Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Whats Tested on the SAT Math Section Topics and Practice
What's Tested on the SAT Math Section Topics and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Your first step in preparing for the math section of the SAT should be familiarizing yourself with exactly whatââ¬â¢s on it. Whatever math class youââ¬â¢re taking in school, you should be able to conquer the SAT math topics with the right approach to test prep. Letââ¬â¢s start this guide by reviewing the overall format of the math section of the SAT. SAT Math Format Math will be your third and fourth sections on the SAT, right after Reading and Writing Language. Youââ¬â¢ll first get a 25-minute section, during which you canââ¬â¢t use a calculator. After a short break, youââ¬â¢ll move onto the 55-minute section. During this longer section, youââ¬â¢re allowed to use your calculator. Both sections will begin with multiple-choice questions, each of which will feature four answer choices. Then youââ¬â¢ll be asked for some student-produced responses, more commonly known as "grid-ins." On the calculator section, some of these grid-ins will relate to one another as part of an Extended Thinking question. // Hereââ¬â¢s the breakdown of time, number of questions, and question types on the two SAT math sections. Section Number of Questions Time No calculator 15 multiple choice, 5 grid-ins 25 minutes Calculator 30 multiple choice, 8 grid-ins (including one Extended Thinking question) 55 minutes Total 58 questions 80 minutes While you can only use a calculator on the longer Math section, youââ¬â¢ll have access to the following reference information for geometry in both sections: Of course, youââ¬â¢d be better off having this information memorized than wasting time flipping back in your test booklet to these formulas. This material isnââ¬â¢t actually all that important on the math section, as geometry problems make up less than 10% of the questions. That being said, what skills and concepts are most prevalent in the math section? Content is king! Or, at least, it's very important to master before you take the SAT. SAT Math Topics // While the math section doesnââ¬â¢t place a large emphasis on geometry problems, it does focus on algebra, solving equations, and data interpretation from tables and graphs. College Board sorts the question types into three main categories: Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, and Problem Solving and Data Analysis (they apparently gave up on the creative naming once they reached the third category). These three realms describe about 90% of the SAT math questions. The remaining 10% are simply called Additional Topics, and they mainly include geometry, basic trigonometry, and complex numbers. Letââ¬â¢s take a closer look at each of these categories by going over the SAT math topics and skills they test. After a description of each one, youââ¬â¢ll see three official sample practice questions from College Board. Heart of Algebra SAT math questions in the Heart of Algebra category have to do with linear equations, inequalities, functions, and graphs. Below are the official topics as defined by College Board, followed by a summary of tasks youââ¬â¢ll need to be prepared for to tackle these questions and some example problems. // Official Topics Solving linear equations and linear inequalities (in these expressions, x is a constant or the product of a constant) Interpreting linear functions Linear inequality and equation word problems Graphing linear equations Linear function word problems Systems of linear inequalities word problems Solving systems of linear equations Summary of Tasks // Use multiple steps to simplify an expression or equation or solve for a variable. Solve for a variable within functions or systems of inequalities with two variables (usually x and y). Determine whether a given point is in a solution set or what value would make an expression have no solution. Select a graph that shows an algebraic equation, or, on the flip side, choose the equation that describes a graph. Indicate how a graph would be affected by a given change in its equation. Sample Questions Solving systems of linear equations: Solving systems of linear inequalities: Graphing a linear equation: Grab your passport- we're crossing the border into the land of advanced math. // Passport to Advanced Math While Heart of Algebra questions are focused on linear equations, Passport to Advanced Math questions have to do with nonlinear expressions, or expressions in which a variable is raised to an exponent thatââ¬â¢s not zero or one. These questions will ask you to work with quadratic equations, exponential expressions, and word problems. Read on for the full list of topics that fall under Passport to Advanced Math, followed by a summary of tasks and three sample SAT questions. Official Topics Solving quadratic equations Interpreting nonlinear expressions Quadratic and exponential word problems Radicals and rational exponents Operations with rational expressions and polynomials Polynomial factors and graphs Nonlinear equation graphs Linear and quadratic systems Structure in expressions Isolating quantities Functions // Summary of Tasks Solve equations by factoring or using other methods to rewrite them in another form. Add, subtract, multiply, or divide two rational expressions or divide two polynomial expressions and simplify your results. Select a graph that matches a nonlinear equation or an equation that corresponds to a graph. Determine the equation of a curve from a description of a graph. Figure out how a graph would change if its equation changed. Sample Questions Functions: Nonlinear expressions: // Nonlinear equation graphs: Problem Solving and Data Analysis This third and final major category includes questions that ask you to work with rates, ratios, percentages, and data from graphs and tables. Read on for the official topics, a summary of tasks, and three sample questions. Official Topics Ratios, rates, and proportions Percents Units Table data Scatterplots Key features of graphs Linear and exponential growth Data inferences Center, spread, and shape of distributions Data collection and conclusions // Summary of Tasks Solve multi-step problems to calculate ratio, rate, percentage, unit rate, or density. Use a given ratio, rate, percentage, unit rate, or density to solve a multistep problem. Select an equation that best fits a scatterplot. Use tables to summarize data, such as probabilities. Estimate populations based on sample data. Use statistics to determine mean, median, mode, range, and/or standard deviation. Evaluate tables, graphs, or text summaries. Determine the accuracy of a data collection method. // Sample Questions Calculating data based on rate: Scatterplot and calculating rate: Calculating percentage based on table data: These next few categories don't quite fit anywhere else. Additional Topics in Math While 90% of your questions will fall into the Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, or Problem Solving and Data Analysis categories, the remaining 10% will simply be classified as Additional Topics. These topics include geometry, trigonometry, and problems with complex numbers. Official Topics // Volume word problems Right triangle word problems Congruence and similarity Right triangle geometry Angles, arc lengths, and trig functions Circle theorems Circle equations Complex numbers Summary of Tasks // Determine volume of a shape. Apply properties of triangles to determine side length or angle measure. Apply properties of circles to measure arc length and area. Solve problems with sine, cosine, and tangent. Sample Questions Right triangle problem with trigonometric functions: Congruence and similarity: Angles and parallel lines: To truly prepare for the math section of the SAT, you should make sure to review all of the above mentioned topics. Some problems, furthermore, will integrate topics and require you to apply multiple skills and concepts as you work toward a solution. Multi-step problems are prevalent throughout the math section. Letââ¬â¢s take a closer look at multi-step problems, along with the other main features you need to be aware of as you prep for SAT Math. // Grab your snacks and turn off your cell phone- it's time for the main feature(s)! What Are the Key Features of SAT Math? In addition to understanding content and format of the SAT Math section, there are some key features you should know about. As you study, keep an eye out for these features. By familiarizing yourself with them, you may even be able to use practice materials for the old SAT effectively to prepare for the current SAT. Multi-Step Problems You may notice that several of the above problem types state that they require multiple steps to solve. While wording of math questions should be straightforward, the thinking and calculations required will be relatively involved. To prepare, you'll especially want to focus on time management and working quickly and efficiently. // To solve a word problem, you may have to combine skills from one more than one content area or use several steps to get to your answer. Word problems may present a long scenario, and youââ¬â¢ll need to figure out what data to use and what concepts to apply to get to your answer. Speaking of word problems... Emphasis on ââ¬Å"Real Worldâ⬠Applications According to College Board, much of its purpose behind redesigning the SAT was to make the test more closely aligned with classroom learning and real world skills. As a result, the math section wonââ¬â¢t feature too many abstract reasoning questions. Instead, the word problems will be grounded in realistic situations. Some may ask you to calculate gas left in a carââ¬â¢s gas tank or the conversion of money from one countryââ¬â¢s currency to another. Most word problems will present scenarios that you might encounter in your life. // There will be a few questions that test your understanding of sines. Also, cosines and tangents. A Few Geometry and Trigonometry Questions About 10% of the questions will feature geometry and/or trigonometry. Since not everyone has studied trigonometry in school by the time they take the SAT, these questions may call for separate, SAT-specific preparation. You should acquaint yourself with the relevant concepts and formulas, but focus most of your energies on preparing for algebra, functions, inequalities, graphs, and word problems. A No-Calculator Section and a Calculator Section For 25 minutes, you wonââ¬â¢t be able to bring out your calculator to answer any of the math questions. Thereââ¬â¢s no need to worry! The problems in the 25-minute section wonââ¬â¢t require a calculator; in fact, using one on those problems would probably just slow you down. // Calculator fluency, or knowing how and when to use your calculator effectively, is an important skill on the SAT math. The College Board says, ââ¬Å"Calculators are important tools, and...youââ¬â¢ll need to know how - and when - to use them...The calculator is, like any tool, only as smart as the person using it. The Math Test includes some questions where itââ¬â¢s better not to use a calculator, even though youââ¬â¢re allowed to.â⬠So you definitely wonââ¬â¢t need one on the shorter ââ¬Å"no calculatorâ⬠section, and you may not even need one on many of the problems in the longer ââ¬Å"calculatorâ⬠section. Answering lots of practice questions can help you get better at deciding when a calculator would be helpful and when it would just slow you down. An Extended Thinking Problem A few of your questions will be part of an Extended Thinking problem. Typically, this Extended Thinking problem will be part of the grid-in questions near the end of your 55-minute section. // Basically, youââ¬â¢ll get a graph, table, or word problem scenario and then have to answer multiple questions about it. The following is one example of a word problem-based Extended Thinking question. Notice the bent toward ââ¬Å"real worldâ⬠application! Grid-in Math Questions Speaking of grid-ins, you'll have thirteen of these student-produced responses that you'll answer in a special part of the bubble sheet at the bottom. While you can write your answer in the spaces provided, you'll have to fill in the corresponding bubbles for credit. There are bubbles for digits between 0 and 9, as well as for decimal point (a period) and fraction line (a slash). To practice gridding in your responses, you can practice on College Board's SAT practice test answer sheet. As long as you're familiar with the key features and directions of SAT Math, you can hit the ground running and not waste time figuring out logistics. So whether you're prepping with PrepScholar, online practice questions, official College Board tests, or a combination of all of these, how should you approach prepping for SAT Math? // Unleash the power of prep. How You Should Study SAT Math Many of the concepts on SAT Math you'll learn in your math classes in school. This doesn't mean that classwork will prepare you enough to perform well on the SAT, though. SAT Math questions test the above concepts in a unique, SAT-specific way. In order to prepare and learn to be speedy in your time management, you'll want to practice and get familiar with the wording with high-quality practice questions. Official practice tests will also help you uncover and diagnose your strengths and weaknesses. If you find yourself consistently stumped by function questions, for example, you'll know to focus your energy and studying there. Even if you haven't taken an advanced algebra or trigonometry class yet in school, you can still prep for these questions by studying SAT concepts and questions. If you're strong in math and looking to achieve a top score, you want to approach the math section in a strategic way. This perfect scorer shares the techniques he used and how they can help you score at or near 800 on your SAT math. What's Next? // Are you scoring on the low side on math and hoping to break 600? Here are the steps you need to take to score a 600 or more on the SAT math. Looking for book recommendations specific to the math section? Here are our suggestions for the best prep books for SAT Math, along with a few pointers on how to use them most effectively. Want to make sure you're solid on math basics before diving into SAT Math? Check out our refresher articles on solving inequalities, adding and subtracting fractions, multiplication, perfect squares, and the distributive property. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Investigating Entrepreneurial Opportunities of business that focuses Essay
