Small Business in Nigeria - 2732 Words

Table of Contents Introduction------------------------------------------ 1 Constraint in small business : 1) Exchange rate-----------------------------------2 2) Access to loan -------------------------------2 - 3 3) Infrastructure --------------------------------3 - 4 4) Technology ----------------------------------4 - 5 5) Taxation -----------------------------------------6 6) Regulation --------------------------------------7 7) Policy---------------------------------------------8 Conclusion-------------------------------------------9 Recommendation----------------------------------9 Reference list-----------------------------------10 - 12 Introduction Nigeria is a country with 923,768 sq km ( 356,700 sq miles†¦show more content†¦Then, their business profit needs to be share to government and they only get 67.8 percent of profit. For example, if a business earns 10000 Nigerian naire then 3220 Nigerian naire need to give government for the tax. They only get 6780 nigerian naire and it will limit the expand of business as yearly profit frequently be the main resource of capital to grow the firm. So the high tax rate will make the entrepreneur have less money to increase the capital in business. (Mitchell, and Fellow 1993,6 ) ( Source : Paying Taxes in Nigeria, n.d ) 6 Regulation Nigeria has a high cost on register a legal licence for a standardized company and takes lot of times. It takes around 31 day around 1 month to start up a new business but in US it only takes 6 day. It need 89903 Nigerian naira plus 7.5 percent stamp duty paid on capital to get a new business licences but in US it only need 325 US dollar. Without operating the business, small business already had to use around 89903 Nigerian naira by getting the new licences. Sources : Starting a Business in the United States. n. d Sources : Starting a Business in Nigeria. n. d 7 Policies Abugu( 2007 ) has found that the government in Nigeria is lack of commitment at every level in order to develop small business sector. But there are certain of the policies or laws that only can carry out by government. In Nigeria, the government hasShow MoreRelatedSmall Business in Nigeria2742 Words   |  11 PagesTable of Contents Introduction------------------------------------------ 1 Constraint in small business : 1) Exchange rate-----------------------------------2 2) Access to loan -------------------------------2 - 3 3) Infrastructure --------------------------------3 - 4 4) Technology ----------------------------------4 - 5 5) Taxation -----------------------------------------6 6) Regulation --------------------------------------7 7) Policy---------------------------------------------8 Read MoreThe Role of Cost Accountants in Small Scale Manufacturing Industries in Nigeria1259 Words   |  6 PagesBACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The preponderance of vast number of small scale industries in Nigeria suggest that the situation offers substantial opportunity for the intensive development and improvement of this sector, with appropriate injections of technology, improved management, efficient marketing techniques and so forth (Echu, 2002). The contributions of small industries to development are generally acknowledged. Small industries face many obstacles that limit their long term performance and invariablyRead MoreRaising Capital For Any Startup1324 Words   |  6 PagesRaising capital for any startup in Nigeria is hard, and it is discouraging to invest in a business idea that is not easy for some entrepreneurs. Applying for secured personal loan or even a loan without collateral is not promising to anyone too. So, if you are looking for a business loan without collateral, you have to understand that getting a small business loan without collateral is certainly tough in today’s economy. That’s why you find a lot of searches on internet about â€Å"how to get loan withoutRead MoreEssay on The Pros and Cons of Globalization900 Words   |  4 Pagescom/hub/Definition-of-Globalization). Globalization can be both advantageous and detrimental to developing countries. Some of its advantages are increased external finance, improved technology and political conformism. Disadvantages of globalization include death of small and medium businesses, loss of cultural identity and the effect of foreign policies on domestic economic development. Let us take a closer look at these consequences of globalization. Increased external finance: Globalization implies that businessesRead MoreThe Effects of Petroleum Business on Nigeria1562 Words   |  7 PagesThe largest petroleum-producing nation in Africa is Nigeria. The petroleum company is the main contributing factor of the GDP in the West African nation, which is also the continents, most noticeable and populous reserves. Since Nigeria was under British control it has suffered socio-economic and political adversities for decades. Corrupt domestic militias and complicity of multinational corporations have rid the nation of its natural resources. The same corporations that are ridding the land andRead MoreEconomic Growth And Development Of Lagos And Nigeria958 Words   |  4 Pagesdevelopment. Clustering offers unique benefits and a common feature in majority of firms in Chinese provinces, most of the clusters in Lagos and Nigeria are at different growth stage in their life cycles.( Tambunan, 2005); Rauch et al, 2014) . Lagos state economy makes up a significant proportion of the Gross Domestic product(GDP) of Nigeria despite its small land size, other states with larger land size do not contribute as much as Lagos State and justifying porters location theory. The burgeoningRead MoreResearch on Elizade Nigeria Limited1686 Words   |  7 PagesAde Ojo was born on June 14, 1934 at Ilara-Mokin in Ondo State, South West of Nigeria. He studied Business Administration at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and graduated in June, 1965. He has worked with some multinational companies including C.F.A.O., the then British Petroleum (BP) now African Petroleum Plc. Today he is the proud owner of ELIZADE NIGERIA LIMITED with several subsidiaries including Toyota Nigeria Limited, Oodua Creations Limited, Crown and Gold Shipping Company Limited amongRead MoreRole Of Business In Nigeria795 Words   |  4 PagesEase of Doing Business in Nigeria initiative can only work when the three arms of government, the executive, the judiciary and legislature, work together to put up right business policies that will prepare Nigeria as investment destination. Elumelu, stated this in a key note address at the 2017 National Insurance Conference organised by the Insurance Industry Consultative Council ( IICC) in Abuja. Speaking on the theme, ‘Nigeria Open for Business’, Elumelu, said capitals for business go where theyRead MoreEconomics and Business Climate Overview of Lagos, Nigeria.1500 Words   |  6 PagesEconomics and Business Climate Overview of Lagos, Nigeria. 1.0 Background Information 1.1 Geopolitical Profile The smallest in area of Nigerias states (total land area of three thousand, five hundred and seventy seven square meters), Lagos State is the most populous state (with over eighteen million people according to 2006 population census) and unarguably the most economically important state of the country and the nations most urbanized (Economic Intelligence Unit, MEPB 2012). This large,Read MoreCultural Assessment : Western Africa Region772 Words   |  4 Pagesborder the Atlantic Ocean, with an exception of Burkina Faso. The countries are small in area compared to the other parts of Africa. Western Africa makes up the largest population cluster in sub-Saharan Africa. West African culture is based on cash crops for export in many of the trade areas along the coast. Many of the West Africans have large incomes due to the sale of their crops across all global markets. Nigeria is the largest country in West Africa having 59% of the population of the Sub-Saharan

Evolution Of Architecture Throughout The Centuries Essay

Evolution of Architecture Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of architecture throughout the centuries. By studying this evolution and change in mostly materials and techniques, but also designs, we can develop a better understanding of our own modern architecture and trace its roots back to the centuries before us. This paper will be taking a special look at the Roman, Medieval, Victorian and Modern time periods to give a good general view of how we’ve taken from previous designs and adapted. Reason for Paper The evolution of architecture is a very important element for anyone going into an engineering field, even for non-architectural fields as it better shows how other fields play into architectural design and techniques. By learning of the evolution of designs, materials and techniques we can trace our own roots back to these earlier structures and see how we’ve modified them a little or in some cases significantly to create a new design. Architectural evolution applies to my area of study very heavily as I’m majoring in architectural engineering technologies with intent to further go on to architecture itself. Roman Beginning with Roman techniques and materials; since they didn’t possess convenient marble quarries as the Greeks did, their reliance on the abundance of soft volcanic stones forced them to develop a mortared rubble construction. As early as the Second and even through the Third century Romans used bricks, both baked andShow MoreRelate d The History of Greek Architecture Essays1042 Words   |  5 PagesThe History of Greek Architecture The architecture of ancient Greece is represented by buildings in the sanctuaries and cities of mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, southern Italy and Sicily, and the Ionian coast of Turkey. Monumental Greek architecture began in the archaic period, flourished through the classical and Hellenistic periods, and saw the first of many revivals during the Roman Empire. The roots of Greek architecture lie in the tradition of local Bronze Age house andRead MoreDifferences Between Eastern And Western European Architectural Styles1223 Words   |  5 PagesGothic architecture is often characterized just by the visual aspects that define it; however, there is much deeper influence in the structure and form of the style. The term is sometimes used to define a time period, but some critics believe there is no true definition of the term gothic. The style has evolved from many different things throughout history, and its influence is still evident throughout buildings in Europe. Gothic architecture and different styles of architecture can commonly beRead More Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment Essay1272 Words   |  6 PagesNeoclassicism and the Enlightenment The Enlightenment was a time of great innovation and evolution. One of the most significant movements which owes at least the majority of its beginnings to the Enlightenment is the architectural and artistic movement of Neoclassicism. This Neoclassicism of the mid eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries is one that valued ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan artistic ideals. These ideals, including order, symmetry, and balance, were considered by manyRead MoreEssay Design and Architecture of Art Galleries1585 Words   |  7 Pagesreasons have the architecture and designs of art museums and galleries evolved since the mid-twentieth century? In exploring and understanding this subject, one must study the history and development of individual museums and galleries, observing the exterior architecture as well as the internal design, and the reasons behind any developments or renovations done to the buildings. In addition to this the location of the museum must be considered, to see if the surrounding architecture influencesRead MoreEssay Time Capsule1406 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Throughout time the humanities have evolved and proof of this evolution is seen in each of the different concepts that humanities cover. There are several time capsules that are rumored to contain pieces of some of the most influential art, music, architecture, philosophy, and literature in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. To find these capsules would be to travel back in time and hold in ones hands the true measure of what the humanities has accomplished during its evolution. Art Read MoreNational Identity- A Semse of a Nation as a Cohesive Whole Essay1273 Words   |  6 Pagesculture, and language1 The architecture of the Twentieth century has been shaped by powerful social, economic and political forces. This has stemmed from influence of war, diverse political regimes, national and international architectural movements and technological development. Along with this architects and ideas has been able to travel around the world more than ever before and from this designs have become apparent that sought to break with the past. Architecture that was once specific andRead MoreBaroque Vs. Baroque Era1495 Words   |  6 Pagesfor â€Å"wart†, Baroque came to be a generalized term for art, architecture, music, and sculpture from the 16th century to the early 18th century (Klindt-Jensen 2015). Not only was the â€Å"Baroque period† long lasting, but it was far reaching as well. From Holland to Spain, Germany to France, the Baroque style began in Rome and Italy around 1600 and quickly spread to most of Europe, eventually reaching colonial South America in the 18th Century (Fargis 1998). Similar to terms such as Gothic or MannerismRead MoreThe Role of Architecture in Art History1373 Words   |  5 PagesArchitecture has proven to be an important part of society and culture in both art history, and human history. Art is created to reflect the values of the society that creates it, and architecture is no different. Each piece of architecture can be identified by certain characteristics that makes it a part of a specific culture. Both the Great Stupa at Sanchi, located in central India, and the Parthenon, located in Greece, are examples of architecture that share similar characteristics, however canRead MoreHumanities Essay959 Words   |  4 Pagesrespectable age. During these periods it established a time of rebirth in humanisms and improvement of cultural accomplishments. The Renaissance period provided artistic freedom and individualism. It began around the 14th century in Italy and spread throughout Europe until the 16th century. Renaissance means â€Å"rebirth† and humanism of the renaissance artist was to express themselves after the medieval traditions in the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages art was arranged in periods and distinguish by style.Read MoreRoman Architecture And Its Impact On Society1550 Words   |  7 Pages Introduction Roman architecture is a thing of the past; however, it still has a large impact upon society today. Roman buildings are what our buildings were derived from, a lot of the art we think of when we see a building was once thought of by the romans, was once built by the romans, and some of these buildings are still standing today, not many, but a few. Now, roman architecture is significant because of how it affected the growth of our architecture, how it evolved changed how we

