Marlow’s Metamorphosis in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Marlow’s Metamorphosis in Heart of Darkness Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, relies on the historical period of imperialism to illuminate its protagonist, Charlie Marlow, and his struggle with two opposite value systems. Marlow undergoes a catharsis during his trip to the Congo and learns of the effects of imperialism. I will analyze Marlow's change, which is caused by his exposure to the imperialistic nature of the historical period in which he lived. Marlow goes to the Congo River to report on Mr. Kurtz, a valuable officer, to their employer. When he sets sail, he does not know what to expect. When his journey is complete, his experiences have changed him forever. Heart of Darkness is a story of one man's journey through the African Congo and the enlightenment of his soul. Marlow begins his voyage as an ordinary English sailor who is traveling to the African Congo to work. He is an Englishmen through and through. He has never been exposed to any culture similar to the one he will encounter in Africa, and he has no idea about the drastically different culture that exists there. Throughout the book, Conrad, via Marlow's observations, reveals to the reader the naive mentality of Europeans. Marlow also shares this naivetà © in the beginning of his voyage. However, after his first few moments in the Congo, he realizes the ignorance he and all his comrades possess. We first recognize the general naivetà © of the Europeans when Marlow's aunt sees him for the last time before he embarks on his journey. She assumes that the voyage is a mission of "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways [. . .]" (line 16). In reality, however, the Euro peans are there in the name of imperialism and their sole objective is to earn... ... Johnson, Bruce. â€Å"Conrad’s Impressionism and Watt’s â€Å"Delayed Decoding.† Conrad Revisited: Essays for the Eighties: 51-70. By Ross C Murfin. University: The Univ. of Alabama, 1985. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988. McLauchlan, Juliet. â€Å"The Value and Significance of Heart of Darkness.† Conradia 15 (1983): 3-21. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988. Stewart, Garrett. â€Å"Lying as Dying in Heart of Darkness.† PMLA 95 (1980): 319-31. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988.

All characters in the novel Essay

All characters in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ are either lonely, bored or in need of escaping from the soulless existence of the itinerant labour. It is based on a society of men leading empty lives, trapped in a lonely life, consisting mainly of hard physical work. There was not enough happiness, love and affection in their lives. The novel is set in California, the Southern states of America, in the 1930’s around the time of the ‘Great Depression’. The ranch is based in ‘Soledad’; which is the Spanish word for ‘Loneliness’. The bunkhouse that the men sleep and live in is a long and rectangular building. The walls are white washed and the floor unpainted. In three of the four walls are small, square windows. In the fourth one was a solid door with a wooden latch. There are eight bunks, all with a nailed apple box over them with the opening forward. This made two small shelves for the personal belongings of each ranch hand occupying the certain bunk. On these shelves were little articles, soap, razors, talcum powder, Western magazines, medicines, little vials, combs and a few neckties. There was also a black cast iron stove, and a big square table in the centre of the room, with scattered playing cards across it, and surrounding the table were boxes for the men to sit on. The bunkhouse also had lice and roaches in it! Carlson and the other ranch hands all dream of owning their own land and living and working from this, resulting in wealth and happiness. This was known as the ‘American Dream’, this is shown as an opportunity to all people no matter how rich or poor they are. There is a lot of government propaganda, informing people that if they work hard and push their ambitions to the limit, they can make this dream reality. However they all knew, no matter how hard they worked or how successful they were, it was very unlikely of this dream ever becoming reality. Their way of escaping this disappointment was to collect their fifty bucks at the end of the month and of a weekend spend all of it on women and alcohol, usually at the nearest ‘cat-house’. During the week they play cards games or horseshoes. Crooks is very lonely, this is due to the fact that he is coloured and everyone knows him as a nigger! He is treated completely differently to all the others, an outsider. He is also crippled, after a horse kicked him and severely damaged his back. In the 1930’s it was very racist in America and the coloured people weren’t allowed to speak up or were too scared to defend themselves in fear of what the white people would do to them. This is the situation Crooks is in. However he is the only coloured person at the ranch, so