Investigating Entrepreneurial Opportunities of business that focuses main on setting up swimming pools and fountains in the gardens of houses - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in the recent year, the American construction industry has developed in a very drastic way. Nonetheless, there are very few construction companies that have specialized in setting up swimming pools and fountains in the gardens of houses. The few companies that are doing this have dominated the business giving room to monopoly. The problem with monopoly is that the people in business are able to control the business for lack of competition. According to Grant monopoly disadvantages, the consumer in many ways but mostly is the fact that they have no options to choose from and hence are vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation from the monopolists. Many at times they are forced to pay high rates and prices. This is because the consumers need the services or the product but are limited to choice. This is regardless of whether the product and services are of the right quality. The above situation is the reason why the researchers decided to start a business that focuses mainly on setting up swimming pools and fountains in the gardens of houses. Every American home is now embarking on setting up swimming pools in their backyard or at least a fountain. New homes and those that have been constructed before are all seeking to have an extra facility that will make the house more self-sustained and reliant. Apart from home, new markets like hotels and resort centers are very attractive since clients want to go to places that can meet their leisure needs. Combining these two potential markets the business is guaranteed to succeed and make profits. There are other opportunities related to the same like cleaning and maintaining of the swimming pools and springs. The researchers intend to specialize in this area also in order to guarantee our clients a complete package that will run even after the installation or set up of the pool or spring. By specializing in this business, it means that even construction companies that do not set up swimming pools and fountains will be seeking to give our business sub-contracts in order to satisfy their clients. Likewise, individual homeowners will be seeking our services when the construction companies they are working with are not able to facilitate this service. For a start, such a business will need a trained team that will work on commission for every work done. A training program will also be put in place for new employees in order to make sure that they are working within our standards.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Agile Software development (individual Reflection Report ) Essay
Agile Software development (individual Reflection Report ) - Essay Example alyze and gather various sets of information on agile development process so as to use its techniques in developing the Student Attendance Monitoring System. The group got information from lecture notes, books and online sources about the Agile Development process. The group was able to come to an agreement that the system offers a framework that is lightweight, entailing a collection of development methodologies which are iterative used by development teams. From the information that the group gathered, it was clear that agile development software delivers working software of high-quality in the functionality of business value. This is the kind of software that the group needed in the development of the monitoring system. Another technique that the group was looking out to in the agile development process was its combination of methodologies such as question-and-answer (QA), project management, and even in engineering practices, together in a way that will help the agile development team through processes of managing, planning and delivery of the software. Every member of the group had a role to play, assigned by the group leader. With the combination of all the roles, the group saw the realization of its objective on the assignment. The members gathered information from sources mentioned earlier. The group was able to compile the information that Agileââ¬â¢s most popular methodologies include the extreme programming methodology (XP), Scrum, Kanban and hybrid methodologies. The group noted that even though these software methods have approaches that are specific and unique to each of them, they have the same core values and share a similar vision stated in the agile manifesto (Holcombe 2008). During the development process, the group employed some of the XP practices. The practices were pair programming, system metaphor, test first development, small release, and continuous integration and collective ownership. All the group members knew how the system works
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Racial Harmony throughout Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words
Racial Harmony throughout Hawaii - Essay Example Harmony on other hand represents happiness or agreement and so it is important to note that the happiness of the USA is Hawaii. Having put that across, it is pertinent to heed that Hawaii has a role in representing ââ¬Å"Harmonyâ⬠in USA history and media, since ââ¬Å"USAâ⬠means several states of America under the same rule and all of the states are governed by harmony. It is vital to note that the republic of North American represents fifty different states. Therefore, when the United States is discussed, the foremost thing to think of is the term harmony (Winters 23). The above is true because despite of the country being a comprise of several states, they live in peace and agreement. The above is only possible because of the respect the Americans have to the rule of the state, the culture, and laws followed by the definition of the American history. With the above point in mind, it is noted that harmony is a pertinent requirement to the states of America. It is intere sting to realize that Hawaii specifically represents harmony in itself among the states of America. In other words, Hawii is a model of harmony that aspire the rest of Americans. It follows that Hawaii is a link or rather a channel that enforces harmony to the states of America (Lee 14). The above is true according to the common sense that, for any given individuals of different caliber to stay together then it needs harmony. It applies to the state of Hawaii, with the relationship it has with the rest of the states of America. According to the experts, several reasons have been drawn to represent the harmonic symbol of Hawaii to the Americans. Here the first reason that makes Hawaii to have the harmonic symbol in the United States is that as fiftieth state, Hawaii joined the union on August 21 in the year 1956. It is also important to acknowledge the fact that USA respects the laws, culture and lands of the Hawaiians (Haas12). Further to the above, the whole country (united state) does not only agree but also accepts the Hawaii as one of the state member. The above evident the fact that though it is the last to be assimilated into the states of America, it has to some extent participated to the contribution of the harmonic environment to the American state. By harboring harmony and promoting peace to the whole nation. The idea that acknowledges Hawaii as a harmonic symbol of the United State is that Hawaii has a Pearl Harbor. Here, it is notable that the US Navy guards are situated in the Pearl Harbor of the Hawaii and they act as the state protectors (Liu 42). Fortunately, the guard does not protect only the states or Hawaii but the entire world, where they enforce peace and unity. Therefore, with the US Navy guard at the coast, they facilitate harmony in not only the Hawaii but also the entire world. The above is true since the guards maintain law and order and in so doing, they facilitate peace in the American country and the entire world. With its origin at the coast of Hawaii, it is enough reason to note that Hawaii is harmony motivator in the states of America. If that is not enough, the reason of tourism development to some extent acts as a symbol of Harmony. Here, tourism develops in Hawaii makes the whole of US people to think that Hawaii is a harmonic figure in the history of the US (winters, 57). It is evident that a tourist sector is always peaceful to attract the tourist. That is way; the tourist development in Hawaii gives it advantage of being a Harmonic
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management
Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the research on ââ¬Å"How can international human resources managers effectively manage diversity in multinational company?â⬠- Case study Tesco. The company overview of Tesco in UK, background of the research, organisation background, rationale statement, research questions, and purpose of the research conducted the aim and objectives of the research identified by researcher. The structure of the dissertation is described at the end of the chapter. 1.1 Background of the Research 1.1.1 Managing Diversity Managing diversity means maximizing diversitys potential benefits such as greater cultural awareness and broader language skills, while minimizing the potential barriers such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the companys performance. Dessler (2008, p.61) referred to diversity as potentially a double-edged sword. Generally diversity refers to the variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a companys workforce, in terms of race, sex, culture, national origin, age and religion. Many organisations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing link between how the human resource managers deal with diversity and its impact on the organisation is a diversity strategy that is executed using a planned approach to systemically manage diversity (Leopold Harris 2009). The increasing diversity and changing demographics of the UK workforce, the expansion of anti-discrimination legislation, legal rights for individuals with caring responsibilities and government policy commitment to the work-life balance have created new challenges for employers across employment sectors. This research explores some of the issues that arise for employers, managers and employees in the development and application of multinational organisational human resourcing policies which are intended to promote equality of treatment and recognize diversity in the workforce. The 2004 WERS survey (Kersley et al., 2006) found that 73 percent of workplaces had a final written equal opportunities policy or a policy on managing diversity compared to 64 percent in 1998. This figure increased to 98 percent in the public sector (97 percent in 1998) with the incidence of formal policy being higher in large workplaces which means that most employees work in establishments with a formal poli cy. This was evident in the 2007 CIPD annual recruitment and retention survey which revealed that only half of the 905 participating organisations had a formal diversity strategy although again the public sector is more proactive with 83 percent reporting a strategic approach to diversity (CIPD, 2007 a). Todays business and service organisations are meeting the challenge which demands systematic efforts, as many of them have come to realize. Whether the multi-cultural character of the organisation arises from its international workforce and its local operations in various countries, from the mixed backgrounds of a workforce in a single location, the organisation must address this diversity if it is to be successful. Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, values, beliefs, customs, traditions and attitudes that are shared by an organisations members. Learn about their culture and how it shaped them, and aim to understand how other culture work that can be an effective global manager. 1.2 Organisation Background In this research, selected company will be Tesco Metro (Whitton, Branch) London outlet where different cultural people working. Tesco is one of the UKs major retail supermarkets. Tesco is an international retailer where there are working different countries and cross-cultural people. This research is a collection of how the Tesco Company has used diversity to support their business goals and valuable learning and what makes good diversity practice. Tesco is the fastest and largest growing retail chain in UK as well as international arena. Tesco started its journey in 1919 in the East End of London. As a result, Tesco came as a national store across the country in 1970. To beat others and to reach top Tesco brings more innovative idea and implemented those from 1992 to 2004 like slogan ââ¬Å"every little helpâ⬠, Tesco value, Club card, 24 hours service, Online service and so on (A history of Tesco: The rise of Britains biggest supermarket). Tesco is operating in the UK set its position as a market leader with over à £2 billion of profit with total 3728 stores around the world, where in the UK 2,306 stores and employing over 286,394 staff. It provides online services through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The UK is the companys largest market where it operates under four banners of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. The company sells almost 40,000 food products, including clothing and other non-foods lines. The companys own-label products (50 percent of sales) are at three levels; value, normal and finest. As well as convenience produce many stores have gas stations, becoming one of Britains largest independent petrol retailers (Tesco Annual Report Review, 2009). According to market share Tescos positions in number one in UK and third position around the world. Tesco is the market leader with 30.40% (March, 09) of market share though its lost a bit of market share 0.5% in recent year due to credit crunch. Tesco market s hare is nearly two times higher than other retail shop like Asda (17.5%), Sainsbury (16.1%). (Retail Analysis) Tesco has a very friendly and supporting approach in the routine ways that staffs at Tesco behave towards each other, and towards those outside the company that can make up the ways people do things, where at great place to work. The control systems and measurements are constantly under the management review to monitor the efficiency of the staff and managers decisions. On-going meetings and communication at every level of the companys hierarchy represent a strong internal environment (Tescos Value and Strategy). Cultural web theory application (The cultural web theory is also an effective analysis for management in order to represent the underlying assumptions linked to political, symbolic and structural aspect of the company) is a useful tool in considering the cultural context for Tescos business (Tescos Value and Strategy). Culture generally tends to consist of layers of values, beliefs and taken for-granted actions and ways of doing business within and outside the company. Therefore, the concept of cultural web is the representation of these actions taken for granted for understanding how they connect and influence the strategy (Veliyath and Fitzgerald, 2000; Johnson and Scholes, 2003). It is also useful to understand and characterise both the companys culture and the subcultures in adaptation of future strategies. 