Toyotas rise to the top - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3817 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? In an ever increasingly competitive world there is naturally going to be more pressure on organisations to ensure that they are performing as efficiently as they possibly can. Industries, specifically industries such as car manufacturers, are becoming much more global and whereas a domestic company could have previously rested somewhat on its laurels, this is no longer the case. Todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s businesses must continue to look for ways in which they can outperform their competitors. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Toyotas rise to the top" essay for you Create order Business processes by their very nature are ever changing. Particularly when it comes to manufacturing, there is consistent pressure on organisations to improve the value, the costs and the quality of what they are producing. The best way of doing this is to evaluate, continuously, the processes that the business has in place. There are many different ways that business may do this such as benchmarking or looking to improve value. The most appropriate choice of method or even choices will depend on several different factors, many of which are individual to the business, itself (Feigenbaum, 1991)[1]. In this paper, we are considering Toyota Motor Corporation and its rise to become the largest car manufacturer in the world. Firstly, the background to Toyota will be considered and how it has risen to become number one. Then, the individual factors that make Toyota successful will be considered, as it is these factors that will become critical in the evaluation process. From this s et of criteria an evaluation method will be developed which indicates how well Toyota is performing in the various different elements; these will then be ranked in order of importance (Swamidass, 2002)[2]. It will then be possible to look at the types of evaluation tools that are available to Toyota and which ones would be the most successful in ensuring that these performance criteria are met. In the appendix, there is an evaluation matrix which shows the various different evaluation tools available and considers which ones would be the most appropriate, given the criteria laid out by Toyota. Background to Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation is now the worlds largest automobile maker. Its headquarters are located in Japan, although it is now a multinational company with approximately 316,000 employees, across the world. Its rise to this global level happened relatively rapidly. The inception can be dated back to 1934 although, in reality, Toyota Motor Corporation was still a depa rtment of Toyota Industries at this point. However, during this year it designed and created its first type A engine. It took a further two years for it to develop its first passenger car which was known as the Toyota AA. Recognising the potential in this market, Kiichiro Toyoda established Toyota Motor Corporation, in 1937. It was still inherently linked and was seen as a spin-off company of Toyota Industries, during the early days. The establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation neatly coincided with the beginning of World War II and during this time Toyota became heavily involved in producing military trucks that were both efficient but also highly economical. After the end of World War II, Toyota was quick to capitalise on the knowledge it had gained and produced passenger cars on a commercial basis from 1947 onwards, beginning with the SA model (Boyson et al., 1999)[3]. Recognising the importance of the sales team in securing the future health of the company, a separate sal es company called the Toyota Motor Sales Company was established (Vaghefi Huellmantel, 1998)[4]. By ensuring that the sales function was conducted by a specific company, it was possible to ensure that the correct expertise was located in the correct area of the business and that the manufacturing arm was able to focus purely on manufacturing, while the sales arm focused exclusively on sales. Following similar strategies, a dealer chain was established which allowed the Toyota Crown to be the first car ever to be exported from Japan, in 1957. Further expansions took place in the 1960s, focusing on the key areas that would give Toyota competitive advantage in its sector including the establishment of a research and development facility. This allowed yet further expansion into other markets and, during the 1960s, the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 10 millionth vehicle was produced. The company also entered into partnership with other large manufacturers such as Daihatsu, at this point, to expand its reach further (Grantham Carr, 2002)[5]. Worldwide dominance began, in 1963, with the first car made for the domestic market outside of Japan being built. It took less than 10 years from this point for Toyota to gain a worldwide presence. Complementary areas of business have been developed such as Toyota Financial Services, which has allowed the company to offer consumers financing for their products. It has been its ability to recognise the key factors which consumers want from a motor company that has allowed it to grow to be the largest company of its type in the world (Badri, et al., 1995)[6]. Drivers for Toyotaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Success Toyotaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success can be attributed to several different factors, each of which when brought together has ensured that Toyota has become the world leader that it is today. Firstly, even back in 1954, Toyota recognised that the way in which their production and delivery was going to happen could be the differ ence between success and failure (Easton Jarrell, 1998)[7]. They established the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"kanbanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ delivery system also referred to as synchronised delivery, which is broadly based on the supermarket system. Under this system, those working in the production stages took the products they needed from the actual shelves and those earlier on in the production