Innovation and Enterprise 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Innovation and Enterprise 2 - Essay Example It is possible to apply the concept of open innovation on SMEs. However, Chesbrough (2006) revealed that SMEs have different ways to adopt with the open innovation as compared to large-scale multinational companies. Considering the growing importance of open innovation among the large-scale companies, this study will seek to evaluate and explore the relevance of open innovation on SME’s. To give the readers a better understanding of this subject matter, an overview with regards to open innovation will be provided in this study. As part of going through the main discussion, this study will first discuss how SMEs are able to adopt to open innovation followed by evaluating and examining several existing research studies with regards to the impact of open innovation activities over the business performances of SMEs. Open innovation requires companies to use internal and external sources to make use of technologies. In line with this, Chesbrough (2003) explained that the use of external pathways can increase the chances wherein companies will be able to innovate new product and technological processes which could improve the overall performance of a company. Instead of heavily relying on internal R&D, the large-scale multinational companies were enticed to incorporate open innovation in their business practices in order to gain competitive advantages over their close business competitors (Chesbrough, 2003). The process of developing and commercializing the use of technologies within the internal boundaries of a business organization is called the â€Å"closed innovation† (Chesbrough, 2003). In the past, large-scale multinational companies are heavily relying over the use of their internal R&D to allow them to develop new product lines that can be easily marketed to the consumers. By doing so, large-scale multinational companies were able to outperform the SMEs (Teece, 1986). Since a

Jacksons Building Centres Essay Example for Free

Jacksons Building Centres Essay Introduction: A large to medium sized business such as Jacksons need quite a big Human Resources department. They perform a key role in the companys day to day operations. This department cover many areas such as, recruitment and training, organisation at department levels and looking at competition, these are just a few aspects of the department but are all needed so make the business run efficiently. This Human Resource based project I am going to base on Jacksons Building Centres. The main aim of this study is to investigate the five main areas of Human Resources which are: * Human resource planning * Recruitment and selection * Training and development * Performance management * Motivational theory Human resource planning: In an ideal world businesses should plan ahead when it comes to human resources. A well-organized business will have forecasts and projections of its future staffing needs. These will then be matched to forecasts and projections about the local labour market, which means that the business can develop appropriate strategies for the recruitment, training and development of its staff. Projected Levels of Employment in Lincolnshire: Work Force Lincolnshire Total Number in Employment 219,085 % of all working age in employment 75.2 % of Male Full-Time 42.7 % of Female Full-Time 6.6 % of Male Part-Time 23.4 % of Female Part-Time 27.2 The types of jobs that are in decline in Lincolnshire: The two main types of jobs that are in decline in Lincolnshire are: * Farming this is due to more to increased mechanisation so the ratio of work complete by machines to human is decreasing, thus less man power is needed. * Heavy Engineering the majority of heavy engineering companies have left the area only leaving the largest which is Alstom. Due to Jacksons not being involved in these sectors the decline in certain areas of employment does not have an effect on the business. Technological advances, changes in social behavior, demographic shifts and economic conditions are driving fundamental changes in the structure of the labour market and the playing field on which competition is laid for labour. The competitiveness with other employers is affected by general labour market forces. Recruitment and Selection: Recruitment and Selection is a well-worn topic, whish is traded fully in all major texts. There is always a tension between getting the right person for a job and how much resource in terms of time and money is devoted to recruitment. The main ways in which Jacksons recruit is via Job Centres and Local News papers. This encourages people who live in the local area to apply for the job. The Selection Process for the management scheme: Requirements: Between the ages of 18 and 24. 4 GCSEs 2 A Levels Application: * Approximately one hundred people apply for four positional available, * They then look for suitability for the position in Jacksons case Energetic and hard working, * They then select the definite nos: * not complete application forms, * poor handwriting * poor literacy * They then look for the applicants that they like: * Sociability quality * Good Motivational qualities * A Spark! They then invite the selected applicants to an assessment centre where they undergo a series of tasks. They are first split up into groups of around twelve for around half a day where the do exercises based on: Motivation Sociability Team Work During this time they look for the Contribution of the applicant or domineering and no contribution, within this they look for a balance between them. They then have a half an hour paper base study where they have to figure an appropriate solution to a given problem. From the assessment centre they narrow the candidates down to 2 or 3 which will be interviewed. The interview will be based and assessed on: A Balanced approach Halo Effect Avoiding bias Describe personalities Numeracy Questions Case study during interview (customer service problem) Move away from Psychometric tests Looking at objectives An interview report is then compiled. If the applicant is successful then they will be asked back to another interview with Branch managers and other high status employees. They will then offer 4 to 6 placements within a month to 6 weeks. Included in the next few pages are examples of the Application Form and the Employment Interview Report. Training and Development: Jacksons run a management trainee program which has been running for around twenty years. Jacksons say it has been a strong contributory factor in their continued success, providing their branches with a steady stream of capable Merchant Managers. The programme consists of two stages. The first lasts for two years, in which time trainees will gain a valuable insight into the running of a busy Builders Merchant. The programme will be agreed at the beginning of the course and is designed to acquaint the trainee with a merchants environment, as well as learning and developing valuable personal competencies, such as time-management, assertiveness and communication skills. Knowledge will be developed from grass roots level where the trainee will work in a number of departments, building up an understanding of both the products we sell and customers we deal with. Progress is assessed regularly, both verbally and by written appraisal. Upon successful completion of the first phase the trainee will move onto the second stage of the programme, where there will be more specific management development lasting up to one year. Transport/Warehouse Building Materials Plumbing and Heating Sales Plumbing Office Heating Office Ironmongery Bathroom Showroom Kitchen Showroom Jackson Hire Timber one month three months three months two months two months three months three months one month three months three months In addition to the above, you will also spend time in the following areas: a. Accompanying a Company Representative b. Accompanying a Lorry Driver c. A period in the Accounts Office As a trainee manager you will also take part in special projects such as trade shows, corporate promotions and careers conventions. You will also spend time working at one other branch. This gives you the opportunity to work with people from around the group. Motivational Theory: Training in motivation is important in helping learners develop self-regulatory skills to set their own goals and manage their own learning and performance. Evaluating motivational levels in a learning situation also allows the instructor to determine the clarity of their units directions, and measure the effectiveness of varying consequences to either success or failure of individual students (Driscoll, 2000). Keller adds curiosity and its measure and promotion are a key to promoting knowledge seeking behaviour (Keller, 1987). A prevalent model in motivational theory is credited to John M. Keller. The ARCS theory of motivation corresponds to each of the four letters of the acronym (Keller, 1984): A- Attention R- Relevance C- Confidence S- Satisfaction Attention Kellers Attitude of Inquiry (1987) is a phrase used to describe the attention level desired to promote learning. He recommends varying presentation styles in order to maintain student attention (Keller,1983). Driscoll suggests presenting some materials through varying media, alternating lecture with demonstration, small group discussions, or class debates (2000). Relevance Instructors should relate lessons to their learners experiences by providing concrete examples and analogies. The more familiar something is, the more likely a student is to see it as relevant to their learning and use (Driscoll, 2000). Keller states that people enjoy learning more about things they already believe in or are more interested in (1987). Elementary teachers who used all four categories of ARCS found that relevance bore the strongest positive relationship to on-task behavior (Newby, 1991). Confidence Students gain confidence in their own abilities when experiencing success at challenging tasks (Driscoll, 2000). Students can be shown that seemingly unreachable goals can be attained through a series of organized, manageable sub goals and attainable small steps. Even failure can build confidence if the learner attributes failure to the poor use of strategies inherent to learning (Clifford, 1984). Satisfaction Students base satisfaction on the comparison of their achievements on balance with the achievements of those involved with them in the same learning environment (Keller, 1987). Elements increasing satisfaction can be verbal praise, incentives, and awards (Driscoll, 2000). The above four are the main sections that are obtained under the title Motivational Theory. Different Theories: Many theories have been established within the last one hundred years and it is not possible to consider each one of these. What is important in the study of motivation are the key names that have influenced todays approach. Four major theories have remained at the forefront of motivational techniques and each one is linked to a different style of management they are: * Frederick Winslow Taylor * Douglas McGregor * Abraham Maslow * Frederick Herzberg. Performance management Performance Management refers to different strategies designed to get the best of a businesses work force. Different techniques are employed which attempt to relate performance with pay, or promotion or training. Such schemes are not always popular with workers. A method of creating fair individual and team will be used by the Human Resources department and this could be done by the SMART model: Specific use a clear language to describe exactly what is required Measurable identify numerical targets and outputs which can be counted and assessed Agreed agree these with the employee so that they take responsibility for their own output Realistic set targets that are attainable for each individual, according to their skills and competencies Time-related state specific dates when targets must be achieved and will be measured External Labour Market The external Labour market is important to the running of the Human Resources department of Jacksons. To attract people to the company they need to compete with other companies. This means that Jacksons have to be able to offer the best package for them to attract new workforces. One of the main things that Jacksons offer is the Management training course. This is a very sort after employment opportunity due to incorporating management and other valuable skills fitting for later employment opportunities. Another aspect of importance to the external labour market to the Human Resources department is the way jobs and such are advertised. This in many cases is what a potential employee is looking at. So the Human Resources department look at other companies methods and take the good points from them to increase efficiency of attracting potential employees.

