COMM_302_Mass_Communication_Theory_Annotated_Bibliography

Insert Name

University of Maryland University Campus

Mass Communications and Media Studies

Insert Prof

Insert Date

Social media has taken the front seat to the various means of media communication in an industry that is constantly evolving due to the fast-paced technology industry. Society is heavily influenced my information they gather through these channels when it comes to real-world news items, celebrity news, or as consumers. These media channels have opened a whole new world to marketers and businesses in ways to share their messages. Due to this growth, there has been an increase in the many theories that are being studied on the effects that media has on its society, culture, and audience. The articles below helped increase my understanding of media on a psychological level. What is the core purpose behind media outlets such as Twitter or Facebook? What are businesses hoping to accomplish by having a strong social media presence? The various studies help the readers understand the influences that mass media has on a person’s lifestyle and daily habits.

Cavender, Kurt. “Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice.” Cultural Studies (2013): p656-p659.

Author Kurt Cavender shares the views of various researchers who have studied the effects that different social media channels have on its audience. Furthermore, rather than asking how Facebook or Twitter are being used, one researcher (Bruno Latour) wants to understand what habits are formed because of these social media channels and the influence they have on our day-to-day productivity. There are many theories discussed such as; object-oriented media theories, system-oriented media theories, and a new theory introduced by Latour known as actor-network theory (ANT). Latour introduced ANT as “a method for following the circulation across space of people and objects as actors make up their worlds”. The main takeaway is that “social practice occupies an intersection between the semiotic and the material, that the movements of actors within media have both symbolic value and material implications in society.” Media and its traditional term is evolving which is highlighted in the journal article to help readers understand the impact of media and society.

Saat, Rafeah, Selamat, Mohamad. “The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Information Richness on Trust.” Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting Vol. 8 No. 3 (2014): p67-p81.

The authors of this study set out to test the effects that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has on the success of a business. This concept “describes the relationship between company and society.” The article focuses on how a new culture of communicating has been created through the internet which allows companies to share their CSR message with society. The authors designed a study to further understand the benefits of CSR through the Media Richness Theory (MRT), where companies can share their messaging through this avenue. The study is designed to help readers understand if sharing CSR through social media channels results in sales or if consumers become skeptical of the company’s mission and building trust in consumers. The study helps us understand how audiences receive and interpret messages through media.

Bechmann, Gotthard, Stehr, Nico. “Niklas Luhmann’s Theory of Mass Media.” Society Vol. 48 Issue 2 (2011): p142-p147.

In this paper, the authors study Niklas Luhmann’s theory of mass media and its true reality. Originally, Luhmann set out to prove the public’s suspicion of mass media as the basis of his research but shifted his beliefs as he got further into his research. The authors highlight that Luhmann’s thoughts about mass media is that they “do not present an image of a reality that they have distinguished but rather they themselves create the reality which they communicate daily as news, reports, advertising.” But this reality is what Luhmann refers to as “manufactured reality” that is circulated selectively by mass media. Further on, Luhmann widens his research to view mass media communication from the end users point of view to better understand the effects of mass media on our culture.

Coming to an End The Weekend

Coming to an End: The Weekend

Student’s Name

Institution

Coming to an End: The Weekend

After extensive research and examination of the Weeknd’s music, lyrics, styles, over comings and life hardship, I have found myself to be extremely well aware of every aspect of his life (that I could get my hands on). The Rhythm and Blues famous artist is hugely inspirational in consideration of his humble background to where he is now regardless of the hardships he underwent through as he was growing up. Also, proving himself as a legend in the music industry was not that easy due to his race and the fact that his family did not have the capability of supporting him. As a tolerant, the Weeknd does not only inspire through the touching music and lyrics but also through supporting the marginalized racial communities. In this paper, the issue of racism is discussed in a more significant context on how it has significantly affected the Weeknd’s life and shaping him to who he is now in the music field.