line, the storekeepers, would replenish stock so that it was up to employees in the early stages of the production process to ensure that there were suitable resources available for the future stages. This remains central to Toyota production system to the present day. There are now multiple manufacturing plants across the world, each serving its own geographical area. By adopting this method, not only does Toyota gain presence in more countries which will assist with sale levels, but it also reduces the time it takes to deliver the vehicles. Costs are also reduced in this way, meaning that whenever Toyota m oves into another country, it takes with it its entire manufacturing and research facility (Child Faulkner, 1998)[8]. As well as working closely on the production control systems, Toyota also realised as early as the 1950s that the automobile market was likely to become flooded and that it was going to have to develop vehicles that allowed it to maintain a competitive advantage. In order to do this, Toyota put considerable investment into ensuring that it had the best equipment possible and that research and development was placed at the forefront of Toyotas strategy (Zhang, 2000)[9]. The combination of the production process and extensive research and development allowed Toyota to expand its passenger car offerings rapidly including the Crown model, the Corona and the Toyo-Ace. Toyota has always been very innovative in its approach. For example, Toyota Motor Sales capitalised for  ¥1 billion,  ¥400 million of this was used to create an automobile driving sch ool. As new drivers entered the market having learnt on Toyota vehicles, sales of Toyota vehicles naturally increased. This innovative approach was one of the main key drivers of success in the early days for the Toyota Motor Company (Dale McQuater, 1998)[10]. Criteria Indicating Performance Before considering the most appropriate evaluation tools for Toyota, it is necessary to determine how Toyota defines success. Naturally, the ultimate goal is to sell more vehicles than its competitors. Therefore, the number of sales relative to its competitors in each geographical location is one of the primary goals and one of the key ways of indicating whether the company has been successful or not. However, by simply measuring the number of sales that Toyota is making, several of the other underlying success drivers would be ignored. One of the main reasons why Toyota was successful was that it invested early and suitably in research and development. Based on this factor, another ke y performance indicator must naturally be the research and development success. This can be measured through the number of new vehicles produced or the number of new design elements for existing vehicles (Flynn, et al., 1994)[11]. Another area which has allowed Toyota to gain such extensive success has been its ability to cut costs, yet still be able to produce high-quality vehicles. A huge focus has been placed on reducing costs and this is clearly one of the closely managed criteria. Breaking this down even further, costs are saved predominantly during the manufacturing and delivery process (McQuater, et al., 1995)[12]. Therefore, in order to establish how successful cost saving has been, one of the performance indicators will be the speed at which a car goes from completion to sale. This is a combination of the delivery mechanism and sales ability and requires an analysis of the overall processes involved, crossing several different functions. This cross-functional performance analysis is particularly difficult to undertake with performance evaluation tools, as each function will naturally be protective about its own performance. Toyota has a superb reputation for build quality and innovative design. This reputation is vitally important to Toyotas overall success and, whilst it has manifested its success in the number of sales, it is also important that it should be evaluated as a standalone issue. Quality management is absolutely critical to a car manufacturer (Tsutsui, 1998)[13]. Purchasers of cars demand reliability and good build quality. Reliability can be evaluated in terms of both customer perception and by using more quantitative methods such as the number of cars failing during the initial manufacturerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s warranty process. By measuring all of these factors together, Toyota is able to ensure that each aspect of its success is maintained to a high level, thus ensuring ongoing success. Priority of Performance Indicators When evaluating Toyotas performance, it is important to recognise that not all of the performance indicators above rank equally. Whilst many feed into each other, some areas will naturally be seen as more important than others (Doyle, 2000)[14]. It is undeniable that the key performance indicator will be the number of cars sold. This will be measured across the various different car sectors, e.g. family cars or larger multi-people vehicles and also across geographical locations. Second to this and critical to the profitability of Toyota is its ability to cut costs at every stage of production and delivery. Based on this, costs associated with production and how these are reduced should also be given considerable importance weighting. The speed at which delivery of the vehicles occurs is also linked to the costs and should be given equal importance to cost reductions in production (Ahire, et al., 1996)[15]. Toyotas reputation feeds directly into the number of sales and therefor e should be measured, accordingly. However, reputation is a subjective factor and whilst it is important that it is measured, it should be used as a supplementary measurement against the number of set goals and the costs being saved (Paley, 2006)[16]. Finally, underlying the success of Toyota is its research and development capability. Therefore, this aspect of the company should also be measured carefully, although it would not be considered a priority alongside sales of cars and cost reduction. Evaluation Tools There are of course multiple different evaluation tools which can be put in place to determine how well a company such as Toyota is performing in each of its given performance areas. Previously, we have established the