for humanity comes straight from Rousseau’s book ‘The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality’. There is also a deeper difference: Kierkegaard’s religious morality implies duty, whereas Kant’s view on friendship implies choice. Choice lies at the heart of Kant’s philosophy. He says that man has two basic instincts: self-love and love for humanity (pity). These two instincts conflict with each other and only one can win. Kant believes that in an ideal world, all people would put love for humanity before self-love. This would create a world where love is reciprocated, and therefore man does not have to worry about losing his happiness. In essence, Kant’s version of a utopia is where man chooses to love humanity. This is vastly different to Kierkegaard’s version, where man has no choice, as it is his moral duty to love everyone as if they were his neighbor. Kierkegaard does acknowledge Kant in a way, by distinguishing between earthly love and spiritual love. He says earthly love (Kant’s type of love) is the exact opposite of spiritual love. He argues that a ‘poet’ (Kant) is absolutely right in saying that earthly love cannot be commanded. Kierkegaard believes that Christian love is better as it is ‘completely selfless’. For Kierkegaard, â€Å"Christian love teaches love to all men, unconditionally all. Just as unconditionally and strongly as earthly love tends towards the idea of there being but one single object of love, equally unconditionally and strongly Christian love tends in the opposite direction. If a man with respect to Christian love wishes to make an exception in the case of one man whom he does not wish to love, then such love is not ‘also Christian love,’ but it is unconditionally not Christian love. † (41) Kierkegaard also believes that it is quite liberating to be forced to love. As if the absence of choice creates peace. He believes that â€Å"it is encouraging in your relation to a distinguished man, that in him you must love your neighbor; it is humbling in relation to the inferior, that you do not have to love the inferior on him, but must love your neighbor; it is a saving grace if you do it, for you must do it† (50). Thus the difference between earthly and spiritual love is that earthly love is a choice and spiritual love is a command from God. Both Kierkegaard and Kant come to different conclusions because in their writing, their focus is on separate ideas. Kant, being a man of reason primarily, approaches his philosophy in a scientific manner. To explain, he breaks one thing into smaller things. Kant makes observations based on what he sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels (like his three types of friendships). However, he does also make some conceptual assumptions (discussed earlier) such as his idea of putting love of humanity before self-love will cause reciprocation of friendship. Unlike Kierkegaard, Kant does not focus on religion as it is unnecessary for someone who is only interested in empirical observations. Kierkegaard however is not concerned with empirical observation, as he believes that there is something higher and more important i. e. Christianity. Kierkegaard concentrates more on morality and what he believes is right, instead of focusing on what is actually there. Kierkegaard doesn’t even talk about friendship in his writing. This shows that he places much more importance on what his religion says is right instead of trying to observe and deconstruct what friendship is. Although both philosophers have radically different ideas on how to achieve a utopian world, their ideas as an end result are very similar. They both want a world in which everyone loves everyone. The difference is that Kant’s love comes from reason, whereas Kierkegaard’s is spiritual. For this reason Kant’s idea seems more logical to the rational human being. Kant doesn’t believe in forced love, he believes in a choice to put either love of humanity or love of oneself at the fore. Kierkegaard’s idea of loving as a moral duty is contradictory at its heart, because how can you love if you don’t have a choice who to love? If you ‘love’ everyone it stops being love because love is defined by its opposite. How can there be love without hate? If it can’t exist, then how feasible is Kierkegaard’s idea? This is the main problem with Kierkegaard, because his observations come from his faith. In the real world, love should come from understanding, not dogma. If there is no understanding, it’s like a slavery of the mind. Works Cited Immanuel Kant, â€Å"Lectures on Ethics†, Ethics. Trans. Louis Infield, Harper Torchbooks, The Cloister Library, Harper Row Publishers, New York and Evanston. Soren Kierkegaard, â€Å"Works of Love†, Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbor. Trans. David F. Swenson Lillian Marvin Swenson, Princeton – New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

The Metamorphosis and Ethan Frome :: Free Essay Writer

