Organisations Motivational Practices and Reward Systems

Organisations Motivational Practices and Reward Systems In this task, what I have tried to accomplish is to outline how an organisations motivational practices and rewards systems can be implemented with the help of different motivational theories. For any organisation to be successful they need to motivate their workforce to work better so that they can perform better, hence providing quality service to the patients. Over the last century organisations have been dealing with the problems of having a technical aspect to the business and also a social aspect. Therefore, it is evident that the requirement of the people (employees) must be fulfilled in order to run a business successfully. There have been different motivational theories addressed with various rewards systems. However, here is what I believe that HNT should follow. I would like to see theories of Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg to be implemented in HNT for the best possible results. Mayo has talked about the Theory of human relations that concentrates on two main factors that is: The importance of teamwork: The sense of team spirit and doing what the team expected always increases motivation and the same can be done for Hargreen hospital. Small teams can be made and given responsibilities. The need for managers to take an interest in their workers (Hawthorne effect): If the superior shows interest in what their subordinates are doing and closely communicates then that gives a sense of importance and boosts up the morale of the employee.HNT needs to do the same in their organisation. Mayo received some criticism over his theory as well. It is said that the experiment carried out by Mayo are far from being scientific. Only groups with small number of workers were observed and the later experiments have failed to confirm the findings. Another thing that has been pointed out from Mayos theory is that the goals of managers will not be the same as for the worker despite their best effort. Trade may see these efforts as managements attempt to fool workers into boosting productivity. Maslow on the other hand talks about the hierarchy of needs. HNT should use this to understand what their employees want and how can they provide it to them. The hierarchy is as follows: Self actualisation: it means that HNT should arrange training, challenges and opportunities to develop the skills of employees. Esteem needs: HNT should give rewards for achievements, promotion and status. Love and belonging needs: There should be opportunities for teamwork, social facilities and a positive working relationship between the employees. Safety needs: The organisation must make sure that there are high standards of health and safety with job security and no bullying culture. Physiological needs: Organisations must pay decent salaries to enable the needs of employees to be met. The working hours should be comfortable and so should be the condition. There have been some opponents for Maslows hierarchy as they find the theory unconvincing on various grounds. They argue that any generalisation about levels of human needs is bound to have exceptions. There are cases where businesses would find that there are workers who are not interested in gaining praise or developing their personal skills. Workers like artists can even ask for creativity need before financial rewards. Another thing that is to be taken into account is that even if Maslows theory is good, it would be possible for workers to hold all levels of needs at the same workplace. If a person is satisfied with his or her salary then other levels of needs might not be that significant. Herzbergs Two-factor theory is also something that intrigues me. It has two set of factors Motivators: These motivate the workers by providing job satisfaction including: Sense of achievement Recognition of effort Interesting work Responsibility Hygiene factors: Everything that can cause dissatisfaction in the workplace are related to the working environment like Company policy Relationship with supervisor and colleagues Pay and status Security A major problem with Herzbergs theory according to several researches has shown that it cannot be applied to all workers in every business. Some jobs like low skilled cannot be enriched that easily and many workers may not see responsibility or advancement. In the above discussion I have tried to discuss different motivational theories and have illustrated their pros and cons. A mixture of these three motivational theories should be implemented in HNT. Rewards and recognitions both should be given in the shape of financial as in some sort of bonus or a paid trip to vacation spot sponsored by the company. Non financial acknowledgement can be given as a promotion or certificate or letter of appreciation that will make the employee feel good about working hard and will make them even more determined and hard working than before. BTEC National Certificate in Business Unit 16- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS Task 2 (P4) Cooperation through contract of employment and employment involving techniques In this section, I will try to show the significance of cooperation in an organisation. The cooperation at any level in any company needs to be from both ends that is from the management side and the employee side. The two factors that contribute the most for the cooperation are the