Immortality and Myth in The Age of Innocence Essay -- essays papers

Immortality and Myth in The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton’s books are considered, by some, merely popular fiction of her time. But we must be careful not to equate popularity with the value of the fiction; i.e., we must not assume that if her books are popular, they are also primitive. Compared to the works of her contemporary and friend, Henry James, whose books may seem complex and sometimes bewildering; Wharton’s The Age of Innocence appears to be a simplistic, gossipy commentary of New York society during the last decade of the 19th century*. Instead, it is one man’s struggle with the questions of mortality and immortality. Wharton’s characters, settings and the minutiae of social rituals, manners, speech habits, dress and even flowers help her expose the mortal and immortal. But her adroit contrasts and comparisons with mythology elevate her fiction to the heights of sophistication. It is Newland Archer who is caught in the struggle man feels between living an ordinary and mortal life; or what his society consider an extraordinary and immortal life. It is he who is tested, who is tried and convicted by his society. It is he who gives in to the immortal manipulations of his wife, family and friends. It is he who gives up his chance for freedom, for love, and to be mortal. Wharton’s skill raises her characters to the level of myth for they, like the Greeks, are unforgettable and hence immortal. Looking at the book as a whole, Edith Wharton’s New York society of the late 19th century can be weighed against the society of Greek (and Roman) mythology. They are both mortal and immortal. She utilizes mythology to present us with a sophisticated comparison of New York society and the pantheon of t... ...nd his own mortality. Yet as the anti-hero, he is a coward; he denies his mortality and accepts immortality. He lives within the pantheon of the gods yet by rejecting their societal rules, he is a thinking human mortal being. But as a mortal being he lacks the strength to change and recreate the New York pantheon. He is forever trapped within the walls of its mausoleum. *One story about Wharton and James goes like this: Wharton drove up to James’ house one day in a brand new, beautifully large car. She got out and said that she had purchased the car with the proceeds of her last book. James pointed to a wheelbarrow and replied that that was what he purchased with the proceeds of his last book and with the sale of his next book, he would paint it. I think this is an appropriate story about popularity and fiction and the perceived value of that fiction.

Sigmund Freud and Everyday Use :: Everyday Use essays

Sigmund Freud and Everyday Use Sigmund Freud is best known for his development and use of psychoanalysis. The theory of psychoanalysis focuses on the concept of how our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and emotions play an active role in our daily lives. The id, ego, and superego are the three mental zones that encompass our psyche. Each zone has a specific function: The id functions on the pleasure principle; the ego on the protection of the individual; and the superego on protection of society. The degree of which each zone has been developed can be broken down and then analyzed. These three zones can be visualized by imagining a pie cut into three slices. Every individual is composed of different amounts of each mental zone. The ultimate goal is to achieve the perfect balance of the three areas by understanding how each area works alone and contributes to make the whole. In the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, Dee's actions are clearly attributed to her over and under development in specific mental zones. Dee, rather Wangero as she prefers being called, suffers from an overdeveloped id, a distorted sense of ego, and an underdeveloped superego. With this degree of pull and tug, misunderstandings are a common experience between Dee (Wangero) and her peers. The id is the main energy source for the psyche. The id " '...knows no values, no good and evil, no morality' " (HCAL 130); it functions on instinctual motives. Dee (Wangero) possesses a straightforward, rather blunt, disposition about life. Life is hers for the taking and she dares anything to stand in her way. She takes on the attitude that the world was created to satisfy her. Since the world gave her books to read, she expected the world to listen to her read; because the world giving her clothing options to choose from, she expected the world to respect her choices; in changing her name, she expected the world to honor this change. Her id was overdeveloped because she acted on instinctual sources rather than moral for her decisions. The overdeveloped id frequently appears when the self-centered, self-serving side of her become more prominent than her outward orientated, selfless side.