The Taming of the Shrew Essay Sample free essay sample

The address given by Katharina inThe Taming of the Shrewand that given by Kat in10 Thingss I Hate About You. are in many ways both similar and different. While the differences are largely on a superficial footing. they are of import in the manner the linguistic communication was used. The similarities. on the other manus. convey together what becomes the chief subject throughout both the book and the film. In the narrativeThe Taming of the Shrew. and the film10 Thingss I Hate About You. the character of Katharina is really similar. Because of her attitude and the manner she presents herself. she becomes the focal point of the narrative. When her sister wants to travel frontward in her life and happen person with which to pass it. the sisters’ male parent tells her she can non until Kat finds person to be with. This. nevertheless. seems like an impossible undertaking both to Bianca. Kat’s sister. and the suers interested in Bianca. Kat’s disposition. does non let room for anyone of the opposite sex and she has a less than ideal position of the society into which she was born. In the film and the book. Kat acts out against work forces in many ways. including crushing a music coach with his ain flute. in theShrew. and kicking a male in the genitalias in10 Thingss. There is besides a scene in the book in which Kat ties Bianca to a chair and begins slapping her when Bianca can non reply Kat’s enquiries about which of the suers she likes the best. And in10 ThingssKat takes an obvious delectation in cognizing that Bianca is non traveling to be able to day of the month until Kat decides she can. All this adds up to the position of Kat as an untamable adult female ; untamable by society and by work forces. Toward the terminal of the narrative. Kat gives a concluding soliloquy which tells much about the alterations she has gone through. Kat. who was antecedently a fierce adult female. invariably proclaiming her independency. alterations dramatically into a submissive married woman in the book. and decidedly looses her â€Å"femi-nazi† border in the film. Her concluding address gives the feeling that love is something that she has wanted all along. In theShrewshe says â€Å"Thy hubby is thy Godhead. thy life. thy keeper†¦ one that cares for thee†¦ to painful labour both by sea and land†¦ whilst thy liest warm at place. secure and safe ; and craves no other testimonial at thy custodies but love. just expressions. and true obedience-too small payment for so great a debt. † She implies that. a adult female. by merely making her â€Å"duty. † can neer fit what is offered by a hubby. This is a far call from the Katharina that we knew from before. Similarly in the film version. Kat. who had sworn off work forces. has much the same reaction when Patrick begins showing his love for her. At first she blows him off every bit merely another imbecile cat that she could neer hold anything in common with. but as she gets to cognize him. she easy begins to recognize that she is holding feelings for him. By the terminal of the film. she is so in love with Patrick that she turns into a driveling muss in forepart of her category while declaiming a verse form about him. This arrant reversal of the cold. impenetrable Kat to an emotional. insecure one leaves small uncertainty that many of the old attitudes she one time held are no longer. Not all people would hold nevertheless. thatShrewand10 Thingsshave the same kind of stoping ; one in which noncompliant Kat becomes submissive and obedient. In theShrewthere is no uncertainty that Katharine becomes the obedient married woman that was longed after by the work forces. With words such as. â€Å"I am ashamed that adult females are so [ foolish ] . to offer war where they should kneel for peace. † it is obvious that she has wholly changed her mentality on things. Contrasted to this. in10 Thingss.although Kat makes a supplication that could be considered a entry to Patrick. upon farther consideration. this may non be the instance. Although on the surface it seems that she is a wholly different individual. the words she uses in her soliloquy are much different than those used by Katharine inThe Shrew. In Kat’s version. most of what she is making is squealing her love for Patrick. It would take a misanthropic head to see a confession of love as a entry to someo ne’s will. Possibly that is all Kat was making ; stating Patrick that she loves him. This demand non be viewed as a failing. merely the admittance of one’s feelings. Art allows the opportunity for people to construe it otherwise. This is the instance with all art. including these two illustrations. It is easy for one to state they view the book and the film similar. On the other manus they can see them otherwise every bit good. There have been critics that argue Katharine and her hubby merely pretended that she was obedient to gull the others out of their money. And it is easy to see why people may see Kat’s admittance of love as submissive. given her past history. But as people change. no 1 except those involved can cognize for certain the motive behind their actions. These two plants provide an illustration of the different readings one can acquire from sing a film or reading a narrative. No one reading is any more right than another and although the addresss appear similar to one individual. it does non intend they will look the same manner to another.

Nemean Stadium Essays - Panhellenic Games, Corinthia, Nemea

Nemean Stadium Based on Legend, approximately around 776 BCE, Koroibos crossed the finish line at the altar of Zeus and was crowned the first winner in Olympic history. Thus was the beginning of the ancient phenomenon of the Olympic Games. A time where all war would come to a pause as men would test their valor against fellow man in peaceful physical competition. This competition was partaken in stadiums at select locations. These men were considered elite athletes and representative of many men. This made the games important in more ways than competition. They were also political, social and a major source of pride within ancient Greece. But these Olympic games only came around every four years, so others followed. Along with the Olympic games three others joined forming the Panhellenic athletic festivals. They were the Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean games. The sites for these games grew in extravagance as well as popularity over time and in turn the stadiums the games were to be held in also grew in extravagance. The stadium at Nemea was particularly one of extravagance and prestige. The University of California at Berkley has done a great deal for the Nemean site in the past 25 years. They have uncovered a stadium dated circa 330 BCE along with a tunnel, which is said to have been an athlete entrance to the stadium. Extensive study of the Nemean stadium and tunnel has been done and the site is well documented. The impacts of such a great archaeological find is wonderful and has inspired many to even reenact the infamous Nemean Games. Through basic review of fact and study the following will briefly detail the findings of the stadium at Nemea and its tunnel. The site at Nemea had many visitors, known to have started as early as 1766, excavating parts mostly in search of treasures from the Sanctuary of Zeus. The earliest mention of the stadium was from Colonel William Leake, approximately during the 18th century, from where he located the stadium. Unfortunately no real excavation was done until 1973 when the University of Berkley began a large scale dig under the advisory of the American School of Classical Studies, Athens and the guidance of Stephen G Miller. The investigation began an extensive yearly excavation from 1974- 1983 and since then many smaller projects have steadily occurred. The success of the project is obvious, as there have been many improvements to Nemea since the study has begun. Firstly, the erection of a museum was done to display the many objects found throughout the excavation of ancient Nemea. Also beautiful archaeological parks have been created at the Sanctuary of Zeus as well as reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus itself. And maybe the greatest reconstruction of all, there was a reenactment of the ancient Nemean Games in 1994 to mark the opening of the stadium as an archaeological park. The games have continued every two years since and are in fact to be held June 3-4, 2000. The stadium itself, uniquely constructed by excavation of southern land while using the materials from the south end to fill in the north end thus leveling the field. The basic estimate for construction is 330 BCE and it was believed to be in use for the Games until 271 BCE where after the Romans were known to use it as grazing land. The stadium can be broken down into a few basic parts for descriptive purposes. These are the Dromos (running surface), the seating of the stadium, the Apodyterion (Locker Room), and the Krypte Esodos (tunnel). Each part with its own components and intricacies coming together to build one of the ancient worlds great festival sites. The running surface, or Dromos, of the stadium was formed in yellow clay. Prior to the event the clay was dug and rolled out to form a hard crust on the soft bed of clay. The track was 600 feet in distance marked by stone every 100 feet. A stone channel rounded the course bearing water to athletes and spectators. The starting line, or Balbis, was a series of stone with grooves carved in for standard starting position. This position was that of one foot before the other with

US Federal Budget Process - The Spending Bills

US Federal Budget Process - The Spending Bills House and Senate Work Out Differences in Conference CommitteeSince the spending bills are once again being debated and amended separately, House and Senate versions will have to go through the same conference committee process as the Budget Resolution. The conferees have to agree on one version of each bill capable of passing in both the House and Senate by a majority vote. Full House and Senate Consider Conference ReportsOnce the conference committees have forwarded their reports to the full House and Senate, they must be approved by a majority vote. The Budget Act stipulates that the House should have given final approval to all of the spending bills by June 30. President May Sign or Veto Any or All of the Appropriations BillsAs spelled out in the Constitution, the President has ten days in which to decide: (1) to sign the bill, thereby making it law; (2) to veto the bill, thereby sending it back to Congress and requiring much of the process to begin again with respect the programs covered by that bill; or (3) to allow the bill to become law without his signature, thereby making it law but doing so without his express approval. The Government Begins its New Fiscal YearIf and when the process goes as planned, all the spending bills have been signed by the president and have become public laws by October 1, the start of the new Fiscal Year. Since the federal budget process rarely runs on schedule anymore, Congress will usually be required to pass one or more â€Å"Continuing Resolutions† authorizing the various government agencies to continue operating temporarily at existing funding levels. The alternative, a government shutdown, is not a desirable option.

