Balanced scorecard evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Balanced scorecard evaluation - Essay Example It should be able to in a good position to predict the future performance of the organization, and/or control and manage the organization’s strategic plan. A balanced scorecard is one of best management styles that capture this information in details. This paper gives an analysis of the purposes for non-financial performance measures. It also analyses the current performance measure adopted in Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc (ATN), the extend to which their performance measure captures the Kaplan and Norton’s balanced scorecard and its present strength and weaknesses. Purposes for non-financial performance measure Kaplan and Norton (1996) state that by analyzing the non-financial perspectives of an organization, managers are in a position to translate the strategy of an organization into actionable objectives. It also enables them to get an insight of how the strategic plan of the organization is being executed. According to Kaplan and Norton (1992), a balanced scorecard (BS C) maps the strategic objectives of an organization into performance metrics. This is done in four perspectives namely learning and growth, customers, financial and internal processes. The four perspectives of a balanced scorecard provide important feedback that explains how well the company’s strategic plan is being executed. From this feedback, managers are able to identify necessary adjustments that can be made to ensure that the company achieves its outlined goals and objectives. BSC is a financial and non-financial performance measurement tool. This means that apart from measuring the current performance of a company in terms of finances, a BSC as evaluates the efforts of a firm to make future improvements using customer, process and learning and growth metrics (Niven 2006). As noted in the above discussion, the three major perspectives that make up the non-financial performance measures/BSC of a company are learning and growth, customers and internal processes. Accordin g to Kaplan and Norton (2004), an analysis of the objectives of an organization’s internal processes helps the management of an organization to understand and choose type of process that are very important for satisfying its shareholders and most importantly, its customers. Basically, this performance measure outlines the main processes which an organization must focus its efforts for it to excel. An analysis of the learning and growth perspective of a BSC enables an organization to understand how it must learn, improve and innovate for it to achieve its objectives. A significant portion of this perspective is employee-centered. Some of the learning and growth measures will include manufacturing learning, time to market and product focus Douglas (2007). The customer perspective of a BSC enables an organization to understand how it is being viewed by its customers. It also enables it to know how well it is doing in terms of serving its target customers in an effort to meet its financial objectives. The main objectives here will be those that focus on new products, how to become a preferred supplier, becoming a responsive supplier and customer partnerships. Generally, a BSC enables a company to translate its vision into practical goals and adjust its strategy accordingly to the feedback and the learning received. The

Of Mice And Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice And Men Essay Steinbecks novel is a classic tale of dreamers who come back down to reality. This shows us the huge gap between reality and dream world. The other main theme of this story is friendship and loneliness. The story is set in California near Soledad. The main characters of the story are George, Lennie, Slim, Crooks, Curley, Curleys wife, and Candy. The story makes an ideal film because it has all the factors of a great film. It has intrigue, suspense and action. Sinses film begins with an exciting start showing what happened in weed, this is not shown in the novel. By contrast, the novel starts with Lennie and George coming in and making their way to work and no one knows what happened in weed. Then they come to the brush were they sleep and George tells Lennie that if he ever gets into trouble then he should come back to the brush and wait for him to come. This is very important with what happens later. The mood is calmer in the novel than in the film at the beginning. The film does this for excitement where as Steinbeck decides to start by describing the scene and the characters. When George and Lennie are running away it is really exciting this is why it is used in the film because the film was made to make money, where as the novel was made to be a powerful piece of writing. Also for the novel you cannot see the set so Steinbecks has to take some time in describing the setting. I think the films beginning is better because it is more dramatic and makes me want to continue watching. Also the start doesnt give away too much about what happens in weed. Also the film shows us more about the characters emotions while they are being chased.