he has to accept all racial comments on his own. He has his own separate room, which isn’t even a room it is a shed that leans off the side of the barn wall. He is isolated from everyone else, therefore unable to socialise. On one occasion Lennie entered the barn to see his pup. He saw Crooks’ light shining and stood in the doorway of Crooks’ room. Crooks saw him and said sharply ‘†you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here, but me. † He then followed with â€Å"I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain’t wanted in my room†, â€Å"they play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you all of you stink to me. † Crooks reads to amuse himself when he has nothing better to do. This keeps his mind off of the atmosphere and situation he is surrounded by in his everyday life. Curley’s wife is perhaps one of the loneliest characters, trapped in her strict and original woman’s/wife’s role. Her daily routine only ever consists of her doing housework, such as cooking Curley’s dinner, washing Curley’s clothes, making Curley’s bed, cleaning Curley’s house, etc. If Curley catches her talking to the ranch hands he is always very annoyed by it, she is to stay in the house. She is known as ‘Curley’s wife’, no one knows her name so they cannot call her by it. One time when she enters the bunkhouse and begins to talk to the ranch hands, Crooks suggests † Maybe you better go along to your own house now. We don’t want no trouble. † It is this idea that she is ‘trouble’ that makes Curley’s wife so upset and angry. † Well, I ain’t giving you no trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time? † Having a husband even makes her loneliness worse, because Curley is so strict about whom she socialises with and what she does. She calls him sarcastically a â€Å"Swell guy†, who † Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guy’s he don’t like, and he don’t like nobody. † Curley’s wife tries to escape her loneliness and sadness by dreaming of being an actress or a model. She had been offered the chance before â€Å"I tell you I could of went with shows† † An’ a guy tol’ me he could put me in pitchers†. Curley’s wife is also very good at flirting, this attracts male attention. Therefore just for a moment she is listened to and is the centre of attention, this moment matters so much to her because she is being paid attention to for once, that she makes a very bad habit of it. However the ranch hands have got used to her scheming ways and do not want to risk getting â€Å"canned† because of a â€Å"tart†. However Lennie and George are different to the other ranch hands, they may live a lonely existence, but they have each other. Other than the other ranch hands expressing their feelings about their hopes, dreams, lonely lives etc, George and Lennie are the only characters we really get to know. All other ranch hands haven’t got a family or anything to look forward to, but it is different with George and Lennie; they believe they have a future and as long as they have got each other, it doesn’t matter whether they have a family or not. These men love each other. They talk to each other and know that the other cares for them, because George looks after Lennie, and Lennie looks after George. However, George has a much greater job in looking after Lennie, than Lennie has in looking after George. Lennie is a bit of a dunce and is always forgetting things, but George has the brains. They both are physically well built, but Lennie does not realise his own strength sometimes, he is dangerously strong. Lennie is the physical side of the pair, whereas George is the mental. The fact that they have each other gives them more of a chance of success, than the other ranch hands. Lennie loves George to tell him what; one-day things will be like. Their dream is to one day buy a little house, with a ten acres, a â€Å"win’mill†, a kitchen, an orchard to grow â€Å"cherries, apples, peaches, ‘cots, nuts, and a few berries†, a section on the land to grow alfalfa that Lennie will use to feed the rabbits with, hutches and pens full with pigs, chickens, cows, goats, cats, pigeons, a dog and rabbits that Lennie could pet, a smoke house so they could kill the pigs and then smoke it, for smoked ham and bacon etc, and for them to literally â€Å"live off the fatta the lan'†. They would only work six or seven hours a day. Lennie likes to pet, smooth, soft, furry things, as a kind of comfort. Other than for George and animals, love and affection are withheld, not only from Lennie, but also for all the ranch hands. This is why they have their own individual comfort or way of escaping from the repetitive daily routine and loneliness. Candy is a dissimilar character from the other ranch hands. He is very lonely and sad. He has no hand, but a very old dog that he cares for very much. This dog is similar to Candy. They are both very old and when Carlson shoots the dog, because it smells, has no teeth, he cannot eat, is stiff with rheumatism, is nearly blind and Carlson thinks it will be better to put the dog out of his ageing misery. Candy wants