contract of employment and the employment involving techniques. For HNT to survive and retreat its good reputation that is being lost at the moment they need to have consent from both sides that is the employer and the employee. With the cooperation of both parties only it is possible to have a successful plan implemented and getting the desired results. Contract of employment: Clearly illustrates the terms and conditions to which both employer and employee has to abide by. If one of them violates the policy then the contract will be dismissed. Contracts states the date of beginning with employer and employee name on it. It clearly shows the responsibilities of both parties and what policies and procedures needs to be followed in the organisation. Like for HNT it will be mentioned that they are bound to pay the stated amount of salary on the contract to the doctor and if they fail to do so they can be accountable for that. The same goes for the employee if they dont work for the stated amount of hours then HNT has the right to deduct their salaries according or penalise the employee. Along different aspects that are covered in the contract, one of the important aspects mentioned is conditions of work and service. In that paragraph says conditions may include the following: The number of hours to be worked: When HNT is signing a contract with its employees the number of hours worked by individuals should be clearly stated. There are some limitations even according to visa policies and the employees should be asked to work within their limits. Appointment and termination: The clauses for appointment and termination are also mentioned where the employee and management is addressed to all responsibilities that are required to be adhered. The conditions in which an employee can be terminated are also explicitly mentioned so that when the contract is formed the employee exactly knows about it. The designation of the job: The designation for which an employee has been hired in the company will be mentioned on each and every contract. If an employee is a heart surgeon then his or her designation will be clearly written on the contract. Pay: What will be the salary of the employee being hired needs to be mentioned. Things like how the salary is paid? Will it be a basic salary or will it also be commission based? These things should be mentioned for HNT to be on safer side and for the employee as well. Benefits: If HNT plans to give out benefits to their employee then they should be written in the contract as well. It will tell what benefits are available to the employee and when. Disciplinary procedures: This shows what action will be taken by the Hargreen Hospital if there is a problem with doctors and nurses or the low skilled workers. Action is taken only if the employees in Hargreen Hospital fail to comply with the disciplinary or organisational rules and regulations or if doctors and nurses do full fill their responsibilities. It is important to Hargreen Hospital because if the doctors and nurses knows what action will be taken for example if it states that breaking rules leads to dismissal, this will encourage doctors and nurses not to break the rules so that they can to retain their job in Hargreen Hospital. It is important to the Hargreen Hospital because it can easily take action if doctor and nurses misbehaves because it was written in the contract. The contract of employment forces the employees to change their behaviour and behaviour according to the rules and regulations of Hargreen Hospital and this case the employee cooperates with the employer Notice: If an employee needs to leave the job or if the company is not happy with the performance of an employee there should be a notice period of at least one month that both the parties of HNT, management and employee, must obey. Grievance procedures: If there are complaint or issues by the employees of HNT there should a procedure mentioned in the contract that should guide the employees as to what they need to do to make a point. Employee rights: All the rights that are being possessed by the employee must be mentioned in clear words in the contract. If any employee wants to have maternity leave at HNT then it is their right to be given a paid leave and it should be written in the contract. All contracts have some express terms that are normally mentioned in the terms and conditions or the policy and procedure sections. These are the terms that are stated explicitly to make sure that both parties abide by them. For example the leave system, it can be explicitly stated that an employee cannot take more than 20 days paid leave. There are some implied terms as well that are automatically included to every contract. For example the Data Protection Act. If the company ask the employee to disclose sensitive data like religion, sexual orientation or the employee faces racial discrimination then the company is accountable for that and can be taken to the court of justice at any time. There are individual labour laws that protect employees from: Discrimination: HNT have to make sure that there is no display of discrimination from their side on the basis of age, race or disability. For example if a patient is discriminated i.e. due to his or her age, gender, race or colour, that patient has the right to report that doctor to court or to the authorities. Hargreen Hospital could then carry out an investigation and also provide further training