The Metamorphosis and Ethan Frome The routine of life can bring some people a sense of stability and happiness. For others this routine can be the cause of immense discontent and a feeling of entrapment. The main characters of the books The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton both experience this feeling of being trapped by their everyday responsibilities and environment. Family obligation, societal expectation, and their internal and external appearances trap both Gregor Samsa and Ethan Frome. One main cause for Gregor being trapped is his obligation to his family. His financial obligation alone is enough to put a great amount of pressure on him. His job and his secret plan to put his sister through school also place a demand on him. Gregor is solely responsible for repaying his parents’ old debts. The weight this puts on him is demonstrated when he says, Well, I haven’t given up hope completely; once I’ve gotten the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him-that will probably take another five or six years-I’m going to do it without fail(Kafka 4). Even after discovering he has turned into a bug he still feels his obligation to his family. Society also has expectations of Gregor that he cannot escape even when he is locked up in the room that eventually becomes his grave. On one of his agonizing sleepless nights he is still thinking of his workday and of people he mingles with on a daily basis. He realizes that instead of helping him and his family, they were all inaccessible and he was glad when they faded away(Kafka 43). Gregor receives no help from the society that he is so loyal to. Gregor is obviously trapped by his external appearance. His physical limitations deepen his feeling of futility. His external appearance mimics his internal feelings, as he now feels helpless by not being able to physically carry out his responsibilities. Ethan was also trapped by obligation to his family. It trapped him when he wanted to go off with Mattie and it trapped him for the rest of his life after the accident. Zeena was the main source of the futility of Ethan’s existence. This is shown when Ethan reflects grimly that his seven years with Zeena seemed to Starkfield ‘not so long’(Wharton 64).

John Kotter’s Eight Steps to Change Essay

A Systematic Approach: Eight Steps to Change. We shall use the impact of low-cost airline as an example to understand each step. In 2003, Lufthansa was facing intense competition from low-cost airline on short-haul domestic flights. In the fight for domination in the German skies, Lufthansa intend to match the low-cost rivals by expanding its own network of cut-price domestic and European services. Establish a sense of urgency. From previous experiences of battling competition and enforcing change, the first step leading to the successful implementation of change is – the creation of urgency. Establishing a sense of urgency is vital for eliminating contentment and achieving the collaboration needed to implement change. Employees are required to co-operate, understand the differences between the company’s current situation and a desired future participate and step up to the mark in order to succeed. . 2. 2Step 2. Create a powerful guiding coalition. Once sense of urgency is established within the organisation, the next step is forming a strong group of guiding coalition. The group could consist of internal or external organisation members with significant credibility and authority. These â€Å"outsiders† can provide valuable judgement, experiences and ideas that in turn allow the employees to share a common level of understanding for change. 3. 2. 3Step 3. Develop a compelling vision. Obviously, the reason for changes is discontentment with the current situation and having the desire for a better future. For that reason, management have to develop a clear and accomplishable vision that consists of these characteristics: a desirable future, compelling, realistic, focused, flexible and, easy to communicate. They have to be specific about how the change will improve the organisation and how those improvements will benefit employees in the organisation. 3. 2. 4Step 4. Communicate the vision. During the implementation of change, there are bound to have resisters opposing the change. Communication is the crucial factor to convert the resisters with managers taking advantages of all the communication channels in the organisation to get the transformation effort across to all. It must be able to convey and explain the specifically how the vision will benefit them. 3. 2. 5Step 5. Empower others to act on the vision. In every change, there are bound to be obstacles. The first four steps encourage employees to accept changes. To further support change, obstacles that obstruct the way to attaining the vision should be eliminated. If the obstacles happen to be an employee, the organisation may well have to decide the option available or sever the relationship with the individual. 3. 2. 6Step 6. Generate short-term wins Depending on the significance of change, some transformation of change might take years to before it is successfully implemented. In the case of Lufthansa, in order to top the low-cost aviation industry, the duration might approximately take ten years. Attitude and motivation among employees might fade along the way. Soon, they will loose sight of the vision and become discouraged and disappointed therefore Lufthansa should set up multiple short-term win situations in a major transformation change. 3. 2. 7Step 7. Consolidate gains and push for more change. It is important to note that celebrating a short-term win might create complacency among employees. So instead of celebrating or declaring victory prematurely, organisation should take the opportunity to implement larger changes. With the confidence and belief, employees will be able to accept larger and more drastic changes than before. Organisation should build on the current momentum to push for more change. 3. 2. 8Step 8. Anchor new approaches in the company’s culture. Once the objective has been achieved, prove the positive result to employees. After that, management should ensure that cementation work such as new working methodologies and policies are enforced into the company culture whereby continuous improvement and changes are seen as norm and survival.