Frankenstein and Science

Chapter 1 Introduction Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall When Evelyn Fox Keller wrote that ‘Frankenstein is a story first and foremost about the consequences of male ambitions to co-opt the procreative function’, she took for granted an interpretive consensus amongst late twentieth-century critical approaches to the novel. Whilst the themes had been revealed as ‘considerably more complex than we had earlier thought’, Fox Keller concludes ‘the major point remains quite simple’. The consensus might be characterised a little more broadly than this – as a view that the novel is about masculinity and scientific hubris – and has led to an enduring use of the title as a byword for the dangerous potential of the scientific over-reacher: It was in this vein that Isaac Asimov coined the term ‘the Frankenstein complex’ to describe the theme of his robot stories in the 1940s, and The Frankenstein Syndrome is the title for a colle ction of essays on genetic engineering published in 1995. This collection takes a very different approach to the novel, seeking to reopen the question of how science and scientific ambition are portrayed in the story by offering a range of historical perspectives, based on detailed accounts of areas of scientific knowledge that are relevant to it. Frankenstein was published in 1818, in a cultural and political climate fraught with contrary ideals. The editors of this collection take it for granted that a successful work of literature is always overdetermined and that it is neither possible nor desirable to formulate a precise and conclusive interpretation of any work of fiction. The wealth of debates and controversies that were going on at the time when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein make it an urgent task to provide a space in which these discourses can be heard once again. If we listen carefully for the contextual arguments into which the assessment of the benefits and dangers of a new discovery were embedded, we may have to relinquish the assumption (implicit in Fox Keller’s statement and explicit in the majority of late twentieth-century interpretations) that this is a novel with an anti-Promethean message. In doing so, we can gain a more complex understanding of the cross-fertilisations between radical politics and the dramas of scientific exploration. Of course, not every scientist subscribed to radical politics. But considering that most scientists investigating completely new areas of interest had very little sense of where their discoveries would lead them, questions about their consequences were uppermost in people’s minds. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, utopian thinking about the vast social benefits made possible by scientific innovation was a powerful force for good. Advances in 2 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall anatomy, chemistry, electricity, engineering and the exploration sciences were saving lives and creating vast new economic possibilities, besides giving rise to some of the darker forms of human exploitation associated with the industrial revolution. An intelligent appraisal of these consequences required the kind of analytical vision that strikes us in Frankenstein. The end of the eighteenth century is a turning point often called a ‘second scientific revolution’, which Patricia Fara sees as characterized by new levels of confidence in the commercial and social impact of scientific research. 3 One of the definitive influences on this cultural change was Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802). Darwin was a figure larger than life: a pragmatist and idealist, a prolific writer of exuberant verse, a polymathic inventor and a medical practitioner with an uninhibited brief to experiment on his patients. As co-founder and ‘recruiting sergeant’ for the Lunar Society from the 1760s, he presided over the most formidable powerhouse of scientific talent in eighteenth-century England. 4 Members included Josiah Wedgewood (1730–95), Mathew Boulton (1728–1809), Joseph Priestley (1733– 1804) and James Watt (1736–1819). They made breakthrough discoveries in steam power, chemical manufacture, optics, geology and electricity. 5 The driving enthusiasms for their world came from the prospect of its immediate application in industry and commerce. If steam power was the most profitable field of research in terms of its immediate industrial impact, electricity was revolutionary in a more comprehensive and spectacular way. It was electricity that epitomized the Promethean spirit of the age and the American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) who ‘snatched the lightning from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants’, and came to symbolize all that was most inspiring about it. In a now famous letter written in 1787 and addressed simply to ‘Doctor Franklin, America’, Erasmus Darwin addressed him as ‘the greatest Statesman of the present, or perhaps of any century, who spread the happy contagion of Liberty among his countrymen; and †¦ delivered them from the house of bondage, and the scourge of oppression’. 6 The declamatory verve of this new scientific rhetoric inspired future generations. Mary Shelley’s father, William Godwin (1756–1836), admired Erasmus Darwin and shared his ideals. Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft (1759– 97), an incisive social analyst with a passion for the advancement of knowledge, developed her own style of Promethean statement in praising the revolutionary quest for a new order of intellectual life: But the irresistible energy of moral and political sentiments of half a century, at last kindled into a glaze the illuminating rays of truth, which, throwing new light on the mental powers of man, and giving fresh spring to his reasoning faculties, completely 7 undermined the strong holds of priestcraft and hypocrisy. Introduction 3 Darwin’s verses were a strong influence on the early writings of Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), but the Shelleys and their circle were of a new generation who had to come to terms with the more horrific legacies of revolution in France, and with the reign of virulent backlash politics in England. The backlash began violently, with the gathering of ‘Church and King’ mobs who targeted those associated with all forms of new knowledge and ideas. Joseph Priestley was the subject of a campaign of public vilification, which culminated in the trashing of his laboratory in July 1791, on the second anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The intellectual climate in 1818, when Frankenstein was published, was fraught with political agendas and Mary Shelley’s place in it needs to be understood in relation to the allegiance of ideals and principles that bound her to her parents (to whom the novel is dedicated) and to a peer group in which the charismatic influence of Shelley and Byron were paramount. A reading of the novel as simply anti-Promethean, which has been fashionable through most of the twentieth century and especially through the influence of some feminist critics in the 1980s and 90s, fails to take account of the implications of anti-Promethean views for someone in Mary Shelley’s cultural circumstances, and of many of her own overt pronouncements. To a feminist in Wollstonecraft’s era, the idea that bold discovery and the quest for enhanced human power was against the interests of women would have been anathema. In the Romantic period, Prometheus was the hero of all those who sought liberation from oppression. In many respects, Frankenstein criticizes an attitude towards knowledge that came to be identified with the Enlightenment. Subsequent views have either eulogized its grand achievements or condemned its megalomaniac aspirations. Neither of these approaches has shed light on the broad palette of different approaches to the study of nature. In order to understand the full complexity of the period we, therefore, need to distance ourselves from a simplistic retrospective view that the Enlightenment was a period with a homogenous agenda about technological progress and the advancement of knowledge. The eighteenth century was no doubt dominated by monolithic movements that revised and modernised philosophical theories at the same time as planting the seed for the shared values of a democratic and prosperous society liberated from the shackles of superstition. Scholars like Ian Hunter have convincingly argued for the existence of multiple Enlightenments, whose agendas emerged from strongly conflicting ideas about the nature and purpose of human existence as individuals and members of society. The secularising influences of the age of Enlightenment tend to be upheld as key achievements. Although it is fair to say that the period radically curbed the Church’s direct influence on civic matters, the secularisation of public administration was unable to undermine the Christian foundation of European society. It is true that some members of the Enlightened intelligentsia embraced atheistic principles, but this was by no means a general development. So, it is 4 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall ossible to subdivide the multiple Enlightenments into the category of the empirical rationalists, on the one hand, and those who explore arcane and occult matters, on the other. Here it has to be noted that it is a response to the weakening of the power of the Church that lay investigators could encroach on its traditional prerogatives when they examined aspects of psyche, mind and consciousness and, by doing so, rejected the idea that those parts of the human being which were traditionally described by the term ‘soul’ should be excluded from empirical, physiological analysis. Importantly, though, science bridges the divide between sober empiricism and attempts to subject metaphysical issues to the scrutinising eyes of logical analysis. The hybrids between rationality and metaphysical speculation, called into existence by the crossovers between these two types of science, are a fertile backdrop to Victor Frankenstein’s introduction to the world of science. The locations of Frankenstein have been chosen with utmost care. Victor’s birthplace in Geneva positions him in the stronghold of Calvinism. At the same time, it alludes to the fact that Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) returned to this small republic on Lake Geneva as a refuge from the vices of France. Another significant setting for the formation of Victor’s mind is Ingolstadt, a Bavarian town with a recently founded university (1759) that adopted progressive principles and aimed to achieve social reform. Ingolstadt became famous throughout Europe in the early 1780s for a particular brand of Enlightenment: the order of the Illuminati who describe themselves simply by the Latin word for Enlightenment. It is true that Frankenstein does not contain any direct references to the Illuminism, or its founder Adam Weishaupt (1748–1811), but it is telling that the dates of Walton’s letters to his sister, ‘17—’, refer its action back to an anonymous time of the eighteenth century. It therefore seems to be fair to conclude that the pursuit of superhuman objectives must be located in the decade before the French Revolution, when all of Europe was intoxicated with a heady ferment of reformatory ideas and utopian visions. Weishaupt had been educated as a Jesuit but rejected this rigid form of Catholicism and became the first layman to be appointed for the chair of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt (1773). The contribution to the intellectual life of his university, though, was not sufficient for him. Sharing Victor Frankenstein’s immense craving to better the lot of mankind, he embarked on negotiations with the Freemasons. His unyielding temper rendered such a rapprochement difficult, so that he founded a new secret society, which was, however, modelled on this society. The joint efforts between Weishaupt and Adolf von Knigge (1752–96) guaranteed the enormous success of the new society between 1780 and 1782. Disagreement between the two leaders, along with public scandals and denunciations that the society was aiming for political sedition rather than the advancement of human welfare and scientific knowledge, caused serious suspicions. In 1787, the Bavarian government went so far as to forbid it under penalty of death. Introduction 5 The stated goals of the society of the Illuminati were to improve society through the cultivation of sensibility and the practice of scientific research. These objectives were shared by most contemporary intellectuals and it, therefore, attracted the leading lights of German intelligentsia, including Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749–1832), Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) and Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811). They joined as a means of dedicating themselves to an organised study and cultivation of human nature. The initiatory oath of new members of the order revolves around humanitarian principles: ‘I profess, and also pledge, that I will eagerly grasp every opportunity of serving humankind, will improve my knowledge and willpower, and will make generally available my useful recognitions, in so far as the welfare and statutes of this particular society will demand it of me. ’10 While pursuing similar goals as the philosophes, a group of French intellectuals dedicated themselves to the compilation of comprehensive information about the arts and the sciences to be collected in the one reference work of the Encyclopedie (1751–72). 1 The group of intellectuals around Denis Diderot (1713–84) and Jean D’Alembert (1717–83) aimed to spread knowledge as a means of breaking down privileges and abuses by church and nobility, which is why they advocated a strictly empiricist approach to science. While Weishaupt admired these spokespeople for reason and rationali ty, his own society embedded the practice of rationality and benevolence in an atmosphere of ritual. He also combined his commitment to pioneering scientific exploration with the exploration of the more esoteric borderlines between material and non-material phenomena. The emotional dimension to his practice of reason and rationality, for instance, consisted of the adoption of classical names for all members of the society. Weishaupt called himself Spartacus and Knigge was Philo. Weishaupt’s taste for secrecy led him to refer even to places by pseudonyms, ‘Athens’, for instance, standing for Munich and ‘Thessalonica’ for Mannheim. The veil of mystery also provided a cover for some serious agitations for the ‘elaboration and propagation of a new popular religion and †¦ the gradual establishment of a universal democratic republic’. 12 It was also a fertile environment for the observation of phenomena of psyche and soul. Although Weishaupt and Knigge are not directly recognisable in Shelley’s imaginary depiction of Ingolstadt, there are some revealing links between the heyday of Illuminism and the novel’s scientific culture. A striking coincidence is that the jubilant vision of scientific progress expressed by Professors Krempe and Waldheim positions them in the decade of the 1780s, which was also the time when Antoine de Lavoisier (1743–94) ousted the long-established belief that combustion was a process that released phlogiston – a colourless, tasteless and weightless substance believed to be present in every object as a latent principle waiting to be released. Lavoisier demonstrated the inconsistencies of the phlogiston theory in 1783 and published his own theories in 1789, demonstrating that conservation of mass is a fundamental principle not just in mechanical physics but also in chemistry. Lavoisier, importantly, proved the viability of quantitative 6 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall approaches to chemical processes, including respiration and other vital processes of the human body. 13 In Frankenstein the clash between the old and the new theories is pitched as a contrast between the ‘modern masters’ and ld alchemists. 14 After Krempe’s scornful response to Victor’s interest in their ‘exploded systems’ (29), the benevolent Waldman explains that ‘these were men to whose indefatigable zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most of the foundations of knowledge’ (31). The key figures in the alchemical tradition mentioned in the novel – Albertus Magnus (c. 1206–80), Cor nelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535), and Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) – do not simply feature as scholars who made groundbreaking contributions to the history of science. Once he has lost his fascination for the old alchemists, Victor Frankenstein rationalises his attraction to their ideas as a craving for ‘boundless grandeur’ (30). Prior to studying at Ingolstadt, he describes his early quests for the ‘philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life’, and goes on to flesh out the moment of success: ‘what glory would attend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death’ (23). If he has really studied the writings of these authors, he must have a more complex understanding of the symbolic qualities of key alchemical concepts, like the philosopher’s stone. The text of the novel is quiet about whether he ever pondered the capacity of this most cherished of substances to enable a mystic union between self and world. We can, therefore, only speculate if he was initially attracted to the authors of alchemical works because they embraced a holistic view of nature, which foregrounded strong resemblances between physical and metaphysical phenomena. It should also be noted that many scholars who broadly belong in the alchemical tradition explored the borderlines between mind and matter. Striking investigations of topics as diverse as social deviance, the origin of the Devil, the true skills of magicians, black and white magic, witchcraft, and the power of poisons and remedies are collected in the work of Johann Weyer, Agrippa’s most prominent disciple. 5 If stripped of its religious-demonic framework, Weyer’s insight into the psychology of delusions, obsessions, sexual deviance, as well as a whole range of ailments that would come to be classified as nervous diseases during the Romantic period, is truly remarkable. It, therefore, is no surprise that Romantic writers had a certain penchant for the works of the old alchemists. Mary Shelley’s father, William Godwin, himself embarked on a book-length study entitled Lives of the Necromancers (1834),16 in which he assessed their true achievements in a strictly sec ular light. As a stolid rationalist, Godwin must have wanted to cool his period’s enthusiasm for what he would have described as irrational obfuscation. Interest in the principles of life – the nervous system, the psyche and the soul – however, provides a connection between Weishaupt’s Illuminati, the ‘modern masters’ and the old alchemists. But as is illustrated by the fact that Weishaupt fell into general disgrace while Lavoisier came to be hailed as the founder of modern chemistry, the line between respectable pursuits and politically and otherwise Introduction 7 suspect explorations of the non-material aspects of human existence was easily crossed. 17 Nowhere was this boundary more richly confused than in the dramas of intellectual adventure conceived by Coleridge, Goethe, Shelley, Byron and other leading poets of the Romantic movement, in whose imaginative company Mary Shelley’s story was conceived. * There were strong elements of the uncanny about many of the scientific experiments that caught the public imagination during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. The legacy of Luigi Galvani (1737–98) was continued through the work of his nephew Giovanni Aldini (1762–1834), who in 1803 experimented on the corpse of a criminal recently executed at Newgate, to macabre effect. Electrical charges caused one eye to open, the legs to jolt and the hand to raise itself as if in greeting. In the same year, Aldini published a series of descriptions of his experiments, including some work on severed heads: The first of these decapitated criminals being conveyed to the apartment provided for my experiments, in the neighborhood of the place of execution, the head was first subjected to the Galvanic action. For this purpose I had constructed a pile consisting of a hundred pieces of silver and zinc. Having moistened the inside of the ears with salt water, I formed an arc with two metallic wires, which, proceeding from the two ears, were applied, one to the summit and the other to the bottom of the pile. When this communication was established, I observed strong contractions in the muscles of the face, which were contorted in so irregular a manner that they exhibited the appearance of the most horrid grimaces. The action of the eye-lids was exceedingly striking, 18 though less sensible in the human head than in that of an ox. But for the precision of its laboratory detail, this reads not unlike a scene from Mary Shelley’s novel. At the other end of the vitalist spectrum from the prospect of reanimation was that of spontaneous generation. In the same year as Aldini was engaging in his grisly, jaw-dropping work at the gallows, Erasmus Darwin’s imaginings were all light and life: And quick contraction with ethereal flame Lights into life the fibre-woven frame – Hence without parent by spontaneous birth Rise the first specks of animated earth. 19 The most notorious experiments in spontaneous generation were those conducted by Andrew Crosse (1784–1855) at his house in the Quantock hills in 1836, long after the publication of Frankenstein, but a diary entry by Mary Shelley indicates that she and Percy Bysshe Shelley attended one of Crosse’s early lectures in London on December 28, 1814. Crosse spoke and gave demonstrations on the topic 8 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall of ‘electricity and the elements’, describing in detail his methods of directing lightning currents in order to employ their power to generate light and motion. 0 The early nineteenth century was a time when the magic and mystique of science was crossing paths with an accelerating succession of immediately useful discoveries, and it was impossible to determine which of a range of mind-boggling prospects might become an actuality. The industrial revolution was in its most intensive phase. Human mobility was accelerated beyond all prev ious imagining, and concepts of geographic distance were correspondingly transformed. Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) built the first passenger steam carriage in 1801 and his steam locomotives were revolutionizing freight transport from 1804. In 1807 the first steamship passenger service to America was introduced. In 1816 the Leeds-Liverpool canal was completed. Work and productivity were likewise accelerated, with doubleedged consequences, as the bulk of manufactured goods grew exponentially, but so did the burden on those whose lot it was to operate the ‘dark satanic mills’. 