important criteria for Toyota and it is recognised that these are actually very different in both nature and effect. Therefore, it is expected that different evaluation tools will be appropriate for different performance measures (Ghosh Ariff, 2004) [17]. Given the competitive nature of the automobile industry, benchmarking is likely to be one of the most popular evaluation tools. This enables the company to align itself with its competitors, to make sure that is doing better and to identify the areas of weakness with reference to others in the market (Goetsch Davis, 1997)[18]. From a less competitive point of view, in order to deal primarily with the internal issues, auditing can be employed. Auditing can take many forms but, in the case of manufacturing companies, it will commonly be quantitative in nature, for example, the amount of stock being held on a regular basis might be considered. Auditing is particularly appropriate for financial data such as costs and sale prices. To manufacturing companies such as Toyota, the production system is central and the quality of the system will be equally important. Based on this, strategic quality management evaluation will undoubtedly be an important part of Toyotas evaluati on. This will consider the amount of waste during production as well as any quality issues experienced by customers. The former quality issue will have a direct impact on costs and wastage, whereas the latter would have a direct impact on reputation and the number of sales that occur (Rogers, 2001)[19]. Self-assessment will also be particularly important, given the size of the organisation. Controlling evaluation is likely to rest in different locations for different areas of the business; therefore, a degree of self-assessment will be necessary on the part of each unit manager. The assessment would include a performance evaluation of the employees within the department as well as performance issues involved across departments (Marks, 2002)[20]. Appropriate Evaluation Tools for Toyota By considering the various evaluation tools available to Toyota (as contained in the appendix), it is clear to see that due to the variety of different needs and requirements, different evalua tion tools may be appropriate for different functions within Toyota as a large organisation and, as such, a degree of uniformity in relation to evaluation must be established. This is particularly true because of the international nature of Toyota, where production takes place on a global scale; each of these units must be working to the same rubric to be successful. The analysis in the appendix reveals that auditing would be the most appropriate evaluation tool for Toyota. This is closely followed by benchmarking and, ideally, Toyota should undertake both auditing and benchmarking to obtain a more rounded view of the position across all sectors. As Toyota undertakes considerable research and development as well as production, auditing offers the opportunity to evaluate both subjective and objective factors. For example, the number of cars produced can be measured through auditing as well as the quality of the research and development. Whilst quality management and self-assessmen t scored relatively lowly, in comparison to benchmarking, it is likely that they will also form part of the ongoing evaluation within Toyota, despite not being the main focus of the management teams (Kelley, et al., 2004)[21]. Summary Toyota is the largest and arguably the most successful motor company in the world. Moreover, this has occurred due to a range of innovative and successful strategies including research and quality management. However, in recent years, the automobile market has become increasingly competitive and globalised; therefore, Toyota has come under considerable pressure to maintain its position (Selnow Crano, 1987)[22]. Constant evaluation is needed to ensure that Toyota remains at the forefront of the market. Due to the diverse nature of Toyotas business with expertise in financing, production and research, it is likely the evaluation will take place within each of these departments as well as evaluation on a wider scale. From a broader point of view , however, it has been established that benchmarking and auditing will be the most appropriate valuation tools. Auditing was found to be the singular most useful evaluation tool for Toyota, with benchmarking following closely behind. Auditing allows those in charge of evaluation to draw together both the quantitative data in terms of sales and wastage and the more qualitative data such as reputation and the value of research developments (London, 1999)[23]. Toyotaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to evaluate and improve on processes, continuously, has ensured that the company remains the largest car manufacturer company in the world. It is undoubted that constant evaluation of this company has been critical to the overall success both in the past and moving forward into the future. Bibliography Ahire, S.L., Golhar, D.Y. Waller, M.A., 1996. Development and validation of TQM implementation constructs. Decision Sciences, 27 (1). Badri, M.A., Davis, D. Davis, D., 1995. A study o f measuring the critical factors of quality management. International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, 12 (2). Box, T.M., White, M.A. Barr, S.H., 1993. A Contingency Model of New Manufacturing Firm Performance. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 18. Boyson, S., et al., 1999. Logistics and the Extended Enterprise: Benchmarks and Best Practices for the Manufacturing Professional. John Wiley Sons. Bunney, H.S. Dale, B.G., 1997. The implementation of quality management tools and techniques: a study. The TQM Magazine, 9 (3), pp.183-189. Child, J. Faulkner, D., 1998. Strategies of Cooperation: Managing Alliances, Networks, and Joint Ventures. Oxford University Press. Dale, B. McQuater, R., 1998. Managing Business Improvement and Quality: Implementing Key Tools and Techniques. Oxford: Blackwell Business. Delbridge, R., 1998. Life on the Line in Contemporary Manufacturing: The Workplace Experience of Lean Production and the Japanese Model. Oxford Univer sity Press. Doyle, P., 2000. Value-Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value. John Wiley Sons. DSouza, D.E., 2006. Performance Payoffs from Manufacturing Flexibility: The Impact of Market-Driven Mobility. Journal of Managerial Issues, 18. Easton, G.S. Jarrell, S.L., 1998. The effects of total quality management on corporate performance, an empirical investigation. Journal of Business, 71 (2). Feigenbaum, A.V., 1991. Total Quality Control. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Flynn, B.B., Schroeder, R.G. Sakakibara, S., 1994. A framework for quality management research and associated measurement instrument. Journal of Operations Management, 11 (4). Garrick, J. Rhodes, C., 2000. Research and Knowledge at Work: Perspectives, Case-Studies and Innovative Strategies. Routledge. Goetsch, D.L. Davis, S.B., 1997. Introduction to Total Quality, Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hal l. Ghosh, D.K. Ariff, M., 2004. Global Financial Markets: Issues and Strategies. Praeger. Grantham, C. Carr, J., 2002. Consumer Evolution: Nine Effective Strategies for Driving Business Growth. John Wiley Sons. Jackson, K.T., 2004. Building Reputational Capital: Strategies for Integrity and Fair Play That Improve the Bottom Line. Oxford University Press. Kelley, C., et al., 2004. High-Technology Manufacturing and U.S. Competitiveness. Rand. Lam, S.S.K., 1995. Quality Management and job satisfaction: an empirical study. International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, 42 (4). London, M., 1999. Principled Leadership and Business Diplomacy: Values-Based Strategies for Management Development. Quorum Books. Maani, K.E., Putterill, M.S. Sluti, D.G., 1994. Empirical analysis of quality improvement in manufacturing, Asia Pacific Journal of Quality Management, 3 (1). Marks, E.A., 2002. Business Darwinism: Evolve or Dissolve: Adaptive Strategies for the In formation Age. John Wiley Sons. McConnell, J., 1989. The Seven Tools of TQC. 3rd ed. Manly Vale: The Delaware Group. McQuater, R.E., Scurr, C.H., Dale, B.G. Hillman, P.G., 1995. Using quality tools and techniques successfully. The TQM Magazine, 7 (6). Paley, N., 2006. The Managers Guide to Competitive Marketing Strategies. Thorogood. Powell, T.C., 1995. Total quality management as competitive advantage, a review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal, 16 (1). Rogers, S.C., 2001. Marketing Strategies, Tactics, and Techniques: A Handbook for Practitioners. Quorum Books. Selnow, G.W. Crano, W.D., 1987. Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Targeted Communication Programs: A Manual for Business Communicators. Quorum Books. Shenhav, Y., 1999. Manufacturing Rationality: The Engineering Foundations of the Managerial Revolution. Oxford University Press. Swamidass, P.M., 2002. Innovations in Competitive Manufacturing. AMACOM. Tracy, L., 1994. Leading the Living Organization: Growth Strategies for Management. Quorum Books. Tsutsui, W.M., 1998. Manufacturing Ideology: Scientific Management in Twentieth-Century Japan. Princeton University Press. Vaghefi, M.R. Huellmantel, A.B., 1998. Strategic Management for the XXIst Century. CRC Press. Van der Wiele, A., et al., 1996. Quality management self-assessment: an examination in European business, Journal of General Management, 22 (1). Zhang, Z., 2000. Developing a model of quality management methods and evidence their effects on business performance. Total Quality Management, 11 (1). Appendix The following matrix looks at six performance criteria for Toyota and ranks the various evaluation tools that may be available for each of the performance factors. By ranking these as high, medium or low and counting out the score, it is possible finally to determine which evaluation tool would be the most appropriate for each performance indicator. It will also reveal which too l, if only one evaluation tool can be selected, would be the most appropriate. Criteria Benchmarking Auditing Quality Management Self Evaluation Number car sales H M M M Production costs L H M M Production time frame H M L M Wastage in production L H H M Customer reputation H H M L New developments from research and development M M L M Total Score 13 15 11 11 High ranking = 3 Mid ranking = 2 Low ranking = 1 Footnotes [1] Feigenbaum, A.V., 1991. Total Quality Control. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. [2] Swamidass, P.M., 2002. Innovations in Competitive Manufacturing. AMACOM. [3] Boyson, S., et al., 1999. Logistics and the Extended Enterprise: Benchmarks and Best Practices for the Manufacturing Professional. John Wiley Sons. [4] Vaghefi, M.R. Huellmantel, A.B., 1998. Strategic Management for the XXIst Century. CRC Press. [5] Grantham, C. Carr, J., 2002. Consumer Evolution: Nine Effective Strategies for Driving Business Growth. John Wiley Sons. [6] Badri, M.A., Davis, D. Davis, D., 1995. A study of measuring the critical factors of quality management. International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, 12 (2). [7] Easton, G.S. Jarrell, S.L., 1998. The effects of total quality management on corporate performance, an empirical investigation. Journal of Business, 71 (2). [8] Child, J. Faulkner, D., 1998. Strategies of Cooperation: Managing Alliances, Networks, and Joint V entures. Oxford University Press. [9] Zhang, Z., 2000. Developing a model of quality management methods and evidence their effects on business performance. Total Quality Management, 11 (1). [10] Dale, B. McQuater, R., 1998. Managing Business Improvement and Quality: Implementing Key Tools and Techniques. Oxford: Blackwell Business. [11] Flynn, B.B., Schroeder, R.G. Sakakibara, S., 1994. A framework for quality management research and associated measurement instrument. Journal of Operations Management, 11 (4). [12] McQuater, R.E., Scurr, C.H., Dale, B.G. Hillman, P.G., 1995. Using quality tools and techniques successfully. The TQM Magazine, 7 (6). [13] Tsutsui, W.M., 1998. Manufacturing Ideology: Scientific Management in Twentieth-Century Japan. Princeton University Press. [14] Doyle, P., 2000. Value-Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value. John Wiley Sons. [15] Ahire, S.L., Golhar, D.Y. Waller, M.A., 1996. Developmen t and validation of TQM implementation constructs. Decision Sciences, 27 (1). [16] Paley, N., 2006. The Managers Guide to Competitive Marketing Strategies. Thorogood. [17] Ghosh, D.K. Ariff, M., 2004. Global Financial Markets: Issues and Strategies. Praeger. [18] Goetsch, D.L. Davis, S.B., 1997. Introduction to Total Quality, Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. [19] Rogers, S.C., 2001. Marketing Strategies, Tactics, and Techniques: A Handbook for Practitioners. Quorum Books. [20] Marks, E.A., 2002. Business Darwinism: Evolve or Dissolve: Adaptive Strategies for the Information Age. John Wiley Sons. [21] Kelley, C., et al., 2004. High-Technology Manufacturing and U.S. Competitiveness. Rand. [22] Selnow, G.W. Crano, W.D., 1987. Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Targeted Communication Programs: A Manual for Business Communicators. Quorum Books. [23] London, M., 1999. Principled Leadership and Business Diplomacy: Values-Based Strategies for Management Development. Quorum Books.