The Weeknd also was known as Abel Tesfaye was born at Toronto in Canada by his parents Makkonen and Samra who were Ethiopian immigrants. When growing up, there was a challenge regarding his race, his voice and the family’s poverty level considering the community was racial biased. Due to his race and color, the Weeknd faced bullying and segregation in high school which made him abandon his learning at the age of seventeen. The legend takes this challenge as an inspiration and gets the idea of majoring in music as a way of spreading togetherness, giving him someone to talk to that no one wants to hear and a theme to talk about that others did not want to listen about it. The talent in him has been significant to people’s life nevertheless his race which he belongs (Eells, page 12). His fans would have disliked his appearance, but the power of music speaks making the get in touch with his art.

In consideration of the Weeknd’s music, the issue of racism enhanced a significant impact. The facts that he has faced in live acts as an experience and motivation stimulator as there is the urge to change the way of taking things among the society. The racist learns from the art that all people have equal rights and every person has different capabilities which are all constructive if well natured regardless of the ethnicity. The positivity and encouragement that the Weeknd got from the people who looked down on him have enabled him to acquire many trophies more than a hundred awards in the music industry. The uniqueness equips the artist many precious opportunities in the entertainment field not only performing and encouraging fans but also enhancing perfection of other artists work. For instance, he has produced a variety of songs in the soundtrack of various favorite movies such as The Hunger Game among many others (Kumru, page 20).

It is awkward to come across a Rhythm and Blues artist addressing social issues affecting the society such as rape and race segregation, but the Weeknd do this correctly. Many of other artists majors in making allusions to drugs, violence, and alcohol, use of pejorative language and the humiliating of people women in particular. On the other side, the Weeknd makes take a positive perspective of the mentioned above matters and relate them to the happenings in society to bring a positive impact and social-economic development. The artist has diversification in his physical and actual being, and he is oriented in his capabilities. In the today’s world, there is racism, and a pessimistic character will not survive in the competition as Abel did. One can just say that the fact of Abel being an Ethiopian disadvantaged him on achieving his objectives in the music industry which is not the case. The Weeknd did not and is not at any time looking back to give this mentality an opportunity to draw him back, and he believes in the capability of doing even more than anyone expects in the music industry.

The issue of racism is evident even today and the Weeknd takes it as a degrading matter in that renders society development by bringing enmity between the American people. It hurts Abel to the extent that made him address the issue in public. The specific issue he talked about regards the police brutality when dealing with blacks. The artist did not have interest in politics, but it was inevitable to expose the issue according to him as it is touching and against human rights and justice. He broke up the silence that the police unfairly treat the blacks after the recent shootings. Furthermore, the Weeknd has kept the legacy of donating two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Black Lives Matter Network (Wagstaff, page 6). The organization deals with facilitating freedom and justice to the black people living in North America, and it has gained popularity after challenging police treatment to the minorities.

As discussed above, the Weeknd is a hero who is passionate in the music industry and has the capability of coming up with racism crisis. It is a lesson and urges to the minority communities and people coming from a humble background who sees like there is no future ahead to have a positive perspective of working towards the targeted objectives. Racism is an excellent society back draw that has to be dealt with to ensure equality and justice in the country. Abel has proved it that no matter how hard situation that one goes through seems to be, at the end there is victory after achieving the expected goals.

References

Eells, Josh. “Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside the Weeknd’s Dark Twisted

Fantasy.” Rolling Stone. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2017.

Kumru, S. “Category: Slang and Language Subcultures.”

“The Weeknd in Washington – Macleans.ca.” Macleansca. 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2017

Vozick-Levinson, Simon. “Ready For The Weeknd.” Rolling Stone 1243

(2015): 15. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2017.

Wagstaff. Keith. “10 Things You Should Know About the Weeknd.” GQ. 2015. Web. 30

Oct. 2017.

Coming To America Movie Review

Student’s name

Instructor

Course

Date

Coming To America Movie Review

Coming to America is a movie written by Barry W Blaustein and David Sheffield. Craig Brewer directs the movie, and it is a 1988 American romantic comedy. It is created by Eddie Murphy, who is also a star in the movie. He casts as prince Akeem, the soon-to-be king of Zamunda. The main cast includes Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem, Arsenio Hall as Semmi , servant to the prince. A friend to the prince, Shari Headley as Lisa MacDowell, is Akeem’s love interest, James earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer, Akeem madge Sinclair as queen Deleon Joffer, John Amos as Cleo McDowell Lisa’s father, and Pauls bates as Oha, a royal servant.