1.3 Rationale statement Generally, a self assessment for international human resource managers is to evaluate and improve their global management skills. But it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must manage with working across geographic and cultural areas; understand how issues of managing diversity inform and influence human resource strategies and evaluate the respective responsibilities of international human resource managers for managing diversity policies and practices. The key concept of managing diversity accepts that different cultural workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity management can recognize a wide range of individual differences and benefits to the employment relationship to individual needs which can lead to the organisational competitive advantage. This research explores the key principle of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Tesco Metro (Whitton Branch) London. The researcher intends that how managers mange working with diversity people in workplace in Tesco, whereas equal opportunity focuses on different ethnic groups. 1.4 Research Questions As human resource manager in a multinational company needs to consider the following major issues: 1. How people manage a group of different culture people? 2. What is the communication within work? 3. How do the managers manage diversity and equal opportunity within the service? 4. How can the manager influence teams performance? 5. How can the manager help people learn and develop? 6. How can the manager help people to manage change? 7. How he is motivating people? 8. How can the manager handle equal opportunity? 9. What strategy managers should apply to get a good result from employees? How a human resource manager can handle all those areas and successfully the organisations mission with different countrys people. 1.5 Purpose of the Research 1.5.1 Research Aim The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the competitive advantage of the organization that are managing people as assets which are fundamental. And to examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in the particular way of human resource managers to manage work with different culture people. Tesco has been used as a case study in this dissertation. 1.5.2 Research Objectives 1) An international human resource managers needs to know the way of managing people in the organisation. An overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment which will be include at diversity issues and international human resource management policies. 2) To observe a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social peoples. 3) For an organisation to succeed on a global scale, radical shifts in business procedures are required. To become a successful global manager is to develop a global outlook. 4) A global manager needs to know what point an organisation has reached in the globalization process, and where it wants to go. Understand the process and recognize the strategies that will give the organisation a global advantage. 5) Understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. 6) Recruiting, and selecting the right people. This research will disclose some essential factors which help organisations to maintain their diversity effectively within the organisation and make a fair working environment of employees within the organisation. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation The dissertation report has been structured into the following chapters. Chapter 1: This provides an introduction to the research, where justification of the research is presented and the purpose of the research is explained. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors who have discussed relevant existing theories and policy of diversity and the different interpretations of diversity management which is based on secondary data. Those relevant theories and policy will help to find out the appropriate analyse of the following research. Chapter 3: The third chapter will discuss the research methodology. Research method presents the research philosophy, approach and sampling, data collection procedures and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. This chapter also explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the research approach. Chapter 4: This chapter contains the analysis and findings. This part of dissertation informed the research findings quantitatively with the help of constructed research model and research hypotheses. It also shows the data gathered in the company through interview and questionnaire of Tescos managers and employees, and analysis the data to provide a productive meaning of the research finding. Chapter 5: This chapter encloses the conclusion of the dissertation within the research questions and objectives, describe limitation of research and recommends opportunity for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted theoretical exploration of the existing knowledge that is relevant to the diversity area. This chapter also focuses on similar and contrasting perspectives that researchers have used to approach this research areas. 2.2 What is Diversity Diversity means relating and working with people who hold different perspectives and views and bringing different qualities to the workplace. According to (Kandola Fullerton 1994, p.19) diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include age, background, race, sex, disability, personality and lifestyle. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance, means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, age, gender, ethnicity, sex, disability, religious beliefs, and political views and so on. It is also exploration of these differences in a safe positive and development organizational environment. As the Wall Street Journal (2005) put about diversity, as companies do more and more business around the world, diversity is simple a matter of doing what is fair or good public relations which is a business imperative but diversity is supposed to enrich an organisations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. Brewster (2002) defined that managing diversity tries to build specific skills and to create policies that derive the best from each employee and it is based on the assumption that diverse groups will create new ways of working together and have understanding in that group, profit and productivity will increase in the organisation. Where he found, diversity management is fast becoming a management approach that is being applied effectively within the organizations. 2.3 Benefits of Diversity Diversity needs to be seen as an integral part of the business plan, essential to successful products and increased sales. This is especially true in todays global marketplace, as organizations interact with different cultures and people. Kandola Fullerton (1998) identified the possible areas of diversity benefits, these are: a) Creativity increases when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution and the more ideas can obtain from different people. b) Productivity increases when people are from all cultures pull together towards a single inspiring goal. Increased productivity is an obvious advantage of diversity in the workplace. c) Provide strong leadership they take strong stands on advocating the need for a diverse workforce and can handle effectively different cultural people. d) New attitudes are brought to the business by people from diverse cultures. In most other countries around the world time is for building relationships and an integral part of getting to know that are considering doing business with before starting a transaction. e) Provide diversity training and education are obviously needed in todays increasingly global market and diverse employees often have this ability. Every company needs specific knowledge or language skills where the international job seekers have the advantage. f) New processes when people are with different ideas come together and collaborate. In todays first moving world, employee must bring multiple skills to the working environment and adapt quickly to new situations. (Harris et al. 2003) International human resource manager can make organisations more successful and productive by managing diversity in the work place. Diversity brings real benefits to business environment where employing a diverse workforce enables it to use a wider range of skills and lead to creativity and innovation. 2.4 Human Resource (HR) Policies HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled. The aim is to ensure that any HR issues are dealt with the values of the organisation with certain principles. Armstrong (2009) defined the philosophies and values of the organisation on how people should be treated and all organisations have HR policies. HR policies can be expressed formally as overall statements of the values of the organisation or in specific areas. Kandola Fullerton (1994), these values are espoused by many organizations in one form or another. HR policy on managing diversity recognizes that there are differences among employees and properly managed where will enable work to be more effectively. 2.5 Managing Workforce Diversity Legislation and the high profile of equal opportunities in the UK has had both positive and negative effects on the way people view each other, (Barker, 2000). On the one hand, there is now widespread recognition that discrimination at work on the grounds of gender, race or ability alone is unjust, although the practice still continues. However, the grouping of minorities such as women or ethnic or disabled has produced responses. More recent thinking has moved towards ââ¬Ëmanaging diversity-recognizing and valuing differences in people and their unique contributions to the workforce. Managing diversity involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth. This requires the company to develop employees that they are comfortable working with others from a variety of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. Noe et al. (2003) found that managing diversity may require changing the company culture. It includes the companys standards and how employees are treated, competitiveness, innovation and risk taking. Where management of diversity has been linked to innovation, improved productivity, lower employee turnover and other costs related to human resources, (Cox, 1993, p.24). Price (1997, p.265) noted that the management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity instead of allowing a greater range of people the opportunity to ââ¬Ëfit in the concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their differences and variety. Diversity perceived to enrich an organisations human capital. Whereas equal opportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is about individuals and model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. According to Harvard Business Review, managing diversity does not mean controlling or containing diversity, it means enabling every member of workforce to perform to their potential and getting from employees; everything right to expect and if it is well then thing they have to give, (Thomas, 2001). The future success of any organisations relies on the ability to manage a diverse of capacity that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organisational asset if an organisation is able to make the most of diverse talents. Especially for multinational companies, who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be aware and may utilize a Think Global, Act Local approach in most circumstances, (Jackson, 2002). The goals of diversity training are eliminate values and managerial practices that restrain employees personal development and allow employees to contribute to organisational goals within the cultural background, (Jackson Associates, 1992). It is because of equal opportunity employment laws that companies have focused on ensuring equal access to jobs. With a population attempt towards high technology and knowledge-based economy; foreign ability are tempt to share their expertise in these areas. Thus human resource managers have to undergo cultural-based human resource management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. 