Comparison of the Three Sisters and Antigone - 1038 Words

World Literature Paper 1 In the plays The Three Sisters by Anton Chekov and Antigone by Sophocles, dialogue plays a key role in the characterization of the protagonists, because dialogue can act as a form of indirect characterization. The Three Sisters is a play set in the early 1900s, and is about three sisters who try to lead meaningful lives which are surrounded by people constantly distracting them from the passage of time and their longing to return to their home country of Moscow. Antigone is a Greek tragedy written approximately two thousand years ago and is about family betrayal and honor and how the protagonist, Antigone, goes against King Kreon who is her uncle. Even though these plays were written in very different time†¦show more content†¦When the sisters have dialogue amongst themselves they have more casual conversation which shows their personalities from a different angle. On page three all three of the sisters are talking but the dialogue mostly characterizes Olga when she says, â €Å". . . I have grown old. I have grown very old. And thin-from being cross all of the time . . . with the girls at the gymnasium. Of whom I today am free. Thank God. And make me younger.† Even though she is only twenty eight she feels like the peak of her life has passed and she feels that she is too old. She also states that she has grown thin from being â€Å"cross† all the time, cross means mad, this is an example of indirect characterization because the character said it to her sisters. Therefore, varying aspects of the protagonists’ personalities in both of these plays is conveyed through dialogue between the protagonists and other characters in the plays. In the plays The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov and Antigone by Sophocles dialogue play a key role in characterization of the protagonists of the plays. 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Social Safety Net free essay sample

Medicare, welfare, food stamps, etc, should be provided to the public when in they are in need of them. In today’s economic times, many people look to the government to help them provide for themselves and their families. Although there is much controversy over its role in the lives of citizens, the government should be responsible for maintaining a social safety net. Many people question the role of the government in their life, and are skeptical about programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Welfare. People did not always receive benefits or checks from the government to help them pay for living expenses, though . In the article â€Å"Social safety net: Who needs it? †, Wayne Baker spoke to the docent who worked at a museum that was once a jailhouse on Gore Bay. When asked what people were jailed for in the area, the docent responded that it was mostly public drunkenness or disorderly conduct. 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Also in the article, one is introduced to Mr. Kopka, a 74 year old who has undergone three heart procedures. Mr. Kopka said that without Medicare being available, he would not have been able to pay for his treatments. He goes on to say, â€Å"I’d die. † In the article â€Å"Man Dies From Toothache, Couldn’t Afford Meds†, it is explained that Kyle Willis’ wisdom tooth was causing him pain, but he did not get it pulled because he couldn’t afford the procedure since he was unemployed and had no health insurance. His face started to swell and his head began to ache, which caused him to go to the emergency room, where he then received prescriptions for both antibiotics and pain medication. He couldn’t afford both, so he chose the pain medications. Eventually, his tooth infection spread, causing his brain to swell. He died within two weeks. The same thing happened to 12-year-old Deamonte Driver, who only needed an $80 tooth extraction, but his family was uninsured and lost its Medicaid benefits. Dr. Irvin Silverstein said, â€Å"When people are unemployed or don’t have insurance, where do they go? What do they do? People end up dying, and these are the most treatable, preventable diseases in the world. † These situations beg the question: Why are people so opposed to the social safety net? Many people are angry because they feel that the government is wasting the money that is supposedly used for maintaining the social safety net and providing for the people who depend on it. They claim that many of the people who get money from the government do not deserve it. They also want to reduce the role of the government in their lives. These people are guilty for accepting help, and resent the government for providing it. A Mr. Cravaak said that the amount of money spent is â€Å"simply unsustainable† and reducing the spending will â€Å"hurt now, but it will be absolutely deadly for the next generation†. About 66 cents of every dollar received by the government from taxes goes into sustaining the safety net, and some believe that this money is going to waste because people who receive it are not using it properly. Mr. Qualley, who owns a tattoo parlor, said some of his customers get $300 or $400 dollar tattoos, wear Nike shoes that he can’t afford, yet pay for their tattoos with money from disability checks. Although there is much controversy on the subject, the majority of people still believe that the government does more good than bad when it provides financial aid for its citizens. Gordy Peterson, a 62-year-old who has used a wheel chair for 30 years of his life because of a construction accident, has reached this conclusion. He said, â€Å"My own sister has only Social Security. That’s all. That’s all she’s going to have. † He says that if it’s taken from her, she would end up on the street. In recent statistics, 59% of adults say that the government is responsible for taking care of those who can’t take care of themselves. 