people to treat him once he is canned like this. This is because he â€Å"won’t have no place to go, an’ he can’t get no more jobs†. The other ranch hands say that he can replace the dog with one of Lulu’s pups, but of course that wouldn’t be the same, never is anyone or anything the equivalent, everyone and everything is unique. Candy seems to think that when he is dead, people will say the same thing about him. When a new ranch hand comes and replaces him, he’ll be forgotten. For obvious reasons Candy is upset and hurt by this. It is as if the characteristics of his dog and the way the other men treat the dog, symbolises Candy. Candy wants to join George and Lennie in their ‘dream’. Candy has already got three hundred bucks and another fifty coming at the end of the month, when the men get paid. He explains that he â€Å"ain’t much good, but I could cook, tend the chickens, and hoe the garden some†. Then when George and Lennie get their fifty bucks each at the end of the month, they will have four hundred and fifty bucks, and although the woman wants six hundred bucks, George thinks she will accept their offer as a deposit and then George will get a job and start to collect the rest, while Candy and Lennie could work on the land as well as sell eggs etc, making more money. This is Candy’s route of escaping. Everything seems to be falling into place and their dream looks like it could become reality. This is everything a man wants and Candy is thrilled he is part of it. However much their dream looks real, it all ends when Curley’s wife tries her old tricks with Lennie. Curley’s wife enters the barn, as Lennie sits there mourning over his pup, he has just accidentally killed! George has already warned Lennie about Curley’s wife, says she is trouble, so Lennie refuses to talk to her, â€Å"George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you- talk to you or nothing†. Curley’s wife says in a innocent voice, â€Å"All the guys got a horse-shoe tenement goin’ on†, so â€Å"Why can’t you talk to me? † She eventually persuades Lennie that it is safe to talk to her. They talk for ages and Lennie tells her how he â€Å"likes to pet nice things with my fingers, sof’ things†. She tells Lennie to â€Å"feel right here†, on her hair. Lennie was enjoying stroking her hair until she warned him not to â€Å"muss it up†. She then got angry because Lennie wasn’t listening to her. She went to pull away and Lennie clasped his fingers tightly in her hair and wouldn’t let go. She began to shout, â€Å"you let go†. Lennie began to get scared because he thought George would hear and go mad. He covered her mouth and nose to prevent her screaming, and continued to beg her to be quiet. She continued to struggle and he shook her. Suddenly â€Å"her body flopped like a fish†. She was dead! Lennie ran to the brush that George had told him to hide in when they first arrived in Soledad if he ever got into trouble. When Candy found Curley’s wife dead and told all the ranch hands, they all knew it was Lennie! Most of the men wanted to kill Lennie, but George got there first. George knew that Lennie would be scared if half a dozen men ran towards him shooting, but if George was to do it at the back of his head, just like Candy’s old dog it would be pain free. When George found him, Lennie asked for the story of their dream to be told to him and questioned George why he wasn’t mad at him, but obviously if this was George’s last moments with Lennie he didn’t want to be mad at him. As George told the story and paused every so often, Lennie would say â€Å"go on† or â€Å"Gonna do it soon† as if he knew what George was about to do and was encouraging George to get it over and done with. George finally shot Lennie. Lennie jarred forward and the settled peacefully as he lay on the sand. George just sat stiffly and silently n the bank, looking at his hand that had just pulled the trigger disgustedly. George knew it was for the best, where ever they were to go Lennie’s unrecognised strength would lead to trouble; it had already, both in Weed and Soledad. Lennie was trapped by his strength. Although, Lennie has now been released from pain by no longer being able to kill others and from not getting shot by half a dozen men cruelly, but peacefully by George. The upsetting thing is, that Lennie was so afraid of being alone and away from George, and now he was just that. It was all over!!! George is now free; he is no longer trapped by his want of freedom, of constantly looking after Lennie. I think the novel tries to give us the message that people try to lead their lives as successfully as possible, in order to result in the best possible outcome. However this is very hard to succeed. The ranch hands wanted the ‘American Dream’ to become reality, but is very unlikely and as shown does not happen. The novel gave a very positive view of the ‘American dream’, but this is erroneous and does not come true. The chances of finding true, lasting friendship and happiness are also very unlikely as it is always spoilt by misfortune, arguments, inconveniences and sometimes death, as in this case.