Report on Organisational Change and Multiculturalism in IKEA

Report on Organisational Change and Multiculturalism in IKEA The following is an integrative report on organisational change brought about by multiculturalism in organisations with specific emphasis on the concept of diversity management in relation to organisational culture. With the help of a study on IKEA, the international chain of home and office furniture stores, the report will attempt to analyse the challenges faced by international managers in the process of keeping up with the demands of multiculturalism, a direct consequence of globalisation. Although the values and practices of IKEAs corporate culture will be discussed in general, in order to narrow the geographic area of research, the report will focus more on IKEAs franchise in Dubai, UAE. The report will make extensive use of relevant literature in order to understand the issues in question by applying the literature to the organisation and by doing so, will attempt to make further recommendations and meaningful conclusions. I.1 IKEA Background: IKEA prides itself to be the most successful and largest furniture retailer in the world, and boasts provision of everything and anything for a home, having products suited for people of all ages, and all this at low prices. The company promises excellent value for money spent with all of their products designed with an emphasis on natural colours to bring a light and airy atmosphere within a home. This concept is based purely on IKEAs Swedish origins, where people pride themselves in living in harmony with nature with simple home designs which offer maximum efficiency in all weathers (http://www.iamaceo.com/marketing/ikea-brand-success-strategy/). IKEAs vision, to create a better everyday life for the many people is reportedly largely aimed at the global middleclass which is also evident from their business idea, to offer a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford the m (http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/press_room/student_info.html). With 265 stores worldwide, where 235 are owned by the IKEA group while the remaining 30 by franchisees outside the group, the extent of IKEAs expansion is obvious (IKEA, 2007). IKEAs corporate culture is based on the concept of shared values, some of which, as the organisation proclaims, are togetherness, cost-consciousness, respect, and simplicity. These values project a very democratic form of leadership where considerable freedom is given to employees to contribute to the companys success. IKEA claims to treat all employees, no matter what rank they carry, as partners in the business. The company also boasts no restrictions upon employees in using their own initiatives and offers full support to meet each individuals needs, ambitions and capabilities. I.2 IKEA Dubai and Al Futtaim Trading: The IKEA franchise in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was first initiated in 1991 with the local Al Futtaim Trading Company taking ownership. This collaboration has been, since its inception, a major success story in the UAE and other parts of the Middle East, as many new IKEA outlets have been strategically opened over the years by the group and have achieved great competitive advantages and overall productivity. The Al Futtaim group was first established in the 1930s as a trading company. Headquartered in Dubai, the group has seen a rapid progress in its operations not only within the UAE but in more than 65 countries across the Middle East, and in various sectors of business. The group attributes its success to its ability to respond to the changing needs of customers and the societies in which it operates through an entrepreneurial and customer focused approach. Employees of the group enjoy a democratic culture made possible through clearly defined objectives and values, enabled through clear flow of information via a decentralised structure. Al Futtaim also prides itself for the ability to proactively manage change whilst upholding the values of integrity, service and social responsibility. (http://www.al-futtaim.ae/content/groupProfile.asp; http://www.ikeadubai.com/content/aboutUs.asp) Apart from managing many of IKEAs retail operations in the UAE, the Al Futtaim group carry the sole responsibility of recruiting personnel for the franchise, and also providing valuable information about changes in the local political scene, culture, economy and other issues like new technologies, threats of competitors, legal issues etc, effectively conducting internal and external analyses (SWOT and PESTEL) for IKEA. This contribution has greatly helped the IKEA group over the years to align their regional operations according to changing environments, effectively creating a strategic fit between the organisation and the environment (http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/16374.html). I.3 The Culture Change Problem: For an organisation that boasted fairness in employment and empowerment to employees through a democratic leadership and structure, and flexible organisational culture, IKEA had initially employed an ethnocentric approach of management where only Swedes were recruited for management positions so as to ensure the original Swedishness of the organisation. But this approach eventually met with criticism and a temporary setback in IKEAs overseas operations, where the organisation was faced with the task of revising its overseas recruitment policies in order to meet the demands of local cultures and employment laws (Kling and Goteman, 2003; Kochan et al, 2002). According to Bjork (1998), every time IKEA was faced with a struggle due to internationalisation, new cultural management policies would be implemented, the latest being Diversity Management. IKEA is well known for having a rapid internationalisation process from its Swedish origins as a result of globalisation and its rapid expansion into countries with cultures very different from its original Swedish national culture (Hollensen, 2007). Although owned by franchisees in some countries, like