1 A succession of riots and a growing movement of organized protest were features of this timespan, leading up to the Peterloo massacre in Manchester in early 1819. William Wordsworth, reflecting in 1814 on the transformations he was witnessing, tried to express both sides of the account: I grieve, when on the darker side Of this great change I look; and there behold Such outrage done to nature as compels The indignant power to justify herself; Yea, to avenge her violated righ ts, For England’s bane. And et I do exult, Casting reserve away, exult to see An intellectual mastery exercised O’er the blind elements; a purpose given, A perseverance fed; almost a soul Imparted – to brute matter. I rejoice, Measuring the force of those gigantic powers That, by the thinking mind, have been compelled To serve the will of feeble-bodied man. 22 Mary Shelley was part of the Romantic movement, socially and intellectually, and her view of science was accordingly influenced by the heightened perspectives of her contemporaries. Her protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, is a figure torn between the two kinds of vision expressed here by Wordsworth, and there are no easy conclusions to be reached about the inherent values and dangers of his enterprise. * Introduction 9 The main objective of this collection of essays is to bring to life the challenges and complexities of science as they are reflected in the novel. We have, therefore, brought together contributors who can offer readings of Frankenstein in light of the most relevant areas of the period’s scientific knowledge. Rather than focussing exclusively on the individual fields of enquiry which were to establish themselves as the core disciplines of modern science, this book is based on a broader understanding of science. On the one hand, it reminds the modern reader of the controversial aura of, for example, early studies in electricity, and on the other hand, offers a glimpse of the fluid boundaries between pioneering explorations of nervous diseases and esoteric speculations about the existence of analogical resemblances between mind and matter. The scientific advances of the Romantic period could not have been as farreaching and rapid without related efforts to disseminate the new knowledge amongst a wide spectrum of interested parties. Women and children, in particular, became a crucial target audience for the numerous publishers attempting to profit from the ever-rising interest in inventions and new insight into the secret workings of nature. Publications about the people, animals, plants and landscapes encountered by naval expeditions were a similarly popular topic of interest. Owing to William Godwin’s own involvement in the market of scientific popularisation, Mary Shelley learnt about her period’s technological advancements and scientific theories from her earliest years. Much of the knowledge she acquired as an avid young reader with an early penchant for writing was filtered through to her via scientific popularisations and textual hybrids between fact and fiction. Patricia Fara opens this collection of essays with an overview of scientific publications written for a lay audience and available during Mary Shelley’s formative childhood years. Considering that early nineteenth-century women could still only really enter the history of science as readers, illustrators and translators, Ludvig Holberg’s novel about Niels Klim’s journey through a subterranean world (1742) encouraged its female readers to feel at home in the spaces between fact and fiction. Holberg’s novel, along with Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1725), which demonstrated a similar preoccupation with contemporary science, is a revealing early fantasy about the imaginary exploration of alien spaces, mingled with an analysis of double standards and the social objectives behind scientific ventures. Eighteenth-century novels about scientific innovation are, therefore, shown to provide an important foil for Mary Shelley’s imaginative portrayal of a scientific hypothesis. The next chapter, written by Judith Barbour, offers detailed insight into the precise nature of the knowledge disseminated hrough the Juvenile Library? a serialised encyclopaedia published by William Godwin after 1807. Not surprisingly, the household of a writer, publisher and bookseller teemed with intellectual debates about the rationale and implications of new systems of scientific categorisation. Such discussions enthusiastically explored the Linnean order of plants al ong with other attempts to revise the long-established ‘great chain of being’, a rigid hierarchy that assigned a place to all living beings and embraced beings as diverse as mites and slugs, on the one hand, and God and his angelic 0 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall vassals, on the other. 23 Attracting young men with radical sentiments or otherwise unconventional attitudes, Godwin’s home was also a hub for discussions about the social changes made possible by the secular perspective of contemporary science, disencumbered by the crippling notions of mainstream morality. Controversies about mankind’s purpose were considered in light of, for instance, Georges Buffon’s (1707–88) accounts of the resemblances between the human physical frame and that of apes and other primates. The young Mary was, therefore, immersed into a heady intellectual climate that encouraged her to speculate about the reforming potentials of contemporary science. Percy Bysshe Shelley, an influential figure in her father’s circle of friends, was intrigued by the roaming imagination of the young Mary – so much so that the couple decided to elope in 1814. The early dialogues between the precocious child and the already established writer were to grow ever more intensive and, as Barbour argues, inspired the dramatic momentum required for transforming Mary’s fantasy about an artificially created being into a speculative drama about the consequences of contemporary science. In the late eighteenth century, the understanding and experience of space began to change in response to the accumulation of a vast bulk of new information about the geography of far-flung places. In parallel with this development, unprecedented efforts to grasp the secrets of the human mind, psyche and soul probed into the inner spaces of human existence. It goes without saying that the attempt to map and chart the phenomena of the mind could not follow equally objective principles. As Christa Knellwolf’s chapter explains, the inability to draw an objective map made it difficult to proceed. However, it also provided scope for imagining a vastness of imaginary space that reflects the minute infinities revealed by contemporary microscopes. At issue, however, are not the microscopic dimensions that will be the concern of twentieth-century microbiology, but the limitless nature of consciousness and imagination. The parallels between inner and outer space bears special salience for the setting of Frankenstein: The immense distances traversed, particularly in its narrative frame, position the novel’s eponymous hero in both an emotional and a geographic desert. The impossible spaces of the narrative and physical setting of the story, then, raise questions about whether the uncompromising realisation of ideals and absolutes is achievable for an ordinary human being. Contemporary debates on the sanctity of human life are a key concern of Frankenstein. Anita Guerrini’s chapter argues that early nineteenth-century debates about vivisection were motivated not only by the nascent sensitivity towards the sufferings of animals, but also responded to long-standing, religiously motivated attempts to ban experiments that pried into the mysteries of life – human and animal. The discovery and description of the nervous system, however, critically depended on the possibility of observing the physical locations of pain. Like Frankenstein himself, prominent scientists in the field found it difficult to cope with the gruesome aspects of vivisection and were unsure about whether they had a right to proceed with their research. Audiences were still eager to attend public Introduction 11 performances in anatomy but antivivisection debates shed important light on the contested public perception of anatomical-medical experimenters. Francois Magendie (1783–1855) – a French anatomist who regularly performed public dissections in order to demonstrate the body’s sensory functions – as a case in point, who illustrates a growing discomfort with the scientists’ wish to spy ever more deeply into the borderlines between life and death. So a further parallel between the real and fictional scientist emerges as an urgent concern of the novel, consisting of the fact that neither the real nor fictional scientist were horrified by the gruesome environment of the charnel house or suffici ently awed by the idea that a dead human body was the receptacle of a recently departed soul. Frankenstein’s creature is frequently referred to as a monster. While this trite stereotype fails to grasp the problems implicit in contemporary fantasies about the perfectibility of the human body and mind, it also ignores the fact that the monster posed enormous problems for the taxonomies of comparative anatomy, which is why teratology – the scientific explanation of the existence of monsters – emerged as an influential branch of contemporary science. Diverging significantly from the characteristics identified by received definitions of a particular species, Melinda Cooper argues that the nature and purpose of these alternative life-forms posed endless problems and questions. Were they simple variants of the normal representatives of a species, were they a sign that the health of a species had been undermined, or were they indications of special transformations waiting to manifest themselves in the imminent future? Such questions need to be raised in regard to Frankenstein’s so-called monstrous creation. Their relevance is further documented by the fact that debates about the problematic role of the monster must have occurred between the Shelleys and their friend William Lawrence (1783–1867), a leading figure in the controversy over whether the origin of life was the consequence of materialist or vitalist principles. As regards the philosophical conception of Frankenstein’s creature, the context of teratological controversies opens up a new understanding of the novel’s analysis of the origin and meaning of different forms of life. Allan K. Hunter’s focus on an evolutionary perspective leads to a very different interpretative approach, exploring the social and political implications of the creature’s life course. The evolutionary theories at issue here are those of Erasmus Darwin, whose untempered admiration for the revolutionary energies surfacing in America and France fed into his hypothetical modelling of the future state of life forms. Hunter’s essay examines the claim that Enlightenment science enabled new view of the human condition that comes into existence between a distant past and a distant future, and whose endless transformations generate cultural anxieties about the approach of a new evolutionary phase. Seen through the lens of Darwin’s revolutionary optimism and Godwin’s doctrine of perfectability, the creature is endowed with preternatural learning abilities, extreme powers of endurance and a body size that makes him dominant in any physical contest. Yet he is a lso transformable into a force of chaos and a generator of cyclic violence. His creation as a manufacturing process is thus a provocative reflection on the culture of 12 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall manufacturing innovation in England at the time. These tensions and provocations are revealed in the novel’s controversial reception, which also illustrates a growing anxiety in England about the nebulous and excessive tendencies of French thought, compared to English pragmatism. With our taken-for-granted attitude towards electricity, it is a challenge for twenty-first-century readers of Frankenstein to appreciate the imaginative potency of electrical researches in the Enlightenment period. Mary Shelley’s novel capitalizes on the dramatic cultural and psychological impact of electrical discovery as well as its immediately spectacular manifestations. Amongst her contemporaries, electricity was regarded as a life science or, more than that, as the science of life itself. Ian Jackson emphasizes that the most popular and spectacular forms of electrical experiment involved human and animal bodies. Such experiments promised to unlock forces of unlimited potential that might change the destiny of the species, effecting a transformation of human being in metaphysical as well as material terms. When unseen electrical forces were made to cause visible objects and bodies to move, or emit sparks, or to attract other objects towards them, this created a meeting point between the perceptual frameworks of science and animism. Through Galvanic experiments in which the corpses of recent gallows victims were made to dance, these forces are specifically linked with the fantasy of reanimation. The agonies of conscience experienced by Victor Frankenstein also reflect the intensity of debates surrounding researches into electricity which, from an orthodox religious point of view, were dangerously impious, because to reveal those things in creation that were hidden from the human senses was to transgress divine intention. If the Creator had wanted them to be known, He would have made them evident in the first place. Against this view, there was the Newtonian defence that the study of nature, with the purpose of revealing the workings of God to man, is essentially pious because it enables fuller human admiration of divine perfection. The unashamed atheism of the Shelley circle, and their embrace of Prometheus as the greatest of mythical heroes, prompted a move away from defensiveness to the lyrical celebration of bold discovery. However, Jackson suggests that in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is offering a more troubled view of scientific aspiration. Joan Kirkby’s analysis of the spiritualist ideas underpinning the story of Victor Frankenstein brings up the question of what was regarded as a ‘science’ in the early nineteenth century. Mesmerism combined elements from the knowledge domains of astronomy, electricity and magnetism, with interpretative frameworks belonging to the practices of clairvoyance and spiritualism. Major philosophical thinkers such as Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788– 1860) interested themselves in the presence of spirits, and many of the works of eighteenth-century scientific writers include serious commentary on the permeability of the boundary between life and death. Leading spiritualists of this time, as Kirkby points out, were also leading scientists. Emanuel Swedenborg Introduction 13 (1688–1772) was led by his sophisticated interests in anatomy and the composition of matter to enquire into the specific location of the connecting point between body and soul. In this light, the anatomical work of Frankenstein, driven by an impassioned commitment to dismantling the boundary between life and death, takes on heightened implications. The themes of the novel can also be seen as closely linked with those of Percy Shelley’s major poems, in which a view of matter itself as spirit is xpounded with powerful conviction. The culture of collecting was one of the most significant forms of public engagement with the natural sciences in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. As Christine Cheater observes, some of the tensions played out in the novel are reflections of larger cultural tensions exemplified in the design and management of collections. Victor Frankenstein’s adventures take him from the extremes of conf inement, working day and night in his domestic laboratory, to some of the wildest and most remote landscapes of the world. Similarly, the quest for scientific trophies could lead to travels around the globe but also to the experience of confinement amongst the obsessive and personalised clutter of the cabinet of curiosities. There were tensions, too, between the curiosity driven projects of the private collectors or virtuosi and the growing commitment to expertise and professional specialization, with its attendant demands for greater exclusivity in the management and accessibility of collections. Cheater compares the careers of Ashton Lever (1729–88) and John Gould (1804–81) as exemplars of this transition and the tragic personal costs it sometimes entailed, suggesting that the disastrous conclusion of Victor Frankenstein’s enterprise shares some symptomatic elements. Scientific fictions about the existence of different forms of life did not begin with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Stories embraced in long-standing speculations about whether there are other worlds and, if so, what their inhabitants might look like, date back at least to Bernard le Bovier de Fontelle’s (1657–1757) scientific popularisation of Cartesianism. While early fantasies about the appearance of beings living outside or beneath the surface of the earth demonstrate little fear about the implications for their own world, Mary Shelley’s novel adds a decisively worrying twist to the theme. Sharing the planet with another species that is their own equivalent (or even superior) may be a prospect for which human nature is not ready, though in her later novel The Last Man, Shelley envisaged a world evacuated of the human species as a place of profound metaphysical emptiness. This work points towards a tradition of bleaker fictional renditions of the future. By the end of the nineteenth century, apocalyptic fantasies dominated the imagination of writers, such as H. G. Wells, disillusioned about the promises of science and their period’s irresponsible treatment of natural resources. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a work that stands at the beginning of such dark visions about the barbarities resulting from a science that is used in the service of megalomaniacs wishing to control the world rather than as a tool for the spread of Enlightenment ideas and values. It is time to reengage with the novel as a work 14 Christa Knellwolf and Jane Goodall that is filled with the energies of scientific aspiration, as well as misgivings about human failure to realise it. Notes 1 Evelyn Fox Keller, Secrets of Life, Secrets of Death: Essays on Language, Gender and Science (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 49. Anne K. Mellor probably offers the most fully developed of such readings in Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters (London: Routledge, 1988). See Isaac Asimov, ‘Robots, computers and fear’, Introduction to Machines That Think (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983), p. 1; Bernard E. Rollin, ed. The Frankenstein Syndrome: Ethical and Social Issues in the Genetic Engineering of Animals (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995). Patricia Fara, An Entertainment for Angels (Cambridge: Icon Books, 2002), p. 22. Desmond King-Hele, Doctor of Revolution: The Life and Genius of Erasmus Darwin (London: Faber & Faber, 1977). Jenny Uglow, The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made the Future, 1730–1810 (London: Faber & Faber, 2002). Erasmus Darwin, letter to Benjamin Franklin, 29 May 1787 in American Philosophical Society collection of Franklin Papers XXXV, 70; quoted in King-Hele (London: Faber & Faber, 1977), p. 79. Mary Wollstonecraft, An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, in Mary Wollstonecraft, Political Writings, ed. Janet Todd (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1994), p. 292. Ian Hunter, Rival Enlightenments: Civil and Metaphysical Philosophy in Early Modern Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001). For a historical background of eighteenth-century freemasonry, see Margaret Jacob, Living the Enlightenment: Freemasonry and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Europe (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1991). For a etailed historical analysis of Illuminism, see Richard van Dulmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten: Darstellung, Analyse, Dokumentation, trans. Christa Knellwolf (Stuttgart: F. Frommann, 1975), p. 159. Denis Diderot and Jean Dâ₠¬â„¢Alembert Le Rond, eds, L’Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire raisonne des art et des sciences (Paris: Le Breton, 1751–72). For a discussion of the cultural context and objectives of the philosophes, see David Garrioch, ‘The party of the Philosophes’, in The Enlightenment World, eds Martin Fitzpartick, Peter Jones, Christa Knellwolf and Iain McCalman (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 26–41. Compare the entry for ‘Illuminati’ in the Catholic Encyclopaedia online: [accessed 10 October 2007]. Antoine Lavoisier, Traite elementaire de chimie, presente dans un ordre nouveau et d'apres les decouvertes modernes, 2 vols (Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789; repr. Bruxelles: Cultures et Civilisations, 1965). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993), p. 30. All further references are from this text and are cited parenthetically. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Introduction 15 5 Johann Weyer, De praestigii s daemonum, trans. John Shea, in Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance (Binghamton, NY: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1991 [1583]). 16 For the details of Godwin’s study, see Lives of the Necromancers: or, An Account of the Most Eminent Persons in Successive Ages, Who Have Claimed for Themselves, or to Whom Has Been Imputed by Others, the Exercise of Magical Power (London: Frederick J. Mason, 1834). 17 Also compare Robert Darnton, Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1968); and Auguste Viatte, Les sources occultes du romanticism, illuminism, theosophie, 1770–1820 (Paris: Champion, 1965). 18 John [Giovanni] Aldini, ‘An account of the late improvements in galvanism, with a series of curious and interesting experiments performed before the commissioners of the French National Institute, and repeated lately in the anatomical theaters of London’ (London: 1803). Extracts from this document available online at [accessed 10 October 2007]. 19 Erasmus Darwin, The Temple of Nature (London: J. Johnson, 1803), Canto II, iv, lines 246–51. 20 Peter Haining, The Man Who Was Frankenstein (London: Frederick Muller, 1979), pp. 56–63. 21 William Blake, Jerusalem; quoted from Literature Online [accessed 10 October 2007]. 22 William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book 8, pp. 243 and 244; quoted from Literature Online [accessed 10 October 2007]. 23 For a historical overview of the concept, see A. O. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1948).

