The Existential Progression of King Lear Essay -- King Lear Essays

The Existential Progression of King Lear The human condition is the scrutiny of art, Prince Hamlet notes the purpose of art is to hold the mirror against nature. King Lear is a masterful inquiry into the human condition. King Lear is confronted with existence in its barest sense and is forced to adapt to that existence. His adaptation to the absurd provides an invaluable insight for all into the universal problem of existence. Lear is forced into an existential progression that will be traced with the phenomenon of consciousness; the result of this progression is seen ironically in that Lear finds satisfaction in despair. The point of departure of Lear into the unknown of existence is seen when he plunges himself into the harshness and relentlessness of nature. While immersed in the storm, Lear has been reduced to the bare essentials of man, he has lost those that he perceived as loving, and despite being accompanied by the Fool and Kent, Lear is more alone than he has ever been. The daughters he thought who loved him abandoned him and have taken his kingdom. The daughter who truly loved him was banished by his irrationality; Lear is alone. The presence of the Fool and Edgar should not necessarily be looked upon as that of a companion, but rather as catalyst for Lear’s progression. As for Kent, his presence is barely felt by Lear. Lear’s isolation is critical for his progression. Similar to Sartre’s Roquentin in Nausea, isolation and loneliness are the foundations for becoming existentially aware. â€Å"The tempest in my mind/ Doth from my senses take all feeling else†(III, iv 13-14)[1] Lear is completely alone in the universe, abandoned by love and cloistered from all outside emotion; he is now prepared to perceive the realit... ...a masterful work of art is that it conveys this universal truth, and at the same time conveys the sharp emotional anxiety that is concurrent with the universal truth. Lear constructs the universal human condition. Works Cited 1-William Shakespeare. King Lear edited by Russle Fraser.(New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1982). All future references will come from this text. 2-G. Wilson Knight. The Wheel of Fire. (London: Mehuen & Co., 1949), pg 193 3-Northrop Frye. On Shakespeare. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986), pg 113 4-Harold Bloom. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), pg 503 5-Bloom, pg. 503 6-Bloom, pg. 504 7-Bloom, pg. 505 8-Descartes. Meditations. Dr. Nighan's British Literature and AP page: http://stjohns-chs.org/english/Seventeenth/Sev-bk.html 9-Knight, pg. 196 10-Frye, pg. 119

Factors That Influence Job Design Essay

Factors that influence job design, hiring, training and performance appraisals that supervisors must take into account. Staff members are required to perform a clear set of job activities that are designed to accomplish organizational objectives (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). There are two considerations that should be taken into account when designing specific staff roles. The first consideration is that the job will need to be designed to meet accomplishment of program objectives, satisfaction of key holder expectations; and the clients. The second consideration is that the job should have incorporated elements that provide a working environment for employee’s that is high quality. If employees have a quality work environment, they will find their jobs stimulating, meaningful and will be more committed to organizational goals (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Read more:  Describe factors which may influence children’s development essay Other factors that may influence job design are the need for basic level of knowledge and skills, pay and working conditions. Factors that influence hiring are qualifications, education and specific prior experience. Screening grids and checklists are used to organize key information about candidates. The grid provides information about the candidates that relate to qualifications, educations, and prior experience. A check list is also used to provide details that will reflect the ratings for meeting, not meeting, or exceeding expectations. After the screening has been completed, only the best candidates will be considered for further processing. There will also be a need for a certain degree of match between the goals of the applicant and the mission of the organization (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Careful consideration is given to the use of resources and participant motivation, and so training programs will be based on the assessment of real needs. Certain factors influence job training and these factors are management support, legitimate training needs, Learning objectives, experienced trainer, learner ability and motivation, readiness and emotional support. The most influential factor is management support. Management should provide an environment that is conducive to learning, and encourage professional development. Legitimate training needs will need to be considered, and through a training needs analysis, a deficiency in employee performance can be determined (McDonough, 2011). Learning objectives that are set prior to the start of training are