the UAE, the IKEA concept and trademark are solely owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V in Netherlands, giving the group considerable authority over franchises. This means Inter IKEA Systems B.V is the franchiser for all IKEA stores within or outside of the IKEA group, ensuring uniformity of corporate values, and the IKEA concept of self assembled furniture right from the centre (IKEA, 2007). IKEA has had to rapidly transform itself from an ethnocentric corporate culture to an organisation that embraces people of all backgrounds, and has in many communiquà ©s expressed the importance of having a culturally diverse workforce in order to obtain competitive advantage on the global scene. This is evident from the organisations recruitment websites in various countries, where emphasis is given for potential employees to be themselves, but at the same time adhere to shared corporate values such as simplicity, cost-consciousness, hard work etc, but almost all of the websites show a picture of a man and woman of Scandinavian origin (Bjork, 1998). This has created a paradox within the IKEA Groups core values, where there is still a strong emphasis on the companys Scandinavian background. Setting up operations in multicultural societies like Dubai meant the IKEA group has had to go through a rapid process of internal culture-change. This means a complete internationalisation of organisational culture, where key positions are not restricted to Swedish nationals, and communication systems had to be introduced to break geographical and cultural barriers. The partnership with Al Futtaim has played a major role for IKEA in achieving this change. In the following sections literature related to organisational culture-change, international recruitment processes and the inevitable resistance to culture will be studied and analysed. II. LITERATURE REVIEW: The purpose of this section is to acquire a deeper understanding of culture and its characteristics by means of metaphorical representation of organizations with the help of relevant literature. This may help us understand the significance of culture change, not just to gain competitive advantage, but for the very survival of an organization in an ever-changing environment. II.1. Organization and Society: Drawing the Parallels Within the process of cultural evolution there is a significant amount of similarity in the manner in which culture is manifested in business organizations and in society in general (Rollinson, 2005; Morgan, 1998). To understand cultural diversity in organizations, it would be helpful to understand its roots at a sociological level. Cultural diversity at the workplace is a direct result of multiculturalism in the society. A multicultural society simply denotes a society in which there exist several cultures (Watson, 2002). Culture is defined as, A pattern of shared assumptions a group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you think, perceive, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein, 2004). The above definition suggests that culture is a shared activity of overcoming external and internal factors through methods that have been taught down to the group as acceptable and functional. A general view of cultural differences is that they affect intercultural encounters, usually by leading to misunderstanding or conflict, at both the individual and group levels (Larkey, 1996). Larkey explains that at the individual level, as different values, beliefs or worldviews are manifested in communication behaviours and as culture creates differing expectations and differing styles or patterns of speech, interpersonal misunderstanding and conflict can arise. At the group level, inter-group processes can be triggered by, for instance, an individuals non-verbal behaviour or ways of speaking which stereotypically represent a group (1996). It then becomes the responsibility of the leadership of the core society to introduce a culture and/or change its existing core culture to accommodate th e various differences brought in by the subcultures in an integrated manner, where these differences are acknowledged and valued (Neuliep, 2008). When the above sociological aspects of culture are compared to a business organization, the organization is the core society, and its culture, the core culture. We all refer to this as organizational culture. Analogically speaking, the organizational (core) culture should be designed in such a way that the employees of the company share a basic set of values and assumptions, which tie them to that particular organization. But, on the individual or group levels, each employee has his/her own cultural norms and practices beyond those they share with other members of the company, which can be safely termed as the subcultures within the organization (Bate, 1995). II.2 Cross-Cultural Communication: We all have an internal list of those we still dont understand, let alone appreciate. We all have biases, even prejudices, toward specific groups (Lantieri Patti, 1996). The above phrase sums up the main challenge in cross-cultural communication, the fact that we still dont understand the people we talk to on a daily basis. Communication is an intrinsic part of our daily lives, whether it is at our homes, at the workplace, in the groups we belong to, or in the community, and we can identify that its hard (DuPraw Axner, 1997). According to DuPraw and Axner (1997), culture is often at the root of communication challenges, and our culture influences how we approach problems and participate in groups and in communities. Anthropologists Avruch and Black expand the above views and argue that Ones own culture provides the lens through which we view the world; the logic by which we order it; and the grammar by which it makes sense (1993). DuPraw and Axner (1997) suggest that, becoming more aware of our cultural differences, as well as, exploring our similarities, can help us communicate with each other more effectively, and that cultural differences do not necessarily have to divide us from each other (1997). In an