English Descriptive Writing

The intimidating building brought terror the rough the walls. Moist beds from the children's room from the endless nights of unnerving thoughts. The house represented nothing else but desperateness and loneliness. Happiness. The children will never achieve happiness. The house was distracting to all parents. The dull, dark walls took away the light from the depressed kids. It was like the light gave hope like a endless tunnel of loneliness with a spark of light at the end of the tunnel.The obnoxious kids was never going to get love from a parent, they weren't good enough, smart enough for love. But the only way to leave the place of loneliness was to have a person you loves you for who you are, the career never gave that to them. The children were stuck in a draught of thoughts of happiness. Night time in the orphanage time is the worst. The sun went down and the shadows scrawled in through the windows like a lion crawling for its prey. The house and the bushes outside were overgrown by the leafs.The branches were wrapping round the trees like a gig hug from a loving parent which was ironic to the children inside. Night time was also the time when most dreamt about their real parents. They were regretting there life, like it was their fault they're in a cave of loneliness. As soon as the sun went up the children's hopes went up and their dreams became possible, until the career came in and blocked the sun with his body. Reality came in like a wrecking ball to hit the kids with loneliness. The house suffered in pain, the loneliness never left.No wonder the children were never happy, the career never gave them the leaning of a true home. They never received the warmth of a mother being their or their father's companionship within them. It was like a minute they had something nice in their life then reality came them a big wakeup call like when chilly wave crashes over your face and build goose bumps on your skin. The children's cry echoed through the empty house and soul. The child's face started to cry as it did not receive what it needs. The child was as lonely as a cloud going through the sky in it's own pathway never attaching itself to anything.The house was as big as the children's dreams. ND hopes that could never be reached. The loud footsteps made the children's teeth on the edge. If they didn't obey there career, there soon was a shriek coming from the children's rooms. The walls told a story of how many times the children were denied. The dull color of the walls brought, loneliness and negative thoughts like a pessimistic who will always be there. The dirty, wrecked clothes stood out in the room, the vibrant colors brought happiness which rapidly went down to loneliness like a reallocates of rejection, hate and solution.

Essential Foundations of the Public Relations

Essential Foundations of the Public Relations Introduction Over the last three decades, a lot of scholarly research has been accomplished in the field of public relations. The framework under which the early researches were based on has, however, in the modern day, faced a lot of criticism with the majority of the critics claiming that the PR model of communication presents a two way communication, which stands out as utterly symmetrical (Karla 177).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Essential Foundations of the Public Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Early scholars set subtle grounds for the subsequent researches. In their natures, these foundations have taken rigid dominance in the theorization of the public relations’ scholarly researches. This dominance has served to give rise to pros and cons of the initial and hence the traditional theories of public relations. One specified pro of the theories stems from the fact that, over the years such t heories have undergone numerous tests, with most of the scholars confirming their claims. Consequently, the theories have remained in force and viable within a wider public spectra. In line with this argument, Karla claims that, â€Å"dominant research theories are furthered and new theories emerge† (178). If, an organization has to excel in its public relations endeavours, a prerequisite is placed on it to change its behaviours and approaches to the discipline so as to become part and parcel of the organization’s â€Å"dominant coalition or decision making body† (Karla 179). In this context, therefore, a magnificent endeavour of the early, PR theorist was to enhance professionalization of the PR (Grunig 29). Conflicting roles of the PR professional have also been registered with some scholars claiming that, PR managers have, at times, concentrated in execution of duties, which could have otherwise been delegated to the technical PR staff. As a repercussion, the PR concerns may be argued as a represented differently in theory and actual practice. More recently a lot of enthusiasm has emerged especially in attempts to scrutinize the position of PR in an organization as part of the management function. According to Curtin and Gaither, there exists four main criticisms of the paradigm of the public relations: â€Å"the definition of public relations as a management function; the reliance on functional, transmission models of communication; the emphasis on organizational-level theory; and the failure to recognize the primacy of power in relationships† (110).