Discontented with his pampered life, an African prince decides to move to America to find his wife. It is on his 21st birthday that a wife is selected for him. Unfortunately, he is not pleased with his wife to be since he would love to have a wife who will love him for who he is and a wife who will share with his knowledge, not one who will follow all of his commands without questioning. He moves to America’s poorest area, and he lives as a working-class man. This is an indication of the current situation when people want to change their environment and move on to a new phase of life whereby they feel better and fresh to start a new life.

On his first days of searching, he is not contented with the women he meets. He claims that they all have a severe emotional problem; therefore, he asks an older man at the barbershop, Mr. Clarence, where they can find a nice woman. They go to the black awareness rally where Lisa catches the eye of Akeem. Akeem gets a job at the McDowell so that he could get to know Lisa better. Once Lisa accepts him, the king travels to America by the word of Semi and informs Lisa that Akeem is to marry someone else. On his wedding day, Akeem is surprised to find his bride is Lisa. All this is to help us understand the concept of love and how it is always a challenge to many people. In conclusion, therefore, this movie reflects the struggles a person gets in their lives and how different people deal with them. It also brings us to the face of the complicated issue of love.

Works cited

Landis, John, et al. “Coming to America.” IMDb, 29 June 1988, www.imdb.com/title/tt0094898. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.

Come back from Car Accident

Come back from Car Accident

Name of the student

Institution

Report submitted to:

Name of instructor

University Name

Date

Introduction with theme

32645358851265450000We have so many tragedies and misfortunes happening in our lives, some of which are life changing. I can recall clearly how my friends’ life, Frank, has changed after he had a car accident on his trip to Chicago. His explanation is still clear and the marks visible. This essays discuss the comeback from Frank’s accident, how the accident happened, kind of surgery, healing period and how friends stood by him all the way long. It explains the impacts of the accident in his personal life and relations with others.

Accident and kind of surgery

It was a standout amongst the most alarming days of his life, the day of Frank’s car accident. In his explanation Frank details, the events that followed in that chilly Monday morning on his trip to Chicago. The tragedy started when an approaching track swayed from one side of the road to the other. The various attempts to escape by Frank was in vain. The track had hit Frank’s car causing an accident. What frank can recall is that he was found between frosty soil and the hot metal of the car breaking his left leg and dislocated his jaw bone. The police found him unconscious and rushed him to the hospital. He underwent knee-surgery and jaw-born relocation. Frank was lucky that he had other minor bruises in other parts of the body, but they got treated very fast.

Healing period that he had to walk again

According to Frank, it was not clear to him how he became unconscious and rushed to hospital. The family members how heard what happened had ran to the hospital. Other friends and relatives also ran to the Hospital. The Doctor at the Hospital worked round the clock to help Frank recover very fast. The support of the family members and friends was also of great importance. Frank was hospitalized for a period of three weeks after which he was discharged.

Friend take him out of Hospital and encourage him to walk

Friend and family members have been close to Frank all the way long. The day he was discharged, he got escorted back to his house by friends and family members. The family and friends have tried encourage him to walk again and they were next to him every step in his life. The support, encouragements, being there for him have calmed him and strengthened him. After another two weeks, Frank has started walking and moving on with his daily life. Though the marks of the stitches in his knee is still a reminder of that fateful Monday, Frank has recovered fully.

Conclusion

I now acknowledge how valuable life truly is, and that it can be taken away in a flash or in a moment. I now comprehend why my father cautioned me to abstain from driving on specific streets to avoid bringing down the danger of having an accident. One little accident can bring about a change in one’s entire life. Frank will always remember that minute when he was lying on the ground and the events in Hospital. This has been a learning curve for both Frank family members and friends.

Combined Research Paper Draft

Combined Research Paper Draft

The difficulty Paper

Gee talks about secondary discourse, where he defines it as the process where an individual acquires other skills in order to fit into a given group of people. He describes that we all have the primary discourse which we gain at our early childhood days while still at home. Mostly these primary discourses are dependent on the family members. These family members are the one who teaches us how to interact with the immediate environment we live in at that early stage in life. The most confusing part about Gee under his article is that he does not articulate how we need to gain these secondary discourses. We are also not in a position to clearly explain or identify these secondary discourses.