for the medical staff. Pay: All employees doing similar jobs must be paid the same amount of money otherwise the employee has the right to hold HNT accountable in court. Absences: HNT have to make sure they provide paid leave to the employees especially maternity leaves and the employees have the right to ask for these leaves. Dismissay: Employees of HNT have the right not to be dismissed on disciplinary action for trade union activity or on health and safety grounds. Health and Safety Regulations: The health and safety regulations relate to the physical environment of Hargreen Hospital, relates to aspects like; safety entry and exit routes, safe working environment, and safe equipment which also relates to theory of motivating staff by Frederick Herzberg who believed that employees are only motivated if their hygiene factors are met first and then the organisation can use them to work harder. He believed that if the working conditions in an organisation are unsafe, then the employees will remain demotivated and if the organisation has safe working environment, the safe will be motivated. If doctors in Hargreen Hospital have safe equipments, they will use these equipments effectively to finish their jobs quickly for example during surgery and examinations. All these above stated points will give confidence to both the employer and the employee and provide them a good healthy relation to work together that will result in better performance of Hargreen hospital and lesser employee turnover rate. Employment involving techniques: It is another way of achieving organisational cooperation between the two parties. Its not just the legal binding between the employer and the employee that makes the work together but different techniques can be used that involves them both to work together. Here are some examples Quality Circle: HNT can assign a group of employees (doctors, nurses, technicians etc) under supervision to identify, analyse and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. Suggestion scheme: The company can also implement a suggestion scheme where all employees will have the right to give in their suggestion regarding a certain problem and then the management will address to it in the best possible manner and try to rectify it. Thus ensuring better working conditions and satisfaction to the employees. Communication groups: Different formal (finance dept, accounts dept etc) and informal (sports club, charity club etc) groups can be formed within HNT. These groups can be used often and then to socialise all the employee and management. This will allow the workforce to know each other better and will increase the understanding between them. Therefore, it will increase the performance of the workforce and a better repute of HNT. From the above discussion it is understandable that cooperation between the management and the employee is a key factor for the success of HNT. They have to make sure that they abide by the rules and make sure that the communication link between the superior and subordinate is always good and healthy just as said by Herzberg and Mayo in their respective motivational theories. BTEC National Certificate in Business Unit 16-HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS Task 2 (M2) Use of motivation theories in Hargreen Hospital In this section, we will try and compare the use of motivation in an organisation. We will start off with discussing the different motivations theories that we have discussed earlier and then see how they have managed to affect the effectiveness of an organisation. The three motivational theories recommended by me to HNT (Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg) can be used at different levels of hierarchy in the organisation. But first let us have a look at the use of motivation. If the motivational theory of Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg is applied to HNT it will definitely reduce the turnover rate and absenteeism as all the needs of the employees will be fulfilled and the coordination of subordinates with their superior will be much better. When the staff is more motivated then they can be used in a much more efficient manner than before. When the employee is provided with good health and safety measures and they know that they are secured they will obviously work better than before. Motivational theories have always emphasised on better relation and understanding between management and staff. Good relation on the basis of motivation can lead to resolving big issues such as industrial relationship issues and problems like strikes. A good motivated team of labourer would never want to go on strike when they know that all their basic necessities are being taken care of by their management. A planned, well trained and flexible workforce can only be built if HNT has a good motivational plan implemented in the organisation. This will benefit the organisation in the long run. At this point we can even recommend that HNT can use Mayos theory for all blue collar workers (porters, drivers etc) as it will provide them the sense of working in teams and would give them the idea of how important it is to have communication with their subordinates and peers. A combination of Herzberg and Maslow can be used for an efficient white collars (nurse, doctors etc) workforce as at this stage most of the staff is skilled or semi skilled and these are the people that HNT would want to retain for a