2.6 Achieving Equality and diversity Approach The diversity approaches argue that diverse workgroups generate wealthier ideas and solutions than homogenous groups where benefits of diversity management include a greater concern for socially responsible behavior in organisations and more flexibility in organizational policies, (Wentling Palma-Rivas, 1998, p.237). Ross Schneider (1992, p.49) discussed the fundamental perspective from equality to diversity that employers will find competitive advantage in encouraging diversity at work. Equal opportunities should become internally driven not externally imposed and focused on individuals where the responsibility of all. Fredman (2001) observes that traditionally equality laws have been informed by neutrality, individualism and promotion of autonomy principles. These principles aim to ensure that people are treated in the same way and appear to be the most consideration in the UK anti-discrimination framework which is an approach to workplace equality based on achieving fairness. Walsh (2007) in her analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey findings points out that womens representation in senior management in UK workplaces had only marginally improved by 2 percent between 1998 and 2004. So diversity is a concept which recognises the benefits to be gained from differences and equal opportunity has traditionally been a concept, which sought to legislate against discrimination. These two concepts have the following characteristics:. Those characteristics suggest that how organisations can move from where most are at present to a situation in which diversity enters the majority. 2.7 How the Diversity Concept has developed Changes in the social and economic landscape led to legislation covering equal pay, sex and racial discrimination in the 1970s, followed by disability laws in the 1990s, (Daniels Macdonald, 2005). More recently discrimination of sexual orientation and religion has been added by the law. By 1990s, it was being recognised that they had limited success in achieving their goals. At around the same time, researchers were also finding that culturally diverse teams were more creative than homogenous teams and contributed more effectively to meeting organisational goals. Three separate commissions have promoted equality and particular aspects of the legislation: the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission. From October 2007, a new Equality and Human Rights Commission has been established to cover all equality issues as well as of human rights, from (CIPD, 2007). From the recent survey, unemployment is twice as high among people from ethnic minorities, although in UK relatively more Asian and Black African graduates than white graduates where only 12 percent of white men are in professional occupations. Statistical survey found that 41 percent of white women in employment work part-time but only 7 percent of white men and as opposed to 38 percent of Bangladeshi men, (http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys). 2.8 Diversity Policy Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. The perspectives of diversity policy may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams in the organisation. 2.8.1 The Business Issues Equal opportunities are often seen as meaning treating everyone in exactly the same way. Kandola (2006) argued that the social justice and business issues for diversity are complementary because unless people are treated fairly at work they will therefore under-perform. But diversity takes equality forward and evidence indicates that organisations that are serious about diversity show better overall financial performance. Diversity policies also help organisations to create an environment in which people from all backgrounds can work together. 2.8.2 People Issues People are aspiring to work for employers with good employment practices and feel valued at work place. Dowling et al. (1999, p.262) states that to be competitive organisations need to derive the best contributions from everyone and need to create an inclusive workplace culture in which everyone feels valued. The HRM aspects are operating different countries as a way of illustrating the situation that may confront multinationals attempting to penetrate developing markets. 2.9 The Nature of Diversity in Decision-Making Teams Many organisations use the term diversity to refer only to demographic differences among employees, with gender, ethnicity and age being the dimensions of greatest concern. Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. Diversity may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams. 2.9.1 Gender Diversity Gender diversity in teams may indicate the extent to which team members form same gender relationships outside the team. Studies on social networks suggest that employees form relationships with each other based on their gender. In a study of male and female managers in an advertising firm, Ibarra (1995) found that men and women formed same gender networks that served both social and instrumental goals. 2.9.2 Ethnicity Diversity Social identity and organisational demography suggests that people are preferred to interact with members of their own identity group rather than with members of other groups. Where white males tend to perform in higher positions, (Chow Crawford, 2004) females and ethnic minorities tend to occupy more junior positions. Experiences of racism shared by women and members of different ethnic groups affect their attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. 2.9.3 Age Diversity People within age groups share common experiences, attitudes and values (Lawrence, 1988), a persons age can act as an indication that triggers social categorization processes and promotes communication among group members. Descriptions of workforce demographics usually emphasize the fact that the average age of the work force is increasing but the distribution of ages represented in the workforce is also changing. Following figure showing age distribution where non-white groups are younger: White groups have an older age structure where the mixed group had the youngest age structure 50 percent were under the aged of 16. The Bangladeshi, other Black and Pakistani groups also had young age structures of 38 percent were aged 16. This was almost double the proportion of the White British group, where 20 percent were under the age of 16. 2.10 Managing Diversity is Different from Affirmative Action Managing diversity focuses on maximizing the ability of all employees to contribute to organisational goals. Affirmative action focuses on specific groups because of historical discrimination, such as people of colour and women, (Kravitz Klineberg, 2000). Affirmative action emphasizes legal necessity and social responsibility where managing diversity emphasizes business necessity. So it is much more inclusive and acknowledges that diversity must work for everyone. Affirmative actions having the employer take actions in recruitment, hiring, promotions and compensation to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action is still a significant workplace issue today. The incidence of major court-mandated affirmative action is down, but courts still use them. Furthermore, many employers must still engage in voluntary programs. For example, executive order 11246 (issued in 1965) requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for groups such as women and racial minorities. EEO 11246 covers about 26 million workers about 22 percent of the US workforce, (Dessler 2008, p.63). 2.11 Organisational Context Managerial approaches to diversity will inevitably be informed by the specific organisational context. Attracting different types of people to an organisation will be determined by peoples perceptions of the industry in which the organisation operates. The image and reputation of the organisation as an employer will affect the types of people attracted to the organisation, (Markwick Fill, 1997). The maternity and children specialist retailer who came 18th in the 2008 Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For list attribute their ranking to a number of factors to their employer brand. These include an emphasis on work-life balance, flexible working, better than average maternity pay and leave. These argue helps to attract and retain staff especially female employees, (Leopold Harris, 2009). If an organisation is able to employ a diverse workforce, the extent to which these individual differences are recognised in employment practices will be significantly affected by the size and structure of the organisation. 2.12 Diversity in Multinational Companies As more and more organisations become global and people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds work together, the need for multicultural understanding becoming obvious to many organisation. Harris et al. (2003, p.25) referred that a multinational team would be much stronger in communication which is vital aspect in business. Most of the multinational company gives priority to work with diversity people as a result they are success in international market. Ansari Jackson (1995, p.12) described, multicultural teams led to more people from different culture and ethnic intermarrying. Globalisation and advances in communication and technology have reduced trade barriers and increased interaction among people. Companies and leaders who recognise the cultural diversity and find the right cultural mixture among the team can achieve comparative advantages. To understand how diversity is managed in multinational company, in that case need to understand the concept of corporate culture which describe the organisational diversity programs and how to minimize conflict between employees. 2.13 Why Culture Counts According to Mattock (1999) organisations have moved on from international to multinational to global. Multicultural teams have become very common in recent years. With cross border mobility becoming much easier the number of people moving from one country to another has grown significantly. As a manager need to successful interaction with others like sharing ideas, their needs and helping to improve performance, where need to consider cultural context. A diverse multi cultural work place enables a company to handle diverse projects. Erlenkamp (2007, p.7) found, in the last decades many scientist tried to define intercultural difference to enhance the communication between different cultures. ââ¬ËThe most important studies were conducted by Geert Hofstede, Edward Hall and Fons Trompenaars, that shows the importance of multicultural workforce and HRM of many organisations do study these theories to implement it in their employee training. 2.14 Understanding Cross-Cultural Communication Language issues can develop into a source of conflict and inequality within culturally diverse organisations becomes more and more multicultural, (Ansari Jackson 1995). In the international business environment of today and tomorrow communication is a business necessity Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the research on ââ¬Å"How can international human resources managers effectively manage diversity in multinational company?â⬠- Case study Tesco. The company overview of Tesco in UK, background of the research, organisation background, rationale statement, research questions, and purpose of the research conducted the aim and objectives of the research identified by researcher. The structure of the dissertation is described at the end of the chapter. 1.1 Background of the Research 1.1.1 Managing Diversity Managing diversity means maximizing diversitys potential benefits such as greater cultural awareness and broader language skills, while minimizing the potential barriers such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the companys performance. Dessler (2008, p.61) referred to diversity as potentially a double-edged sword. Generally diversity refers to the variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a companys workforce, in terms of race, sex, culture, national origin, age and religion. Many organisations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing link between how the human resource managers deal with diversity and its impact on the organisation is a diversity strategy that is executed using a planned approach to systemically manage diversity (Leopold Harris 2009). The increasing diversity and changing demographics of the UK workforce, the expansion of anti-discrimination legislation, legal rights for individuals with caring responsibilities and government policy commitment to the work-life balance have created new challenges for employers across employment sectors. This research explores some of the issues that arise for employers, managers and employees in the development and application of multinational organisational human resourcing policies which are intended to promote equality of treatment and recognize diversity in the workforce. The 2004 WERS survey (Kersley et al., 2006) found that 73 percent of workplaces had a final written equal opportunities policy or a policy on managing diversity compared to 64 percent in 1998. This figure increased to 98 percent in the public sector (97 percent in 1998) with the incidence of formal policy being higher in large workplaces which means that most employees work in establishments with a formal poli cy. This was evident in the 2007 CIPD annual recruitment and retention survey which revealed that only half of the 905 participating organisations had a formal diversity strategy although again the public sector is more proactive with 83 percent reporting a strategic approach to diversity (CIPD, 2007 a). Todays business and service organisations are meeting the challenge which demands systematic efforts, as many of them have come to realize. Whether the multi-cultural character of the organisation arises from its international workforce and its local operations in various countries, from the mixed backgrounds of a workforce in a single location, the organisation must address this diversity if it is to be successful. Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, values, beliefs, customs, traditions and attitudes that are shared by an organisations members. Learn about their culture and how it shaped them, and aim to understand how other culture work that can be an effective global manager. 