     Does associating a lot with other people improve our secondary discourse? Since secondary discourse is acquired from the as meet new people, it is true to conclude that our company and the time we spend we other people improve the way they perceive the world at large. For instance, Gee gives as a detailed example of how certain had to learn more skills and techniques on how to play softball. She was huge hence not fit to play the game at a competitive level. Her case was very simple; she was only supposed to gain confidence in order to help her be included in the team. Her interaction with friends helped her gain this confidence.

     Our company affects the way we associate or view the world in general. Like the say goes, ‘Birds of same feathers fly together.’ We tend to copy and adopt some behaviors and characters from those surrounding us. However, our primary discourse determines how we will approach the secondary discourse. Having an excellent primary discourse will attract the right kind of people in some one’s life. People will be pulled by the way we behavior them, and hence our primary discourse determines the type of people we would attract.

     Personally, I think the secondary discourse also attracts a certain character in the primary discourse. A group of persons that might be having the best secondary discourse are likely to attract new members whom they feel van blend in with their characters and mode of doing things. It is; therefore, true to suggest that secondary discourse and primary discourse are closely related.

     People tend to join groups that can benefit them, and again, any group would also recruit member whom they think they can help them in progressing positively. Having deeply analyses both primary and secondary discourse it is, therefore, clear to conclude that in order for one to clearly understand one of these aspects, they need to be well aware of the both of them i.e., having an explicit knowledge on primary discourse would help in understanding more about the secondary discourse.

Research Proposal

The context of the Research The aboriginals in Australia are considered as some of the indigenous people in thecountry. The population of the Aboriginals is present both in the mainland and the numerousislands such as Tasmania, Fraser, and Groote. Even though the name is considered offensive andoutdated, it is still used in various contexts, including academic works. As it stands, thecommunity of aboriginals is considered to be faced with several social issues. Among the mostprofound and observable challenges facing the population is a massive consumption of alcoholas well as drug abuse. The most worrying trend about the community is the tendency of illiteracycharacterized by significant school dropouts and failure to attain the educational qualifications bya number of them. Thus, the research context is on the Aboriginals and the social challenges mostof their people undergo in their everyday activities and operations.

Participants and SiteThe participants in this research are the Aboriginals in Queensland. According to mydesktop research, I established that approximately 68% of the aboriginal tribes live inQueensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. Thus, I settled in Queensland as it has the people intheir large numbers. In the year 2016, the total number of Aboriginals in Queensland was 26,553.However, for the case of my study, the population targeted will be 50 people, though spreadacross the town. The people of interest in my group are the ones with addiction problems andhigh alcohol consumption. Finding them will call that I visit the drinking joints and somebackstreets within their residences. Before accessing the place, I will seek permission from theauthorities and ask for the guide from the community members, preferably the elders. 

Plan for data collection and analysis The process of data collection will take the primary methods of information acquisition.There will be an observation of the group of interest and the interview. The process willcommence through the performance of surveillance in which the survey will be done to thepeople within the drinking joints. The method of the study will take two days, preferablyweekends. Note-taking strategy for the data collection process is the outline in which there isanticipation that the notes are easy to read. Interviews are included in the data collection processin which the 50 selected people within the group are taken through the interview process. Thechoice of what to include in the interview included the frequency of alcohol consumption andwhether the interviewee is currently abusing the drug. The thread which will be followed in thiscase is IMRAD entailing introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The thread presentedherein is informed by the fact that I want the research to be professional and easy to follow aswell as the logical flow of information       

Positionality

Even though this research will be marked with the highest level of fairness andprofessionalism, some aspects might intersect the data with my perspective. Sincerely, myattitude and view will be informed by elements of history in which the indigenous people arejudged. Even though I am mindful of the fact that people are biased in judging or perceiving theindigenous aboriginals, it is precise that the same is not likely to form part of the activity of datacollection and research as a whole. In case I infer that whatever I read about the people is nothappening in reality, I will apply the utmost professionalism in ensuring that I note what I observed and generated the data as I said them in the interview document. I believe that my position will be informed with the reality and facts as well as finding within the area of study.