Free Essays on 10 Commadments

I- Thou Shalt Nap And God gave unto Student a great gift, the gift of napping. God said to him, You shall spend half your day napping. You shall nap in class, in your room and in your friend’s room. And God said, if you don’t nap, you will not be able to stay up all night drinking. And Student said, Nap I shall, and it was good. II- Thou Shalt Get Sick All the Time Now God said to Student, you must be sick all of the time. And student said why. And God said unto him, you shall share drinks, stay up too late, drink too much and make out with people you don’t know. Therefore, God said, you shall be sick all year round. But God said, blessed are the sick for they have partied the hardest. And it was good. III- Thou Shalt Write Witty Away Messages Student asked, but God, how will I show everyone that I am funny? And God said unto him, thou shall write witty away messages. God said to student, you shall never just say you are in the shower, you shall say you are getting wet and wild†¦in the shower. You shall never say you are at class, you shall say you are sleeping†¦in class. God said, if you do not write witty away messages, I shall smite you. Blessed are the funny, for they will get many girls to be their friends but never hook up with them. And it was good. IV- Thou Shalt Wear a Hoodie And then Student asked God, God how do I look like a college kid. And God said unto student, you must wear a hoodie, for it is a useful garment. And you shall never wash it either. Student asked God what kind of Hoodie should it be and God said, you shall own one with your school’s logo on it and you shall own many others of varying colors and creeds. And Student was pleased and God was pleased. V- Thou Shalt Shit a Lot And Student asked of his bathroom habit and God told him, Student, you shall eat in the Cafeteria and you shall shit a lot. And it will not be good shit, it will be the shit of the devil for your ass shall burn ... Free Essays on 10 Commadments Free Essays on 10 Commadments I- Thou Shalt Nap And God gave unto Student a great gift, the gift of napping. God said to him, You shall spend half your day napping. You shall nap in class, in your room and in your friend’s room. And God said, if you don’t nap, you will not be able to stay up all night drinking. And Student said, Nap I shall, and it was good. II- Thou Shalt Get Sick All the Time Now God said to Student, you must be sick all of the time. And student said why. And God said unto him, you shall share drinks, stay up too late, drink too much and make out with people you don’t know. Therefore, God said, you shall be sick all year round. But God said, blessed are the sick for they have partied the hardest. And it was good. III- Thou Shalt Write Witty Away Messages Student asked, but God, how will I show everyone that I am funny? And God said unto him, thou shall write witty away messages. God said to student, you shall never just say you are in the shower, you shall say you are getting wet and wild†¦in the shower. You shall never say you are at class, you shall say you are sleeping†¦in class. God said, if you do not write witty away messages, I shall smite you. Blessed are the funny, for they will get many girls to be their friends but never hook up with them. And it was good. IV- Thou Shalt Wear a Hoodie And then Student asked God, God how do I look like a college kid. And God said unto student, you must wear a hoodie, for it is a useful garment. And you shall never wash it either. Student asked God what kind of Hoodie should it be and God said, you shall own one with your school’s logo on it and you shall own many others of varying colors and creeds. And Student was pleased and God was pleased. V- Thou Shalt Shit a Lot And Student asked of his bathroom habit and God told him, Student, you shall eat in the Cafeteria and you shall shit a lot. And it will not be good shit, it will be the shit of the devil for your ass shall burn ...

Ethics and Issues Of International Football Term Paper

Ethics and Issues Of International Football - Term Paper Example There is an enormity of researches and theoretical work written on the subject of ethics.   Accordingly, depending on the writer, schools of ethical thought differ from each other.   Some aver that there are two (2) schools of thought for ethics and others say that there are three (3) schools of thought.   Still, other references have more schools of thought that one can imagine.   According to De Foe, there are three (3) main schools of thought as detailed below The people's good is the highest law. The aim of deontological ethics is to find the most moral behavior and to make that a law or a set of rules for others to follow. The use of deontological ethics is extensive in our world, observed most as laws, rules, and ethical codes. Theories of deontological ethics might suggest that it would be possible to create a complete and comprehensive law that would prevent all negative behavior for all people who follow that law. That which  is evil to one at one time becomes good at another time to someone else. The consequential might state that  in most circumstances  it is wrong to push another human being or to shoot another human being. However, if someone is about to walk in front of a speeding car then through consequence it becomes ethical to push that person out of the path of getting hit. Likewise, if a person is about to detonate explosives inside a building it becomes ethical to shoot them according to consequentialism. This seems to suggest that how ethical the action becomes irrelevant†¦ the results of the action in preventing harm and promoting the most happiness for the most number of people becomes the single benchmark for ethical behavior. I must find a truth that is true for me †¦ the idea for which I can live or die. Moral individualism suggests that a person cannot know what it is to be moral without first discovering what it is within themselves that determines certain behavior be linked to moral or immoral acts. Likewise, he or she must also give others the freedom to undergo this process within them to find their own moral center.   

European Parliament Elections 2014 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Parliament Elections 2014 - Coursework Example The elections involve various parties that included the European People’s Party, Party of European Socialists, Alliance of liberals and Democrats of Europe, the party of the European Left and the party of European Alliance for Freedom among others.  Ã‚   For fairness and equity of distribution of members and the authority span in the union, countries involved all participated in the election of the President to the committee that led and provides oversight mandate to the countries. These have developed to shape politics in the management of affairs of the European Union. Therefore, they provide a control aspect that makes the union stronger and much active economically. As part of the EU integration principles, the elections provide ground for improvement and evaluation of progress to the European Union. Through the formation and the parliament formed, it is much easier to understand and tackle the challenges that face the European Union block and relate to the policy matters of the European Union. These aspects have a picture drawn in the body of the material. For years, the elections of the members of the European Union parliament have remained centred and held during June as for the previous elections. In 2014, the elections were held in May as a gesture to create more time for the election of the president of the European Commission, which would have coincided if not brought backwards. The fact that the Pentecost weekend was to take place at the same time also provide an influence on the changes that came to occur. One of the major roles that the European Union has to play as of current is stabilizing the economy of the member states of the European Union. Since the great recession that started as of June 2009, the whole world has suffered massively due to the economic crisis that has affected many economies (Maier, 2011, p.208). Through these recessionary activities, economies like that of Greece, Cyprus Spain, Portugal and Cyprus massively affected leading to a difficult time in the European Union.   From this time, the effect of the recession hit even into the EU leadership aspects.  Ã‚  

Open and Closed Source and What It Means Essay Example for Free

Open and Closed Source and What It Means Essay Open-Source means it is free. No one owns it, so there is no source code, no key code, and no licensing to purchase. When Linus Torvalds created Linux, he determined that the more people or, the more minds delving into the software can make the system more creative, more improved, and the possibilities are endless. Thus, he gave Linux to the world as a free open-source operating system (Damicon; Linking The Left Brain And The Right Brain: Open Vs. Closed Source, 2003-2009). Open-Source is defined by the code or source code is accessible to person or persons who essentially use it or in IT definition: end-user. The user can revise and refashion or change it, as long as he or she adhere to the standards in the associated license (Damicon; Linking The Left Brain And The Right Brain: Open Vs. Closed Source, 2003-2009). How Open Source is different from Closed Source Closed-Source is owned by someone, or some company, and cost money. The buyer has to pay for the right to use the program, but the buyer does not own it. In the case of Microsoft Windows companies have to purchase licensing rights can purchase keys codes in volume, and individuals pay for their key codes, or rights to use the software or program (Damicon; Linking The Left Brain And The Right Brain: Open Vs. Closed Source, 2003-2009). Closed Source is also defined in that the code or source code is retained and maintained by the designer or developer, and they are the only ones that can make changes to it, analyze it, or scrutinize it (Damicon; Linking The Left Brain And The Right Brain: Open Vs. Closed Source, 2003-2009). Linux Linux is an open-source version of the UNIX operating system. It has been said According to What Is Linux And Why Is It So Popular? (1998-2013), it is as â€Å"much a phenomenon as it is an operating system† (para. 4). The original version or first version of UNIX was created some decades ago and was used mostly as a research operating system in universities. Dynamic desktop workstations from other companies flourished in the 1980s, and were all created from UNIX. Because many companies were trying to compete with each other each of them had, their own version of UNIX and software sales was very problematic. The Linux kernel created by Linus Torvalds, invited help or innovation ideas from others, but the prerequisite was that they had to contribute free. Windows Windows is a computer operating system with a GUI or graphical user interface. It is a personal computer operating system, or PC OS created by Microsoft. The first version in 1985 was presented to residential and commercial PC users the GUI that was created at an experimental lab at Xerox, as well as Apple’s Lisa and Macintosh (Mac) computers. Microsoft’s Word and excel became the customary for users throughout the world in homes and businesses. OS X OS X is also known as Mac OS X, or Mac OS 10 is the present version of the operating system used on Apple Macintosh computers. It is a user-friendly OS. Previous versions based on the original Mac OS were released in 1984. In the late 1990’s Window’s started to make Mac OS and Apple’s OS appear to be outdated, and so Apple overhauled Mac OS and generated a new OS from the ground up. Since a lot of the code was composed from scratch, a great deal of it was taken from NEXTSTEP OS. NEXTSTEP was a Unix-based system running on NeXT computers, which are no longer manufactured. Apple purchased NeXT in 1997 and Steve Jobs was hired as interim CEO. Apple then took the Unix-based code from NEXTSTEP and combined it with the GUI of Mac OS 9. It became an unwavering, high-performance OS that was as stable as UNIX and the intuitive interface of the Mac. Mac OS X 10. 0 was released in 2001. General Licensing Models (GPL) Gnu Public License, Microsoft Licensing Most software licenses are intended to not allow the user to share and change it. However, the GNU or General Public License is designed to allow users to share, copy, and change free software, or to confirm the software is free to all users. Software that safeguards these privileges are kept is called free software. The license was originally written by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation or (FSF) for the GNU project. According to Gnu General Public License, Version 3 29 June 2007 (2007), â€Å"The GNU General Public license is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works† (para. 1). Copyleft means a technique for creating a program whereby it is free; forcing any altered and expanded versions of said program to be free also. A software company provides a software license to a consumer who then provides their permission for the consumer to use their software packet or package. Typically, it comes with many restrictions, and only allows the user one copy per license. It cannot be copied or distributed in anyway. Such is the case for Microsoft. Microsoft also has volume licensing in that a corporation can purchase as many licenses, or also referred to as key codes, as they might need depending on the size of the business. When Microsoft came up with volume licensing it allowed businesses to save costs by not having to purchase the boxed software. The cost is only for the license number or key code. It can also give tailored buying choices and better software administration.

Essay on Games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- Sir Gawain Green

Games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight   Ã‚  Ã‚   Many games are involved in the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight, Bercilak de Hautdesert, plays a "Christmas game" with Arthur's court at Camelot (line 283); Gawain's host's wife plays games with Gawain throughout the third section of the poem; Gawain's sees his arrangement of mutual trade with his host as a game (line 1380); and all of the events of the story are revealed as a game of Arthur's sister, Morgan Le Fay (lines 2456-2466). Throughout the telling of the story, the author plays a mental game with the reader or listener, as well.    The "Christmas game" that the Green Knight comes to play with Arthur's court at the instigation of Morgan Le Fay provides the structure with which the plot of the entire story is held together. At first, the court believes that the knight has come for "contest bare" (line 277); when he reveals his intent to exchange one blow for another, it seems that it would be an easy contest for an opponent to win, since no one expects the knight to survive having his head removed with his own axe. However, the knight picks up his severed head and leaves, revealing the seriousness of Gawain's promise to accept a return blow, Arthur downplays the importance of this promise, saying, "Now, sir, hang up your axe," and returning to the feast. (line 477) Arthur also downplays the importance of the contest before Gawain deals his blow to the knight, prophesying Gawain's eventual success:    Keep, cousin, said the king, what you cut with this day And if you rule it aright, then readily, I know, You shall stand the stroke it will strike after. (lines 371-374)    Although neither the reader nor Gawain is aware o... ...h century or today, is human and subject to failings, as well. Gawain learned his lesson from the Green Knight and communicated it to Arthur's court. I believe that the author hopes that his audience will take the message to heart, as well.    Works Cited: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993.    Works Consulted: Bennett, Michael J.   "The Historical Background" in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet, pp. 71-90.   Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson, editors.   Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997. Putter, Ad.   An Introduction to the Gawain-poet.   New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1996. Riddy, Felicity.   "Jewels in Pearl" in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet, pp. 142-55.   Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson, editors.   Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997.