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The emerging perspectives about the new media have given rise to lots of enthusiasm in some quarters. This paper seeks to scrutinize whether the existing enthusiasm to the new media is justifiable, explore the various implications, on the one hand, public relations practice relating to traditional media and on the other for, long term future of those media. However, to explore this topic, endeavours are made to unveil whether, if anything is distinctive about new media technologies from a PR practitioner’s perspective and what benefits to PR practice they bring. The critics of the PR are also essential to be given a glance especially those which attribute it to profit making endeavours. New media technologies from a PR practitioner’s perspective and the benefits they bring to PR practice From a wider perspective, there exist no broad distinctions between traditional media and the new media (social media) in terms of relations. In case of traditional media, â€Å"practitioners identify reporters and editors and build relationships with them in order to get client news disseminated† (Horton 5). On the other hand, in the social media, the main objective of the practitioner is to identify lik ely influential participants and the rest of the approach is just like in the traditional media: build relationships for the purposes enhancing communication. Opposed to the old media technologies such as the newspaper, radio or television, the emerging technologies such as face book or twitter are more essentially social based. Horton posits that, â€Å"newspapers are withering; net work television has watched audiences decline, radio is splintered and magazines are shrinking† (1). On the other hand, more human traffic in social networks is on the rise. Consequently, with this form of trends in communication, PR practitioners have no choice other than shifting to new media means of communication, particularly with the number of the reporters of the traditional medial escaping from their traditional occupations. Despite incredible call for change with time, the new media pose lots of challenges especially in terms of effectiveness and efficacy in communication. One evident ch allenge is that, the initial attempts to departmentalize communication have altogether been eroded. In fact, â€Å" the public and the universal nature of social media means that all the audiences can read communication intended for any one communication† (Horton 1). As a way of compounding this problem, practitioners are always unsure that the communication reaches all the intended audiences.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Essential Foundations of the Public Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is perhaps due to existences of communication fragmentations in case the practitioner opts for the new media to deliver messages. As Horton observes, â€Å"social media are so fragmented that an individual may not see the information in a blog or a face book page or tweet† (1). In actual sense the new media, serves to disperse information just like some traditional media for instance newspapers and magazines would do. The fact that some information was posted in a newspaper does not guarantee that the target audience would read it. This is what new media serves to propagate on a large scale globally. However, through perhaps deployment of mathematical concepts of probability, it standouts more likely to read some article in a newspaper than it would to read it in a social media carrying millions of blogs. Consequently, it may be argued that, the new media worsen the problem of information dispersion. Furthermore, new media ensures information accessibility, but does not provide a warrant that the information will be viewed. In actual sense, an immense effort by a practitioner to reach a wide range of audiences turns out as of little results due to the evident communication fragmentation in the new media. Despite the existence of technologies that permit an individual to determine the influence of a certain blog posted on a social media site, such techniques are been argued as not straight forward. Such technologies enable one to determine the nature of friends who are subscribed to a new media site such as face book or twitter. Unfortunately, none of such technologies provide a warrant that one would reach the audience that he or she is targeting. Worse still, there exists no bureau that can carry out auditing of the information under circulation through the social networks. Additionally, social media present a challenge in terms of information distribution time. According to Horton, â€Å" to use social media effectively requires learning ones way into each medium and building trust with participants, do campaigns and clients allow one to spend that form of time† (2). Social media demands the practitioner to have established a relationship with the audience. Unless the practitioner had had communicated with such audience for some time before, to orient the audience so as to embrace his or her attention, it would clearly call for commitment of a l ot of time: something that may not be so desirable from the practitioner’s perspective point of view.