organisational context, the similarities lie in the core organisational culture that is common at the group level. Morgan (1998) explains the significance of effective communication and concludes that every organization is composed of individuals with different cultural traits and individual personalities, and these people are organised in some way or the other through these traits in order to achieve set objectives. Thus individuals are the basic building blocks around which an organization functions, and communication is the effective cement which holds the organization together. This puts forward the importance of an organisational culture that employs clear communication channels to all levels of its structure. II.3 Organization as a Living Being: Adapting to Change, by Aligning with the Environment It can be inferred from the preceding sections that change is necessary in order to promote peaceful existence between different culture groups, in the societal realm. Considering this, it may be safe to assume that similar changes need to be implemented in the organizational realm as well (Robbins and Judge, 2009; Pettinger, 1996). The question that may arise, however, is whether changing the existing culture means changing the entire organization. Culture is such an intrinsic quality of a human being at the individual level, and of a group at the societal level, that even though it may take time to change, it may end up changing more than just a few characteristics (Bate, 1995; Hofstede, 1997). This means that changing an organizations culture implies changing the very behaviour in which it expresses itself. Morgan (1998) interestingly likens an organization to an organism, and explains that, The image of an organism seeking to adapt and survive in a changing environment offers a powerful perspective for managers who want to help their organizations flow with change. (Pg 35) He argues that this analogy encourages us to learn the art of corporate survival by developing active organic systems that remain open to new challenges. In other words, as Brooks (2003) says, it helps us form a more proactive organization with a prospector philosophy of operation. Prospectors, he explains, see their environment as ever changing and seek continual strategic and structural adjustments to cope with those changes. These organizations are continually searching for new opportunities and in the process they may create change and uncertainty for others in their competitive environment. The opposite of prospectors, known as defenders, are more reactive in nature, as they act only when environmental changes force them to do so. This kind always sees stability and continuity all around (2003). Research shows that reactors are more prone to misperceptions of their environment than are prospectors. According to Morgan (1998), this is because different environments favour differe nt species of organisations based on different methods of organising and that congruence with the environment is the key to success. So it is evident that organisations are facing the enormous challenge of changing their internal environments in accordance with the external. II.4 The International Human Resources Function: the International Organisation will be called on to operate across a wide variety of competitive environments and yet somehow balance these diverse social, political and economic contexts with the requirements of the original home context. (Dowling et al, 2008, pg25) The above statement re-iterates all the topics discussed in this report so far, namely, the task of the organisation to be able to operate in different environments whilst staying true to its original corporate objectives. The international human resources management (IHRM) function, a recent extension to the normal HRM function in an organisation, aims to achieve this global competitive advantage by employing innovative recruitment strategies. The three main issues for IHRM are: the management and development of expatriates; the internationalisation of management throughout the organisation; and, creating a new corporate culture that would reflect on internationalising the whole organisation, by focusing on increasing the international experience of staff, to be able to effectively counter the frequency of cross-cultural interactions as a result of investing abroad (Hendry, 1994). As a result, IHRM covers a much wider spectrum of worldwide management of people (Dowling et al, 1999, 2008), and is concerned with how MNCs manage their geographically dispersed workforce by being able to dispose their resources to obtain and maintain local and global competitive advantage (Schuler et al, 2002). This clearly indicates IHRM as a means of strategic importance for MNCs, as it is a key element in achieving a balance between the need for control and coordination of foreign subsidiaries, and the need to adapt to local environments (Adler and Ghadar, 1990 Milliman et al., 1991, cited in Scullion, 2001, pg5). In other words, the need is for the organisation to implement common practices, like structure and technology that transcend national differences and form a commonality as to how the business operates across cultures (Kerr et al, 1973 Hickson et al, 1979 cited in Mullins, 1999), whilst not ignoring the essential differences in how these practices are communicated and applied to the local workforce of a given foreign subsidiary (Hofstede, 1997; Keeley, 2003). II.5 Resistance to Change: When a group seeks change in the way they do things, as with culture, there is the inevitability of resistance to this change. Researchers like have identified a few reasons for such resistance: fear of the unknown, referring to peoples natural tendency to keep away from uncertainty that creates anxiety. Resisting change is one way to reduce the anxiety; fear of failure, referring to peoples fear of whether or not they are up to the challenges being brought in by the change; disagreement with the need for change, where people genuinely believe that change is not necessary; losing something of value, where