Challenges in Hrm

Studies in C ontinuing Education, V ol. 23, N o. 1, 2001 Challenges in Human Resource Development Practitioner Preparation ROBYN JOHNSTON University of Technology, Sydney This article describes some of the challenges that confront designers of programs which prepare or upskill Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners. It surfaces varying perspectives of human resource development and some of the issues that confront organisations in the post-industrial economy which have implications for HRD practice.It also surfaces some tensions and areas of convergence that can be seen in recent studies which have investigated the role of HRD practitioners. The  ® nal section recommends some substantive areas that should be addressed within HRD preparation programs which are designed to equip learners for practice in the current organisational context. ABSTRACT Introduction Organisational learning and skill formation initiatives are increasingly being seen as contributing to the achievemen t of organisational competitiveness in the contemporary economy.As a result, the development of employees has become a more prominent organisational practice. Since Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners are primarily responsible for employee development there is a need for them to become more highly skilled to ensure that their practice meets the changing needs of organisations. Formal educational programs in the practice of HRD provide a way of assisting practitioners to acquire the skills they now need for effective practice.The design of such programs, however, is problematic given the emergent and cross-disciplinary nature of the  ® eld. This paper surfaces some of the challenges associated with program design for the development of HRD practitioners, drawing from discussions in, and pro ® ling research from, the HRD literature. The  ® nal section of the paper proposes several key areas that need to be addressed in preparatory programs for HRD practitioners.Some D e ® nitions In focusing on the development challenges for such an occupational group, this paper is using ? Human Resource Developer? as an umbrella term to encompass those practitioners whose work within organisations is concerned primarily with improving performance through fostering learning in individuals, groups or the organisation more collectively. Whilst the diversity of practice in the  ® eld is acknowlISSN 0158-037X print; 1470-126X online/01/010037-17 O DOI: 10. 1080/01580370120043231 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd 38 R. Johnston dged, for the purposes of this paper those working in organisations with positional labels including enterprise trainer, training of ® cer, trainer and developer, learning strategist or consultant, performance developer, organisational developer and staff development of ® cer are being collapsed into one occupational category. All of these labels have been or are being used in organisations and in the literature to designate those whose primar y work is to improve performance in organisational settings through fostering learning (Mulder, 1992).The paper also uses the term Human Resource Development as an umbrella term to describe the work of such practitioners. It therefore considers HRD practice as encompassing orthodox forms of training as well as other forms of employee or organisational development. Challenge 1: what is driving HRD practice? A major challenge confronting designers of programs for HRD practitioners is determining what is driving HRD in organisational settings.Certainly those writing about the  ® eld in both journals and HRD methodology texts provide a number of competing perspectives about this question (Kuchinke, 1998; Barrie & Pace, 1997; Garavan et al. , 1995; Chalofsky, 1992; Watkins, 1989). A brief summary of some of the differing perspectives follows. HRD is Primarily About Meeting Business Needs Through Learning There is a body of literature that argues that HRD is  ® rst and foremost about improving performance through learning-based strategies for the purpose of achieving business goals.This perspective, underpinned by human capital and strategic human resource theories, claims that the real value of HRD practice should be measured in terms of its contribution to organisations as opposed to the value of learning for the individual (Kuchinke, 1998; Stace & Dunphy, 1996; Torroco & Swanson, 1995). It emphasises that HRD activity should provide measurable value-added outcomes that are aligned to the mission, strategic goals and business planning processes of organisations.It also argues that HRD practice is proactive and therefore about anticipating imminent business needs and shaping the organisation’s future through contingency plans that  ® rms can deploy when situations warrant (Kuchinke, 1998; Martocchio & Baldwin, 1997; Garavan et al. , 1995). Such a future orientation means that HRD practice should be about improving the ? exibility and adaptability of wo rkforces and business units and therefore should work in close association with other organisational or business systems, and sometimes customers or suppliers, to help achieve business goals.A business-oriented perspective of HRD would suggest that HRD preparation programs should foreground learning activities that increase learners’ understandings of the functioning and direction of their organisations and the pressures these organisations face. Such programs should build learners’ capacities to diagnose immediate and future organisational skill level needs. They should also provide learners with an understanding of a range of strategies for achieving and communi- Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation 39 cating measurable and transparent outcomes in terms of performance improvements that are valued by organisations.HRD is About Fostering Individual Employee Growth and Development Through Learning A competing perspective of HRD is that it is primarily about helpin g individuals working in organisations learn and grow. Although there is debate between those arguing that development practice should be driven by an instrumental competencebased approach and those arguing for a more holistic humanistic approach to employee development, advocates from both camps posit that the major concern of HRD is that of helping individuals and groups learn through formal training or some other planned strategy (Barrie & Pace, 1997;Watkins, 1989). As a consequence, the organisation will bene ® t, but this is secondary, as the main concern is always for the people engaged in the learning. This perspective of HRD argues that learning is the mechanism for empowering individuals by equipping them with skills and knowledge required for technological and occupational change. If practice is driven by a humanistic orientation, it often involves learners planning their own development.It also attempts to enhance the capacity of individuals for critical re? ectivity by recognising that individual identity and growth are integral to learning. On the other hand, when skill formation and learning is driven by a more instrumental approach and based on industry- or enterprise-based competency standards, orthodox training classes and on-the-job coaching and assessment of competencies are common.This emphasis on the need for individual employee growth through learning is sustained by recent organisational literature, which argues that individuals should take greater responsibility for their own ongoing development and career management. Such literature suggests that individuals can no longer expect their employers to take sole responsibility for ensuring employee career development given that contemporary employment is often project based and therefore less permanent.In this scenario, individuals need to make opportunities for their own growth and development and hence should seek individual learning and growth opportunities from HRD activities (Arnold, 1997; Wilson & Barnacoat, 1995; Handy, 1995). This perspective of HRD would suggest preparation programs for HRD practitioners should provide learners with sound understandings of the principles of adult development and learning and with capacities to design development approaches which enhance individual learning and development.HRD is About Fostering the Development of a Learning Organisation This third perspective is found in both management and HRD literature, and is frequently associated with high-performance organisations that are utilising new working practices including the application of more sophisticated production technology, more participative approaches to decision making, team-working structures and more ? exible use of labour. It is also a perspective of HRD practice often found in organisations undergoing signi ® cant structural or cultural change (Marquard & 40 R. JohnstonSofo, 1999; Barrie & Pace, 1997; Field & Ford, 1996; Watkins & Marsick, 1992; Jones & Hendr y, 1992). Such organisations frequently identify themselves as learning organisations or at least indicate that they are aspiring to become learning organisations. De ® nitions and descriptions of learning organisations vary. Most de ® nitions, however, suggest that such organisations have characteristics which include the capacities to collect, store and transfer knowledge which enable them to continuously transform themselves and so attain high levels of performance and competitive positioning.These de ® nitions and descriptions also suggest that learning organisations empower employees to learn as they work both individually and collectively, to utilise technology for more productive outcomes, to strive for continuous improvement, and to critically question processes and work practices and their underpinning assumptions (Denton, 1998; Garavan, 1997; Coopey, 1996; Field & Ford, 1996). Thus, this perspective of HRD advocates that a prime dimension of HRD practice should be th e promotion of a form of collective learning that allows organisations to transform themselves.The focus of the learning organisation approach therefore is on the work team, the business unit and the wider organisation rather than the individual, although individual skill development is still recognised as important. In organisations adopting this perspective the HRD practitioner often works as an internal consultant. This role requires the HRD practitioner to advise teams and business units on problems, assist with the management of change and foster continuous improvement processes and attitudes.There is less emphasis in such organisations on formal training in technical and procedural skills and more on development of behavioural skills and learning though collaborative experiences which occur in the workplace and through work roles. Team building and facilitating change through action learning are common practices for such HRD practitioners (Argyris, 1994). This perspective of H RD also acknowledges that the learning that determines organisational achievement is often tacit or attained informally. Hence, HRD practice involves stimulating questioning about current work processes and creating opportunities for critical re? ction on both explicit and tacit knowledge used as part of work. It may also involve working with managers or supervisors to establish more open workplace climates which can provide for participative decision-making opportunities for employees and which recognise the contribution that difference and diversity can make to workplace outcomes. Programs seeking to develop practitioners with this perspective of HRD should provide learners with enhanced capacities to understand the directions and the dynamics of their organisations, including the work of the various subsystems within their organisations.Such programs should develop in learners an understanding of how to network with and in? uence those working in organisational functions other th an HRD in order to collaboratively achieve the sought-after collective learning. Such learners need to acquire skills in promoting individual and organisational change. This may require developing skills in using traditional upskilling approaches but may also involve HRD practitioners acquiring skills in the design and implementation of less orthodox development strategies to assist individuals and groups Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation 41 ollectively to develop new frameworks for understanding their roles, responsibilities and relationships in organisations. HRD? a questionable area of work specialisation A more radical perspective, occasionally found in both popular management journals and some more academic critiques of training and human resources, questions the contribution and position of HRD as a separate organisational function or as a specialist role. Arguments used to advance this position are that, in the downsized, team-based learning organisations of today, s eparate HR/HRD specialists are unnecessary for organisations; that all anagers and supervisors should be the trainers and developers and stewards of their staff; that all employees have a responsibility for their own career development; and that developments in technology such as ? just in time? on-line services, computer-based training packages, ? exible and self-paced learning packages, and computerised HR management systems allow learning to occur anywhere, any time without a trainer or HRD specialist needing to be present (Ulrich et al. , 1997; Goldrick, 1996).Stewart (1996) further illustrates this line of argument, positing that since human resource (HR) practice does not increase competitive business advantage, all HR services, including training, can either be abolished, outsourced or absorbed into the normal roles of supervisors, team leaders and managers. The future for HRD specialist practitioners according to this approach would be as specialist consultants or contract t rainers working for a number of client organisations. The emerging body of literature about learning in small enterprises could also be seen as challenging the need for specialist HRD positions in organisations.Several recent studies examining learning in small business have shown that there is considerable learning through development-related experiences occurring in small enterprises, despite the fact that most lack an HRD function or HRD specialists (Harris & Simons, 1999; Field, 1997; Rowden, 1995; Hendry et al. , 1995). In many small enterprises development occurs because an employee needs to know or be able to do something in order to be useful in the organisation. This pervasive form of human resource development is usually provided by a more experienced co-worker or manager or supervisor and informed by a pragmatic common-sense logic.The reported success of such an approach to HRD for small enterprises could be seen as raising questions about the value of specialist HRD skil ls preparation. Some post-modernist writers also critically question the value and the traditional contribution of the specialist HRD practitioner in the development of individuals or organisations. Such critics seek to interrogate many of the cherished truths trainers hold. For example, they question the idea that competence can be clearly de ® ned and that the values of the workers match those of the organisation.Furthermore, they deny that there is a single best practice and are highly critical of training and development activities which inculcate compliance to organisational rather than individual needs (Garrick & Solomon, 1997; Garrick, 1994). While there is some overlap between the competing perspectives presented above, 42 R. Johnston each perspective could be seen as suggesting a need for a different emphasis or focus for attention in designing programs which prepare HRD practitioners. Alternatively, the existence of these perspectives could