1.2 Organisation Background In this research, selected company will be Tesco Metro (Whitton, Branch) London outlet where different cultural people working. Tesco is one of the UKs major retail supermarkets. Tesco is an international retailer where there are working different countries and cross-cultural people. This research is a collection of how the Tesco Company has used diversity to support their business goals and valuable learning and what makes good diversity practice. Tesco is the fastest and largest growing retail chain in UK as well as international arena. Tesco started its journey in 1919 in the East End of London. As a result, Tesco came as a national store across the country in 1970. To beat others and to reach top Tesco brings more innovative idea and implemented those from 1992 to 2004 like slogan ââ¬Å"every little helpâ⬠, Tesco value, Club card, 24 hours service, Online service and so on (A history of Tesco: The rise of Britains biggest supermarket). Tesco is operating in the UK set its position as a market leader with over à £2 billion of profit with total 3728 stores around the world, where in the UK 2,306 stores and employing over 286,394 staff. It provides online services through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The UK is the companys largest market where it operates under four banners of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. The company sells almost 40,000 food products, including clothing and other non-foods lines. The companys own-label products (50 percent of sales) are at three levels; value, normal and finest. As well as convenience produce many stores have gas stations, becoming one of Britains largest independent petrol retailers (Tesco Annual Report Review, 2009). According to market share Tescos positions in number one in UK and third position around the world. Tesco is the market leader with 30.40% (March, 09) of market share though its lost a bit of market share 0.5% in recent year due to credit crunch. Tesco market s hare is nearly two times higher than other retail shop like Asda (17.5%), Sainsbury (16.1%). (Retail Analysis) Tesco has a very friendly and supporting approach in the routine ways that staffs at Tesco behave towards each other, and towards those outside the company that can make up the ways people do things, where at great place to work. The control systems and measurements are constantly under the management review to monitor the efficiency of the staff and managers decisions. On-going meetings and communication at every level of the companys hierarchy represent a strong internal environment (Tescos Value and Strategy). Cultural web theory application (The cultural web theory is also an effective analysis for management in order to represent the underlying assumptions linked to political, symbolic and structural aspect of the company) is a useful tool in considering the cultural context for Tescos business (Tescos Value and Strategy). Culture generally tends to consist of layers of values, beliefs and taken for-granted actions and ways of doing business within and outside the company. Therefore, the concept of cultural web is the representation of these actions taken for granted for understanding how they connect and influence the strategy (Veliyath and Fitzgerald, 2000; Johnson and Scholes, 2003). It is also useful to understand and characterise both the companys culture and the subcultures in adaptation of future strategies. 1.3 Rationale statement Generally, a self assessment for international human resource managers is to evaluate and improve their global management skills. But it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must manage with working across geographic and cultural areas; understand how issues of managing diversity inform and influence human resource strategies and evaluate the respective responsibilities of international human resource managers for managing diversity policies and practices. The key concept of managing diversity accepts that different cultural workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity management can recognize a wide range of individual differences and benefits to the employment relationship to individual needs which can lead to the organisational competitive advantage. This research explores the key principle of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Tesco Metro (Whitton Branch) London. The researcher intends that how managers mange working with diversity people in workplace in Tesco, whereas equal opportunity focuses on different ethnic groups. 1.4 Research Questions As human resource manager in a multinational company needs to consider the following major issues: 1. How people manage a group of different culture people? 2. What is the communication within work? 3. How do the managers manage diversity and equal opportunity within the service? 4. How can the manager influence teams performance? 5. How can the manager help people learn and develop? 6. How can the manager help people to manage change? 7. How he is motivating people? 8. How can the manager handle equal opportunity? 9. What strategy managers should apply to get a good result from employees? How a human resource manager can handle all those areas and successfully the organisations mission with different countrys people. 1.5 Purpose of the Research 1.5.1 Research Aim The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the competitive advantage of the organization that are managing people as assets which are fundamental. And to examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in the particular way of human resource managers to manage work with different culture people. Tesco has been used as a case study in this dissertation. 1.5.2 Research Objectives 1) An international human resource managers needs to know the way of managing people in the organisation. An overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment which will be include at diversity issues and international human resource management policies. 2) To observe a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social peoples. 3) For an organisation to succeed on a global scale, radical shifts in business procedures are required. To become a successful global manager is to develop a global outlook. 4) A global manager needs to know what point an organisation has reached in the globalization process, and where it wants to go. Understand the process and recognize the strategies that will give the organisation a global advantage. 5) Understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. 6) Recruiting, and selecting the right people. This research will disclose some essential factors which help organisations to maintain their diversity effectively within the organisation and make a fair working environment of employees within the organisation. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation The dissertation report has been structured into the following chapters. Chapter 1: This provides an introduction to the research, where justification of the research is presented and the purpose of the research is explained. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors who have discussed relevant existing theories and policy of diversity and the different interpretations of diversity management which is based on secondary data. Those relevant theories and policy will help to find out the appropriate analyse of the following research. Chapter 3: The third chapter will discuss the research methodology. Research method presents the research philosophy, approach and sampling, data collection procedures and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. This chapter also explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the research approach. Chapter 4: This chapter contains the analysis and findings. This part of dissertation informed the research findings quantitatively with the help of constructed research model and research hypotheses. It also shows the data gathered in the company through interview and questionnaire of Tescos managers and employees, and analysis the data to provide a productive meaning of the research finding. Chapter 5: This chapter encloses the conclusion of the dissertation within the research questions and objectives, describe limitation of research and recommends opportunity for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted theoretical exploration of the existing knowledge that is relevant to the diversity area. This chapter also focuses on similar and contrasting perspectives that researchers have used to approach this research areas. 2.2 What is Diversity Diversity means relating and working with people who hold different perspectives and views and bringing different qualities to the workplace. According to (Kandola Fullerton 1994, p.19) diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include age, background, race, sex, disability, personality and lifestyle. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance, means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, age, gender, ethnicity, sex, disability, religious beliefs, and political views and so on. It is also exploration of these differences in a safe positive and development organizational environment. As the Wall Street Journal (2005) put about diversity, as companies do more and more business around the world, diversity is simple a matter of doing what is fair or good public relations which is a business imperative but diversity is supposed to enrich an organisations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. Brewster (2002) defined that managing diversity tries to build specific skills and to create policies that derive the best from each employee and it is based on the assumption that diverse groups will create new ways of working together and have understanding in that group, profit and productivity will increase in the organisation. Where he found, diversity management is fast becoming a management approach that is being applied effectively within the organizations. 2.3 Benefits of Diversity Diversity needs to be seen as an integral part of the business plan, essential to successful products and increased sales. This is especially true in todays global marketplace, as organizations interact with different cultures and people. Kandola Fullerton (1998) identified the possible areas of diversity benefits, these are: a) Creativity increases when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution and the more ideas can obtain from different people. b) Productivity increases when people are from all cultures pull together towards a single inspiring goal. Increased productivity is an obvious advantage of diversity in the workplace. c) Provide strong leadership they take strong stands on advocating the need for a diverse workforce and can handle effectively different cultural people. d) New attitudes are brought to the business by people from diverse cultures. In most other countries around the world time is for building relationships and an integral part of getting to know that are considering doing business with before starting a transaction. e) Provide diversity training and education are obviously needed in todays increasingly global market and diverse employees often have this ability. Every company needs specific knowledge or language skills where the international job seekers have the advantage. f) New processes when people are with different ideas come together and collaborate. In todays first moving world, employee must bring multiple skills to the working environment and adapt quickly to new situations. (Harris et al. 2003) International human resource manager can make organisations more successful and productive by managing diversity in the work place. Diversity brings real benefits to business environment where employing a diverse workforce enables it to use a wider range of skills and lead to creativity and innovation. 2.4 Human Resource (HR) Policies HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled. The aim is to ensure that any HR issues are dealt with the values of the organisation with certain principles. Armstrong (2009) defined the philosophies and values of the organisation on how people should be treated and all organisations have HR policies. HR policies can be expressed formally as overall statements of the values of the organisation or in specific areas. Kandola Fullerton (1994), these values are espoused by many organizations in one form or another. HR policy on managing diversity recognizes that there are differences among employees and properly managed where will enable work to be more effectively. 2.5 Managing Workforce Diversity Legislation and the high profile of equal opportunities in the UK has had both positive and negative effects on the way people view each other, (Barker, 2000). On the one hand, there is now widespread recognition that discrimination at work on the grounds of gender, race or ability alone is unjust, although the practice still continues. However, the grouping of minorities such as women or ethnic or disabled has produced responses. More recent thinking has moved towards ââ¬Ëmanaging diversity-recognizing and valuing differences in people and their unique contributions to the workforce. Managing diversity involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth. This requires the company to develop employees that they are comfortable working with others from a variety of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. Noe et al. (2003) found that managing diversity may require changing the company culture. It includes the companys standards and how employees are treated, competitiveness, innovation and risk taking. Where management of diversity has been linked to innovation, improved productivity, lower employee turnover and other costs related to human resources, (Cox, 1993, p.24). Price (1997, p.265) noted that the management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity instead of allowing a greater range of people the opportunity to ââ¬Ëfit in the concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their differences and variety. Diversity perceived to enrich an organisations human capital. Whereas equal opportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is about individuals and model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. According to Harvard Business Review, managing diversity does not mean controlling or containing diversity, it means enabling every member of workforce to perform to their potential and getting from employees; everything right to expect and if it is well then thing they have to give, (Thomas, 2001). The future success of any organisations relies on the ability to manage a diverse of capacity that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organisational asset if an organisation is able to make the most of diverse talents. Especially for multinational companies, who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be aware and may utilize a Think Global, Act Local approach in most circumstances, (Jackson, 2002). The goals of diversity training are eliminate values and managerial practices that restrain employees personal development and allow employees to contribute to organisational goals within the cultural background, (Jackson Associates, 1992). It is because of equal opportunity employment laws that companies have focused on ensuring equal access to jobs. With a population attempt towards high technology and knowledge-based economy; foreign ability are tempt to share their expertise in these areas. Thus human resource managers have to undergo cultural-based human resource management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. 