people fear either losing their dominant positions and/or jobs as a result of the change; leaving a comfort zone, in that people are happy where they are and would not want unnecessary disruption of current state; false beliefs, where people unrealistically believe change is not needed and everything will turn out fine; misunderstanding and lack of trust, where people do not understand the changes being made and/or do not trust the person(s) initiating the changes; and the fact that change may require more time and energy from individuals (Robbins, 1999; Mullins, 2003). Many ways to overcome resistance have been suggested, which include: effective communication and education including training programmes for staff to make them understand the need for change, and its implications; getting people to get involved in implementing the change process, where they can not oppose it later as they were partly responsible for it; negotiating with people certain requirements they may have to get the change underway; and in many cases imposing the change by force whether the people like it or not, as resistance may mean loss of positions/ jobs etc (Robbins, 2009; Mullins, 2003). III. APPLICATION TO IKEA In light of the above discussions, the company headed in the right direction in terms of its emphasis on multiculturalism at the workplace, especially amongst its independent franchisees. IKEA in Dubai working along with Al Futtaim has been successful in achieving this objective by recruiting local, talented individuals reflecting the diverse cultural demographics of the United Arab Emirates. This is in line with earlier literature discussion of societal and organisational cultures where the core culture needs to be designed to accommodate individual personal differences, but should also give employees a common framework. III.1 Changing the Organisational Culture, a Project: IKEAs efforts to change its internal culture to align with external factors in Dubai have been a major project management undertaking. This is because the company has had to effectively integrate its centralised and extremely complex organisational structure (although argued otherwise by the group) with the more decentralised and flexible structure of Al Futtaim. This required giving considerable power to the latter group in making decisions regarding changes to the way IKEA operated in the Middle East. Reduction of organisational levels to form a flatter structure itself is a project with time constraints. Due to the ever changing nature of external cultural factors, and due to the fact that internal cultural change is a slow and gradual process, the project management methodology that IKEA and Al Futtaim may have employed would have been the Adaptive Project Framework. The adaptive project framework works on the basis that the scope for change is variable, but within specified cost and time constraints. This gives the company significant flexibility by setting up periodic milestones, where progress is reviewed at each milestone until the ultimate objective is met. The company has full authority in deciding best business value and has the opportunity to change directions at any milestone if it thinks objectives are not being met by the project. The adaptive framework also works because it is based on the assumption that change is inevitable, and is designed to allow for changes accordingly. This is especially vital when seeking culture change (Billingham, 2008). III.2 Resistance within IKEA: The initial resistance to the changes in IKEAs culture may have come mainly from the fact that the company has had to tone down its emphasis on Swedish culture at the operational level in Dubai. Changing the organisational structure would have meant losing some key positions along the structure to enable integration with Al Futtaims structure. Focusing on recruiting local personnel would have meant redundancy and/or repatriation for existing Swedish international managers. This would have also meant that existing personnel would have had to adapt to working alongside with local personnel, which may have caused communication problems, friction between personnel etc. The best methods used for overcoming above problems would have been to educate existing IKEA personnel regarding local issues like culture, governance etc, educate and train local personnel in return about IKEAs core values and its Swedish roots, and the importance the company places in carrying out the legacy of its founder, provide clear communication between levels, and reducing barriers through effective information infrastructure. IV. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, change management can now be safely coined as a field in itself in modern businesses, especially in multinational organisations. Considering the study, more and more organisations would benefit from being prospectors rather than defenders, as this would prepare them to stay in tune with their market environments. It seems the group has lived up to their own professed comments when they say, We see the diversity issue as a matter of creating a more challenging business atmosphere and of course expanding the recruitment base including everyone and not just Swedish men. It also gives us a diverse workforce with a lot of positive business possibilities (Kling and Goteman, 2003). As far as the project of changing IKEAs culture is concerned, the company has successfully reached its goal of reaching the global middle class with its products. Whether it is through the IKEA group directly, or through franchises like Al Futtaim, IKEA has realised the importance of culture change and has subsequently implemented this change within its infrastructure. The companys extraordinary success, even with a narrow product range, but a range that has been constantly diversified according to the demands of the regions of operation, is testament to the success of the project. Through Al Futtaim, IKEA is now a household name all over the Middle East, thus expanding the range of its brand through undertaking a change in organisational culture.