Synonyms for Clothes

Synonyms for Clothes Synonyms for Clothes Synonyms for Clothes By Mark Nichol Words that refer collectively to one’s clothes have an origin in the sense of equipment or preparation; here are a dozen words available as alternatives to clothes. Apparel, ultimately derived from the Latin verb apparare, meaning â€Å"prepare,† started out in English as a verb but then came to be associated with clothing (as well as a ship’s rigging); apparatus is related. The origin of attire is the French word atirier, meaning â€Å"equip† or â€Å"prepare†; it, too, began as a verb. Clothes comes from the Old English plural of cloth. (When this sense became rare, cloth acquired a new plural: cloths.) Costume, from the Latin word consuetudinem, meaning â€Å"custom† or â€Å"habit† (costume and custom are cognate), was later associated with one’s style of dress. It is now mostly associated with clothing worn by performers or partygoers. Dress, which originally meant â€Å"prepare,† derives ultimately from the Latin term directus, meaning â€Å"direct† or â€Å"straight,† and later became a noun as well as a verb. The French term garnement, from the noun garner, meaning â€Å"adorn† or â€Å"provide† (also the source of garnish) was adopted into English as garment. Habiliments, from the Old French term abiller, meaning â€Å"equip† or â€Å"prepare,† originally referred to weaponry but came to pertain to characteristic attire, such as an outfit worn to identify a person’s occupation or tacitly prescribed clothing that is appropriate for a specific occasion, such as a formal-dress event. (Related words are able and ability, billet, habit, and habilitate.) Outfit originally meant to prepare and supply a sea expedition, then later became a noun referring to equipment and items required for such an undertaking by sea or by land and, by extension, to clothing. (It now also informally refers to a group of people.) The archaic word raiment derives from an Old French word areement, the noun form of the term areer, the origin of the English verb (and noun) array. Vestments comes ultimately from the Latin verb vestire, meaning â€Å"clothe,† by way of Old French; it’s related to vest. (Vestibule is unrelated, though the financial sense of vest, and the root word in invest and divest, are cognate, deriving from a sense of vestire that pertains to surrounding oneself with something figuratively as if putting on clothes.) Wardrobe, from the Old French word garderobe (and the dialectical variant warderobe), originally referred to a dressing room, then to one’s collection of clothing and later to a piece of furniture for storing clothing; the senses derive from the French warder, meaning â€Å"guard† or â€Å"keep,† and robe, which was directly borrowed into English to refer to a garment. The French form of the word has been used in English but is rare. (The connection between g and w in French words used in English is also seen, for example, in guarantee/warranty and Guillaume/William.) Wear, from an Old English term meaning â€Å"clothe† or â€Å"cover up† (and related to the ward in wardrobe), is generally used in combination to refer to a particular type of clothing, as in the terms sportswear and underwear. Slang terms for clothing include duds, garb, get-up, rags, rig, threads, and togs. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Apply to, Apply for, and Apply with8 Proofreading Tips And TechniquesRite, Write, Right, Wright