2.6 Achieving Equality and diversity Approach The diversity approaches argue that diverse workgroups generate wealthier ideas and solutions than homogenous groups where benefits of diversity management include a greater concern for socially responsible behavior in organisations and more flexibility in organizational policies, (Wentling Palma-Rivas, 1998, p.237). Ross Schneider (1992, p.49) discussed the fundamental perspective from equality to diversity that employers will find competitive advantage in encouraging diversity at work. Equal opportunities should become internally driven not externally imposed and focused on individuals where the responsibility of all. Fredman (2001) observes that traditionally equality laws have been informed by neutrality, individualism and promotion of autonomy principles. These principles aim to ensure that people are treated in the same way and appear to be the most consideration in the UK anti-discrimination framework which is an approach to workplace equality based on achieving fairness. Walsh (2007) in her analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey findings points out that womens representation in senior management in UK workplaces had only marginally improved by 2 percent between 1998 and 2004. So diversity is a concept which recognises the benefits to be gained from differences and equal opportunity has traditionally been a concept, which sought to legislate against discrimination. These two concepts have the following characteristics:. Those characteristics suggest that how organisations can move from where most are at present to a situation in which diversity enters the majority. 2.7 How the Diversity Concept has developed Changes in the social and economic landscape led to legislation covering equal pay, sex and racial discrimination in the 1970s, followed by disability laws in the 1990s, (Daniels Macdonald, 2005). More recently discrimination of sexual orientation and religion has been added by the law. By 1990s, it was being recognised that they had limited success in achieving their goals. At around the same time, researchers were also finding that culturally diverse teams were more creative than homogenous teams and contributed more effectively to meeting organisational goals. Three separate commissions have promoted equality and particular aspects of the legislation: the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission. From October 2007, a new Equality and Human Rights Commission has been established to cover all equality issues as well as of human rights, from (CIPD, 2007). From the recent survey, unemployment is twice as high among people from ethnic minorities, although in UK relatively more Asian and Black African graduates than white graduates where only 12 percent of white men are in professional occupations. Statistical survey found that 41 percent of white women in employment work part-time but only 7 percent of white men and as opposed to 38 percent of Bangladeshi men, (http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys). 2.8 Diversity Policy Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. The perspectives of diversity policy may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams in the organisation. 2.8.1 The Business Issues Equal opportunities are often seen as meaning treating everyone in exactly the same way. Kandola (2006) argued that the social justice and business issues for diversity are complementary because unless people are treated fairly at work they will therefore under-perform. But diversity takes equality forward and evidence indicates that organisations that are serious about diversity show better overall financial performance. Diversity policies also help organisations to create an environment in which people from all backgrounds can work together. 2.8.2 People Issues People are aspiring to work for employers with good employment practices and feel valued at work place. Dowling et al. (1999, p.262) states that to be competitive organisations need to derive the best contributions from everyone and need to create an inclusive workplace culture in which everyone feels valued. The HRM aspects are operating different countries as a way of illustrating the situation that may confront multinationals attempting to penetrate developing markets. 2.9 The Nature of Diversity in Decision-Making Teams Many organisations use the term diversity to refer only to demographic differences among employees, with gender, ethnicity and age being the dimensions of greatest concern. Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. Diversity may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams. 2.9.1 Gender Diversity Gender diversity in teams may indicate the extent to which team members form same gender relationships outside the team. Studies on social networks suggest that employees form relationships with each other based on their gender. In a study of male and female managers in an advertising firm, Ibarra (1995) found that men and women formed same gender networks that served both social and instrumental goals. 2.9.2 Ethnicity Diversity Social identity and organisational demography suggests that people are preferred to interact with members of their own identity group rather than with members of other groups. Where white males tend to perform in higher positions, (Chow Crawford, 2004) females and ethnic minorities tend to occupy more junior positions. Experiences of racism shared by women and members of different ethnic groups affect their attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. 2.9.3 Age Diversity People within age groups share common experiences, attitudes and values (Lawrence, 1988), a persons age can act as an indication that triggers social categorization processes and promotes communication among group members. Descriptions of workforce demographics usually emphasize the fact that the average age of the work force is increasing but the distribution of ages represented in the workforce is also changing. Following figure showing age distribution where non-white groups are younger: White groups have an older age structure where the mixed group had the youngest age structure 50 percent were under the aged of 16. The Bangladeshi, other Black and Pakistani groups also had young age structures of 38 percent were aged 16. This was almost double the proportion of the White British group, where 20 percent were under the age of 16. 2.10 Managing Diversity is Different from Affirmative Action Managing diversity focuses on maximizing the ability of all employees to contribute to organisational goals. Affirmative action focuses on specific groups because of historical discrimination, such as people of colour and women, (Kravitz Klineberg, 2000). Affirmative action emphasizes legal necessity and social responsibility where managing diversity emphasizes business necessity. So it is much more inclusive and acknowledges that diversity must work for everyone. Affirmative actions having the employer take actions in recruitment, hiring, promotions and compensation to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action is still a significant workplace issue today. The incidence of major court-mandated affirmative action is down, but courts still use them. Furthermore, many employers must still engage in voluntary programs. For example, executive order 11246 (issued in 1965) requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for groups such as women and racial minorities. EEO 11246 covers about 26 million workers about 22 percent of the US workforce, (Dessler 2008, p.63). 2.11 Organisational Context Managerial approaches to diversity will inevitably be informed by the specific organisational context. Attracting different types of people to an organisation will be determined by peoples perceptions of the industry in which the organisation operates. The image and reputation of the organisation as an employer will affect the types of people attracted to the organisation, (Markwick Fill, 1997). The maternity and children specialist retailer who came 18th in the 2008 Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For list attribute their ranking to a number of factors to their employer brand. These include an emphasis on work-life balance, flexible working, better than average maternity pay and leave. These argue helps to attract and retain staff especially female employees, (Leopold Harris, 2009). If an organisation is able to employ a diverse workforce, the extent to which these individual differences are recognised in employment practices will be significantly affected by the size and structure of the organisation. 2.12 Diversity in Multinational Companies As more and more organisations become global and people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds work together, the need for multicultural understanding becoming obvious to many organisation. Harris et al. (2003, p.25) referred that a multinational team would be much stronger in communication which is vital aspect in business. Most of the multinational company gives priority to work with diversity people as a result they are success in international market. Ansari Jackson (1995, p.12) described, multicultural teams led to more people from different culture and ethnic intermarrying. Globalisation and advances in communication and technology have reduced trade barriers and increased interaction among people. Companies and leaders who recognise the cultural diversity and find the right cultural mixture among the team can achieve comparative advantages. To understand how diversity is managed in multinational company, in that case need to understand the concept of corporate culture which describe the organisational diversity programs and how to minimize conflict between employees. 2.13 Why Culture Counts According to Mattock (1999) organisations have moved on from international to multinational to global. Multicultural teams have become very common in recent years. With cross border mobility becoming much easier the number of people moving from one country to another has grown significantly. As a manager need to successful interaction with others like sharing ideas, their needs and helping to improve performance, where need to consider cultural context. A diverse multi cultural work place enables a company to handle diverse projects. Erlenkamp (2007, p.7) found, in the last decades many scientist tried to define intercultural difference to enhance the communication between different cultures. ââ¬ËThe most important studies were conducted by Geert Hofstede, Edward Hall and Fons Trompenaars, that shows the importance of multicultural workforce and HRM of many organisations do study these theories to implement it in their employee training. 2.14 Understanding Cross-Cultural Communication Language issues can develop into a source of conflict and inequality within culturally diverse organisations becomes more and more multicultural, (Ansari Jackson 1995). In the international business environment of today and tomorrow communication is a business necessity
Friday, October 25, 2019
Animal Testing Essay -- Animal Testing
Animal Testing Speaking Outline: Animal Testing Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience about the three major ways of how scientific experiments on animal is inhumane. Introduction I. Put yourself into an animalââ¬â¢s position. Imagine that you are being poked and probed by needles for the benefits of humans. II. Animals are being abuse more and more everyday in scientific experiments. III. I have pets and Iââ¬â¢m against animal testing, so knowing that animals are used in research is appalling. IV. Some research and scientific experiments are impractical and immoral. Animals are being overly abuse. V. Today, I am going to discuss to you about the three major ways of how scientific experiments on animal is inhumane: there is unnecessary abuse, it is unethical, and most of the experiments are unneeded. Body I. The first major way of how scientific experiments on animals are inhumane is the unnecessary abuse. A. Animals are in an unnatural environment. 1. They are constantly being locked up, so they canââ¬â¢t grow normally like others in their species. B. Animals are injected with unnatural, man-made chemicals. 1. The Environmental Protection Agency plan to do a test to evaluate the effects of industrial chemicals on the human hormonal system by looking at animals reproductive system. a. Between 600,000 and 1.2 million animals will be killed for every 1,000 chemical tested. b. They estimated that between 5,000 and 87,000 chemicals would be tested. c. Thereââ¬â¢s a non-animal screening...