The Criminal Justice System - 1597 Words

The purpose of the criminal justice system is explained by three definitions: Control crime, Prevent crime, and provide and maintain justice. This sense of criminal justice has been the same since pre-civilized communities, where the elders of a tribe enforced the laws of the village. The criminal justice system has changed drastically from the times of kinship systems to today’s system of laws. As time has passed criminal justice has change in many ways, for example: the way they dress, arrest, and investigate. With all these changes through the centuries, there are a few qualities that has been consistent through the years and that is the desire to serve justice and provide safety to the people. During the colonial period was a time†¦show more content†¦The United States criminal justice system gets its model of justice based on our London roots. Henry Fielding founded the Bow Street Runners in 1749; this organization was the leading law enforcement organization of its time. Henry Fielding â€Å"Responded to the threat of violence on the streets and the highways leading into the metropolis by bringing together the first body of officers dedicated to catching and prosecuting offenders† (Emsley, 2006, p.17). â€Å"In 1829, British Prime Minister Robert Peel forms the first modern police force, the London Metropolitan Police Force† (Criminal Justice, 2011). The one thousand-member forces, known as Bobbies, organized itself around Peel’s principles of policing. Still to this day, every organization uses the same principles of Sir Robert Peel. Law Enforcement uses these principles as their core morals and values of policing and serves as a basic cod e of ethics: â€Å"Principle 1: The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. Principle 2: The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions. Principle 3: Police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public. Principle 4: The degree of cooperation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force. Principle 5: Police seek and preserve public favor

Motivation report Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Two theories used in describing motivation of employees are described in this essay; the Adam’s equity theory and the Vroom’s expectancy theory. The equity theory is founded on the need for equity based on employees comparing themselves with others. According to Adams (1963), the fairness that is exemplified in the work place plays a critical role in motivating employees. The employees’ state of mind of when they feel that they have been treated unfairly usually causes them to be less productive in their work. The key aspect in this theory is employee satisfaction; this means that employees should be treated in an environment they perceive to be fair. The research done by Adams when developing this theory shows that the feeling by an employee that they are being overpaid resulted to an increased output by the employee. Contrarily, in places where there is negative inequality, the individuals harbouring the mindset feel demotivated, hence their output declines. Advanced by Vroom (1964), the expectancy theory provides an explanation of the motivation of employees based on expected rewards. The effort that an employee puts in their work is a function of their future expectations as well as the attractiveness of the anticipated rewards. We will write a custom essay sample on Motivation report or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now According to the theory, people exemplify expectancies with probabilities of not less than zero and not more than one. In this regard, employee’s expectancy is based on probability that their efforts will be able to deliver performance (Quigley & Tymon, Walter, 2006). Consequently, the performance ought to attract a reward for employee. On the other hand, the attractiveness of rewards is categorized according to valence (-1 to +1). These two aspects can help managers or employers in quantifying the motivation of their employees. The Application of the Integrated Model Managers can embrace two aspects of the integrated model in order to keep their workforce motivated even after the process of downsizing. Firstly, satisfaction of employees is very significant. Employees become satisfied when they feel that their rewards are relative to their efforts. This makes them feel that they have been treated fairly. In most cases, fairness is based on social comparison. In this case, an employee should consider the payment and conditions that people at their level get or what the organization offers to others. A manager has the discretion of ensuring that any feeling of negative inequality is avoided in the organization. This can be achieved through transparency and fairness in rewarding.

The Inequality Index And Human Development Index ( Hdi )...

Every country in the world desires to have their name listed as the most developed countries in the world. For one country it may be easy to develop, whereas one might struggle for development. Thus, development is not an easy thing to achieve. Factors such as production levels, inequality and corruption contribute to the country’s human development index. Gender inequality is one of the factors that may lower a country’s human development index, because the inequality creates implications on the development for a country. This essay will contrast and evaluate the ranks of gender inequality index (GII) and human development index (HDI) between the two countries: Brazil and Turkey. Overall, this paper argues in terms of gender equity, the European country, Turkey, is developed when comparing to Brazil - Latin American country. Brazil In sociological terms, gender inequality is defined as the unequal treatment between the two genders in areas across health reproduction, economic-participation, and empowerment. The United Nations Gender Inequality Index (UN GII) measures these inequalities between the two genders. According to UN’s Human Development Reports, Brazil has a GII value of 0.441, ranking 85th for 2013 GII. Brazil has 9.6 percent share of seats in the parliament, which is lower than Turkey (14.2). This implies there is less authorization of women, leaving Turkey more developed in terms of empowerment. Moreover, in Brazil 51.9 percent of women over the age of 25 haveShow MoreRelatedDevelopment and Globalisation Essay7740 Words   |  31 PagesDevelopment and Globalisation