How to prove youre a leader on your resume

How to prove youre a leader on your resume One of the more common phrases you’ll hear from us and others when crafting your resume is, â€Å"Show, don’t tell.† It’s kind of like explaining a joke- if you have to do it, then your audience has most likely missed your point. And keep in mind that your audience is likely reading dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes that say things like, â€Å"I’m a natural leader† or â€Å"I am detail-oriented.† Anyone can say those things- what they want to see is that you can do those things in a real-life setting. So let’s look at some key words to show, not tell, your leadership skills. The key element here is using strong, active verbs. You’re doing! You’re succeeding! You’re seizing control! You’re not passive! You’re going for Superman, not mild-mannered Clark Kent here. No matter how forceful you are in person, you won’t get the chance to prove that unless your resume gets past the initial gat ekeeper who reads it. Paint a picture with your words and you’ll get to the in-person step where you can wow them with your personality.If you want to show creativity and innovation, here are words you can use:TransformedPilotedRevitalizedRefinedImprovedModernizedRevitalizedCreatedOriginatedDevisedImplementedTransformedIf you want to show financial leadership, here are words you can use:Streamlined costsSpurred growthDrove growthNegotiatedCut costsReduced overheadIf you want to show efficiency, here are words you can use:StreamlinedSimplifiedIf you want to show team leadership, here are words you can use:MotivatedCoachedLedAdvocatedSupportedMentoredHeadedEngagedEnergizedEmpoweredIf you want to show influential leadership, here are words you can use:InspiredMobilizedNegotiatedInfluencedSteeredWon the support ofLobbiedVocabulary choices may seem like extra homework, and that five minutes with a thesaurus will do the trick. But really, you should treat it like a chance to make y our resume a living document, with real-world examples of the qualities you want your resume reader to see right away. After all, the average resume gets about ten seconds of reading time before the reader either puts it into the â€Å"next stage† pile or dumps it in the â€Å"next please† pile. Your chance to make an impression is extremely limited, and good word choices will help you stand out from other people in the crowd who may have similar backgrounds or qualifications.When you’re writing (or revamping) your resume, use these words to come up with more concrete bullet points throughout your resume. Four to six thoughtful, specific examples, combined with these powerful verbs, tell a story much faster and more clearly than six generic bullet points about â€Å"responsibilities.† It shows that you have the experience to back up your statements. And in the meantime, you’re not boring the reader with the 47th rendition of â€Å"I Have Demonstra ted Leadership, Believe Me.† Instead, you’re showing what you’ve done to be a leader.

Ideal Gas vs. Non-Ideal Gas Example Problem

Ideal Gas vs. Non Problem This example problem demonstrates how to calculate the pressure of a gas system using the ideal gas law and the van der Waals equation. It also demonstrates the difference between an ideal gas and a non-ideal gas. Van der Waals EquationProblem Calculate the pressure exerted by 0.3000 mol of helium in a 0.2000 L container at -25  °C usinga. ideal gas lawb. van der Waals equationWhat is the difference between the non-ideal and ideal gases?Given:aHe 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2bHe 0.0237 L ·mol How to Solve the Problem Part 1: Ideal Gas LawThe ideal gas law is expressed by the formula:PV nRTwhereP pressureV volumen number of moles of gasR ideal gas constant 0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·KT absolute temperatureFind absolute temperatureT  °C 273.15T -25 273.15T 248.15 KFind the pressurePV nRTP nRT/VP (0.3000 mol)(0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·K)(248.15)/0.2000 LPideal 30.55 atmPart 2: Van der Waals EquationVan der Waals equation is expressed by the formulaP a(n/V)2 nRT/(V-nb)whereP pressureV volumen number of moles of gasa attraction between individual gas particlesb average volume of individual gas particlesR ideal gas constant 0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·KT absolute temperatureSolve for pressureP nRT/(V-nb) - a(n/V)2To make the math easier to follow, the equation will be broken into two parts whereP X - YwhereX nRT/(V-nb)Y a(n/V)2X P nRT/(V-nb)X (0.3000 mol)(0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·K)(248.15)/[0.2000 L - (0.3000 mol)(0.0237 L/mol)]X 6.109 L ·atm/(0.2000 L - .007 L)X 6.109 L ·atm/0.19 LX 32.152 atmY a(n/V)2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x [0.3000 mol/0.2000 L]2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x (1.5 mol/L)2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x 2.25 mol2/L2Y 0.077 atmRecombine to find pressureP X - YP 32.152 atm - 0.077 atmPnon-ideal 32.075 atmPart 3 - Find the difference between ideal and non-ideal conditionsPnon-ideal - Pideal 32.152 atm - 30.55 atmPnon-ideal - Pideal 1.602 atmAnswer:The pressure for the ideal gas is 30.55 atm and the pressure for van der Waals equation of the non-ideal gas was 32.152 atm. The non-ideal gas had a greater pressure by 1.602 atm. Ideal vs Non-Ideal Gases An ideal gas is one in which the molecules dont interact with each other and dont take up any space. In an ideal world, collisions between gas molecules are completely elastic. All gases in the real world have molecules with diameters and which interact with each other, so theres always a bit of error involved in using any form of the Ideal Gas Law and van der Waals equation. However, noble gases act much like ideal gases because they dont participate in chemical reactions with other gases. Helium, in particular, acts like an ideal gas because each atom is so tiny. Other gases behave much like ideal gases when they are at low pressures and temperatures. Low pressure means few interactions between gas molecules occur. Low temperature means the gas molecules have less kinetic energy, so they dont move around as much to interact with each other or their container.

Comparing two university websites in terms of their e-HRM Research Paper

Comparing two university websites in terms of their e-HRM - Research Paper Example Specifically both universities web sites were examined. Based on a scientific framework several aspects were analyzed: contextual factors, website architecture, e-HRM activities, actors, goals, e-HRM strategy and possible outcomes. The organization type is similar in both cases. But the results reveal that the type of e-HRM practice is different. Therefore the e-HRM practice on each organization has different consequences. It happens because the contextual environment is not the same and the the e-HRM application and the web sites main activities are very different. This paper emphasizes the importance of the controlling and monitoring task in order to prove the effectiveness of the e-HRM practice. It provides also instructions for future researches. e-HRM practice: Comparing two university websites e-HRM is a new research theme. As a new application is important to identify the research needs and define a research framework in order to achieve a proper result. e-HRM appears as the u se of the information technology in order to support the human resources functions. The questions are: How can the IT technology coexists with the HR functions and improve its efficiency? â€Å"With e-HRM, managers can access relevant information and data, conduct analyses, make decisions, and communicate with others - and they can do this without consulting an HR professional unless they choose to do so. For example, a manager who wants to make a merit pay decision may access files containing text, audio, and video describing how best to make the decision. Then, the manager can access the data file containing information on his/her employees. With a click of the mouse, the decision is recorded and other departments (such as finance) are notified. Hours of processing are reduced to minutes, and much paperwork is avoided by the use of this technology (Lengnick-Hall & Moritz; 2003, p. 366).† The first studies appears in 1995 ( Strohmeier, S. 2007). Strohmeier presents a researc h framework. Ruel and the colleges developed â€Å"An explorative empirical study in five large companies on web-based HRM†. With this experience were identified four type of goals in e-HRM practice, and crucial research point were defined. The purpose of this paper is to compare the actual practice of e-HRM on two different Universities' websites and determine the similarities and differences between e-HRM practices on both websites. The Universities are Zayed and Texas. Based on previous studies, as the Ruel and Strohmeier experiences, is possible to identify critical points to analyses in both e-HRM practice. Applying this knowledge to the current case study, this paper aims to identify and to describe the e-HRM practices and policies in both cases. After presenting the theoretical concepts on chapter 3, the methodology and the results will be presented in sections 4 and 5. In the conclusion ( section 6), the themes will be synthesized and the lessons learned presented. HR M and e-HRM Strategic Human Resources Management Martin-Alcazar, Romero-Fernandez and Sanchez-Gardy ‘s literature review define Strategic Human Resources Management â€Å" as the integrated set of practices, policies and strategies through which organizations manage their human capital, that in?uences and is in?uenced by the business strategy, the organizational context and the socioeconomic context.† ( Alcazar, Fernandez & Gadey, 2005). Built on an intensive research work on strategic HRM models as the contingent,