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Film Music – Crash
CRITICAL STUDIES: Film Music Assessment 1: Research Essay Crash (2004) ââ¬â Composer: Mark Isham Crash is a film directed by Paul Haggis and was released in 2004. The film depicts various social and political themes, the strongest being the issue of racism in the larger societies of the US. Mark Isham composed the score for the film; his work mostly consisting of smooth, ethereal and other-worldly sounds.The scene in analysis consists of a car crash in which Officer John Ryan, a racist white cop who tries to save a black woman from her upturned car, his attempt in rescuing her being delayed as he realises that she is the woman he had sexually abused the night before. Mark Isham was born in New York City, USA. He grew up learning to play classical piano, violin and trumpet. He played jazz trumpet whilst in high school and ventured on to electronic music in his early 20s.He had simultaneous careers as a classical, jazz and rock musician, performing with acts such as the San Fransis co Opera, The Beach Boys, the famous jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders and co-lead Rubisa Patrol with pianist Art Lande. In 1979, he formed the Group 87 ensemble with Peter Mannu, Patrick Oââ¬â¢Hearn and Terry Bozzio, in which they released a self-titled debut album a year later and A Career in Dada Processing four years after. He also recorded and toured with Van Morrisonââ¬â¢s band, playing trumpet and flugelhorn. (Oxford Online)Mark Isham started to develop his compositional skills in the 80s, using brass, electronics and his own trumpet. His work is quite extensive and can be heard in films, documentaries and childrenââ¬â¢s fairytales. Some films in which heââ¬â¢s worked in are The Times of Harvey Milk, Made In America, The Net, Kiss the Girls, Blade, Rules of Engagement and many moreâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦.. Paul Haggisââ¬â¢s Crash is a film which delved into the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ or racist attitudes that people have about others, in a larger society of the USA. The filmââ¬â¢s foundation is the exploration of racism and how peopleââ¬â¢s cultural prejudices affects the lives of those around them.The film maintains its narrative around different characters, their lives, and these characters intertwining with the lives of the other characters. The main characters are: two young black car thieves, one of these young men is the missing brother of a black detective whoââ¬â¢s partner is white; a black film director and his wife, his wife sexually abused by a white racist cop ââ¬â his white partner having a problem with his unethical attitudes and behaviour; a white upper class lawyer and his wife; a Persian family who owns a store in which is robbed and vandalised and a Latino man, his wife and daughter.This film is set in a postmodern, post-civil rights, postracial, postfeminist, post-9/11 U. S. culture and so the various racial, social and cultural themes presented within Crash are a reflection of Haggisââ¬â¢ bold gesture to inform and challenge audiences about the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ and cultural differences that everyone has. (Middleton, J. I, 2007) The scene in analysis is a scene in which a racist white cop Officer John Ryan gets to a crash scene and realises that the victim in the upturned car is Christine, the black woman he had wrongfully abused the night before.Her distress is heightened when she realises that he is the one who had abused her and his attempt in rescuing her is delayed and strived. The music in this excerpt is ethereal, haunting and ethereal, Ishamââ¬â¢s use of electronics and ethnic sounds enables the audience to experience the emotions and journey of the characters on screen. The scene begins with the police car making its way towards the crash site. The cue in this instant consists of thick textured and ethereal string/ pad or electronic sounds which overall create an ambient and otherworldly atmosphere, which essentially remains consistent throughout the entire scen e.As they get to the crash scene and Officer John Ryan gets out of the car, the sustained string/ pad sound changes harmony and is played in a higher register, the piano being struck with sustain and repeats the same note, driving the action and momentum forward on screen and also mirrors what is happening on screen, that is, John running to the upturned car. This change in feel; this uplifting, bright and ethereal music can also be indicative of Johnââ¬â¢s expected values that he is to uphold as a police officer, that is, bringing justice, helping people and protecting the people within his society.Furthermore, the smooth and ethereal score also illustrates not only the nobility of the values he is to uphold as a police officer, but also foreshadows the nobility and strength of character he is about to portray in the upcoming moments of attempting to rescue Christine. One can also say that it foreshadows the potential change of heart and perspective he undergoes as he encounters Christine and saves her life. As he is running towards the car, the music is dominant; the sound effects are sparse and soft, and so the music directly illustrates Johnââ¬â¢s desperation in getting to the car and also outlines his strength of character.Sound effects are heard in full when he reaches the car and he is contact with Christine and engages with dialogue. Obviously, the sound effects and the dialogue are heard as well the score, to engage the audience and reinforce the gravity of the situation and allows for the audience to empathise with both of the charactersââ¬â¢ situations. The female voice is heard as soon as he reaches the car and engages with Christine. The female voice is singing in a foreign language, and is smooth, soft, tender and ethereal in tone and timbre.The female voice, in a way, is a portrayal of the shared experience of John and Christine. A single bass drum sound, like a timpani, is struck when Christine looks up and realises that itââ¬â¢s Jo hn whoââ¬â¢s attempting to rescue her. The single hit of the bass drum reinforces her distress when the realisation of John being there occurs. Rather than feeling relieved that someoneââ¬â¢s there to help her, her distress and fear dramatically increases due to what he had done to her the night before.When he asks to reach across her lap to free her from the seatbelt and she agrees, the viewer can hear a change in tone and atmosphere in the music. The female voice is absent and it becomes gentler in dynamics and thinner in texture with only the sustained electronic sounds and the piano playing notes in the higher register, sounding almost bell-like. The tension is broken as she realises the magnitude of her situation and allows him to come closer to her.The music therefore parallels the softening of the tension and drama, also portraying the understanding between the two characters. The female voice being absent is significant as it allows the viewer to engage with the emotio ns and experiences of the characters, also allowing the viewer to appreciate the change of hearts in both characters. The repetition of the same chord which is created by the synths, forewarn the viewer of the coming danger as the shot of the gasoline travelling closer to the car is seen and the female voice comes back in.This creates a feeling of suspense, even amongst the ethereal sounds of the electronic sounds. The music is therefore fuller in texture, symbolising added elements of danger on the screen and brings the viewer back to the drama and action of what is happening around them. The fuller texture is contrasting to the thinner texture of the music played in the moment between John and Christine, the fuller texture illustrating the outside world and the thinner texture representing the change process within each character.In the following sequence, the gasoline alights and explodes around the car, and John is pulled out and Christine is left in the car. The viewer can see Christine screaming and John shouting as he is pulled out of the car, which is now surrounded by fire. All the dialogue and sound effects are muted in this instant, therefore the ethereal music and the female vocals are dominant, which serves to highlight the emotional aspects of the scene, that is, Christineââ¬â¢s distress and hysteria and Johnââ¬â¢s desperation in rescuing her.The repeated chords re-occur as John goes back in to pull Christine out, the dialogue suddenly heard as he says ââ¬ËPull! ââ¬â¢ in which then, the sound effects are heard again. These repeated chords are indicative of moving action that is, moving nearer to the subject on the screen, first with the gasoline coming towards the car, and then with John coming towards Christine to rescue her. It helps drive the action and prompts momentum on screen. The repeated chords are then consistently played throughout the scenes where Christine is pulled out of the car and theyââ¬â¢re safe from harm.However , these chords are played by the piano and are different in timbre ââ¬â theyââ¬â¢re softer, light and gentler in sound and blend in with the sustained electronic sounds in the background. It creates a layer of constant sound and represents the charactersââ¬â¢ overall freedom, not only from the physical danger but from the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ they had of each other. The female vocals are still heard once theyââ¬â¢re free from the car, finally stopping just before John and Christine embrace, and John comforts her.The female vocals are important as it symbolises the two characters sharing the experience and also their need of each other at that particular time. The vocals end just before the embrace as it has completed its purpose, in that it helped the characters through the situation achieve self-realisation: John redeeming himself in his act of selflessness and finding his strength of character and Christine allowing herself to be vulnerable and accept help from o thers; the embrace representative of the end of their journey.Isham talks about the score and states that certain scenes can come off as truly horrendous, and I felt like the music had to help you through the movie and be like a shepherding handâ⬠¦ A friend of mine described theà scoreà as being like a guardian angel and there was a sense we had that that was what theà scoreà needed to do. (Bond, 2005) In conclusion, from the above quote, itââ¬â¢s clear that the cue acted as a guide for the characters on screen.This particular excerpt of the film is rather serious and distressing, yet the underscore for these sequences is overall tender, smooth and ethereal. This contrast in music and action on screen is effective in that the marriage of these two things help tell the narrative, explore the emotions of the main characters and engage and evoke the emotions of the filmââ¬â¢s