longer period of time as they will be spending money to train them and they will have the expertise and knowledge that is vital for the companys growth. Last but not the least a combination of all three, Mayo, Maslow and Herzberg can be used for the gold collars (directors, CEO etc) at the top. They are the ones who have to do the decision making. They should be acquainted with each and every aspect of the organisation. Therefore, it is necessary for them to know about all three motivational theories suggested so that they can implement them all to their subordinates and the process goes on until the last subordinate. BTEC National Certificate in Business Unit 16- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS Task 2 (D1) Ways of improving motivation in HNT In this section, we will try to suggest how different ways of motivation can be improved and then try to justify them. We will be giving examples where possible to make the point more clear. Taking into account the current situation it can be seen that the morale of the workforce is low at the moment. Due to this reason there is high turnover rate and also is the cause of absenteeism. For this matter Maslows hierarchy and Mayos theory of human relation can do wonders. If self actualisation is provided by the company to enhance the skills of their workforce then HNT will benefit from it in the long run. The more the employees get skilled the more will the service quality increase and thus increase the patient satisfaction rate. This will enable the employees to be motivated as they can be getting promotions for their good work. Thus the employees would not think of leaving HNT. The sense of working in teams will also be a vital player in the motivation of the employees. If the employee work together in teams they get to know their peers and other employees better. They develop better understanding that lifts up the performance of the whole organisation. The long and tedious hours of working and low security has also demotivated the employees. For this purpose Herzbergs two-factor theory is the best solution. A good motivator for the employees at this stage can be giving them interesting work to do. Cut down their long tedious shifts to normal sized shifts and give then different task every day. Provide them with facilities to relax a bit (the concept of breaks by Taylor can be used at this point). When HNT will do all this it will make the employee feel good about their jobs. Formation of formal and informal groups at this stage will also be beneficial for the organisation. The Hygiene factor at this point can be providing security to the employees especially to those who work at night. We know that there is high crime rate in that area. No employee would want to work in such a place living is by far out of question. So HNT must try to provide as much security as possible to all its employees so that they are not intimidated at any point of the day while working. As stated there has been a decline in the standards as well. This is also clearly a lack of motivation. There is lot of potential in the organisation but the work force the human element needs to be boosted up. The social aspect of the strategy must be understood and motivational theories at all level from higher, middle and lower level must be implemented in order to regain the good standards that HNT once had. If Mayo, Maslow and Herzbergs theories are implemented in a proper way in HNT the organisation can be up and running within a matter of few days. New recruitment from Poland and Germany will also work as a catalyst in this scenario. New workforce coming from abroad will make the working environment more competitive and employees if given incentive with proper rewards and recognition will strive to do better than ever. Motivation can also be improved among employees by using job rotation at work for example different nurses and doctors can be assigned to observe during surgery so that they can see how surgery is carried out. This gives them time to have new experiences and also this can act as an educational tour which can improve their skills. Employees can be assigned to perform tasks that porters do for example delivering mails or equipments to surgery room. The organisation uses this type of motivation so that doctors and nurses dont do the same job over and over which leads to boredom. Motivation in Hargreen Hospital can be improved by offering doctors and nurses some incentives for example free parking space, subsidised travel, vouchers, health insurance schemes, and nursery places for example if they are offered vouchers, it is like way of appreciating their services such instead of paying  £5 for a meal in Hargreen canteen, they can only pay half price which is their way of being motivated. Free parking space enable them to free to come in whenever they want because they will not charged for parking which allows them to do extra work for example the low skilled workers can come in on weekends to clean the hospital even doctors and nurses can come in do work on their own without inviting them. Offering nursery places allows doctors and nurses to bring their children to study at Hargreen Hospital which will all them to have spare time that they have been using to go to get their kids from schools but if Hargreen offers nursery places to doctors then they can bring their kids to the hospital in the morning and go back home with them in the evening.