Rational in Buying Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Rational in Buying - Research Proposal Example Harrison-Walker (1995) states that it appears that age demographics receive 'scant' attention in the marketing communications literature. Figure 11 shows a general outline of the overall research process as well as a guideline on the structure of the project itself. Due to the rapidly changing environment that is the industry of clothing and grocery, any company needs a clearer understanding of the nature of purchasing varying by age category. This would enable a successful and efficient segmentation and differentiation of its products to the different age groups. With this mind, here is a list of objectives to be accomplished during the process of the research as well a general guideline and outline throughout the research: - Review the findings on the basis of comparison and contrasting and analysis of the results for the different groups, tracing and identifying the differences and similarities and make the final conclusions and recommendations. The brand name of any product has always been considered essential and vital as it was something, which once attached to an ordinary product, made it extraordinary or special. A key function of brands is quality certification. Brand reputation has considerable value more so where consumers find it difficult to judge quality for themselves. Often connected by the price, Premium Branding has enabled producers to establish consumer loyalty, increase consumer and customer awareness and develop and establish extensions of the brand. This makes branding a paramount element of the Marketing Strategy. Although, it was always demanding 'a great deal of long-term investment, especially for advertising, promotion and packaging' (Phillip Cotter 2003). The Image of a Brand, in the eyes of the consumer, may also act as a so called filter or perception of 'good or bad' products. This is easily influenced by marketing variables and/or other social influences over which the commercial marketer has limited control. Although commercial marketers tend to say they have ultimate and very strong control, the reality is slightly more fickle combined with the changing environment and ultimately customers' tastes, wants and needs. However, Marketers anticipating this turbulent environment learned to segment markets, so to focus their time, effort and energy toward a particular

Personal failure that had an impact on your life and what you learned Statement

Failure that had an impact on your life and what you learned from it - Personal Statement Example In addition to that native language plays a big role in facilitating the learning process and my failure stands just there. To get the thought to roll at your tongue one needs to "Know Thyself" and express it in the common language. The outcome of the course results in filling a position for International Diplomat, International Trade professional, Politician or running your own business where ones national language is of highest priority to get the message across. It was my personal failure to learn the Russian language which formed the base for all communications. Understanding the penetrations of any form of knowledge in a country and its effective usage can only be made possible through the use of national language. The intricacy of Russian language in my study was extremely important as the course dealt in international relations which by itself meant knowing the language better; mastering it is a process, to enable swift communication for better business and value to any individual or an organization. Not taking an initiative to learn Russian was a neat failure to understand the crucial demands of the moment and to envelope the very opportunity to grasp the cultural dimensions of a language for benefit and goodwill. The unique profile of basic aptitudes, learning styles, personality preferences and attitudes of a being is a blend for success in any profession and learning a native language serves as a catalyst to further the interests. The blend serves as a strong ingredient to get the things right at the first time and native language gets you just that in the long run. My personal failure to identify the learning opportunities of Russian language for my course was a personal failure which would strike back strong in the long term. Being open minded to learn new things is innovativeness in itself and proving in the long run how imperative impressionist one could be which greatly influences ones personality elements for effective communication and public relations. Language is native to the turn of phrase of culture. Serving as means for propagating values, beliefs and customs, it has a chief social function which forges friendships, cultural ties, feeling of group identity, economic relationships and solidarity. It is the resource by which culture, its traditions and shared values may be put across and potted. Being international relations as my major I have convinced with the fact that learning Russian, which happens to be the native language, would have served me with greater strength and focus for furthering my interests largely.

Tabletop Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Tabletop Exercise - Essay Example On 3rd May 1999, a series of tornadoes struck Oklahoma City, which are some of the most expensive in the history of the United States. They caused a damage of more than 1 billion dollars and destroyed more than 2500 structures. In less than 21 hours, a total of 21 tornadoes, swept though the states of Kansas and Oklahoma. There were as many as four tornadoes at one point reported on the ground simultaneously. The strongest and most destructive tornado was rated on the Fujita tornado scale as having a maximum F-5 and tracked for about one and a half hours through southern Oklahoma City from Chickasha and the neighborhoods of Newcastle, Bridge Creek, Del City, Midwest City, and Moore. There are various drills that should be adhered to in case a tornado strikes. However, there is need for the development of a policy on the appropriate standard procedure to be applied at local educational facilities in the vent of such a disaster. There is need for members of the administration of these institutions to be aware of their roles during tornadoes and similar disasters as they are not fully aware, and their skills have not been enhanced to handle such situations. This table top exercise experiment will offer an opportunity to members of the university of Oklahoma college administration and a group of students to learn the launching and use of incidence command system. The exercise should further identify the improvements and preparedness the institution needs, and provide a contribution to the emergency operation plans.

International Relations Course Informal Personal Intro Essay

International Relations Course Informal Personal Intro - Essay Example Therefore, the values gathered from this cause can be used in my life to foster peace in our country through interrelations, despite of their race, creed or nationality. In this case, by understanding these values, I will be able to interact with people of different background; despite the differences caused by diversity in our daily lives, and I can also avoid conflicts and resolve them whenever they arise. I have high expectations of acquiring a chance for developing diverse virtuals that will facilitate the process of becoming someone who can make a positive contribution in the world. Moreover, through this course I expect to gather skills for interrelation that will enable forming networks of mutual responsibility and a platform for sharing potential with other people around the world. I also expect to meet a highly dedicated instructor in this course, who can offer a chance to share my commitment as a student throughout the course. Moreover, I hope the course will facilitate the process of building my capabilities and character of virtuous and responsible individual, who can contribute in making the world a better place for others and me. I also expect the instructor to be honest, fair, to have critical rigor and to be a source of inspiration to the students. Furthermore, I hope that we will utilize the time offered during this course to learn and for the fair purpose that is benef icial to all students. Â   Studying this course will enable gathering of knowledge and insights that can facilitate building of intercultural competencies, and sustainable disposition. Therefore, this will enable others and me to relate and build a form of interdependence, whereby facilitating globalization. The course will also make a vital contribution in development of new perception towards political reality. Therefore, this will enable building of critical and reflexive knowledge, practical values, relations that will facilitate good coexistence. Knowledge

Tabletop Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Tabletop Exercise - Essay Example On 3rd May 1999, a series of tornadoes struck Oklahoma City, which are some of the most expensive in the history of the United States. They caused a damage of more than 1 billion dollars and destroyed more than 2500 structures. In less than 21 hours, a total of 21 tornadoes, swept though the states of Kansas and Oklahoma. There were as many as four tornadoes at one point reported on the ground simultaneously. The strongest and most destructive tornado was rated on the Fujita tornado scale as having a maximum F-5 and tracked for about one and a half hours through southern Oklahoma City from Chickasha and the neighborhoods of Newcastle, Bridge Creek, Del City, Midwest City, and Moore. There are various drills that should be adhered to in case a tornado strikes. However, there is need for the development of a policy on the appropriate standard procedure to be applied at local educational facilities in the vent of such a disaster. There is need for members of the administration of these institutions to be aware of their roles during tornadoes and similar disasters as they are not fully aware, and their skills have not been enhanced to handle such situations. This table top exercise experiment will offer an opportunity to members of the university of Oklahoma college administration and a group of students to learn the launching and use of incidence command system. The exercise should further identify the improvements and preparedness the institution needs, and provide a contribution to the emergency operation plans.

Homicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Homicide - Essay Example The Waurika, Oklahoma police were not too concerned at first. Although Heather Rich was an honor student and cheerleader, the high school girl had been caught drinking at a football game (â€Å"A story of booze†). Since be thrown off the cheerleading squad, Heather had been running with a rough crowd. The police just thought she had run away. It would not have been the first time a good girl went bad. The police dismissed the theory that Heather Rich was a runaway when a bullet ridden body was found just across the Oklahoma/Texas line. Even though the body was unidentifiable by looks, the Waurika police knew that they had found Heather Rich with one look at the corpse’s braces (â€Å"A story of booze†). Upon closer inspection at the autopsy, Heather Rich had been shot repeatedly with a Mossberg M-9 shotgun (â€Å"A story of booze†). The FBI, OSBI (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations), Waurika police, the Texas Rangers and various other local agencies from Oklahoma and Texas worked together through out the duration of this investigation. After no leads at first, a sheriff got a break with the Mossberg M-9. A local senior, Josh Bagwell, had charged .00 shells for a Mossberg M-9 before Heather Rich turned up missing (â€Å"A story of booze†). Josh Bagwell’s friend, Curtis Gambill, owned a Mossberg M-9 (â€Å"A story of booze†). Josh Bagwell and Curtis Gambill had another friend Randy Lee Woods. Randy Lee Woods, the Waurika quarterback, was Heather Rich’s ex-boyfriend. The three boys would hang out, hunt and drink on weekends. Randy Woods had been question before in the investigation. He had provided the officers with nothing more than an uneasy feeling that the homecoming king was not being totally truthful. Josh Bagwell’s grandparents own a large amount of land in Southern Oklahoma. He came from a rich and privileged background. Curtis Gambill had problems as a child, even spending sometime in juvenile hall.