viewers. Film Music ââ¬â Crash CRITICAL STUDIES: Film Music Assessment 1: Research Essay Crash (2004) ââ¬â Composer: Mark Isham Crash is a film directed by Paul Haggis and was released in 2004. The film depicts various social and political themes, the strongest being the issue of racism in the larger societies of the US. Mark Isham composed the score for the film; his work mostly consisting of smooth, ethereal and other-worldly sounds.The scene in analysis consists of a car crash in which Officer John Ryan, a racist white cop who tries to save a black woman from her upturned car, his attempt in rescuing her being delayed as he realises that she is the woman he had sexually abused the night before. Mark Isham was born in New York City, USA. He grew up learning to play classical piano, violin and trumpet. He played jazz trumpet whilst in high school and ventured on to electronic music in his early 20s.He had simultaneous careers as a classical, jazz and rock musician, performing with acts such as the San Fransis co Opera, The Beach Boys, the famous jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders and co-lead Rubisa Patrol with pianist Art Lande. In 1979, he formed the Group 87 ensemble with Peter Mannu, Patrick Oââ¬â¢Hearn and Terry Bozzio, in which they released a self-titled debut album a year later and A Career in Dada Processing four years after. He also recorded and toured with Van Morrisonââ¬â¢s band, playing trumpet and flugelhorn. (Oxford Online)Mark Isham started to develop his compositional skills in the 80s, using brass, electronics and his own trumpet. His work is quite extensive and can be heard in films, documentaries and childrenââ¬â¢s fairytales. Some films in which heââ¬â¢s worked in are The Times of Harvey Milk, Made In America, The Net, Kiss the Girls, Blade, Rules of Engagement and many moreâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦Ã¢â¬ ¦.. Paul Haggisââ¬â¢s Crash is a film which delved into the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ or racist attitudes that people have about others, in a larger society of the USA. The filmââ¬â¢s foundation is the exploration of racism and how peopleââ¬â¢s cultural prejudices affects the lives of those around them.The film maintains its narrative around different characters, their lives, and these characters intertwining with the lives of the other characters. The main characters are: two young black car thieves, one of these young men is the missing brother of a black detective whoââ¬â¢s partner is white; a black film director and his wife, his wife sexually abused by a white racist cop ââ¬â his white partner having a problem with his unethical attitudes and behaviour; a white upper class lawyer and his wife; a Persian family who owns a store in which is robbed and vandalised and a Latino man, his wife and daughter.This film is set in a postmodern, post-civil rights, postracial, postfeminist, post-9/11 U. S. culture and so the various racial, social and cultural themes presented within Crash are a reflection of Haggisââ¬â¢ bold gesture to inform and challenge audiences about the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ and cultural differences that everyone has. (Middleton, J. I, 2007) The scene in analysis is a scene in which a racist white cop Officer John Ryan gets to a crash scene and realises that the victim in the upturned car is Christine, the black woman he had wrongfully abused the night before.Her distress is heightened when she realises that he is the one who had abused her and his attempt in rescuing her is delayed and strived. The music in this excerpt is ethereal, haunting and ethereal, Ishamââ¬â¢s use of electronics and ethnic sounds enables the audience to experience the emotions and journey of the characters on screen. The scene begins with the police car making its way towards the crash site. The cue in this instant consists of thick textured and ethereal string/ pad or electronic sounds which overall create an ambient and otherworldly atmosphere, which essentially remains consistent throughout the entire scen e.As they get to the crash scene and Officer John Ryan gets out of the car, the sustained string/ pad sound changes harmony and is played in a higher register, the piano being struck with sustain and repeats the same note, driving the action and momentum forward on screen and also mirrors what is happening on screen, that is, John running to the upturned car. This change in feel; this uplifting, bright and ethereal music can also be indicative of Johnââ¬â¢s expected values that he is to uphold as a police officer, that is, bringing justice, helping people and protecting the people within his society.Furthermore, the smooth and ethereal score also illustrates not only the nobility of the values he is to uphold as a police officer, but also foreshadows the nobility and strength of character he is about to portray in the upcoming moments of attempting to rescue Christine. One can also say that it foreshadows the potential change of heart and perspective he undergoes as he encounters Christine and saves her life. As he is running towards the car, the music is dominant; the sound effects are sparse and soft, and so the music directly illustrates Johnââ¬â¢s desperation in getting to the car and also outlines his strength of character.Sound effects are heard in full when he reaches the car and he is contact with Christine and engages with dialogue. Obviously, the sound effects and the dialogue are heard as well the score, to engage the audience and reinforce the gravity of the situation and allows for the audience to empathise with both of the charactersââ¬â¢ situations. The female voice is heard as soon as he reaches the car and engages with Christine. The female voice is singing in a foreign language, and is smooth, soft, tender and ethereal in tone and timbre.The female voice, in a way, is a portrayal of the shared experience of John and Christine. A single bass drum sound, like a timpani, is struck when Christine looks up and realises that itââ¬â¢s Jo hn whoââ¬â¢s attempting to rescue her. The single hit of the bass drum reinforces her distress when the realisation of John being there occurs. Rather than feeling relieved that someoneââ¬â¢s there to help her, her distress and fear dramatically increases due to what he had done to her the night before.When he asks to reach across her lap to free her from the seatbelt and she agrees, the viewer can hear a change in tone and atmosphere in the music. The female voice is absent and it becomes gentler in dynamics and thinner in texture with only the sustained electronic sounds and the piano playing notes in the higher register, sounding almost bell-like. The tension is broken as she realises the magnitude of her situation and allows him to come closer to her.The music therefore parallels the softening of the tension and drama, also portraying the understanding between the two characters. The female voice being absent is significant as it allows the viewer to engage with the emotio ns and experiences of the characters, also allowing the viewer to appreciate the change of hearts in both characters. The repetition of the same chord which is created by the synths, forewarn the viewer of the coming danger as the shot of the gasoline travelling closer to the car is seen and the female voice comes back in.This creates a feeling of suspense, even amongst the ethereal sounds of the electronic sounds. The music is therefore fuller in texture, symbolising added elements of danger on the screen and brings the viewer back to the drama and action of what is happening around them. The fuller texture is contrasting to the thinner texture of the music played in the moment between John and Christine, the fuller texture illustrating the outside world and the thinner texture representing the change process within each character.In the following sequence, the gasoline alights and explodes around the car, and John is pulled out and Christine is left in the car. The viewer can see Christine screaming and John shouting as he is pulled out of the car, which is now surrounded by fire. All the dialogue and sound effects are muted in this instant, therefore the ethereal music and the female vocals are dominant, which serves to highlight the emotional aspects of the scene, that is, Christineââ¬â¢s distress and hysteria and Johnââ¬â¢s desperation in rescuing her.The repeated chords re-occur as John goes back in to pull Christine out, the dialogue suddenly heard as he says ââ¬ËPull! ââ¬â¢ in which then, the sound effects are heard again. These repeated chords are indicative of moving action that is, moving nearer to the subject on the screen, first with the gasoline coming towards the car, and then with John coming towards Christine to rescue her. It helps drive the action and prompts momentum on screen. The repeated chords are then consistently played throughout the scenes where Christine is pulled out of the car and theyââ¬â¢re safe from harm.However , these chords are played by the piano and are different in timbre ââ¬â theyââ¬â¢re softer, light and gentler in sound and blend in with the sustained electronic sounds in the background. It creates a layer of constant sound and represents the charactersââ¬â¢ overall freedom, not only from the physical danger but from the ââ¬Ëprejudicesââ¬â¢ they had of each other. The female vocals are still heard once theyââ¬â¢re free from the car, finally stopping just before John and Christine embrace, and John comforts her.The female vocals are important as it symbolises the two characters sharing the experience and also their need of each other at that particular time. The vocals end just before the embrace as it has completed its purpose, in that it helped the characters through the situation achieve self-realisation: John redeeming himself in his act of selflessness and finding his strength of character and Christine allowing herself to be vulnerable and accept help from o thers; the embrace representative of the end of their journey.Isham talks about the score and states that certain scenes can come off as truly horrendous, and I felt like the music had to help you through the movie and be like a shepherding handâ⬠¦ A friend of mine described theà scoreà as being like a guardian angel and there was a sense we had that that was what theà scoreà needed to do. (Bond, 2005) In conclusion, from the above quote, itââ¬â¢s clear that the cue acted as a guide for the characters on screen.This particular excerpt of the film is rather serious and distressing, yet the underscore for these sequences is overall tender, smooth and ethereal. This contrast in music and action on screen is effective in that the marriage of these two things help tell the narrative, explore the emotions of the main characters and engage and evoke the emotions of the filmââ¬â¢s viewers.
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