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As Horton comments, â€Å"agency practitioners especially face the challenge of communication timing because they often work on multiple accounts in different industries† (4). However, such challenges need not make a practitioner rule out the possibilities of using social media in communication since rewards exists in employment of the new media in communication. As Spicer notes, â€Å"Facebook users build audiences of like minds and interests and thus one can reach these self-identified audiences with a laser-like focus to communicate client messages effectively and efficiently† (115). New media circulates information without an individual’s knowledge, something that serves as an additional advantage especially bearing in mind that the message sent will not require the practitioner to pay for such circulations. Critique of public relations Over the years, several critiques have been advanced in relation to public relations. Many of these critiques see public re lations as a profit making administrative endeavour opposed to the perceived intents of improvement of the service delivery. Miller and Dinan see public relations as, â€Å"a means of taking risks out of democracy† (11). To them the perceived risks entail seeking a mechanism of taking full control of a pool of workers. The modern public relations consequently, seems to stem from the need to extend such functions of the public relations in an attempt to constitute â€Å" a cutting edge of campaigns to ensure liberal democratic societies do not respond to the will of people and the vested interests prevail† (Miller and Dinan 12). In this context, PR is depicted as propaganda oriented form of democracy. New media technologies may not thus escape criticism especially when PR concerns are incorporated into it. Somewhat some of the criticism that is crucial to consider includes the ones raised by Carl Byoirs. Carl Byoirs was particularly interested in adoption of third parti es techniques deemed subtle for the manipulation of the public debates. â€Å"Front groups could be created by influencing the leaders of the co-placement group and by forming new fronts† (Grunig White 57). In this context, media is viewed as a tool of manipulation and subversion of the reality. Unfortunately, Byoirs practices were nothing to be acceptable before the eyes of the law, and when the whistle was blown on his activities between n 1930 and 1940s, his firm was convicted and charged $5,000. Since the times of Byoirs, according to Miller and Dinan, â€Å"manipulation and deceit have been the defining characteristics of the public relation s industry† (12). Conventionally, many critics of the PR are inclined to the opinion that PR is executed for some vested interests mainly by large corporations of which media may not be segregated from them. Scrutinizing the clientele of any successful PR firm reveals that the majority of its clients are the large corporation s. This has consequences of creation of imbalances between the citizens and the tools of the propulsion of the economies through production: corporations. Its practice â€Å"is not open and transparent about its means or even about its clients and interests it is working for† (Miller and Dinan 13). However, it needs not be taken that all PR practitioners consciously lie despite the fact that PR calls for some means of the management of cognitive dissonance (Miller and Dinan 13). More importantly, in as much as the association of PR with desires to lie, it is evident that public interests and the private interests hardly get directly congruent. As Maloney observes, â€Å" corporate spin doctors and agencies consequently have no choices rather than lying unconsciously since their job entangles at the most basic level, an attempt to align the sectional interests of their principles (employers or clients) with general interests† (30). The idea here is not to arrive at the conclusion that PR endeavours are geared toward conspiracy. The argument is all about the ideas of the PR firms to equate the private and public interests, which result to negative repercussions to the public interests aspects, since by the fact that this two interests are not similar, more often than not, public interests get undermined. PR also is considered by its critiques as aimed at subversion of the clients interests opposed to its disguised intents of promotion of democratic debates. On the other hand, Bernays feels that, PR faces a given draw back since, â€Å"corporate social responsibility and other ethical activities are all subordinates to the corporate strategy, and that it has played a crucial role at the cutting edge of corporate power in the neoliberal revolution† (67). In this context, it may be argued that in as much as corporations may be doing marvellous from one front, in some other front, it may stand out evident that they are attempting to safeguard th eir vested interests which do not necessarily conform to the interests of the public. As a way of example, during the case of involvement of the shell corporation in the international chamber of commerce, â€Å"mantra heard from devotees about building the business case for CSR is about more than making money out of ethical and green activities as a tool to ensure binding regulation is resisted and indeed rolled back† (Miller Dinan 10). Corporations, on the other hand, have proactively involved themselves in campaigning for the media and political partisans giving rise to neoliberal concerns. New media, despite its illustrious championed efforts to make sure that it provides a better representation of the public concerns through refraining from political partisans and campaigning for political elites, suffers from the need to protect and quest for some of its own vested interests. Such vested interests with political attachments ensure the continued presence of a firm in the communications market, since political institutions contribute, by far, in promotions of those firms that are inclined to their affiliations. It is particularly intriguing for media to take opposing stands to the political regimes which by far will affect their future performance. This reason may perhaps prompt the PR approached in the management of the new media to borrow widely from the traditional media practices and carry on the attempts to maintain public in some form of disguised lies: all with the intent to protect the firm’s own vested interests. New media concerns