be seen as suggesting the need for inclusion of each perspective within such programs.Challenge 2: the changing nature of workplaces Further challenges also exist for designers of any programs preparing individuals for new vocational roles when the sites of such vocational practice are subject to signi ® cant change. Such change can render what has previously been seen as essential working knowledge less valuable, and can create an imperative for new knowledge and practice. As a result, it could be argued that any practitioner preparation only achieves relevance if it addresses at least elements of the changing context of work and occupations.The literature addressing the changing nature of organisations contains a number of interrelated themes that have signi ® cant implications for the role of HRD practitioners and their practice. The following section brie? y considers three frequently occurring themes. Organisational Change Responses for Achieving More Competitive Positioning Recent organisational litera ture has examined the structural and cultural changes made by organisations in response to the more competitive global economy. Some common responses to this environment have included: the move to leaner, more ? xible, less hierarchical, more team-based organisational structures which allow more rapid response to the changing economic environment; the establishment of more dynamic, competitive and participative organisational cultures requiring individuals to be more accountable for their own performance, and the use of more powerful information, management and production technologies (Handy, 1995; Senge, 1990; Kanter, 1989). These responses have contributed to the use of more ? exible employment practices within industries and enterprises that are reducing the opportunities for some individuals to secure permanent employment.Flexibility in employment practice has also produced new conceptualisations of both careers and work itself and has required new understandings of the processe s of career planning and development (Arnold, 1997; Handy, 1995; Hilltrop, 1995; Bridges et al. , 1994; Lawler, 1994; Ostermann, 1988). While there is vigorous debate about the nature and effects of such change there is little questioning that these changes have occurred (Casey, 1999; Tessaring, 1998; Rifkin, 1995; Handy, 1995). In such a changing environment the HRD practitioner faces a number of new challenges.Firstly, they may  ® nd themselves responsible for upskilling employees for new roles which require new mindsets about the way work is to be carried out on the part of employees. The HRD practitioner may therefore be involved in motivating learners to accept new organisational roles and structures and imposed organisational cultures at a time when long-established reward and recognition systems are eroding. Secondly, as time frames for achieving desired organisational outcomes are Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation 43 educed, HRD practitioners can no longer rely on using HRD strategies that are reliant on well-established calendars of development events which can be implemented over a long time period. Thirdly, HRD practitioners themselves in this context of change and accountability are increasingly being required to demonstrate their own contribution to the achievement of measurable and valued outcomes for the organisation. These are only three changes that place new demands on the HRD practitioners and require them to have new forms of working knowledge.Formal HRD practitioner preparation must therefore be designed to equip these practitioners with capacity to both anticipate change in the global economic environment and assist with the shaping of their organisations’ response. In so doing, HRD practitioners will no longer be able to rely on traditional models for answers and time frames for action. This presents the challenge of how HRD learners can be prepared so that they are more responsive to the changing context of the environ ment of their organisation and in Rhinesmith’ s (1995, p. 7) words, help them to ? reframe boundaries? and ? develop new mindsets? about practice. Core Organisational Competencies for the Information Age Discussions about the core competencies which organisations need for survival in the post-industrial economy are also prominent in contemporary organisational literature. These discussions frequently emphasise the need for organisations to develop knowledge generation and knowledge management competencies.They also advocate that employees from all levels and from most occupational  ® elds need to see themselves as knowledge workers who require enhanced formal and abstract skill sets (Casey, 1999; Ulrich, 1998; Denton, 1988; Rifkin, 1995). Additionally, managerial and learning competencies are seen as essential core organisational competencies for achieving competitive positioning in the contemporary business environment (Stuller, 1998; Ulrich et al. , 1997; Dunphy et al. , 1997; Boxall, 1996; Prahalad & Hamel, 1990; Leonard-Barton, 1992). Dunphy et al. 1997), argue that an organisation’ s capacity to create and embed learning around the strategic tasks is critical for its long-term performance. To achieve this, they claim organisations (and their employees) require engagement competencies (communication, motivating and enthusing, commitment formation, integration, path  ® nding and enaction), business technology competencies (the business-speci ® c technology through which the organisation creates and delivers value) and performance management competencies (1997, p. 232). Dunphy et al. see the task of embedding such competence as resting with managers.It could also be argued that this task is also a responsibility of the HRD practitioner. This therefore requires the HRD practitioner to have an understanding of these core competencies, the skills to develop the needed competencies in others as well as the skills to ensure that the competenci es are practised by employees. The requirement for new skill sets or competencies once again places pressures on HRD practitioners. One pressure is that they must learn to rede ® ne their own roles 44 R. Johnston as part of the knowledge generation/knowledge management process of an organisation.Some evidence of the value of such reframing of the HRD practitioner role to include knowledge management is already emerging in the US literature (Stuller, 1998). Secondly, HRD practitioners need to assist their trainees to see the value of acquiring and using more abstract skills and knowledge. Thirdly, the call for new forms of managerial competence suggests the need for HRD practitioners to increasingly understand the broad range of attributes and skills comprising successful organisational management and once again to design strategies which both develop such skills amongst managers and facilitate their use.Workplaces and Work Roles as Sites and Sources of Signi ® cant Learning A fu rther theme in the organisational change literature of immediate relevance to designers of preparatory HRD practitioner programs is that which advocates the importance of learning for competitive workplaces. No longer is organisationally useful learning being seen as solely that which is delivered in workplace training rooms. It is increasingly being seen as occurring when employees share knowledge gained through collaborative work experiences, or from discussions with competitors, or gained from ? n line? sources or other electronic data repositories (Marquard & Sofo, 1999; Davernport, De Long & Beers, 1998; Denton, 1998; Rowden, 1995). In some organisations the introduction of performance management systems has further reinforced the notion that the development process takes place within the workplace and the work role. As a result, in many organisations the HRD practitioner is a consultant or coach working directly with individual employees and managers to develop the performance necessary to achieve the strategic goals of the organisation (Marquard & Sofo, 1999).An increased recognition of a need for more effective communication, problem solving, team building and con? ict resolution skills on the part of employees has also been part of the discussion associated with the importance of workplace learning. Newer work behaviours being sought are often based on making more explicit employees’ tacit knowledge about how the organisation operates and a range of interpersonal attributes. Smith and Hayton (1999) suggest that development activities to build these forms of work behaviour are particularly evident within organisations that have ntroduced quality improvement processes and new forms of work organisation. Each of the above themes has implications for the work of the HRD practitioner and in turn for the design of preparation programs for such practitioners. These themes suggest the scaling back of traditional bureaucratic organisational structures a nd the emergence of new forms of employment in which employees play differing roles and complete different work. The themes imply the need to equip employees with a broader range of skills and changed mindsets about the nature of work.Similarly, HRD practitioners require understanding of the newer skills required in organisations and the differing delivery formats which may be more appropriate for the new forms of work. Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation Challenge 3: diverse  ® ndings in pro ® ling studies 45 The previous sections have drawn on those ideas from the HRD, organisation and management literature that have implications for the design of preparation programs for HRD practitioners.This section considers the challenges that arise from the somewhat diverse  ® ndings from recent studies examining the role of HRD practitioners. One of the largest pro ® ling studies of this  ® eld of practice was completed by the American Society for Training and Development ( ASTD) in 1996. From a survey of the membership of this society this study identi ® ed the range of professional competencies that practitioners saw as necessary to meet the demands of a changing society and their changing workplaces.The critical roles that respondents in this study nominated included: providing performance support services (which required competencies in all interventions not just training); using technology for delivery support interventions(which required competencies in technology planning and implementation); managing human performance systems (requiring an ability to apply business system skills); promoting continuous learning at individual, team and organisational levels, and managing change processes (requiring capacities with technologies that facilitate change and change management consulting).The report argued that the critical competencies for practice were: an awareness of industry or corporations including an understanding of vision, strategy, organis ational culture and how to link HRD practice with organisational goals more than ever before; management skills including leadership skills; understanding the customer focus and project management skills; interpersonal skills and technological literacy (American Society for Training and Development, 1996). While this American study would suggest a broadening role for HRD practitioners, some other studies are less de ® nite.For example, Nijhoff and de Rijk (1997) report  ® ndings from a comparative study of HRD practitioners from four European countries. From this study the researchers tentatively reported that training and development and organisational change activities remained the most important parts of the HRD practitioner role. Similarly some Australian studies of the early 1990s also suggested a narrower role than that found in the United States. For example, Moy (1991) analysed position vacant advertisements for HRD practitioners (using a similarly broad de ® nition of this term as used in this paper).Her data revealed that the traditional responsibilities associated with an orthodox training role such as instructing, facilitating, program design and administration continued to rate highly as key responsibilities in advertised positions. She did report, however, a trend towards advisory and diagnostic service and showed that organisational change and development, analysing needs and conducting skills audits, advising on individual career development and strategic HRD planning were amongst the most frequently identi ® ed responsibilities in newly created positions.Another Australian study of the early 1990s, using professional association members from this  ® eld, also found a dominant training orientation for those in this role. This study suggested that there was no indication of a shift towards a broadened 46 R. Johnston HRD role or to role specialisation (e. g. needs analyst, learning evaluator) or to any role transformation as had been pr edicted in some of the literature of the late 1980s (Dunstan, 1993). Later studies, however, have provided some evidence of change in line with the ASTD  ® ndings.In 1997 Anderson and Johnston examined HRD roles and practices, the challenges practitioners faced and the skills and understanding these practitioners perceived they would need for future practice. The sample for this study was very small and may have been atypical in that all participants were completing formal studies in HRD. Nonetheless, the study comprised practitioners with a spread of experience (6 months and 20 1 years of professional experience with a median of 5. 5 years of experience) and from a wide range of industry sectors.Common HRD Practices Findings from this study revealed that the HRD activities were carried out in organisations by both HRD staff from a centralised HRD function and by line staff. HRD activities undertaken centrally included program development, staff induction, career development and m anagement and change management. HRD work carried out by line staff and supervisors comprised mainly individual training and development and performance assessment. Respondents also reported that many others in the more general HR (Human Resources) function had development responsibilities.Other positions with titles such as Capabilities Manager, Performance Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, and Learning Services Manager were further identi ® ed as having HRD responsibilities. The most common HRD activities conducted in respondents’ organisations included: classroom-based group training, assessment of performance or competence, assisting with the implementation of organisational change, program design, HRD budgeting, program evaluation, one-to-one training or coaching.Other HRD activities undertaken in at least 40% of respondents’ organisations included: monitoring organisational change, career planning, facilitating team development, process improvement/quality in itiatives, and internal performance improvement consultancy. Survey respondents themselves were most frequently responsible for group training, program evaluation, one-to-one training, and assisting with the implementation of change. Payroll administration, award interpretation, recruitment, counselling, HRD management, training resource development, and training record systems maintenance were other work tasks nominated by respondents.These  ® ndings could be seen as re? ecting both the broadening in scope of HRD activities and a blurring of occupation role boundaries(especially with generalist HR staff and managers) within organisations. These  ® ndings also re? ect  ® ndings reported by Moy and, to some extent, those of Dunstan of an ongoing reliance on orthodox developmental strategies for many practitioners. Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation Perceptions of Recent and Anticipated Changes 47 This study also gathered data on practitioners’ perceptions of rece nt role change and anticipated challenges.Several themes emerged. The most common perception of role change was the increased demand for a closer linkage between HRD initiatives and the core business of the organisation. Several respondents indicated that they were now required to devote more energy to developing the performance of business units, to place a greater focus on workplace issues, and to be more accountable for achieving outcomes that related to organisational goals. These practitioners stated that they needed to be more aware of business goals, more strategic in their practice, and to take on broader roles in the new ? exible? workplace. A second theme to emerge from respondents’ perceptions of change was concerned with the HRD strategies being used within organisations. Several respondents reported that there was more outsourcing of HRD provision by their organisations, that learning centres, individualised learning plans, open learning strategies were being inc reasingly used and that there was more involvement by managers and line supervisors in HRD activities than there had been in the past.Other responses indicated changes related to the focus on industry or enterprise competency standards and assessment of such competency, to meeting mandatory statutory requirements (e. g. EEO, Occupational Health and Safety requirements), to multi-skilling and to the facilitation of organisational change. A small number of respondents also suggested that they were being required to work longer hours with reduced budgets.Anticipated challenges nominated by respondents included preparing the organisation for technological change and the need to adapt to changing learning and development technologies (e. g. computer-based, interactive learning technologies, multimedia and open learning). Several respondents also indicated that they anticipated that their role would require them to address the issue of development of part-time and contract employees. Perf ormance-based training, managing organisational change, and the move to team-based organisational structures were other challenges that respondents anticipated facing.Several expected that they would have to justify the maintenance of the HRD department and its existing budget, and predicted the possibility of further outsourcing of the HRD function. Skills and Understandings Needed for HRD Practice The  ® nal question in the study asked respondents to nominate the skills and understandings they felt were most needed to operate effectively as an HRD practitioner. Communication skills were the most frequently identi ® ed, with responses suggesting a need for both general communication skills and more speci ® c skills in areas such as negotiation and group management.A second cluster of responses related to the traditional skills of training, with respondents listing competencies connected with instruction, facilitation, program design and training needs analysis. A third cluste r of competencies was concerned with organisational awareness. Skills here included planning skills, knowledge of corporate culture, manage- 48 R. Johnston ment of projects, time and resources as well as general administration, budgeting and marketing skills. Other respondents indicated the need for well-developed skills in analysis, investigation, problem solving and consultancy.In the following year, Kostos (1998) reported a further set of pro ® ling  ® ndings from a focus group of learning and development professionals with varying levels of responsibility from within both large corporations and small business. This study revealed that there was a de ® nite shift in the skill requirements of people currently involved in the  ® eld with the greatest change being ? in the area of trainer to consultant? (p. 19). Her study also found that the learning and development function equired professionals to be more aware of business issues in order to make the linkages in the delive ry of learning. Skills in consulting, high-level communication, analysis, resource and project management, using behavioural transformation approaches, organisational development and managing change, use of new technologies, and managing cultural diversity were also required. Participants also nominated the need for a re ® ned capacity for knowledge management. To summarise brie? y, the pro ® ling studies reveal some evidence of change in the HRD practitioner role.While the traditional practices of training and development still constitute major tasks of this role, there is evidence of the need for HRD practitioners to have an enhanced capacity to operate strategically. As such, HRD practitioners could be seen as requiring an increased understanding of the organisational drivers and the capability to work with the dynamics that operate within speci ® c organisational settings. These studies also highlight the ubiquity of change in organisations and the need for practitioners t o be able to work within and develop others within a change context.These studies could be seen as presenting the designer of HRD preparation programs with the challenge of providing learners with both the traditional skills associated with training and development using a classroom-based delivery mode as well as the skills to use alternative strategies both to improve performance in line with business goals and to assist both organisations and individuals to manage change. Some Implications for Preparation of HRD Practitioners The preceding sections of this paper have identi ® ed some of the challenges that confront those who are developing programs to enhance the skills of HRD practitioners.These challenges have been identi ® ed from an analysis of recent literature. There is also some convergence in this literature about the skills and understanding that are needed for contemporary HRD practice which can be used as a guide for determining the content of preparation programs i n HRD. This  ® nal section highlights some of the areas that could feature in such programs. HRD Preparation Programs Should Foreground the Context of Practice There is ample evidence, both from the theoretical discussions of the  ® eld and the pro ® ling studies cited, of the importance of organisational awareness for HRD practitioners.Such evidence suggests that this aspect should be foregrounded in Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation 49 HRD development programs in order to assist learners to work strategically and overtly align their practice with organisational directions and the achievement of organisational goals. Even though it can be anticipated that many learners undertaking such formal programs will have had some experience within organisations, developing skills in organisational analysis, strategic thinking and planning, translating business objectives into action,  ® nancial awareness and planning would seem valuable.Similarly, there would seem to be a ne ed for students to be able to develop the communicative capacity to establish the alignment between HRD initiatives and organisational goals at both interpersonal and organisational levels to avoid being marginalised at best or replaced at worst. HRD Preparation Programs Should Address Traditional Training Areas Such as Presentation, Program Design, Needs Analysis and Training Evaluation Pro ® ling studies from Australia and Europe clearly show that the more traditional areas of training/HRD practice are still common HRD activities.It cannot be assumed, however, that the technologies associated with best practice orthodox training are well known or well practised, as many practitioners come into HRD practice as a second career resulting from the expertise they have displayed in a technical or functional role. To better equip practitioners who have entered the  ® eld in this way, program designers need to ensure that their learners develop capacities to implement the learning tec hnologies and strategies (including design as well as delivery and evaluation strategies) that are used within organisational settings.These should include, but also go beyond, the traditional classroom-based models of instruction. Skills in developing employees at their work site are being increasingly required as the workplace becomes the source of working knowledge. Similarly, as some of the studies discussed above show, skills in designing electronically provided learning experiences become pivotal as learning becomes a process that is called up when needed rather than an activity attended when directed. Even with the shift in some HRD work from the specialist HRD function to workplace-based supervisor or onsultant/coach (Kostos, 1998) there is still a need within organisations for expertise in accurate training and development needs analysis and in the design of effective development and support experiences that are appropriate for the learner and the task. HRD Preparation Prog rams Should Foster Capacity of HRD Practitioners to Become Managers of Change A theme pervading most current organisational literature is the need to recognise that organisational change will be a continuing and accelerating feature of post-industrial society.Respondents in the pro ® ling studies also indicated that they anticipated playing a role in implementing organisational change as well as confronting change both in terms of the learning and organisational technologies they would be using. Such  ® ndings would therefore suggest there is a strong need for HRD students to gain a sound understanding of the diverse dimensions of change that 50 R. Johnston impact on their role, and to develop the capacity to assist with the design and implementation of individual and organisational change.HRD Preparation Programs, Particularly for the Australian Context, Should Provide Some Focus on Competency-based Training, Workplace Assessment and Performance Assessment The notion of compete ncy-based training and the process of developing industry competency standards were features of industry training and skill formation policies in the early 1990s in Australia. This approach to training subsequently became a major feature of much vocational training conducted in educational institutions within Australia. The level of adoption of this approach within enterprises is not so clear.For example, a large study of enterprise training in Australia in 1996 by Smith and Hayton (Smith & Hayton, 1999) revealed that most of the enterprises in their sample were not using competency standards to guide their training activities, and that the incidence of competency-based training in enterprises was very low. They did comment, however, that there were notable exceptions in their sample. The study by Anderson and Johnston (1997) cited earlier, however, suggests that some elements of competency-based approaches were being enacted in organisations.A number of respondents in this study in dicated that assessment of competencies/capabilities/performance was a common HRD activity in their organisations. More extensive evidence indicating support by Australian enterprises for competency approaches is reported in a study of 350 companies completed in 1999. Seventy per cent of the respondents in this study indicated that they supported a competencybased training approach for their employees, even though not all companies supported the use of formally developed national industry competency standards.Some companies reported developing standards for their own organisational contexts (Allan Consulting Group, 1999). Despite some of the contradictions in these  ® ndings, it could be argued that HRD preparation programs should provide learners with understandings of issues and processes associated with competency-based training and assessment, as elements of the approach are being used to varying degrees within organisations in Australia.Similarly, calls for the use of perform ance management approaches and the need for performance management and improvement competencies in HRD practitioners (American Society for Training and Development, 1996; Dunphy et al. , 1997) could be seen as reinforcing the argument for enhancing skills in developing performance standards and assessing competence in performance in HRD learners. HRD Preparation Programs Should Equip Practitioners to Prepare Employees for New Forms of Career Planning The literature that discusses the changing world of organisations and work predicts the disappearance of career structures as we know them.It has also suggested that the individual employees will need to develop an expanding portfolio of skills for ongoing employment in the contemporary workforce (Handy, 1995; Lawler, 1994). Challenges in HRD Practitioner Preparation 51 This suggests, therefore, that HRD preparation should equip learners with the capacities to understand and utilise the processes of multi-skilling employees as well as f acilitating individual career interventions. Such skill on the part of the HRD practitioner will allow for more ? exible use f organisational workforces as well as enhancing the employability of individuals both within and outside organisations. Career planning emerged fairly strongly from some of the pro ® ling studies as an important competence for HRD practice. This evidence suggests that some of the tools of the practice associated with this area need to be addressed in the preparation of HRD practitioners. Such preparation may also be salient for the practitioners themselves, as their own careers in HRD will also be subject to the same forces of change as many of the employees in the organisations in which they work.HRD Programs Should Recognise that Those in this Field of Practice are not Located Solely Within a Specially Designated HRD Function Employee development is occurring at various levels in organisations and hence students participating in preparation programs may h ave a range of organisational responsibilities and work backgrounds. This could also suggest that in the preparation of HRD practitioners there is a need to provide education in other HR disciplines in order to provide participants with a broad framework for practice.Similarly, there is a need to help participants develop the capacity to work in close association with those in other positions within organisations, as employee and organisational development initiatives are frequently shared. Conclusion This paper has attempted to foreground some of the challenges that confront designers of preparation programs for human resource developers. These challenges arise from the contested perspectives of HRD, the complexity of the sites of HRD practice, and the divergence in  ® ndings in recent pro ® ling studies of the  ® eld.There is also a degree of convergence in the writing and research about the  ® eld which would seem to suggest that the role scope and hence required working knowledge and skill of HRD practitioners is broadening. This convergence provides a basis for determining the substantive content needed for formal preparation programs for practitioners from this  ® eld. There remains, however, a need for further research into the role of HRD practitioners in contemporary organisations and the practice skills and working knowledge HRD practitioners require.Such research will contribute to the development of relevant preparatory educational programs and may also lead to increased recognition of the role that HRD practitioners play in the achievement of effective organisational practice. Address for correspondence: Robyn Johnston, Faculty of Education, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia. E-mail: Robyn. [email  protected] edu. au 52 R. Johnston References ALLAN CONSULTING GROUP. (1999). Training to compete: The training needs of industry. Report to the Australian Industry Group. 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How do the writers present sexuality and gender in Tales Of Ovid?