Strategic Operation Issues

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS ISSUES ASSIGNMENT TABLE OF FIGURES ABSTRACT5 PART A6 PART B8 PART C10 PART D11 PART E13 REFERENCE LIST15 ABSTRACT Company A is a global company and within it has several different business units, Company A , is a specialised service provider for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries throughout the world, this report focuses on Company A Tower Field Service Pty Ltd, located in Australia.Operations and process management are vital functions for the effective running of successful businesses, they need to be strategically planned and designed to prevent the loss of vital information, company standards as well as continually improve practises. These processes should be well documented and understood by all employees of the company. The loss or relocation of individuals should not have significant impact on company functioning. This report shows how strategic operations functions can be used to improve processes and therefore increase business effectiveness.Key co ncepts in strategic operations issues, such as process design and analysis, total quality management and resource planning and control need to be well documented for the system to remain effective and to meet long term strategic goals. PART A Describe the organisation and the problem briefly, but well enough for the assignment examiner to understand what the organisation does and its relevance to this assignment; Company A is a global company with many business units located around the world; Company A is itself a division of Company B.Company A have extensive knowledge of all types of vessel and tower internals. Company A are a specialist service provider supporting customer’s needs for all their internal equipment installation, shutdown, maintenance or revamp requirements in the petrochemical, and oil and gas industries all over the world. It is Company A’s strategy to strengthen its ability to supply installation and maintenance services to its customers geographica lly leading to recent acquisitions, Oceania merging with APA creating APAC.This has resulted in the relocation of key personnel, within the company, to run new locations, consequentially losing experience and day to day operational knowledge. Due to an ill documented management system this knowledge and experience was not captured in processes & procedures resulting in a gap in the operations of the business. This assignment focuses on Company A Pty Ltd, Australian Operations. PART B Briefly explain the background to this issue or problem by describing how it fits into the operations of the business.Its impact on the business could be demonstrated using a chart to show the functional relationships, and/or a process flow analysis to show how the operation or process that you are studying is integrated into the organisation; Company A’s work is varied and unpredictable, resulting in fluctuations and depressions in work frequency and volume (Figure 2. 0). Speed, cost and dependa bility are the important operational factors driving Company A’s market strategy in winning contracts. Whilst each project is different the process for quoting, receiving the contract and executing the job are essentially the same (Figure 3. ) . This process was held by a small number of experienced and long standing employees, when they were reallocated to run other locations, so was the knowledge of project, quoting requirements, Company A capabilities and experience. [pic] Figure 2. 0 – Shows the variation and volume in work load throughout any given year. Reference: Reporting Figures (2009, 2010, 2011) [pic] Figure 3. 0 – Process Flow chart of Company A enquiry through to Project Completion PART C Provide brief specific details of the operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed.For example, this might includes: †¢ Key objectives, success factors and performance of the issue in question †¢ Opportunities or implications for chang es to the process or techniques being used now †¢ Resource implications or constraints †¢ Technologies and/or manpower issues involved in the process etc. Company A’s core business revolves around winning contracts; these contracts are based upon man-hours that is, the time it would take to complete the scope of work provided by the client. Any deviation from the budgeted man-hours results in reduced profit margins, poor on time delivery, customer dissatisfaction and loss of reputation.Therefore it is vital when quoting for a project all quality, costs, man-hours and materials are factored in. The relocation of personnel and subsequent lose of experience and personnel knowledge outlined a gap between assumed knowledge and documented procedures, as whilst the process to quote and win projects was essentially the same, it was not well documented and new employees were unable to successfully quote for a project. This not only will affect Company A’s bottom line but will result in inconsistent quotations and impact on employee job satisfaction.This has brought forward the need for a documented, maintained and reviewed Quality Management System, whereby, procedures, standard documents and templates can be used which capture all associated costs, project, client and company requirements. PART D Analyse the problem using concepts covered in the appropriate part of this subject (this should be the major part of your work and your report). In analysing the problem, you should consider: the five main objectives of operations management; changes to performance or outcomes (such as quality, productivity etc. ; potential improvements relevant