are more driven by the spirit of change. Given that PR plays pivotal roles in the management of the human resource, the inclusion of PR â€Å" as a communicative consequence of business, interests and case group activity â€Å" (Miller Dinan 25) may not be isolated from such endeavours. However, communication acts a vital tool available to the PR to enhance inculcation of spirit of fame in an attempt to get things done. Look, for instance, the main responsibilities of PR in any organization. It is charged with conflicts resolution, motivation and handling of disputes emanating from the firm and the worker’s unions of the organization in question. Through its well organized structures of communication, the PR has to ensure that its strategies gets a competitive advantage amongst the parties involved in conflict if at all it has to provide foundations, which are vital to ensure the problem being handled will not repeat itself in future. This approach is widely criticized as geared towards prejudicing the spirit of democracy among the workers since, it seeks to convince perhaps without adequate grounds on why such solutions are necessary. According to Miller and Dinan, â€Å"†¦..International communication is another activity that fits only partially within the definition of PR as a measure to ensure competitive communication advantage† (25). Some of the inclusions comprise internal communications, workers motivations, and reward systems among others. Majority of these tasks are constructed by two main interests: employer and the employees. The question remains; what side is more favoured. Is firm in question; created to make profits for the benefit of the employer or to make a profit for the purposes of provision of employment opportunities to the employees? According to Bernays â€Å" public opinion, narrowly defined is the thought of a society at any given time toward a given object; broadly conceived, it is the power of a group to sway the larger public in its altitude† (p.1). Given the ability of the PR to accomplish swaying action to the general workforce, it is evident that claims that the PR is responsible for manipulation bear substance. Aims and objectives of PR and media industries in the wider media landscape Just like any other professional discipline, public relation has a specified scope of tasks. In a broader sense, pub lic relations practitioners fall into two categories. The first category is dominated by those practitioners who see themselves as communication managers, and the other sphere being constructed by PR practitioners who see themselves as technicians of the communication. As Berkowitz and Ilias lament, â€Å" within these two groups, the managers role has been broken down into two subgroups related to how a communication manager fits into organizational process† (102). Some studies such the one conducted in 1989 by Belz et al reveal that journalistic roles are evident in both the public relations practitioners and the journalists. However, the other hand both the journalists and the public relations practitioners held a different opinion on matters concerning roles, aims, and responsibilities of public relations (130). From a wider perspective, the differences are traceable from existing socialization and the education between the two practices. â€Å"Some studies have found th at media organizations and the journalistic practices taking place are linked to journalists perceived roles† (Berkowitz Ilias 104). Furthermore, Berkowitz and Ilias are to the opinion that, â€Å"the actual differences among journalists are likely much smaller than the differences among public relations practitioners subscribing to mangers or technician roles† (104). As priory mentioned, public relations practitioners essentially assume the roles of communication managers and communication technicians. However, Leichty and Springston perceive this as a traditional dichotomy of PR roles and alternatively proposes four roles accorded to the PR practitioners: â€Å" generalists, the internals, the outliers and traditional managers† (467). However, by careful scrutiny of these four roles, it is evident that the traditional managers roles assume remarkably little technical roles and hence it can remain as a significant sub division of the roles of the PR by its own. On the other hand, the other three roles are more of technical oriented. Consequently, their classification into one group: technical roles are perhaps still valid. As a result, the classification of roles of the PR following the Leichty and Springston criteria is barely a further division of the original traditional PR dichotomy into some further categories. Managerial roles are more of affiliated to making of decisions and policies within an organization that houses the practitioners. According to Berkowitz Ilias, â€Å" practitioners enacting the managers roles predominantly make policy decisions and are held accountable for the program success or failure† (111). Such practitioners are charged with the responsibilities of arriving at decisions that have long term repercussions to a firm as opposed to short term solution of problems, which are predominantly technical in nature. In addition, such roles entangle analysis, anticipations coupled with clarification and attachm ent of meanings to the public opinions, issues and altitudes which are subtle tools for cute departmental and overall performance of an organization. Managers are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that objectives and the goals of an organization are set appropriately in direct congruence with the organizations long term philosophies. Within, the peripheral departments of a firm, encounters are made of