Gender roles have been continually redefined throughout literary history. The evolution of sexuality and gender is presented in Behind The Scenes At The Museum, A Streetcar Named Desire and Tales Of Ovid as driven by context and in particular patriarchal society. From Hughes’ classical presentation of a ‘human passion in extremis’[1], so strong that it ‘combusts, levitates, or mutates into an experience of the supernatural’[2] to Streetcar’s ‘succes de scandale’[3], dealing with sex to an extent, and in a manner not yet encountered on the stage and then Museum’s sterile and comical view of sex, the mutability of sexuality and gender has transcended generations but has been subject to contrasting literary perspectives. The degree of fluidity of gender can be clearly seen to mirror the context of societal and historical change within which the three works were created. In the introduction of Ovid, Hughes describes the significance of the tales being written at ‘the moment of the birth of Christ within the Roman Empire. The Greek/ Roman pantheon had fallen in on men’s heads’[4] and Hughes makes a clear attempt to equate Adonis with Jesus Christ, describing him as ‘the miraculous baby’[5] and ‘perfection’[6]. For all its Augustean stability, Rome was at sea in hysteria and despair, caught in a tension between the sufferings of the gladiatorial arena and ‘a searching for spiritual transcendence’. This era of volatility is reflected in the marked fluidity of sexuality in Hughes’ Ovidian world, where men and women becomes birds and trees. As such, identity itself is problematic; gender can no longer be exclusively prescriptive. According to Leo Curran, Ovid recognised the ‘fluidity, the breaking down of boundaries, due to the uncontrollable variety of nature and the unruliness of human passion. ’[7] Hughes unsettlingly explores this in the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, where the carnal nymph Salmacis rapes the bashful boy Hermaphroditus. You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire† As he continues to struggle, she prays that ‘we never, never/ shall be separated, you and me’[8]. Her plea is hubristically answered and, ‘with a smile’, the gods look on as ‘the two bodies/ melted into a single body/ seamless as the water. ’[9] The conjunction of the two sexes seems incompatible as observed in the drowning of what a modern audience would recognise as a hermaphrodite. Hughes’ selection of this myth, with the same destructive conclusion as Ovid’s original, conveys the commingling of the two sexes as resulting in the debilitation of the male qualities, rather than their strengthening, thus presenting effeminacy pejoratively. The dissolution of gender boundaries is reiterated by Hughes in his story of Tiresias. Tiresias’ passage through femininity, ‘having lived and love in a woman’s body†¦and also in the body of a man’[10] leaves him with the unique experiences of both sexes. His knowledge about feminine pleasure, that women do, as Jupiter contends ‘end up with nine-tenths of the pleasure’, angers Jupiter and his revelation proves damaging as she blinds him. It takes only one man, formerly a woman, to destroy the reassuring view that placed wives beyond the influence of pleasure. Social upheaval was also explicit at the beginning of the 20th century. Two World Wars had, temporarily, shifted the gender power balance with women filling vacant male roles only for these to be reassumed in the 50’s. William’ Streetcar is an astute depiction of the continual metamorphosis gender roles were encountering in the struggle for supremacy, both at home and nationally between the Old South and the New America. In Streetcar, Blanche, as a manifestation of the antebellum, is taken away, leaving Stanley holding his new son. The new decedent acts as a symbol of the end of the decaying Du Bois line and a sort of victory for the new Kowalski family. As the Cambridge Companion To Tennessee Williams states ‘Theatregoers†¦ did not easily shake off lingering apprehensions that were born of the 1930’s depression and nurtured by the 1945 unleashing of nuclear weapons†¦ in this climate, the loose structure and morale ambiguities of Streetcar struck a chord of truth. ’[11] Furthermore, when Williams describes Stanley shouting ‘Sttellah! [12] in a ‘heaven splitting voice’, we see the further power of the Kowalskis, who have rocked the status quo to the same extent as Venus’ ‘doomed love’[13] in Ovid, that means she has ‘neglected even Olympus’[14]. Ted Hughes’ exploration of gender fluidity is a more progressive one, in that a 21st century audience is much more open to transgender and sexual deviance than Tennessee Williamsâ₠¬â„¢ contemporaries. Williams’ homosexuality was illegal for the greater part of his life, but he found ways, open or oblique, of speaking of them in his plays. There is, indeed, a real sense in which Williams is a product of his work. When he began to write he was plain Tom. The invention of ‘Tennessee' was not merely coterminous with the elaboration of theatrical fictions; it was of a piece with it. In that sense it is not entirely fanciful to suggest that he was the product of the discourse of his plays. Indeed he created female alter egos, such as Blanche in Streetcar, before he began, as he did in later life, to dress up as a woman[15]. Where did his work end and his life begin? The man who consigns Blanche to insanity later found himself in a straitjacket. As critic Hana Sambrook more explicitly notes ‘there are those who believe that the tragic figure of Blanche Dubois is a transsexual presentation of the promiscuity of Williams’ himself’[16]. Certainly, Blanche’s many ‘intimacies with strangers’[17], her unfeminine like licentiousness and charade of hypocrisy aligns Williams with his protagonist. For a man for whom the concealment of his true sexual identity was for long a necessity, the fragmentation of the self into multiple roles offered a possible refuge. Blanche enters the play an actress and Williams creates her character as a series of roles, by using structural techniques to focus the audience upon her even when off stage; heard bathing ‘serenely as a bell’[18] whilst singing obliviously in ‘contrapuntal’[19] contrast to the lurid revelations of her past being detailed by Stanley in the adjoining room. Blanche’s desire for disguise is a phony pretension, using the smoke and mirrors of her alcoholicism and fine clothing, to concoct an elaborate alternative reality she can abscond to, enabling her to ‘put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glow’[20]. This indirect, dramatic language and vivid imagery is typical of her escapism and her view of herself as ‘delicate’[21] reinforces the image of Blanche as a fragile moth that pervades Williams’ stage directions. Despite this, Williams does not wholly present Blanche as a ‘faded Southern belle’[22] as some critics claim, but rather sheds a favourable light on Blanche’s attempts to protect and preserve the genteel values of the old Southern civilisation. Williams’ states that â€Å"Blanche was the most rational of all the characters [he’d] created†, evident in her contradictory wilful ignorance of the causes of the loss of Belle Reve, yet her understanding that the root cause was her family’s ‘epic fornications’. Williams also reveres Blanche as his ‘strongest character in many ways’[23] and her unique internal integrity of ‘Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart’[24] has seen her resist the brutality and savagery of a relentless modern society. Thus, even to the very end of the play, Blanche has never yielded to any coarse violent actions and rude behaviour, crying â€Å"Fire! Fire! † during Mitch’s attempted rape and fighting Stanley to her physical limit with a broken bottle when eventually violated. When the big Matron tries to subdue her physically on the floor, she never stops resisting until the Doctor gently offers her his arm like a real gentleman. Blanche’s dignified leaving further indicates her spiritual integrity, as critic Robert James Cardullo[25] claims ‘Blanche’s ascension from crucifix pinioning on the floor and her spirited leading the way out of the hell of her sister’s home creates a moving tragic catharsis for the audience†¦ Blanche’s defeat has considerable aesthetic dignity’. Williams’ literature was strangely unmoved by the issue of gay rights and the issue of homosexuality that was so prominent in his private life, while clearly a strand in his work, was never a central theme and certainly never defended or promoted, neither publically nor politically. He seems to use Blanche as an expression of a conflict which clearly existed between his morality and sexuality, never to be resolved and never aired fully in his plays, despite its pertinence in the play’s political context. By contrast, in Behind The Scenes many aspects of life seem constant and the stability of gender roles seems to reflect this. In Museum, the past permeates the present and the present is doomed to replicate the past. The shop ghosts and objects such as the pink glass button that goes rolling down the years act as chronological touchstones and history repeats itself through the lives of successive women. Sophia, Alice, Nell and Bunty all lead lives marred by misery, disappointment and domestic drudgery. None of these women marry for love and all encounter marital strife. Alice, an impoverished widower marries Frederick in order to give up teaching, Nell marries Frank out of desperation, her two previous fiances having been killed in the war, and Bunty marries George when abandoned by her American fiance Bick. Thwarted in potential, trapped and unhappy, the women share a sense that they are ‘living the wrong life’[26]. Parallels between past and present create a sense of historical inevitability that is endorsed by a series of echoes between the lives of different women. Nell falls for Jack who has ‘high, sharp cheekbones†¦ like razor clam shells’[27] and by the end of the novel, Ruby has fallen for a strikingly similar Italian with cheeks ‘as sharp as knife blades’[28]. Bunty looks like Nell and Ruby looks like Alice. The latter pair both believe in ‘destiny’[29] and embrace it in the mistaken form of men. Alice, Bunty and Ruby have all ‘had enough’[30]. With typically perceptive narration for her tender age, Ruby accounts for this hereditarily as ‘one of those curious genetic whispers across time dictates that in moments of stress we will all (Nell, Bunty, my sisters, me) brush our hands across our foreheads in exactly the same way that Alice has just done’[31]. The reference to genes by Atkinson implies that behavioural patters are inherent and inescapable. Even Adrian, as the sole gay man in the novel, is presented in cliched terms as having an interest in hairdressing, his intimate conversation with a barman prompting a dramatically ironic exclamation of ‘that’s queer’[32] from the unwitting Uncle Clifford. Gender roles within all three texts are enforced through the sexual dominance of men over their female companions. Critic C. W. E Bigsby noted that ‘the shock of Streetcar†¦lay in the fact that this was the first American play in which sexuality was patently at the core of the lives of all its characters, a sexuality’[33]. Williams presents sex as having the power to redeem or destroy, to compound or negate the forces, which bore on those caught in a moment of great social change. The ‘gaudy seed bearer’[34] Stanley is a bestial representation of the new South and he uses his intense virility and sexual power to great effect. His