The Research of Blog

Introduction

In various countries with racial diversity, there is a likelihood that the issue of color is likely to emerge in social settings such as schools and even in the working places. Through the analysis of the article entitled Narrative Analysis of Students’ of Color Experiences at Predominantly White Institutions and the Implications of Support Systems by Stephanie Blake, there is an insight developed to the readers, particularly the popular audience on their opinion regarding racism in the learning institutions. Through the use of Jarrett’s article in the styles of reading, the point, in this case, is to make the audience understand the view of the item on the students of color. 

Analysis of the Research

From the study, it is precise that students of color perceive themselves as minorities who need family and peer support in conforming to the white-dominated schools. The article gives an appropriate response to the question posed by the topic of how the students of color interact with the institution dominated by the whites. Precisely, the students of color cannot conform adequately to the school environment. Thus, they need support from the people who are close to them. Hunter (2016) posits that discrimination in learning institutions in the United States affects the educational performance of African American and Latina students. There are recommendations for the institutions to create more cultural awareness for both the students of color and the white students in the learning institutions to ensure harmony and positive coexistence. Thus, the school orientation should be more intentional in fostering the creation of interactive space for more peaceful operations of both parties. 

As a matter of analysis, it is summarized explicitly that there is a negative perception of the white-dominated schools by the students of color as compared to the former. As can be noted from the analysis, the idea of race has preoccupied the mind, and psychological make up the students in such setups that it is putting them to the state of vulnerability. On the side of students of color, there is created the idea of an inferiority complex when they compare themselves with their white counterparts. It turns out that their perceptions are likely to develop the pitfalls for their learning. On the contrary, the students of the white descents perceive the schools as Better Avenue for education. However, some are not comfortable with the people of color sharing with them social facilities. Nevertheless, it should be realized that the aspects of racial discrimination are the orientation of the individual student.   

Lessons Drawn from the Article

The white-dominated learning institutions have been blamed by the students of color as a result of their experiences in such institutions. The idea of separating students in line with their academic ability is considered one of the factors promoting racial segregation, particularly by African American students. There are claims by the students of color that their skin color prevents them from leading (Modica, 2015). When the statement on racial impediments is connected to the article under review in this discussion, it emerges that most of the students of color perceive the white-dominated schools as more segregated and are responsible for their failures to attain excellence in their school endeavors. A lesson learned from the article is that there is more evidence to ascertain that students of color perceive the school dominated with their white counterparts as an impediment to their success and excellence in all school-related activities. 

Objectives of Writing this Discussion 

The goal of writing an analysis of this article is to develop an insight and understanding of various student factions in the United States and how the racial perceptions paly in the school setups. In essence, there is the point of creating awareness that the issue of racial discrimination is a challenge and that it is likely to affect the operations of students not only of color but even of the white descents. As noted in this case, there are students of color who are not feeling comfortable in the white-dominated school to the extent that they need the help of their closest associates to conform to the settings of the learning environment. From the various reviews connected to the presentations and articles presented, there is realized the negativity some students of color have developed in the school dominated by the white students. Some believe that through the segregation of students according to their academic abilities, they are not likely to excel in their academic endeavors. Therefore, it can be concluded that through the views of the students of color, it is realized there is poor development of the same

Fieldwork Report

Observation

There were interview exercises conducted in which the people of Maori were asked about how they perceive visitors in their ceremonies. From the study carried out, there was a lot of information gathered in terms of the practices carried out among the people in my case. The population in consideration for the study was the people of Maori. The main point of attention was on how they perceive the visitors in their communities. In particular, there was concern about how visitors are treated in this community. From the observation, it was realized that the people of Maori are more involved in ceremonies in which they welcome visitors through songs and ceremonial dances. As could be achieved, people welcome visitors with threatening incarnations to test their brevity. Upon confirming the brevity of the visitor, there is the point in which they give the visitor seat to take part in their traditional ceremonies.  

Findings

From the interviews conducted, it was learned that the majority of Maori people are welcoming to visitors in their ceremonies. Specifically, from the presentation data, it was clear that approximately 70% of the entire population interviewed. However, about 20% stated that they were not comfortable with the visitors as they are not trustworthy. Approximately 10% of the people reported that they are not sure of whether they are welcoming to the visitors or not. In giving the reason for the perception of the visitors, the main reason for the 20% decline the issue of visitors; they pointed untrustworthiness as the main reason for their decisions making process.   