3% say that they believe the government should help more needy people, even if it means going deeper in debt. The government should be responsible for maintaining a social safety net for its citizens. Without a doubt, the idea of a social safety net triggers a strong opinion in many Americans, especially in the current to ugh economic times, but the majority will agree that one of the government’s roles is to help its citizens financially. After all, you may be against it, but your neighbor sure isn’t going to help you pay for your heart surgery.

What does the War of the Worlds tell us about human nature Essay Example For Students

What does the War of the Worlds tell us about human nature Essay H. G Wells was a man of new ideas and had strong political and moral views, which are prevalent throughout his 1898 novel The War of the Worlds. Wells was a staunch anti-colonialist, the very idea of Empires taking over inferior races repulsed him and this greatly influenced his writing in the novel. Wells was also a supporter of the theory of evolution, and regarded life as an incessant struggle for survival. This idea is used prominently throughout the book and is one of the key themes that he shows repeatedly in his account. Wells socialist ideas challenged the conventions of the time and this combination of detailed science and Wells own views inevitably sparked controversy. The War of the Worlds asked readers to question the common beliefs of the time and to think about the consequences of mankinds actions. The War of the Worlds is now regarded as one of the first true science fiction novels and the fact that the ideas expressed in the novel still apply today is a testament to Wells modern thinking. Wells introduces a typical educated man of the early 20th century as the narrator. We will write a custom essay on What does the War of the Worlds tell us about human nature specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Like many middle class citizens of the time, the narrator was not vehemently opposed to colonialism, but through his experiences he sees the damage mankind has caused and becomes disgusted at the idea of enslavement. Through the narrator, Wells creates an everyman that we can connect to. As he suffers throughout the invasion, he becomes a moral guide to the reader. We are with the narrator as he learns and we learn from him. Wells puts a man that could well be you or I in an extreme situation to exemplify the problems mankind could face and its weaknesses. The narrator recounts the events with the benefit of hindsight, It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days, and is surprisingly objective in his account. He details how men, went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. Already there is a tone of humility and the narrator even compares humans to the micro-organisms of the world, It is possible the infuriosa under the microscope do the same. This attitude sets the tone for human views before the Martian invasion. The narrator calls man vain, So blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligent life might have developed . He continually points out the ignorance and arrogance of mankind, The chances against anything man-like on Mars are a million to one. Indeed the Martians are revealed to be nothing like man, but the humans automatically assume that that an intelligent being would have to be similar to them to be conceivable. When the first cylinder of the Martians arrives, it is treated as a curiosity, a remarkable event unto which many people from the surrounding villages converge, seeing it as a day out. No real precautions are taken, There were four or five boys sitting on the edge of the pit, with their feet dangling, and amusing themselves. This blithe unconcern for any possible danger emphasises the universal sense of superiority, even toward the unknown. However, this attitude is not so surprising, for religion has taught men that they are in the image of God, and thus superior to others. When the cylinder begins to unscrew, the narrator professes that, Everyone expected to see a man, I know I did. Even a man who seems to be well educated in science is swept up in the moment, when he had, at the start, acknowledged the slim chances of a man like species from a different planet. The narrator, on seeing the Martian describes it as best he can, using human terminology, drawing on what he can identify with, It was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. The crowd is then attacked by an, invisible jet that set alight everything on contact. This is the first time that any human felt fear of what was happening; only at the cost of lives did the humans gain even an idea of what they were dealing with, and even after this sour turn of events, the majority of people were still ignorant. Indeed, the news of the massacre led to even more people visiting the cylinder. Even the seemingly level-headed narrator asserts his belief that, They have done a foolish thing, they are dangerous because they are no doubt mad with terror. Perhaps they expected to find no living things, certainly no intelligent living things. A shell in the pit, if worst comes to worst, will kill them all. Granted, he admits that his inebriated state affected his judgement, but it is possible that his condition unlocked an idea in all of us that we are better than other species. The narrator even neglects to ponder the possibility that the Martians may have their own technology to overcome their physical shortcomings: We all overlooked the fact that such mechanical intelligence as the Martians possessed was quite able to dispense with muscular exertion. However, in a short space time, the Martians begin to invade and resistance is practically non-existent. The complacency of the humans led to them underestimating the tactical prowess of the Martians and their advanced machinery and while wide-spread evacuation occurs, we are introduced for the first time, to the fighting machine, which perhaps personifies Wells idea that humans are tiny in the bigger picture: How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod higher than many houses. The sheer magnitude of the machines truly humbles the human race. For all the arrogance, the humans are insignificant to the Martians; only used as a source of food, the fear and empire of man had passed away. .