Development A process of social and economic advancement in terms of the quality of human life. Development can involve can involve economic, demographic, social political and cultural changes. Development is a term that can be used in many different contexts whether it is social, economical, political etc. However generally development refers to an improvement in certain areas: †¢ Economic o An increase in the country’s economy withRead MoreUnited Arab of Emirates Country Notebook18844 Words   |  76 PagesUnited Arab of Emirates Country Notebook Presented to Dr. Shahira El Alfy Prepared by: Mohamed Ibrahim Osama Mosher Ismail Ahmed El-Mohamady Hesham Mostafa Eslsca 36 – Global Management I. Cultural Analysis: Identification of the Emirates History: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) consists of the seven emirates, which are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al-Qaiwain, and Fujairah. They were united as a federalRead MoreUnited Arab of Emirates Country Notebook18844 Words   |  76 PagesUnited Arab of Emirates Country Notebook Presented to Dr. Shahira El Alfy Prepared by: Mohamed Ibrahim Osama Mosher Ismail Ahmed El-Mohamady Hesham Mostafa Eslsca 36 – Global Management I. Cultural Analysis: Identification of the Emirates History: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) consists of the seven emirates, which are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al-Qaiwain, and Fujairah. They were united as a federal

If Heaven and Hell Decide That They Both Are Satisfied, Ill Go to College free essay sample

Creating something from nothing is one of the most incredible things humans can do, although the Law of Conservation of Mass would disagree. On a chilly November night last year, I created something beautiful, successful, and heartbreaking. I arranged I Will Follow You Into the Dark, originally by Death Cab for Cutie, for my high school a cappella group. The blank digital sheet music stared at me, tempting me to try making music. I sat at my keyboard, desperately trying to figure out how to create a syncopated choir line carrying the rhythm and sensitivity of the mellow acoustic guitar in the original recording. Once I interpreted it as best I could, I entered that first eighth note into the alto line – a D. The piece grew into a delicious five-part concoction. The twists and turns of the song were elegant yet simple. I could not wait to start molding this piece into something wonderful. We will write a custom essay sample on If Heaven and Hell Decide That They Both Are Satisfied, Ill Go to College or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page After looking through the arrangement, I realized it sounded great, but something was missing. The backup lines danced splendidly, but halfway into the song, it became boring. It was forgettable, the worst thing an arrangement can be. A flash of inspiration came to me. Make it a duet! A boy would sing the first verse, a girl would sing the second, and the third would explode into gorgeous harmony. I sang along with the piece at least six times, trying to build the best rich blend for the third verse. Finally, something clicked. I notated the line I invented. Using my software’s playback feature, I listened to everything I had done. Never have I loved the standard MIDI piano output so much; the harsh digital sound somehow filled me with satisfaction. I had done it. I crafted a version of a popular song that my ensemble could perform. We performed the song numerous times between its debut in February and year end show in June. Our senior manager said it was his favorite song we crooned all year. At our last show with 2010-2011 crew, I swear I saw a tear in his eye, although I know he’d never admit it. My mom cried at the debut of the song, but she’s my mom, so that probably doesn’t say much. Singing with my friends, performing the duet with my best friend, it was probably the happiest moment of my life. Music does that. I’ve always been bad at finishing things: projects, songs, arrangements, college essays; nonetheless, I finished I Will Follow You Into the Dark. Music is everything to me, I breathe it. The arrangement wasn’t groundbreaking, but it was good. Before this, I wasn’t anything remarkable as a person. People knew me, but I wasn’t the one getting leads in plays, I wasn’t performing at pep rallies, but that’s not true anymore. Arranging this piece changed me to be someone with more confidence and charisma. I am Devin McNulty, and I’m going to change the world with music, just like I changed my own life.

Managing Information Systems

Executive Summary Information analysis forms the basis for making decisions in an organisation. A large amount of information compels organisations to employ many employees if they do not utilise information management systems (MIS).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Information Systems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From the perspective of Med-Lab Company, such an approach introduces ineffectiveness and inefficiencies in decision-making, especially where decisions from different departments are fed into a central platform to arrive at an overall decision to execute a given task. The current paper proposes ERP as a working MIS solution to handle customer relationship, supply chain, and manufacturing function problems that lead to low profitability at Med-Lab Company. Background Every organisation seeks strategic plans for growth in terms of size and productivity levels. Growth leads to increased difficul ties in handling customer and supply chain complaints due to the large amount of information that requires analysis and synthesis using the existing information systems. Med-Lab Company currently experiences this situation. Based in New Jersey, Med-Lab manufactures medical equipments, which it sells within the US after sourcing manufacturing materials from a myriad of suppliers who are located across the US. Apart from sales of the products, the company also gets revenue from the customer support services such as maintenance of the medical equipments. In 2010, its annual pre-tax profit was US$229 million. After expanding by twice its production capacity and increasing employee by 20% between 2011 and 2012, it reported an annual profit of US$307 in the financial year that ended in December 2012.