PR practitioners charged with the enactment of technical PR roles. According to Dozier, â€Å" technicians do not participate in management decision making but only make program decisions necessary to internal functioning of their departments† (76). In fact, the widest spectra of responsibilities entail conduction of low level organizational operational matters aimed at ensuring cute implementation of policies and decisions stemming from the management team. More often than not, technical practitioners are engaged in activities such as provision of services like media contracting, writing, publications productions and photocopying among other roles that do not involve long term decision making tasks. Perhaps a different aspect of the PR practitioner’s roles vital to consider, are those roles stemming from the practitioners education and organizational environment (Dozier 1992; Ehling 1992). On his part, Dozier strongly believes that PR practitioners may be in a large part lack and fail, to fulfil their professional roles as anticipated with consequences of some of the practitioners likely to be characterized by semi professionalism (45). Such professionals are more likely to be worse affected by bureaucratic norms. In most of the situation they evidently lack professional autonomy in the execution of their duties partly due to dwindled endowment with supervisory powers. To this end, Ryan and Martinson think that lack of clarity in terms of roles anticipations is fuelled by the practitioners lack of common agreement of what the PR professio n is all about and perhaps what it needs to embrace (91). Conclusion Over the years, especially in the last three decades, a lot research has been done in the subject of the public relations. The paper characteristically identifies these researches as essential foundations of the public relation concerns, which, in fact, have formed the basis of the existing modern criticisms of the profession. The criticisms in turn, have given rise to an immense enthusiasm to scrutinize the roles of the public relations especially when the other spectrum of the inputs of the new media is incorporated. In as much as the new media is beneficial in terms of promotion of ease of information accessibility, the paper claims that information accessibility does not necessarily translate to practical information viewing. The demerits of the new media have consequently been addressed by asserting that the new media has a specified challenge in terms of ensuring effective and efficient communication, has tim e limitations and departmentalization or rather information flow regulation. Amid these limitations, new media has been discussed as a vital tool for practitioners communication particularly where relationships with the target audience is priory established. The paper also has also made some attempts to introspect the various criticisms of the public relations. Finally, the roles and objectives of public relations have been given a through treat by dividing the entire sphere of public relation roles into two broad groups: managerial and technical roles. Through observation of differences in the scholar’s perceptions of the roles and practices of the public relations, which stem right from the traditional approaches to the modern hefty criticisms, evidently, subtle information is available to justify the existing enthusiasm for new media evident in some quarters. Belz, Arthur et al. â€Å"Using role theory to study cross perceptions of journalists and public relations practi tioners.† Public relations research annual 1.1 (1989): 125-139. Berkowitz, Dan Ilias, Hristodoulakis. â€Å"Practitioner Roles, Public Relations Education, and Professional Socialization: An Exploratory Study.† Journal of Public Relations Research 11:1 (1999): 91-103. Bernays, Edward. Manipulating public opinion: the way and the how. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000. Curtin, Arthur, Gaither, Kenneth. Privileging identity, difference, and power: The circuit of culture as a basis for public relations theory. Journal of Public Relations Research 17.3 (2005): 91–115. Dozier, Douglas. The organizational roles of communications and public relations practitioners. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, 1992. Ehling, Walter. â€Å"Public relations education and professionalism.† In James. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 439-464). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992. Grunig, James. â€Å" Two-way symmetrical public relations: Past, present and future.† In Lawrence Heath (Ed.), Handbook of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001. Grunig, James White Jon. The Effect of World Views on Public Relations Theory and Practice: Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1992. Horton, James. â€Å"Public Relations and Social Communication.† Journal of Public Relations 31.7 (2009) 1-6. Karla, Gower. â€Å"Public Relations Research at the Crossroads.† Journal of Public Relations Research 18.2 (2006): 177-190. Leichty, Gabriel, Springston, Johnson. â€Å"Elaborating public relations roles.† Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 73.5(1996): 467-477. Maloney, Kelvin. Rethinking Public Relations: PR, Propaganda and Democracy. London: Routledge, 2006. Miller, David, Dinan, William. Thinker, faker, spinner, spy: corporate PR and the assault on democracy. London: Pluto press, 2007. Ryan, Mart ins, Martinson, Leonard. (1988). â€Å"Journalists and public relations practitioners: Why the antagonism?† Journalism Quarterly 64.13 (1988): 1-140. Spicer, Charles. â€Å"Public relations in a democratic society: Value and values.† Journal of Public Relations Research 12.4 (2000):115–130.