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .postImageUrl , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:hover , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:visited , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:active { border:0!important; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:active , .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8 .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud3bc597b5c183b6e47d94ca496c72cf8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwoods EssayAt this point, the narrator has realised the consequences of human dominance and even goes so far as to describe it as fearful. Through the Martians, Wells shows us that we are not the most intelligent or advanced race. Humans are effectively just another race in the struggle for survival. This sense of humility is conveyed throughout the novel and reflects Wells own views on natural selection, and some of the characters views, like the artillery-man: Men like me are going to go on living: tough men. Before the invasion, humans were self assured about the situation. However it quickly became a war between men and ants. Humans are to the Martians what the ants are to us and the technology which seemed so advanced is crude compared to the Martian technology. This idea is taken up by the Artilleryman, Its bows and arrows against the lightning. He is drawing a parallel to mankinds arrogance of being higher than even nature itself, but ultimately, falling flat. Furthermore, the humans are now put into a situation that the narrator describes as foreign: I felt as a rabbit might feel returning to his burrow, and suddenly confronted by the work of a dozen busy navvies digging the foundations of a house. Once again, there is the sense of being put down. This feeling is alien to the narrator, because, as a human, he has always been part of the undisputed greatest species. Only the invasion of the Martians makes him stop and empathise, as the reader should, with the other animals with whom we share the world. Man believed that he was the most powerful, dominant species and expected the Martians to be weak or inferior: Men fancied there might be men on Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary. He was humbled by the Martians, but perhaps the most humbling factor of all, was that, ultimately, it was the smallest, simplest organisms that stopped the Martians. Where human technology failed, nature prevailed, showing us that no matter how advanced we become, we cannot transcend nature. In The War of the Worlds, Wells explores how people react to extreme pressure. As the Martians begin their takeover, the government gives little support and even the members of the military mutiny as their innate sense of self preservation takes over. In London, as soon as the defences fall, there is mass panic, All about him people were dressing hastily as the first breath of the coming storm of fear blew through the streets, and services begin to deteriorate quickly, By ten oclock the police organisation, and by midday even the railway organizations, were losing coherency, losing shape and efficiency. Evidently, it did not take the Martians much time to cause a swift liquefaction of the social body and this raises a question for the reader; what would happen if this situation was real? Would we cope? Wells uses this panic and disruption to demonstrate how pressure can affect us. He describes how people were fighting savagely for standing room in the carriages, exhibiting early on the natural human survival instinct, even at the cost of others safety: people were being trampled and crushed. Even the policemen, who are supposed to stand for strength and stability, begin breaking the heads of the people they were called out to protect. These are signs that order truly has deteriorated, and is indicative of Wells views on how society would react in a large scale crisis. The countrys population are all out to save themselves and social decorum is no longer in place, with men attacking ladies for their transport and looting taking place unchecked, revealing the opportunists among the population. When a man drops his bag of coins onto the road, the uncaring drivers run him down while he attempted to recover his money. This behaviour shows both the greed that people have for material possessions and how some people will put their safety first, regardless of the effect on others. The mass exodus of the population allows Wells to explore how we change in the face of pressure; some will keep a steady head like the narrator and his brother, while others will lose their wits like the curate, or be solely concerned with their own affairs. Each member of the escaping group is described as a dot of human agony denoting insignificance. Paradoxically, even though they are physically a group who have moved and suffered together mentally, everyone is out for themselves as an individual a harsh statement about humans sense of unity in a crisis. Even the people who we would consider to have kept their head are forced to commit terrible acts in desperation, emphasising the dire situation they are in. The narrator speaks candidly about his attack on the curate, calling it a thing done. When the curate endangers them both, the narrator endeavours to stop him with a knife. It is implied that he, in desperation, intended to use the blade but with one last touch of humanity he struck him with the butt instead. In normal situations both would be considered morally disgusting, but perhaps if the narrator had not stopped the curate, both of them would have been discovered by the Martians. Less easy to dismiss is the narrator leaving the curate to the Martians. However, it was not a conscious decision to leave him, but a natural compulsion to hide from Martians. By displaying how the majority act in response to the Martians and the breakdown of order, Wells depicts society as a veneer for a more primal aspect of human nature underneath. He uses characters to represent aspects of society, and, through them, criticises the society of the time and points out potential weaknesses. The curate embodies the religious aspect of society. However, instead of acting as a helper and guide to the people, the curate rambles insensibly in a manner reminiscent of Old Testament preaching. He himself has lost his wits under the pressure of the Martian invasion and the narrators comment parallels Wells view in reality: What good is religion if it collapses at calamity? The curate is repeatedly unhelpful and is the opposite of the narrators pragmatic character: We had absolutely incompatible dispositions. .