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Forecasts made in July 2011 indicated that the co mpany’s profits would also double upon doubling the company’s production capacity. The failure to achieve these forecasts compelled management to look for answers. Evaluation of the design and development organ of the company indicated immense consumer information that was unincorporated in the production to suit consumer needs. Med-Lab has a hierarchical management structure. Commands flow from the top to bottom. Decision-making processes use information flowing from customers, suppliers, and other organisational stakeholders to and from Med-Lab. The strategic plan of the company targets to exploit the global market. To achieve this goal, Med-Lab values employees as the most important assets available to realise its strategic plan. With the difficulties in incorporating all customers’ concerns in re-designing of its products, Med-Lab believed that it could deploy the sales-push approach through marketing to create demand for its products successfully in the glo bal market. As part of an organisational culture, employees are required to respond to both customers and suppliers’ concerns with immediate effect in terms of registration of complaints. Without customer satisfaction, Med-Lab would have run out of business due to intense competition from its rivals. Operating in a competitive business environment compels Med-Lab to look constantly for solutions that facilitate both urgent and quick decision-making processes, especially in its efforts to engage in the global trade. This problem became even more significant upon the speculation that the failure to incorporate the suggested improvements on the products made by customers could explain the malfunction to double the profitability of the company after doubling its production capacity.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Information Systems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The pre-analysis of this challenge suggested that the 20% increase in employees could not analyse and/or synthesise customer and supplier information in an effort to respond quickly to their complaints as stipulated in the organisational culture. The management was caught up in the dilemma of whether to increase the number of employees or seek alternative solutions to speed up expedition of suppliers and customers’ information. A major concern has been that increasing the number of employees will require committing organisational resources in reward, training and development, and motivational programmes to increase productivity. Med-Lab also had to hire more HRM personnel. Therefore, such a move increased the cost of running a business both in the short and long-term in opposition to the company’s strategic plan of lowering its costs to capitalise on low-cost strategy to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. Setting the Stage Med-Lab’s operations encountered a number of problems, even b efore the company’s expansion, in the continued effort to resolve urgently supply chain and customer problems and complaints. Fui-Hoon and Lee-Shang (2001) contend that the urgency in the resolution of customer complaints presents a major problem that hinders the success efforts of a company operating in a highly competitive market. Business strategy not only accounts for success or failure, but also determines its survival (Grant, Hall, Wailes Wright 2006, p.5). Thus, Med-Lab should establish mechanisms of responding and ensuring ardent reaction to marketplace demands or risk losing its competitive advantage.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Increasing the number of customers who are attended by Med-Lab has created problems such as quick location of the customers and the determination of their frequency of purchase in the recent past. Consequently, making decisions on market targeting proves problematic. This makes the company suffer from the inability to forecast its production accurately. Making target marketing decisions in good time aids in determining the appropriate alterations to business practices to woe more customers (Grant, Hall, Wailes Wright 2006, p.7). Using the current information management systems, which are highly dependent on the interaction of human decision makers (department heads and general managers) with segregated information systems running on different computers, location of past records that involve customer communication is hard to access. This challenge leads to slowed resolution of customer disputes. In effecting the transactions between the suppliers and the organisation, the fact that information is held on different computers makes it difficult to prepare urgently all documents relating to specific transactions (Kraemmerand 2003, p.229). This situation hinders the attainment of the strategic plans of the Med-Lab. Time spent in editing or paperwork generation increases the departure of the employee productivity from the ideal situation (Head 2005, p.71). Therefore, the solution is necessary to enhance speedy preparation of documents ranging from invoices, shipping labels, purchase orders, receipts, and customer communication to preparation of manufacturing plans based on customer demands. With excessive dependency on human decision makers and increased paperwork generation, 20% increase in the number of employees upon doubling of the production capacity cannot effectively address the issue of increased customer complaints without an additional mediation to enhance speed in both data collection and analysis. Case Description People Perspective Incommensurate incre ase in profitability of Med-Lab with an increase in resource commitment in the expansion of its production capacity has attracted various concerns from organisational stakeholders. Med-Lab’s people such as organisational stakeholders, who are influenced by the current state of information management systems, put management under pressure to look for a working solution to mitigate risking their investments. Due to the challenge of efficient and effective management of the immense customer information, Med-Lab has learnt that customers are conceiving it as overlooking their orders. Med-Lab is concerned that it may lose dissatisfied customers to its competitors in the industry. This move will hinder the achievement of its strategic focus on going global due to the decreasing competitive advantage. In building good and working customer relationships as a way of retaining them amid the persistent challenges at least in the short-run before a