Strategic Management Portfolio Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Management Portfolio - Case Study Example The company's unswerving concentration and consistent strategies on its retail activities are also noteworthy and undoubtedly one of the main reasons for the company's stellar performance records over the years. (Micha Gisser and Raymond D. Sauer) Nonetheless, Thorntons needs to keep tabs on its competitors at the top level. There is no mention of the margin of lead between Thorntons and its competitors whose performances are better than that of Thorntons. The company needs to put together its act on horizontal integration too. In the current market scenario of mergers and acquisitions, if aggressive policy of horizontal integration is not in place, the company is in danger of having the rug pulled from under its feet. And the threat is not always from the top players. The global economy is full of eyes waiting in the wings like a hawk to scoop down on its prey from unexpected regions. (Globalization Challenge) The company also needs to exploit its in-house manufacturing resources. There is no mention if this supply base is allowed to cater to competitors' requirements. Thorntons is sourcing some of its products from outside suppliers. Hence, it makes business sense to allow part of its manufacturing activities to be used to meet competitors' needs. (Michael Porter's Five Forces) Thorntons' strength lies in its popular brand name which it has assiduously built over the years. Its hold over its product ingredients, market maneuverability based upon differentiation, marketing and manufacturing expertise, influence over retailers and customers, ability to secure outlets at key locations, and traditional family ownership, albeit professional management policies play key roles in Thorntons' market presence as a worthy entity. The company has also done well in building up strong presence in Midlands and North England. Nevertheless, Thorntons must aggressively pursue its agenda in London and South England where its presence is vulnerable. There are strong contenders in the form of existing players such as Cadbury and Nestle, and potential competitors. The company has wisely invested in a strong in-house supply base in Midlands and North England. It can begin its marketing operations in London and South England on a stronger note to shore up its sales figures. It can supplement its inventories from its own manufacturing plants in Midlands and North England, keeping its options to begin manufacturing operations in London and South England as soon as opportunities unfold. (Carol Propper et al) Thornton must also begin its sales activities from its own retail outlets. Besides serving as deterrent to ever present threat from strong retailers and manufacturers as potential competi

Managerial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managerial accounting - Essay Example It  states  that, in measuring net income  for an  accounting period, the  costs  incurred in that  period  should be matched against the revenue generated in the same period† (Business Dictionary.com). Decision relevance on the other hand focuses on those cost and revenues aspects that the conventional accounting principle of matching may ignore. The main difference between the fundamental accounting principle and the decision relevance theory is that the former tends to focus on the amount actually paid for any expense incurred whilst ignoring any other incremental costs that may be incurred in the future if any company wishes to undertake any given project. Besides such issues, the conventional accounting principle also ignores the impact of opportunity costs. Decision relevance on the other hand tries to focus on all such costs which might be incurred due to the incidence of any given project. Opportunity costs are also given a high regard in decision releva nce and they are considered as an important aspect in any given decision. According to the conventional accounting principle, Option A seems to be more appropriate as it reduces the loss which is to be endured by the company. Under this principle, the company bears a loss of ?31.9 million (?31,966,666.66) and if the company follows Option B it faces a loss of around ?33.2 million (33,200,000). There is an evident saving of ?1.2 million (?1,233,334) if Option A is selected under the Conventional accounting principle. Option A leads the company to close all its operations and tend to receive the Revenue from the existing catapults produced. Under Option A the existing catapults produced by the company would generate ?15 million and the costs incurred in this regard would be approximately ?49.6 million (?49,666,666). On the other hand the revenue generated under Option B would be ?35 million (?35,000,000) which would be much higher than the revenue generated from Option A, this increas ed revenue would be generated because of the increased sales of the existing 500 units of catapults and the extra 500 units to be produced by the company. The costs to be endured under Option B are ?68.2 million (?68,200,000). The increased revenue generated by selling 1000 units at a higher rate are over shadowed by the increased costs tolerated by the company. Such increased costs have put up extra burden on the incremental revenue generated from Option B. As a result of these inflated costs, the loss generated through Option B would be References Business Dictionary.com, â€Å"