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .postImageUrl , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:hover , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:visited , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:active { border:0!important; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:active , .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uddce2b07accd04d3d02c5dc2c14914fd:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Nature of Logic and Perception EssayHe even goes as far as to threaten the narrator with revealing their position to the Martians to get him to give up the rationed food. Oddly for a curate, he is described as one of those shifty creatures full of a shifty cunning who face neither God nor man. The narrator does admit that the curates insanity paradoxically kept him sane, serving as a constant reminder of the price of losing his mind. The curate personifies Wells opinions of religion and his flaws epitomise the shortcomings of the church. These failings of society are further demonstrated by the flaws of the artillery-man, who represents security. As part of the military, he should be confident and strong enough to meet the needs of the army. In contrast to the curate, the narrator at first gets on well with the artillery-man, who is full of ideas about the future of the human race, Why, you are a man indeed! He intends to start a resistance against the Martians, and engineer a perfect race to who can study the Martians and eventually defeat them. The narrator is interested and supporting of this rather ridiculous plan, perhaps from living in despair for long. Even so, as he spends more time with the artillery-man, the narrator gets a suspicion that while the he has the ideas, the artillery-man has neither the will nor the means to follow through with his plan. The artillery-man is a fantasist, full of glorious plans, but someone who would rather sit and play card games than put them into action: I could divine the stress he laid on doing nothing precipitately. Unlike the curate, the artillery-man is never at conflict with the narrator or overtly insane, but he is a man too wound up in his own ideas to look at the world realistically. He is representative of the government failure and the false hope the military gave to the people. Examples of societys members failing their duties are numerous in the novel, such as a doctor escaping at the first sign of trouble. When people were getting injured he was one of the first to escape. A doctor would be expected to stay and help as much as he can despite the danger. One of Wells most compelling themes in the novel is the idea that we have done what the Martians are doing to countless other species and races. The narrator asks us not to judge the Martians too harshly: We must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has caused, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its own inferior races. We are effectively the same as the Martians in terms of treatment of other species. They planned to take over because their planet was no longer suitable. This is just the next step up from eradicating a race to set up more space for an empire and therefore it would be contradictory to condemn the Martians for doing something that humans would most likely have done as well, had our technology permitted it. The War of the Worlds shows different aspects of human nature by explaining what would happen in a large crisis. We see different reactions to the danger: some good, altruistic people come out, but also the universal survival instinct that Wells believes we all possess. The greed and selfishness of humanity is exposed in numerous examples throughout the book, of people thinking only for themselves and refusing to unite. The novel criticises the main aspects of society such as the army and religion, presenting them as facades, covering our darker, more primal nature. The actions of the curate and artillery-man typify the problems within these institutions and attack the inherent corruption of some of their members. Humans as a whole are humbled; they are subjugated to a position lower than another species and only then do they learn to empathise with other animals, who also suffered from the humans. However, after the defeat of the Martians, their technology opens a new horizon and Wells questions the ethical restraint of man in the face of such amazing new technology: If the Martians can reach Venus, there is no reason to suppose we cant, and when the slow cooling of the Sun makes this planet uninhabitable, should we conquer? Indeed, this question is still relevant. With new technologies allowing us to change genetic make-up or grow embryos, will our morality draw a line with what we can do and what we should do? Wells asks us not to judge the Martians too harshly, but to realise that they did to us what we have done to others for less justifiable reasons. So, who are we to judge them? Who are we to sit smugly and condemn the Martians for something we have also done to countless others? Ultimately, Wells shows we are all insignificant beings in a struggle to survive. Our job is not to judge, but to learn from these situations and to accept, in the same way that the narrator accepted, that nature, not man, defeated the Martians, that we are as small as the microbes in the grand scheme of things.