Cuadra v. Monfort case digest Essay Example for Free

Cuadra v. Monfort case digest Essay Maria Teresa Cuadra and Maria Teresa Monfort were classmates in Grade Six at the Mabini Elementary School in Bacolod City. On July 9, 1962 their teacher assigned them, together with three other classmates, to weed the grass in the school premises. While thus engaged Maria Teresa Monfort found a plastic headband, an ornamental object commonly worn by young girls over their hair. Jokingly she said aloud that she had found an earthworm and, evidently to frighten the Cuadra girl, tossed the object at her. At that precise moment the latter turned around to face her friend, and the object hit her right eye. Smarting from the pain, she rubbed the injured part and treated it with some powder. The next day, July 10, the eye became swollen and it was then that the girl related the incident to her parents, who thereupon took her to a doctor for treatment. She underwent surgical operation twice, on July 20 and August 4, 1962 respectively, and stayed in the hospital for a total of twenty-three days, for all of which the parents spent the sum of P1,703.75. Despite the medical efforts, however, Maria Teresa Cuadra completely lost the sight of her right eye. Maria Teresa Cuadra’s parents sued Alfonso Monfort (Maria Teresa Monfort’s father) based on Article 2180 of the Civil Code. Issues: Whether or not Alfonso Monfort should be held liable under Article 2180. Business Law Ruling of the court: The defendant is not liable and therefore cannot be sued under Article 2180. This article provides that the father and, in case of his death or incapacity, the mother, are responsible for the damages caused by the minor children who live in their company. The basis of this vicarious, although primary, liability is, as in Article 2176, fault or negligence, which is presumed from that which accompanied the causative act or omission. The presumption is merely based on the ï ¬ rst impression(prima facie) and may therefore be rebutted. This is the clear and logical inference that may be drawn from the last paragraph of Article 2180, which states that the responsibility treated of in this Article shall cease when the persons herein mentioned prove that they observed all the diligence of a good father of a family to prevent damage.† In this case, there is nothing from which it may be inferred that the defendant, Alfonso Monfort, could have prevented the damage by the observance of due care, or that he was in any way remiss in the exercise of his parental authority in failing to foresee such damage, or the act which caused it. On the contrary, his child was at school, where it was his duty to send her and where she was, as he had the right to expect her to be, under the care and supervision of the teacher. And as far as the act which caused the injury was concerned, it was an innocent prank not unusual among children at play and which no parent, however careful, would have any special reason to anticipate much less guard against. Nor did it reveal any mischievous propensity, or indeed any trait in the childs character which would reï ¬â€šect unfavorably on her upbringing and for which the blame could be attributed to her parents.

Examining whether glaxoSmithKline has successful internal innovation

Examining whether glaxoSmithKline has successful internal innovation 1) GSK is a leader in the pharmaceuticals industry with 7 per cent of the world market. Its mission is to better the quality of human life so that the people feel better, live longer and is able to perform the tasks assigned to them properly. This can only be achieved by proper planning and implementation of research and development programmes. GSKs purpose of merger was to improve R D (as it would also obtain technology from outside) because it looks to excel in internal innovation by making use of the knowledge and learning provided by individuals of other organisations. These individuals might be experienced, trained, flexible, committed and help the firm to accomplish its goals which is its primary objective. The main aim of internal innovation is to outperform its competition by implementing new ideas into developing new and better products which are sustainable in the market. GSK focuses on providing drugs at a cheaper rate to the developing countries. GSKs strategy is to nurtu re, distribute and make things easier. It implements its strategies by employing a large number of people in different countries. The employees research to produce new pharmaceuticals to treat the diseases focused on. However, GSK is facing a problem of patent expiry. It has 30 patented drugs that are nearing expiry. So it wants to redefine its range of drugs by focussing on its R D. The individuals involved must have a positive attitude and should be willing to take risks. They should learn from each other and also understand what others are doing. That would help in implementation. Implementation involves the proper utilisation of resources and capabilities of a firm. It involves the management of innovation and focuses on managing politics, control and fighting with change. 2) GlaxoSmithKline wants to ensure that the firm focuses on the best science. It realised that to be successful in future, it needs to be more innovative. So it reorganised its research and development area to improve efficiency and accomplish its goals. It created 70 Discovery Performance Units (DPUs) which focussed on eight therapy areas for future growth of the company. However, GSK successfully completed or extended 21 new drug discoveries in the year 2008. Innovation involves the implementation of ideas into some new product and the new product leads to new opportunities. In case of GSK, it would generate more revenue if the ideas are implemented properly. New technology provides a competitive edge to the firm. The four elements of implementation are leadership, engagement, alignment and extension. The 70 DPUs would affect these four elements. The DPUs are compact, fully authorised, determined and integrated teams which are responsible for a small part of the pipeline associated with the production of a drug. The teams include scientists, marketing specialists, engineers and others from key business domains to work on innovations. The exchange of ideas amongst its own scientists through building alliances and meetings are encouraged. They showcase different compounds and potential products. R D groups of individuals gather and learn about new products and processes. In case of GSK, leadership would focus on creating procedures for innovation and distribute sufficient resources for crucial activities. It would help in the induction of supportive systems and policies and set up adequate infrastructure for achieving the required goals. Engagement would focus on building a knowledge based cultu re, education, progress and mentoring. Alignment would help in building a competent organisation and would bind rewards to accomplishments. Extension would help in examining organisational capabilities and search for other prospects. It would also develop and share lessons learnt. Implementation ensures that the goals and support of management are understood properly. It also involves looking out for people who possess the necessary skills required to meet the project objectives. The internal culture and external environment of GSK would also affect the implementation effort. We can expect disinterest, apprehensions, satisfaction, hostility and competition for resources. The teams might become satisfied with their achievements and their ideas could be clashing with each other. They may lack the necessary skills. This would hinder the future growth of the firm and it would not be able to accomplish its goals. However, engagement would help them overcome the problem. Implementation also involves setting up of scrutinising system which addresses possible technical and market uncertainties arising out of radical, continuous change and competition from the external environment. Radical change involves high risk whereas continuous change involves low to medium risk. This is because radical change has a wider impact on the firm as the failure of the product will demotivate the firm and decrease its revenues whereas continuous change has a marginal impact on the firm because improvements are made to the existing product or service. Radical change involves major streamlining of the firm, product line or market. The case study shows that GSK has a background and the processes that support innovation. It also hires individuals to conduct research and develop new products, encourages employees to try out new ideas, undertake risks and experiment. The first part of these processes involves constructing a structure for innovation. Proper teams and co-ordination between different units in an organisation like GSK are needed for the successful implementation. It needs to organise special training and development programmes for the employees, providing technical knowledge about the product, programmes on marketing the product, focus on building new skills in employees and encouraging cross functional activities. 3) GSK needs to evaluate its total organisational performance because it is large, the external environment factors (political, social, economical, technological and competitive factors), the strategic environment, information systems and structural analysis. An organisation involves human, physical, financial and information resources and how these resources are used in the management, operations, production and integration of ideas and actions. The output is the products and services. However, it needs a process to evaluate the diverse ideas and products because it produces far more ideas and products than it can follow at any given time. Cost plays a crucial role when it comes to evaluating an idea. GSK also needs to evaluate the innovation cost which is the internal cost to develop and distribute and also the true cost to the customer to purchase and use. It needs to calculate the costs for development and marketing, market penetration and sales when evaluating a new product and service. It needs a business plan (expected revenue, cost of producing a product or service and profits to be generated) to commercialise the ideas. The evaluation process helps GSK in assessing the kind of innovations it should continue supporting or initiate support for. The team promoting the product should have the ability to justify the product at each step of the process. It should continue with ideas or products that are generating revenue and doing well in the market. It should also start developing new products which have the potential to do well in the market because that will provide competitive advantage to the firm. It would create new opportunities and customers. The shareholders would not hesitate to invest in the firm if it is doing well because they would get appropriate returns on their investment. The evaluation system is designed to be flexible and helps GSK to discontinue those projects that are not meeting expectations. In other words, those projects are hinder ing the growth of the firm. GSKs disciplined and focussed approach has the most influence on how well it evaluates progress towards stated innovation goals. It sees where and how resources are allocated within R D. It terminated more than 35 per cent of discovery projects following the reorganisation in 2008. Those projects might not be meeting its expectations. The DPUs were given financial support for three years after the termination of the projects. The financial support aids the R D group to focus on granting the best science and the best product for the consumers but at the same time it also gave them tough timelines to produce a profitable product. If the product is not profitable it will reduce the revenues of the firm. In that case the firm would have to discontinue with the product. In 2008, GSK received 30 per cent of its revenues from products that had been in existence for less than three years as an outcome of these innovation efforts. It means its revenue was coming from new products. It gained t he first mover advantage. However, it needed to improve its old products. GSKs widespread internal development efforts often lead to innovations that do not fit with the companys main focus. 4) There are three types of control systems: financial control, strategic control and cultural control. They all have advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of financial control are that it is quantitative and easy to understand. The disadvantages are it can become narrow, internally focussed and analysis paralysis is possible. The example of financial control is that it leads to percentage of profit increase from new products. GSK employs financial control because 30 per cent of its revenue has come from products which have been in existence for less than three years. The advantages of strategic control are that it sets direction, more qualitative and fits environment. The disadvantages are it is hard to justify based on some financials, can lose sight of where the firm is. The example of strategic control is that it leads to increase in market share. The case study shows that GSK employs strategic control because its widespread internal development efforts often lead to innov ations that do not fit with the companys main focus. The advantages of cultural control are that it is very behavioural and qualitative. The disadvantage is it requires managers to be involved on a personal level. The example of cultural control is that it leads to value enhancement. GSK employs cultural control because it develops external discovery teams with other firms or universities or research labs. However, it can be seen that GSK faces a vague institutional environment because it emphasises both on financial and strategic control and firms that prefer strategic control to financial control adopt strict corporate authority. The choice of innovation mode is affected considerably by the firms internal control procedures. Therefore a model was developed to look at the relationship between a firms internal control procedures and preference of innovation mode. Using a sample of 585 Chinese firms, this study tests the proposed model. The findings show that strategic control has a negative relationship with incremental innovation but a positive relationship with radical innovation, while financial control has a positive relationship with incremental innovation but a negative relationship with radical innovation. So, GSK should employ strategic control for radical innovation and financial control for incremental innovation. There is a need to make amendments if a gap is identified between goals and performance. This can only be achieved through proper planning. GSK needs to be more cross functional by rethinking of the business processes. In particular the knowledge, equipment and processes must be managed and controlled properly. The processes used by the firm for its internal innovation must be redesigned and looked upon for improvements to meet its objectives. It will help GSK gain competitive advantage. Key decisions should be made by those involved in the innovative process. They would identify new opportunities and find solutions to the existing problems. GSK should develop new goals if the existing goals do not match its capabilities. The goals must be rational and easily achievable because that would save time and money. The individuals involved must have strong personal idea and ethics with the firms values and goals.