Interpretation of data

In general conclusion, it can be asserted that the majority of the Maori people are welcoming. On the same note, it was clear that the people of the community value the issue of trust as the main reason for their choice of visitors. Also, there is the aspect of some people (10%) not giving their verdict about the visitors in which it can be interpreted that they value secrecy and confidentiality in treating strangers. It can be pointed out that the issue of the ceremony gives the best avenue to get observations about the Maori people and their perceptions about visitors. However, in getting a valid response, the interview must be conducted on individual members of the community in which they give their verdict without consideration to other factors like the judgment from other members of the community.       

Framing of discourse community

The idea of is discourse community is one of the most sorted after concept in explaining the shared values and beliefs about a given group of people in a particular community or a society in general. The existence and practices of Maori people is a clear definition of the discourse community at play. The people of Maori identify with the history of New Zealand as one of the indigenous inhabitants of the Oceania nation. The most striking feature of this community is their uniqueness, as observed in their culture and beliefs, which is derived from a distinct orientation. It becomes necessary that the people are looked at and studies in a comprehensive approach to extract the essential features of the community. As opposed to modern societies and communities, the people of Maori are more concerned with their abilities to conserve their traditional acquired communication skills and practices.    

Conclusion

From the studies conducted, and the findings obtained, the Maori people are welcoming to strangers. Even though the review was more inclined and confined to a specific function of the community, it can still be used to reflect on the general perspective of the community to strangers. From the literature review, it could be concluded that the people of the Maori descents are all welcoming and that it is challenging to find one who is not fully into the culture and activities of the community. 

However, from the study, it could be registered that there are people of the Maori descents who debunk the myth of the people being all welcoming. The statistical data presented in the findings section is a clear indication that the people, just like other societies in various parts of the world, embrace diversity in opinion. A close look at the situation reveals an exciting idea about the community in which there are known unique communication codes and acceptable ways of interaction, which is known only to the people of the Maori society. As stated, the community has its unique language, which they have kept dear ever since they were known to the people of the modern world. 

Combating the Negative Impacts of Covid-19

Combating the Negative Impacts of Covid-19

Name

Institution

Date

Introduction

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic shook all aspects of life. Most countries were forced to adopt strict and harsh policies to control the spread of the virus and protect people’s health. Local and international movements were restricted altogether as part of the initiative. For this reason, many people lost their jobs and source of income. Approximately 3.3 billion workforce globally lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic (Stoecklin et al., 2020). The state issued a directive requiring the public to stay home to minimize physical contact among individuals. It was a tough time for most individuals because besides losing jobs, they lived in uncertainty and the death tolls linked to the virus kept increasing by the day. Most people who succumbed to Covid-19 were the senior members of society and individuals with chronic underlying diseases like heart problems, high blood pressure, kidneys problems, and diabetes. Various agencies were established and invested in the research and development of a vaccine to save people’s lives now that the deaths increased dramatically. This paper will discuss the role of agencies in facilitating vaccinations of the virus and in combating the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic

The economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic threatened to put a large section of the population below the poverty line worldwide. It was undeniable that the pandemic was beyond a health crisis since it caused an imbalance in all country sectors. The financial crisis dues to the drastic decrease in the labor force have made it challenging for both the government and the public to meet financial requirements (Ma & Miller, 2021). The government was forced to channel more of its resources and funds towards mitigating the effects of the pandemic, minimizing the spread, and eventually developing a long-term solution that would see people lead everyday lives. This aspect strained the country’s financial position and made it challenging to balance combating the effects of covid-19 and other social amenities necessary for the public. As different brands of the covid-19 vaccine are mandated, controversies tension grew among populations worldwide. Individuals against the covid-19 jab term it as a violation of human rights. Countries like Canada have protested against the vaccine meant to keep people safe and restore normalcy. Large and stable companies in the market authorized their employees to get vaccinated before reporting to work. Consequently, workers in different occupational fields took to the streets to protest against the private-sector mandates