theory calculations where possible; and any information about the costs involved. As speed, cost and on time delivery are the key to being awarded contracts, high importance needs to be placed on these factors and would be where strategic planning would be focused. Whilst quality and flexibility play a signific ant role in Company A’s application, quality is usually fixed by the client as they know what they want achieved, as is flexibility, what they want and when they want it is usually not negotiable, especially as they are working to deadlines for their customers.The quotes that are presented to the client not only need to meet the operations objectives of cost and speed, but also dependability that is, is what they have quoted an accurate reflection of what can be practically achieved, have they over estimated the man-hours or underestimated the man hours? This is vital to get right as an overestimation results in an increased cost, making us less competitive, and therefore losing the contract. An underestimate would result in insufficient time to complete the project and the extra cost would be worn by Company A.Not only would cost be an issue, but that would affect our reputation as a specialist provider, decrease customer satisfaction and therefore be less considered by the client when submitting a quote next time. The number and variety of different manpower needed is based on specification of output as well as aggregated capacity that is the number of man hours is then used to calculate how many men/days it would take to complete the job based on a ten hour day. The data for estimating an enquiry has been developed over time, using past experience, company expectations and feedback from the contractors required to do the work.The man-hours required to complete standardised services have been established using the top down and bottom up approach, this knowledge however has not been transcribed to a standard document, in order for consistency in quotations, this should be developed. This will increase productivity, the time taken to complete the quotes and would also facilitate improvement. The structure of Company A having high variation in the demand for services, along with the volume and variety of when and where these services are executed makes c apacity management and scheduling difficult, thus reducing capacity (Slack et al, 2010).Being a highly variable business according to Slack et al, 2010, process variability results in simultaneous waiting and resource underutilisations, Company A has managed this capacity demand in off peak times of the year with only hiring a core set of permanent employees, responsible for key operational issues, such as planning, customer liaison and information integration. When a job is awarded short term contracts are issued to trades personnel to complete the core mechanics of the project, once the project is completed the personnel are terminated, thus preventing underutilisation of resources.This however brings with it another problem that is the availability of obtaining the competent personnel for that project and also the lack of consistency with staff working for Company A . The availability of staff, location of the project and type of work, needs to be factored into the resource plann ing and quoting for the client. As stated in Slack et al, 2010, resource planning, is concerned with managing allocation of resources and activities for process efficiency and effectiveness in satisfying customer demand. The implications are seen in the three main operations objectives that is quality, speed and cost.If there is insufficient man power available to complete the work, the job will run over time, resulting in cost of poor quality, and reputation with the client. This can also affect the quality of work conducted, as personnel could be stretched, or there may be insufficient trades to complete the job to quality requirements. The variety of different staff used, results again in loss of experience and knowledge in the work that we do, being a highly specialised service, it is important to maintain highly skilled individuals.This variety could impact on the man hours budgeted as you would have to account for learning new skills, other variables such as a work ethic, avai lability of resources etc†¦ The use of detailed work instructions, inductions or retention periods could be a viable solution. PART E Provide brief recommendations for improving the process including comparisons of your recommendations against the current system, and details of changes needed to correct the problem or improve the situation. You should include a rudimentary action plan or relevant time frame for implementation of your recommendations.Bear in mind that your recommendations should be potentially cost effective i. e. you must argue the changes from the point of view of their potential to improve cost, quality, output, productivity etc. In order to overcome the operational issue of loss of resources and valuable information, a well implemented quality management system, based on ISO 9001: 2008 should be implemented, with detailed work instructions, procedures and processes. The current system as it stands is inconsistent, highly variable and not well documented.Crea ting documented processes and procedures, consistency, application and ease of use will be beneficial to new/old employees with all assumed knowledge being captured and enable with succession planning. The implementation of a quality system would be a time consuming process involving a number of resources as the time to collate, document, review and approve procedures and processes would be lengthy. The application of designated individual would cut down the time needed to complete this project.The impacts of introducing a recognised Quality Management System such as ISO9001:2008 would be far more beneficial than the initial cost/time taken to implement it. Not only would quality of projects be increased, due to standardisation of the processes, but costs would be seen in the reduction of double handling and waste. As all facets of the company would be documented the knowledge of what is presented to the client would increase and therefore cost, time to complete projects, quality of quotations and time to complete these would be reduced.The continuous review process would also enable consistent improvements and company growth. (Figure 5. 