solution is sought, customer communicat ion sends individualised messages to explain the circumstances for order delivery delays together with other issues related to customer service. Nevertheless, in this process, several clients introduce the challenge of sending messages sometimes to unintended customers. In some situations, messages are sent to the right customers, but with the wrong preferred option. In the case of suppliers, staff members are incapable of making purchases for raw materials from suppliers who offer the best deal and quality. This challenge emanates from the incapacity of Med-Lab to maintain track of various suppliers who offer the best deals on various materials that are used in the production process. A challenge also exists in situations where an urgent replenishment of suppliers is required to meet the urgent demand. This replenishment goes into costing the organisation more money, thus raising the production costs, which expose the strategy of pursuing low costs at risk. Organisational Perspecti ve It is worrying the management that customer complaints and challenges in keeping track of the best suppliers will impair the success of Med-Lab. With increasing customers following the expansion of the production capacity, the ability of employees to handle the entire customers efficiently and effectively with the current state of information management system is a major problem. Board of directors together with the respective line managers meet to discuss the way forward. The meeting upheld the necessity of developing a working MIS intervention in an effort to ensure that the company developed the capability for handling even more quality and time cautious customers across the globe. From an organisational perspective, the most preferred strategy is the one that results in low costs in the end while ensuring satisfaction of customers with both Med-Lab’s products and services. Technology Perspective Med-Lab currently deploys information management technology that is custom ised for each department. For instance, the manufacturing department makes decisions based on the inventory level of raw materials, materials in the process, and the finished products. Med-Lab does not intend to hold large stocks of finished products. Therefore, information from the sales department is essential in determining manufacturing decisions. Unfortunately, the information technology systems are customised at departmental levels. The manufacturing department depends on the analysed customer information from the sales department before consulting with consumers. This process translates to delayed order executions and delivery. To raise the sales levels, Med-Lab has developed a web-based sales strategy. However, the strategy faces a challenge since web customers encounter challenges in choosing a product that profiles the one they are searching without information on its existence (Vilpola 2008, p.58). From a technological perspective, MIS technology that integrates all funct ions of the Med-Lab’s departments may help to solve many of the encountered challenges. Solution Design Options Considering the problems faced by Med-Lab, integration of the information management systems is required to enhance rapid decision-making. In fact, organisations that have a large number of stakeholders whose concerns influence their activities require quick decision-making (Dehning Stratopoulos 2003, p.213). In the case of Med-Lab, this goal can be attained in three main ways. Design a decision support system Design and implement a transaction processing systems Designing and implementation of integrated MIS systems Solution Selection The choice of either system is based on its SWOT analysis. The decision support system has the strength of helping to make various decisions based on analysis of data and statistical projections. Transaction processing system strength encompasses the provision of a means of collecting data, its storage, modification, or cancelation of transactions (Mureell 2001, p.9). Decision support system creates an opportunity for improvement of quality of the decisions made by organisations’ managers as opposed to their replacement. Through transaction processing system, an organisation gains an opportunity to permit multiple transactions to occur simultaneously (Davenport 2003, p. 124). Data collected by the system can be held in databases. It can later be deployed in report production including billing, reports for scheduling manufacturing, wage reports, production and sales summaries, inventory reports, and check registers. Decision support system and transaction processing system share common threats since their security constitutes a big issue. The major weakness of the transaction processing system is that the appropriateness of the transactions is overly dependent on the accurateness of the information maintained in the databases. Comparably, the decision support system is slower in helping to arrive at a d ecision (Fryling 2010, p.395). It interacts with human decision makers. However, this process is a major challenge that leads to low speed of expedition of customers and suppliers’ information at Med-Lab Company. Upon considering both decision support system and transaction processing system’s strengths and opportunities, Med-Lab needs to exploit strengths and opportunities of both system designs. Therefore, an integrated information system is preferred for design and implementation. The specific preferred system is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Solution Implementation Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) needs to be implemented such that Med-Lab Company develops the capacity to integrate all its production and management functions to facilitate quick decision-making while responding to all the company’s stakeholder concerns in real time. Figure 1 below schematically depicts the process of modelling ERP version that is planned for implementation at Med-Lab. Fig. 1: Modelling an ERP System Source: (Turban 2008, p.300) Implementation Methodology Solution implementation entails the construction of the ERP system to be introduced to Med-Lab. The construction involves physical development of both hardware and software applications. Hardware and software can be developed in-house following the modelling approach that is shown above. It can also be sourced from a vendor who can customise it to suit Med-Lab Company’s requirements. This option is preferred