How does Intelligence help the Joint Force Commander Essay -- Militar

Intelligence is a critical component of joint planning and execution. Through the prism of Phase 0 (zero) Shaping, intelligence relates the realities of the operational environment before hostilities including an assessment of current economic, political, and cultural dynamics. Yet, throughout the subsequent phases of operational planning, analysts can also develop concise estimates on friendly and enemy centers of gravity (COG), thereby introducing not only the triggers of adversarial activity but at what point friendly forces can maneuver with maximum decisiveness. All the while, intelligence professionals systematically prepare real-time and near real-time intelligence to maintain the informational edge during execution. Intelligence enables the Joint Force Commander to visualize the operational environment, evaluate operational effects, and sustain information superiority throughout the duration of joint operations, thereby offering increased integration, synchronization and direction of involved joint elements. Understanding the complex operational environment of today and tomorrow is elemental when integrating diverse forces to achieve a favorable outcome. Intelligence professionals have a wide array of systems to draw from when preparing intelligence to facilitate a broad understanding. This array includes combat support agencies as well as national intelligence agencies which work in an ever increasingly collaborative environment. This aids the intelligence professional as they collect raw information as well as already produced actionable intelligence gained throughout all levels of war and throughout the full scope of military operations. This effort is critical in establishing priorities of effort which will ... ...s to collect information, evaluate problems, and reach the most plausible solutions. However, the varying requirements of operational and tactical warfare merit differing approaches to planning and execution. The design of the JOPP process is for campaign contingencies which fall into the scope of operational level, while the MDMP process is best suited for the tactical level. Moreover, JOPP takes into account that a joint commander may not be as thoroughly knowledgeable of all assigned forces as the tactical commander would be. Wisely, JOPP asks the joint staff and commander to evaluate friendly, as well as enemy, COGs so to evaluate capabilities of either force. The tactical commander, not wanting to take anything for granted, would already know the true combat potential of the force, as speed and decisiveness are certainly critical in the tactical realm.

Invisible Man Essay

Portrayal of Women In Invisible Man women were primarily given the role of prostitutes, caregivers and sex objects that presented them as inferior to men. The author fails to reflect on the struggles of women in the novel but encourages reflecting on the struggles of black males. In Invisible Man, written by Ralph Ellison, women are intensely stereotyped by the author and could also be characterized as â€Å"invisible† based on the author’s description of the main character and his experiences in the novel. White women in the novel were something that invisible man thought to be forbidden; they could be characterized as the forbidden fruit.Invisible man saw a blonde white woman at the Battle Royal who was beautiful in his eyes. Unfortunately, he could stare at her all he wanted but couldn’t touch the white woman. At the end of the novel he decides to use Sybil for his own greed, later he feels guilty and calls what he did a sin. It seems that in the novel white w omen are presented with higher regard than black women. During incidences in the novel white women were usually there to help invisible man with his journey to figure out who he is. They are given roles that are basically more important than the black women in the novel; but this is not always true.In the novel he was saved by a white girl during his eviction speech, a white women seduced him when she lied about having problems with the Brotherhood and a white woman saved him when he was made to sing for the white people. Women characters are given minor roles compared to invisible man and lead him on his journey in the novel. Sybil was the women that invisible man decided to use for his own intentions. Sybil showed to have stereotypical opinions about black men and invisible man understood what type of women she was.Invisible man decided that she was perfect to take advantage of because she was lonely when the Brotherhood took a lot of time. Sybil is a very weak woman and needs cer tain attentions in order for her to be completely satisfied. Invisible man strived to improve himself in the novel, which Sybil failed to do. He seeks out and â€Å"chooses to use Sybil precisely because she is â€Å"lonely,† â€Å"misunderstood,† â€Å"neglected,† and â€Å"wistful† (Sylvander 78). Invisible man manipulates this woman and takes advantage of her. In this sense Sybil is stereotyped as a weak woman who doesn’t improve herself.There was also another women whose husband was a member of the Brotherhood; even though she didn’t believe in the Brotherhood. She was interested in satisfying her emotional needs and tricked invisible man in coming over by saying she had questions over the Brotherhood. Invisible man portrays white women in the novel as beautiful and sensual; black women fail to have these characterizations. Black women in the novel such as Mary are limited to being caretakers and serving without the beauty that he chara cterizes the white women with. Invisible man presents the way black women were viewed in society compared to white women at the time.The women who lived with Trueblood, Kate and Matty Lou, lived a harsh life and experienced no happiness. Trueblood impregnated his own daughter, which shows how horrible women were treated in this novel. Trueblood tries to explain what he had done and how he tried to move without moving; a mere excuse for his actions. Mary played a significant role in the novel because she was the main character who helped invisible man find his identity. Unfortunately, in order to truly find himself the narrator had to leave Mary. Mary immediately came to his rescue after he was released from the hospital.She was a mother figure in invisible man’s eyes who agreed to nurture him until he could support himself. This is proof that women in the novel were given minor roles . Invisible man uses Mary until he leaves her for the Brotherhood. But it was Mary’s l ectures of leadership and helping the society that drove invisible man to the Brotherhood. Mary was â€Å"something out of my past which kept me from whirling off into some unknown which I dared not to face† (Stanford 29). The women in this novel basically helped the speaker find himself in society. The black and white women in the novel gave to the speaker and helped him throughout the novel.They are not unimportant in the novel but do not play any major roles as human beings. The narrator’s opinion regarding women always focuses on their physical appearances, which supports how he thinks they are no more than how they look or make him feel. The women never make their own decisions and only act out to help the narrator in his actions. Ellison’s invisible man does minimize the female experience by not having a main female character. There is an absence of female perspective in all decisions made about invisible man. Invisible man silences the voice of women and stereotypes them in the novel.

Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Actions speak volumes of character. While words are used to convey emotion, action is what determines character. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he emphasizes the relationship between characters’ actions and their moralities. Ironically, Huck and Jim, the novel’s social pariahs, represent the moral fiber of this novel as they defy predefined racial boundaries and learn to trust and even love each other. Tom Sawyer, Huck’s well off, socially accepted counter part and literary foil, is a manifestation of selfishness and corruptness, despite being of a higher class than Huck and Jim. As the novel is plot driven, Twain establishes the characters’ morality through their actions, and ultimately asserts that it is character, not class, that determines integrity. Huckleberry Finn, for whom the novel is named after, is the protagonist of the story. In the beginning Huck is portrayed as a troubled boy with a questionable past. Since Huck’s father was an alcoholic and abusive, Huck lived with Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas. Society looked at Huck as if he were â€Å"that kid†, the kid who causes trouble, who is uneducated, and the kid to pity. However, Huck’s intelligence and moral superiority to those who surrounded him is proven when he chooses to keep Miss Watson’s slave, Jim, in hiding instead of turning him in. When Huck decided to do the morally correct option of keeping Jim safe, even though he could be sent to jail, shows what kind of character Huck is. Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, at first glance seems to be superstitious to the point of idiocy, but later on, the time that Huck and Jim spend on Jackson’s Island reveals that Jim’s superstitions conceal a deep knowledge of the natural world and represent an alternate form of â€Å"truth† or intelligence. As Huck and Jim make their way down the river, Jim becomes a surrogate father to Huck, taking care of him without being intrusive or smothering. Jim cooks for the Huck and shelters him from some of the worst horrors that they encounter, including the sight of Pap’s corpse, and, the news of his father’s passing. Jim is realistic about his situation and must find ways of accomplishing his goals without incurring the wrath of those who could turn him in. In this position, he is seldom able to act boldly or speak his mind. Nonetheless, despite these restrictions and constant fear, Jim consistently acts as a noble human being and a loyal friend. In fact, Jim could be described as the only real adult in the novel, and the only one who provides a positive, respectable example for Huck to follow. Tom is the same age as Huck and his best friend. Whereas Huck’s birth and upbringing have left him in poverty and on the margins of society, Tom has been raised in relative comfort. As a result, his beliefs are an unfortunate combination of what he has learned from the adults around him and the fanciful notions he has gleaned from reading romance and adventure novels. Tom believes in sticking strictly to â€Å"rules,† most of which have more to do with style than with morality or anyone’s welfare. Although Tom’s escapades are often funny, they also show just how disturbingly and unthinkingly cruel society can be. Tom knows all along that Miss Watson has died and that Jim is now a free man, yet he is willing to allow Jim to remain a captive while he entertains himself with fantastic escape plans. Tom’s plotting tortures not only Jim, but Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas as well. In the end, although he is just a boy like Huck and is appealing in his zest for adventure and his unconscious wittiness, Tom embodies what a young, well-to-do white man is raised to become in the society of his time: self-centered with dominion over all. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s plot driven story establishes the characters’ morality through their actions. Through Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Jim, it is proven that it is character, not class that determines integrity. Through out the novel, each action Huck and Jim took made them stronger and smarter, while each action that Tom took made him crueler. Mark Twain wrote this novel not only to reflect on his childhood, but also to define the importance of a moral conscience.