sexual magnetism is exemplified by the symbolic package of meat thrown to a visibly delighted Stella in the opening scene. The connotations of his sexual proprietorship over Stella and her sexual infatuation with him are not lost on the watching Negro woman. In stark contrast, Bunty feigns deafness at the butcher’s ‘innuendo laced conversations’[35], exposing him as a ‘bluff parody of himself’[36]. Her caustic description of him as ‘a pig†¦smooth shiny skin stretched tightly over his buttery flesh’[37] is both comical and telling in her uptight rejection of his smutty behaviour. This mordant tone continues into the awkwardly comical depictions of male sexual supremacy in Behind The Scenes’ fornications. Ruby’s conception by a typically tipsy George and equally typically stoic Bunty who is ‘pretending to be asleep’[38], summarises well Atkinson’s presentation of a tired female submission to male virility in the repressed society of 40’s England. George’s demise is with his trouser round his ankles, a less than dignified ‘epileptic penguin[39]’, as the World Cup final ‘carries on regardless’[40] in another typically callous death of Behind The Scenes. This dominance leads to a trapping sexual dependence of women upon men, symbolically reflected by Williams in the eponymous streetcar, ‘bound for Desire, and then for the Cemeteries’[41]. The streetcar stands for Blanche’s headlong descent into disaster at the hands of her lust. Like the streetcar’s destination, Desire, the stop called Elysian Fields is an obvious symbol; an ironic fantasy however, as the Elysian Fields – the abode of the blessed dead in Greek mythology – turns out to be a rundown street in New Orleans. The very same symbol of the ‘rattle trap streetcar’[42] is used by both sisters in scene 4, as a euphemism for sexual experience. They speak explicitly of the ‘blunt desire’[43] that decides their choice. In answer to Stella’s question ‘haven’t you ever ridden on that street-car? [44] Blanche’s bitter riposte of ‘it brought me here’[45] displays both self-knowledge and self-condemnation of her current destitution. Ominously the matter-of-fact Stella offers no words of self-criticism prior to the only fleeting moment that she confronts her guilt; ‘oh god, what have I done to my sister? ’[46]. Moments later, in the middle of her ‘luxurious’[47] sobbing, she yields to Stanley’s lovemaking, compounding her guilt. This dependence is echoed in ‘Tiresias’ from Ted Hughes’ Ovid where women are said to take â€Å"nine tenths of the pleasure†[48] during sex. Men are vital for women to experience any sexual satisfaction and female desire ultimately renders them reliant and weakened. Their dependence is compounded by a financial reliance. Marxist feminist theory argues an economic dependence on men deprives women of the right to dominate their own fate, reducing them to existence by male affiliation. On â€Å"a teacher’s salary†¦barely sufficient for her living expenses†[49], Blanche ‘had to come [to New Orleans] for the summer’ as ‘[she] didn’t save a penny last year’[50]. In the wake of her husband’s suicide and the ‘epic fornications’[51] of her ‘grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers’[52], she is forced again to turn to men for financial support, depending, as is her mantra ‘on the kindness of strangers’[53]. Her attempted allurement of Stanley is based on the recognition that ‘maybe he is what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve’[54]. Her spiral of desperation turns to Mitch and finally the nebulous millionaire Shep Huntleigh who comes to stand as a symbol of material strength of dependence and guarantee for women, more exactly for Blanche. Blanche recognises that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley, yet her alternative of Shep still involves complete dependence on men. When Stella chooses to remain with Stanley, she chooses to rely on, love, and believe in a man instead of her sister. Williams does not necessarily criticise Stella—he makes it quite clear that Stanley represents a much more secure future than Blanche does. That Shep never materialises strongly suggests that if women place their hope and fortune on men, their oppressed and subordinate status can never be changed. Bunty, like Stella, who has to request that her husband â€Å"better give [her] some money†[55], confirms her reliance on George in having â€Å"no intention of working after her marriage†[56]. Bunty’s quest for stardom and self-discovery conflicts with a mode of motherhood that requires service, sacrifice, and selflessness. As she moves into adulthood during World War II, Bunty tries out a series of different quixotic identities in the search for selfhood; Deanna Durbin[57], Scarlett O’Hara[58] and Greer Garson[59]. However, as her family grows, her dreams diminish, and Bunty is forced to forgo a self she has not yet fully realised. The erosion of self is symbolised by the abbreviation of her name for Bernice, to Bunty, which George truncates to ‘Bunt’[60]. Ironically, George marries Bunty only because ‘he thinks she will be a big help in the shop’[61] and thus Bunty is comically presented as trapped in the role of the ‘Martyred wife’[62] despite her belief that marriage to George would free her from the graft that she imagines herself to be ‘above’. Ruby’s mock expression of pity in her narrative gives an account of Bunty’s woes in a sardonic tone; her tranquilisers are ‘Bunty’s little helpers’[63] and Atkinson’s pathetic portrayal of Bunty as put out but ultimately accepting of her role as a married woman contrasts with Williams’ poignant subdual of Blanche and Stella. Sexual and financial dominance coalesces in another tool for the subjugation of women; rape. Hughes presents his women in terms of capital value; Philomena is a ‘priceless gift’, available to ‘cash in your whole kingdom for’[64]. As a result of rape in Streetcar and Ovid, the victimised females are presented as devalued and diminished in ‘worth’ in the views of patriarchal society. Myrrha, ‘utterly disgusted with her life’[65] is described as ‘polluted’[66] and ‘contaminated’[67] in the wake of her incestuous act, which ‘removes [her] from life and death†¦ in some nerveless limbo’[68]. Male exploitation of Blanche’s sexuality has left her with an equally poor reputation. This notoriety makes Blanche an unattractive marriage prospect, but, because she is destitute, Blanche sees marriage as her only possibility for survival, trapping her in the cycle of submission to men. It is telling that Blanche’s rape is not condemned, and it can be argued that Williams portrays her violation as inevitable in patriarchal culture and also self-inflicted by her provocative behaviour, a controversial thought for a modern audience. In her ingratiation of Mitch, she uses all kinds of strategies to â€Å"deceive him enough to make him-want†[69] and conceals her true age, because â€Å"Men don’t want anything they get too easy. But men lose interest quickly†¦ when the girl is over-thirty†[70]. This represents the internalisation of patriarchal society that her behaviour has precipitated. Her trunk, symbolic of her own displaced and materialistic identity, is full of the flashy pretension of fake finery that she perceives men to desire, and the Chinese lampshade softens the glare of the Mitch’s gaze on her fading beauty and adds to the ‘magic’ Blanche desires; the dressing up of ugly reality. However, both are ultimately violated with a strong sense of dramatic irony. When first Mitch and then Stanley tear off the paper lantern, she cries out as in pain. The opening of the trunk becomes a divesture of interiority – Stanley’s question ‘what is them underneath? ’[71] becomes a central one as the trunk functions as a metonymy for some unchartered territory about to be fundamentally disrupted, but to no condemnation from the playwright. Similarly, even when the male hunter Actaeon is punished upon inadvertently offending the nakedly bathing goddess Diana with his sight, Hughes suggests that Actaeon’s crime was one of fortune: ‘Destiny, not guilt, was enough/For Actaeon. It is no crime/To lose your way in a dark wood’[72]. Hughes suggests here that Actaeon’s death is the necessary ordeal to lead him through hell to paradise. When sexual aggression or rape is exhibited by females however, the result and portrayal are markedly different. Salmacis and Blanche are remarkably alike in this respect. Salmacis is a naiad (a nymph who presided over springs and brooks) and as such is described in typically natural imagery as ‘perfect / as among damselflies’[73], ‘gathering lilies for a garland’[74]. This peaceful language of the natural world is tinged however with a more foreboding aggression in the ‘viper’[75] like elegance of her ‘sinewy otter’[76] like body, which portends her sexual experience in contrast to the innocent young boy Hermaphroditus, who blushes at the naming of love. Hughes places the emphasis on the feminine snares of the lascivious water nymph, who is aggressively sexual in a very Blanche like manner. She knows ‘she had to have [Hermaphroditus]’[77] and proceeds to unashamedly flirt, ‘checking her girdle†¦ her cleavage’[78]. Her sensual language is heightened by its inference of a taboo love with the incestuous reference of ‘what a lucky sister! As for the mother/ Who held you, and pushed her nipple between your lips/ I am already sick with envy’[79], exemplifying her sexual command over the boy, who refuses her advances without really knowing what she wants. He desires only to bathe and his obliviousness to her advances are indicative of his youth and inexperience but also his male gender precluding him from the experience of passion, as echoed in the ‘nine tenths of the pleasure’[80] that the female takes in Tiresias. Thus he becomes an easy prey and ‘Like a snake’[81] she ‘flings and locks her coils/ around him’[82], a ‘tangle of constrictors, nippled with suckers’[83] – the disturbing organic metaphors further exemplifying her atypical literary position as the female aggressor of rape. Throughout this scene however, Salmacis is never rendered as in sexual control; Hermaphroditus ‘will not surrender/ or yield the least kindness/ of the pleasure she longs for/ and rages for, and pleads for’[84]. Hughes’ implication of their demise as a result of their unnatural union is clear – the only way in which a woman can rape a man is if he is not clearly male. To conclude, in the words of an anonymous critic ‘gender roles figure so prominently in literature that they begin to take on a life of their own, whereas to become fluid in the mind of the writer and reader alike†¦ it is evident that when working with ambiguity, man and woman, whose boundaries are few and far between, become locked in a dimension of transmutation’. These words said of Ovid, offer a concise summary of the three works, applicable mainly to Hughes’ characters such as Salmacis and Tiresias, and Williams’ Blanche. Ultimately however, despite the differing time periods in which they were written the role of gender is an inextricable fibre in ancient, southern and modern literature. The three writers posit sexuality and gender contrastingly; Williams’ uncompromising ‘personally and socially powerful’[85] play, Hughes’ matter-of-fact narration and Atkinson’s comically cliched bildungsroman. A prominent similarity in the treatment of gender by all three authors is the ability of each to manipulate and intertwine not only their ideas of the gender line but also those of their contextual popular culture in order to effectively and complexly examine its role.