0) Having an externally certified system, which is not a prerequisite for winning contracts with clients, would see us as a better candidate against other competitors without certification and could increase our chances of winning contracts. [pic] Figure 5. 0 – Integration of Quality Management System into Business operations. Reference. Company A IMS REFERENCE LIST Slack, N. , Chambers, S. , Johnston, R. and Betts, A. , 2009, Operations andProcess Management, 2nd ed, Prentice Hall Company A (2011), http://ctnet. Company A . com/desktopdefault. aspx, International Direct Contact Resources Business Unit Power Point, , April 2011 ———————– OFFER REJECTED – LOSS OF WORK PROJECT PLANNED PROJECT EXECUTED NO QUOTATION? SIGN CONTRACT CONTRACT REVIEW GENERATE PROPOSA L REVIEW OFFER RETURN TO CLIENT WITH A SUITABLE LETTER DECLINING QUOTATION ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER (CONTRACT) ACCEPTED ISSUE TO CLIENT REGISTER ENQUIRY AND QUOTE FOR JOB RECEIVED REQUEST TO BID FOR CONTRACT FROM CLIENT

Marge Piercy s Barbie Doll - 769 Words

Asmita Patel ENG 102 Mrs. Lentz January 31, 2015 Exemplification of â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy In her poem â€Å" Barbie Doll,† Marge Piercy discusses society’s expectations from women, particularly young girls. Society expects that a girl should be perfect, like a â€Å"Barbie Doll†. The poem is about a character who fights with herself about having a perfect body image. This character struggles and shows that society only pays attention to physical appearance and not on inner beauty. Piercy also maintains that people put more social expectations on young girls. Lastly, she mentions how society never accepts girls who can not be ideal women. As young girls grow up, the society wants them to look and behave a specific way, but when they give up, they might lose identities. Throughout the poem, Piercy applies vivid imagery, different word choices, and a tone of sadness and depression to make her readers more compassionate. Marge Piercy uses the image of a barbie to write about culture of society. Piercy uses vivid imagery when she started the poem, â€Å" and presented dolls that did pee-pee/and miniature GE stoves and irons/and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy† (2-4). In this set, Piercy describes girl’s typical nature. She uses â€Å"pee-pee† to show the â€Å" potty exercise.† of girls. The poet also implies that girls are ready to be mothers. The â€Å"stoves and irons† are used in the poem for â€Å"cooking and cleaning† and describe ideal duties of a mother and they are mentioned to showShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Marge Piercy ´s Poem: Barbie Doll537 Words   |  2 Pagesâ€Å"perfect woman† is the Barbie Doll. For years girls have dreamed of being that perfect woman and in Marge Piercy’s â€Å"Barbie Doll†, she satirizes that dream by telling a story of a girl whose pursuit to become perfect ultimately leads to ruin. 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Society Is Known For Holding Unrealistic1507 Words   |  7 Pagesstereotyping. Marge Piercy’s â€Å"Barbie Doll† is no exception, â€Å"Barbie Doll† is the story of a young girl who try’s endlessly for society’s version of perfection, but she dies trying to reach the unrealistic expectations that she is being force fed. Marge Piercy published â€Å"Barbie Doll† in 1971, during the time of second-wave feminism. The history a nd dedication that many women contributed during this time affected the way our society is today. The feminist movement is largely related to Marge Piercy’s literatureRead MoreAnalysis Of Barbie Doll And We Wear The Mask1147 Words   |  5 Pagesrefuse to believe what is true.† - Soren Kierkgaard. â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy and â€Å"We Wear The Mask† by Paul Laurence Dunbar are two pieces of poetry that vocalize the issues of ignorance and unrealistic social standards within society. Marge Piercy is a well-known novelist, poet, memoirist and activist. She was born on March 31st, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan into a family of labor workers, activists and creative women. In her later life, Piercy received her M.A from Northwestern, married three timesRead MoreEssay about Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy Analysis1401 Words   |  6 PagesNot Everyone is Made with a Barbie Doll Mold â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy is about a girl who is a normal child growing up; playing with dolls, miniature kitchen items and pretend make-up. It quickly takes an interesting turn when a pubescent child makes fun of her nose and legs and she was advised to exercise and diet despite the fact that she was intelligent and healthy. The poem continues on by the girl cutting her legs and nose and a bizarre visual of her laying in a casket with an endingRead MoreMarge Piercy’s