considered an important key factor. Effective trainers will ensure that the expectations  as well as the needs of the employee are met. Employees must have a readiness, ability and the motivation to learn. Employees that perceive learning as a benefit will be motivated, ready and willing to learn. Immediate benefits of new skills learned will increase employee emotional investment. Emotional investment helps employee’s to retain and to relate to the new information they have learned (McDonough, 2011). Performance appraisals can be influenced by certain factors, and it is important that supervisors give these factors careful consideration. These factors are documented process, evaluation of results and follow-up and performance improvement. Performance appraisals are an important process for supervisors and management, and are used to identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement. Documented process will ensure that the performance appraisal will be effective. Supervisors should be reminded that this process exists, how it works, and where to get assistance if it is needed. Periodic training of performance appraisals may be needed. Evaluation results will provide general information about the performance level of the employees (Chron, n.d.) Supervisors and employees should use this performance appraisal as a tool that will help increase performance. Members of Team â€Å"A† discussed personal challenges of supervisor or as a supervised employee. Reading through the personal challenges, I found that we all encountered familiar challenges. Some of these challenges related to the different personalities within the work place and how it can affect a team. Jealousy became a factor as a supervisor, and employees became disrespectful and resentful. Receiving a promotion over other employees that believed they deserved it, were soon scrutinized by other coworkers. Stress relating to longer hours and increased responsibilities is another fam iliar challenge we all shared. Motivating employees was a challenge that was shared as a supervisor, and the realization of how important motivation is to the team.

Coca-Cola vs Pepsi Essay

wo of the largest and most profitable corporations in the United States are the Atlanta, Georgia based Coca-Cola Company and the New York based Pepsi Cola Company. While both are called â€Å"colas† they both attempt to address the same target tastes but from different approaches. Coke was the first on market with what is still a â€Å"secret† formula and Pepsi followed with a similar (not exact) taste. Since taste is very much a factor of your personal likes, either or neither may appeal to you or seem sweeter (Inforefuge.com. 2011). This paper will discuss the similarities and differences in the processes used by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for place, price, and promotion. Place and Price The marketing exposure of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola is everywhere ranging from commercials, billboards, and mail advertisements all over the world. Although they target the same markets, they both use different approaches to their marketing strategies. This is evident when comparing the two companies’ websites. When browsing the Coca-Cola website you will experience a more conservative style; there is not a variety of colors besides the traditional â€Å"Coca-Cola red† in which, most their products are packaged and advertised. It is the complete opposite for PepsiCo, as their website flashes promotions for free music downloads and reminds browsers that they are the official drink sponsor of the NFL. After browsing the websites and comparing the two, you will come to understand that Coca-Cola has more of an International approach to marketing, whereas PepsiCo caters to more of the American†¦ coca The Coca Cola corporation is a beverage company and is defined to be the most well known trade mark in the world, and it is justly so. The Company owns or licenses and markets more than 500 nonalcoholic beverage brands, primarily sparkling beverages, but also a variety of still beverages, such as waters, enhanced waters, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and energy and sports drinks. It owns and markets a range of nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands, which includes Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. The Coca Cola products appeal to a wide range of people throughout the world from all races, genders, and ages. Coca Cola is well  known for its worldwide popularity as its products are sold to over 200 countries. The company business units include Eurasia and Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Pacific, Central Japan, and Great Plains and Honest Tea, Inc., in the United States . Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the two most popular and widely recognized beverage brands in the world. They have been competing in the soft drink sector for over a century and both companies enjoy a high degree of brand consciousness globally. Both companies try to market as part of a lifestyle. Coca-Cola uses phrases such as â€Å"Coke side of life† in their website, while Pepsi uses phrases such as â€Å"Hot stuff† in their web, to promote the idea that Pepsi is â€Å"in sync† with the cool side of life. Ironically, both Pepsi and Coke have similar beginnings: both were created in the 19th century and both were the results of the experimental work of innovative pharmacists. Coke was created in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton while Pepsi was developed in 1898 by North Carolina pharmacist and drugstore owner, Caleb Bradham. The primary purpose of this report is to identify and analyze the two dominant companies in the soft drink industry and determine the strongest performer as an investment opportunity. Ability to pay current liabilities The current ratio is mainly used to give an idea of the company’s ability to pay back its short-term liabilities (debt and payables) with its short-term assets (cash, inventory, receivables). The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its obligations. A ratio under 1 suggests that the company would be unable to pay off its obligations if they came due at that point. While this shows the company is not in good financial health, it does not necessarily mean that it will go bankrupt, as there are many ways to access financing, but it is definitely not a good sign. Based on the financial statements below, Coca Cola has a current ratio of 1.17 while Pepsi is at 1.10. The current ratio can give a sense of the efficiency of a company’s operating cycle or its ability to turn its product into cash. Comparison of Pepsi and Coca Cola Financials Introduction Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the two most popular and widely recognized beverage brands in the world. They have been competing in the soft drink sector for over a century and both companies enjoy a high degree of brand consciousness globally. Both companies try to market as part of a lifestyle. Coca-Cola uses phrases such as â€Å"Coke side of life† in their website, while Pepsi uses phrases such as â€Å"Hot stuff† in their web, to promote the idea that Pepsi is â€Å"in sync† with the cool side of life. Ironically, both Pepsi and Coke have similar beginnings: both were created in the 19th century and both were the results of the experimental work of innovative pharmacists. Coke was created in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton while Pepsi was developed in 1898 by North Carolina pharmacist and drugstore owner, Caleb Bradham. The primary purpose of this report is to identify and analyze the two dominant companies in the soft drink industry and determine the str ongest performer as an investment opportunity. Ability to pay current liabilities The current ratio is mainly used to give an idea of the company’s ability to pay back its short-term liabilities (debt and payables) with its short-term assets (cash, inventory, receivables). The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its obligations. A ratio under 1 suggests that the company would be unable to pay off its obligations if they came due at that point. While this shows the company is not in good financial health, it does not necessarily mean that it will go bankrupt, as there are many ways to access financing, but it is definitely not a good sign. Based on the financial statements below, Coca Cola has a current ratio of 1.17 while Pepsi is at 1.10. The current ratio can give a sense of the efficiency of a company’s operating cycle or its ability to turn its product into cash. In this particular case, Companies that have trouble getting paid on their receivables or have long inventory turnover can run into liquidity  problems because they are unable to alleviate their obligations. Because business operations differ in each industry, it is always more useful to compare companies within the same industry. This is another side of the rivalry between these corporations. Profits over the past three years The Return on Assets (ROA) is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company’s annual earnings by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. Sometimes this is referred to as â€Å"return on investment†. The formula for return on assets is: ROA = Net income / Total Assets. The Return on Equity is the amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a corporation’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. ROE is expressed as a percentage and calculated as: Return on Equity = Net Income/Shareholder’s Equity. (Investopedia.com) Based on their financial statements, Coca Cola got a return on assets of 16.19%. Over the same period, PepsiCo return of assets was 9.27%. The return on equity for Coca Cola was 38.09% while Pepsi’s was 29.86%. All these numbers suggest that Coca Cola is giving a better performance than Pepsi in 2010. Pepsi is not delivering as much value to stockholders as Coca Cola. Cash Flow and Investment valuation ratio Pepsi and Coke both offer similar dividend yields of 3%. Although Pepsi’s dividend payout ratio is slightly lower than Coca Cola’s, the difference is marginal. (Finance) The Dividend Payout Ratio means the percentage of earnings paid to shareholders in dividends. The payout ratio provides an idea of how well earnings support the dividend payments. More mature companies tend to have a higher payout ratio. This ratio is calculated as Dividends per share / Earnings per share. The Dividend payout ratio for Coca Cola is 48.2% while PepsiCo is 34.8% The price/earnings ratio (P/E) is the best known of the investment valuation indicators. It is the measure of the share price relative to the annual net income earned by the firm per share. The P/E ratio has its imperfections, but it is nevertheless the most widely reported and used valuation by investment professionals and the investing  public. The financial reporting of both companies and investment research services use a basic earnings per share (EPS) figure divided into the current stock price to calculate the P/E multiple (i.e. how many times a stock is trading (its price) per each dollar of EPS). A high PE ratio generally indicates increased demand because investors anticipate earnings growth in the future. The PE ratio has units of years, which can be interpreted as the number of years of earnings to pay back purchase price. The price/earnings ratio for Coca Cola is 12.97 while PepsiCo is 16.24. (YCharts, 2011) Decision about which company is better for an investment Possibly one of the biggest rivals in Corporate America today, the battle between Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP) continues to baffle not only consumers but investors as well in determining which product is a better buy. While both companies have had recent problems in emerging nations such as India by having their products be condemned for improper ingredients, a shakeup like this might be necessary to promote future growth for possibly undersold equities. While both Pepsi and Coke stand to benefit from a recovery in consumer spending, it appears that Pepsi has stronger fundamentals. For investors looking for safe dividend stocks with strong growth potential, Pepsi looks like the better choice. In terms of fundamentals, Pepsi seems to have the slight advantage. While Coca-Cola does have the higher figures, Pepsi has the better margins in terms of operating margins, revenue, and profit which is more important for growing companies. Pepsi also has, according to Yahoo Finance, been upgraded more times than Coca-Cola during the last few months, signaling a favorable sentiment among investment banks. In terms of guidance, both companies look to secure better procedures in the emerging markets with their products which should hurt earnings for a while but eventually boost them due to economies of scale. However, recently Pepsi has had positive surprise EPS statements during its quarterly results. While Coca-Cola has also reported similar reports, the findings were at a much smaller margin, barely affecting shares. What is more important, in determining a choice between these equities, is the technical analysis involved. During the past year Coca-Cola has only remain in a five dollar range, showing little fluctuation patterns for speculators or investors. While such a figure may be encouraging for fixed income  advocates, in reality, since 2000, Coca-Cola has barely fluctuated at all in its 20 point range, showing no signs of potential growth. While the situation is unfortunate, it looks as if, like Microsoft, Coca-Cola has increased in terms of value to its maximum, and pretty soon diseconomies of scale may be evident for this once prosperous company causing shares to drop in the future. On the other hand, Pepsi has seen continued growth throughout its tenure in a nice steady growth pattern. While speculators may not be encourage by the slow appreciation of the stock, long term investors may favor such a pattern as it does not seem the price of Pepsi has peaked. The company is still in the prime of its career and should carry the stock to higher numbers in both fundamentals and shares for at least one more decade. By investing now, investors have the opportunity to see Pepsi rise to near 80-100 points by 2010 and possibly even further by 2015. While the wait may be more tedious than other penny-stocks, the process will be relativity stress free as investors will be allowed to see their capital gains appreciate over the years. Such as a process is also favorable with its dividend payoff which allows for reinvestments to increase gains. Non-Financial criteria to consider About Pepsi, recently has appointed a CEO with an Indian background who may look more favorable than Coca-Cola to the emerging markets. Such a basic presence may add increased pressure to Coca-Cola to spend more money on advertisements and other apparels to strike a similar chord in these markets as its soft drink counterpart. While it is genuinely assumed that Coca-Cola is the king of its industry, times are slowly changing for the worse for this tremendous corporation and looking more and more favorable its hated rival in PepsiCo. According to stock analysts, Pepsi has a lot more exposure to commodities with respect to its Frito-Lays and Quaker Oats, when commodity prices were falling; it gave more wiggle room on the bottom line. But now that commodity prices are probably going to increase in the next year to year and a half, which opens up the door for Coke to expand their lead. Coke always held the bigger market share in the United States. But at times, Pepsi fueled by smarter and more aggressive advertising campaigns, moved ahead. U.S. Consumption of carbonated soft drinks has steadily declined in the past decade. Part of that comes down to the array of  alternative beverages the market now offers.