to reduce the challenges associated with new MIS platforms such as system learning and high probabilities of occurrence of bugs that may lead to failure of the system soon or after its implementation. The Bidding Process Bidding is the first step in the process of sourcing ERP software. Selection of the successful bidder will follow the ‘low-price bidder’ basis. However, the supplied ERP software must support external and internal management information integration throug hout Med-Lab Company. It should have modules for management of manufacturing functions, service and sales, modules for management of customer relationships, inventory controls, production planning and forecasting, and procurement. Another important consideration in the bid selection process is the capacity of the ERP system to allow and enhance information flow between various business functionalities within and outside Med-Lab boundaries while at the same time facilitating connectivity between Med-Lab and its external stakeholders. ERP is an expensive MIS in the short-run. Hence, Med-Lab Company needs to cut on the costs of hardware. The supplied ERP software must have compatibility with the current Med-Lab Company’s hardware, which supports Windows NT, UNIX, and mainframe. This eliminates the need to source hardware from external agents. No bidding for hardware is required. Successful bidder must also have the capability to customise his or her software to meet the needs of Med-Lab Company. System Customisation Med-Lab Company does not have a technical team to facilitate the implementation of the MIS. This claim underlines the necessity to hire a third vendor to evaluate its customisation needs. Fig. 2 shows Med-Lab Company’s customisation needs. Fig 2: Med-Lab ERP Software Customisation Requirements Upon considering the areas of customisation requirements, ERP scope involves significant alterations of staff work practices and working processes (Monk Wagner 2009, p.56). Thus, a complete understanding of various processes before initiation of implementation may reduce probabilities of the system to failure. Introducing the New MIS After selection of the successful bidder for the software, introduction of the new system follows. This step requires change management. The new MIS system calls for alteration of the processes that employees were utilising to conduct Med-Lab Company’s business. Since many operations that were previously execu ted by the employees manually, or with partial interventions of computers, will now be integrated and automated, employees will require retraining on how to use the new system. Fui-Hoon and Lee-Shang (2001) confirm that upon the introduction of a new MIS, employees require training on how to share common practices and information throughout the enterprise in addition to how to access and produce reports in real time. The implementation methodology follows Markus and Tanis’ ERP life cycle that includes, ‘chartering, project, and Shakedown’ phases (Markus Tanis 2000, p.173). The chartering phase comprises the evaluation of various decisions that lead to ERP project funding. The main players in this phase are vendors, organisations’ executives, and consultants together with Med-Lab Company’s IT specialists. The main activities include initiation of the ideas, making decisions to proceed with the project, and scheduling and planning of the project. Pro ject phase entails accomplishing tasks such as rollout and system configuration. The main crucial stakeholders are â€Å"the team members of the project, internal information technology specialists, vendors, and managers from the functional areas and business units that are planned for integration through ERP† (Markus Tanis 2000, p.175). The activities of the phases include software configuration, testing, integration, training, rollout, and conversion of processes. ERP system monitoring conducted in this phase ensures complete elimination of bugs. Conclusion Faced with the problem of unequal increase in profitability with increase in production capacity, Med-Lab Company has to develop effective solutions to the problem. When the volume of organisations’ clientele goes up, a large amount of data has to be processed to ensure a timely fulfilment of orders and/or improving products consistently with customer requirements. This concern accounted for the reduced profitabi lity for Med-Lab Company, thus prompting the necessity for designing and implementing an integrated information management system. References Davenport, T 2003, ‘Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 5 no. 2, pp. 121-131. Dehning, B Stratopoulos, T 2003, ‘Determinants of a Sustainable Competitive Advantage Due to an IT-enabled Strategy’, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol. 12 no. 3, pp. 202-241. Fryling, M 2010, ‘Estimating the impact of enterprise resource planning project management decisions on post-implementation maintenance costs: a case study using simulation modelling’, Enterprise Information Systems, vol. 4 no. 4, pp. 391–421. Fui-Hoon, F Lee-Shang, J 2001, ‘Critical factors for successful implementation of enterprise systems’, Business Process Management Journal, vol. 7 no. 3, pp. 285-296. 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Vilpola, I 2008, ‘A method for improving ERP implementation success by the principles and process of user-centred design’, Enterprise Information Systems, vol. 2 no.1, pp. 47–76. Appendix: Definition of Terms Bugs: Errors that may lead to failures or lower functionality of a software application Chartering: A decision that entails the definition of business problems and constraints of the possible solutions Customisation: Configuration of MIS systems to meet the clients’ business needs Decision support systems: A type of MIS that enables managers to make decisions based on statistical projections and data analysis. ERP: A software application that enables organisations to manage effectively and efficiently the utilisation of resources including human resource, financial resources, and material resources among others Project phase: A phase in the implementations of MIS that entails the running of a system under implementation by the end users to determine its efficiency and effecti veness Shakedown: Removal of bugs in the systems under implementation This essay on Managing Information Systems was written and submitted by user Esperanza French to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.