Barbie Doll Essay1424 Words   |  6 PagesThe Poem â€Å"Barbie Doll (1969)† by Marge Piercy describes the life of a young girl who fell victim to society’s idea of beauty. Marge Piercy was a known social activist and uses this poem to bring attention to serious issues facing young females in society. â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy is a narrative poem; the poem is written in free verse. The author selects a free form of poetry and other devices to help get her point acr oss. The central message of this work is that society is obsessed withRead MoreAnalysis Of Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy750 Words   |  3 PagesAs the audience reads â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy, the poem gives you an insight of women in the 1970’s. Even though the poem was written back then, the audience can still relate to the story. In this day in age, people still go through society judging them. The audience may have experienced a part of their life where society didn’t accept them for who they were. Marge Piercy’s poem â€Å"Barbie Doll† connects the audience through emotions to show the standards of beauty for women, eventually neverRead MoreThe Essay Analysis of Barbie Doll1282 Words   |  6 Pageswrong with the way we interpret things? Marge Piercy, who wrote the poem â€Å"Barbie Doll†, has a very strong view of how destructive social pressure can be to a girl through her transitioning stages into a woman. She expresses how the Barbie doll, the toy figurine that woman idealize, is, in fact, a method of corruption to a young girl. First and for most we must understand who the persona is in the poem, which is a woman, and more specifically Marge Piercy herself. She is observing a young girl goingRead MoreMarge Piercy Barbie Doll Analysis1860 Words   |  8 Pagestheir genuine glamor and disguises their true personality. Marge Piercy, in her poem â€Å"Barbie Doll†, uses the account of an unnamed female character who goes through her life worrying about what others think of her flaws to illustrate how one can waste their life away by worrying about other people’s opinion. The danger of falling into the standards of the â€Å"everyday woman† is interpreted in the Journal Of Sex Research, and a news article on 1970’s feminism, and a New York Times article which shows theRead MoreEssay about Beauty and Perfection in Today ´s Society692 Words   |  3 Pageswas not true, but it can’t be said, with the key example being Marge Piercys poem, â€Å"Barbie Doll†. She wrote th is poem in 1973 and its message on body image can still apply to todays time period. Ever since the 70s, body image has been heavily influenced on young adults. Trying to fit in and look skinny has always been a big problem. Media has played a huge part in this by showing what they believe being beautiful means. In the 70’s curves lost their popularity and the look to achieve was slim and

About Vikings History, Locations, and Characteristics

The Vikings were a Scandinavian people highly active in Europe between the ninth and eleventh centuries as raiders, traders, and settlers. A mixture of population pressure and the ease with which they could raid/settle is commonly cited as the reasons why they left their homeland, the regions we now call Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They settled in Britain, Ireland (they founded Dublin), Iceland, France, Russia, Greenland and even Canada, while their raids took them to the Baltic, Spain, and the Mediterranean. The Vikings in England The first Viking raid on England is recorded as being at Lindisfarne in 793 CE. They began to settle in 865, capturing East Anglia, Northumbria, and related lands before fighting with the kings of Wessex. Their regions of control fluctuated greatly over the next century until England was ruled by Canute the Great who invaded in 1015; he is generally considered one of Englands wisest and most able kings. However, the ruling House which preceded Canute was restored in 1042 under Edward the Confessor and the Viking age in England is considered to have finished with the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Vikings in America The Vikings settled the south and west of Greenland, supposedly in the years following 982 when Eric the Red – who had been outlawed from Iceland for three years – explored the region. The remains of over 400 farms have been found, but the climate of Greenland eventually became too cold for them and the settlement finished. Source material has long mentioned a settlement in Vinland, and recent archaeological discoveries of a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland, at LAnse aux Meadows, have recently born this out, although the topic is still controversial. The Vikings in the East As well as raiding in the Baltic, by the tenth century Vikings settled in Novgorod, Kiev, and other areas, merging with the local Slavic population to become the Rus, the Russians. It was through this eastern expansion that the Vikings had contact with the Byzantine Empire – fighting as mercenaries in Constantinople and forming the Emperors Varangian Guard – and even Baghdad. True and False The most famous Viking characteristics to modern readers are the longship and the horned helmet. Well, there were longships, the Drakkars which were used for war and exploration. They used another craft, the Knarr, for trading. However, there were no horned helmets, that characteristic is entirely false. Famous Vikings King Canute the GreatEric the Red, settler of Greenland.Leif Ericsson, settler of VinlandSweyn Forkbeard, King of England and Denmark.Brodir, active in Ireland.