Covid-19 has become the most prominent global crisis for a long time for the government and corporations. The agency has prioritized the economic and health emergencies resulting from covid-19. Programs and projects have been rearranged in the agency’s portfolio such that the pandemic receives adequate attention and funding. The main concerns addressed by the agency during the pandemic are food security, public health, the labor force, and the safety of employees in their respective places of work (Rume & Islam, 2020). More resources and funds have been channeled into the healthcare system to combat the effects of the pandemic. Coronavirus spreads very fast because it is transmitted through physical contact. The increased cases require health facilities to be fully equipped with items like oxygen tanks and beds and be ready for patients. The high rate of Coronavirus infection is overwhelming to medical practitioners since the ratio of doctors to patients is disproportionate (García-Sánchez et al., 2020). There is a need to absorb more medical practitioners into the labor force to reduce the workload. Additionally, the funds channeled to the healthcare systems are used to buy personal protective gear for medical practitioners because they are exposed to people with the virus all the time.

Furthermore, the offset of the pandemic threatened food security in most countries because limited movement affects productivity. The agency allocated funds to provide food for various families in the country. Most people lost their jobs which is their source of income. As a result, most families experienced financial strain due to limited resources. This initiative helped public members to sustain themselves until the government responded or issued a directive of the next move.

The agency’s CEO plays a vital role because they foresee projects and ensure that they are implemented accordingly to keep the people safe and control the spread of the pandemic (Stoecklin et al., 2020). As the CEO, one should be at the frontline in fighting against the virus by creating awareness of covid-19, transmission channels, and the measures to take at an individual and community level. Additionally, the CEO needs to follow up on funds allocation to different departments to ensure that the funds are distributed evenly and appropriately to maximize a positive outcome.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that Covid-19 disrupted operations and normal daily activities for the population across the world. The pandemic was also an eye-opener to the loopholes in the healthcare sector and other sectors in the country. The vulnerable groups in society were adversely affected by the pandemic. Their vulnerability made them an easy target for the virus hence recording the most cases and death tolls. It is imperative that they receive special treatment and care during the pandemic to restore their health and keep them safe. Therefore, society needs to portray global solidarity and support vulnerable groups.

References

García-Sánchez, I. M., & García-Sánchez, A. (2020). Corporate social responsibility during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 126.

Ma, H., & Miller, C. H. (2021). The effects of agency assignment and reference point on responses to COVID-19 messages. Health Communication, 36(1), 59-73.

Rume, T., & Islam, S. D. U. (2020). Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability. Heliyon, 6(9), e04965.

Stoecklin, S. B., Rolland, P., Silue, Y., Mailles, A., Campese, C., Simondon, A., … & Levy-Bruhl, D. (2020). First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in France: surveillance, investigations and control measures, January 2020. Eurosurveillance, 25(6), 2000094.

Combat trauma

Combat trauma

Introduction

Combat trauma is a common mental condition in active soldiers as well as in veterans. Trauma is caused by witnessing or going through terrifying happenings and is characterized by either consistent flashbacks to the event, hypersensitivity, anxiety and consistent thoughts on the event.

Thesis statement: This paper will provide a summary of the nature of combat trauma which include: Intrusive memories, cutting off people, shift in emotional reactions and consistent negative thoughts. It will also focus on the causes of trauma such as loss of friends, terrifying human suffering and survivor’s guilt among others. Lastly it will consider the different methods of dealing with the trauma, both long term and short term solutions.

Nature of trauma

Intrusive memories- these include flashbacks to the events that often trigger anxiety and negative thoughts. It is also characterized by nightmares or reliving the memories of the events by the patient.

Cutting off people- victims tend to think that family and the civilian community does not understand them hence tend to create walls in such relationships. It can also include avoiding visiting places that bring back memories of the traumatic event.

Shift in emotional reactions which involves being hypersensitive and aware of danger that is not even present, high irritability, destructive behaviors such as drugs and substance abuse, aggressive behavior and sleeplessness.

Consistent negative thoughts such as guilt, regret over doing things better at the time of the event or suicidal thoughts.

Causes of combat trauma

War is the biggest cause as brings with it intense human suffering which can be result to trauma

Death of colleagues in the unit can cause survivors guilt hence trauma

Change in environment upon returning home

Betrayal by a fellow soldier causing lack of trust

Ways of dealing with combat trauma

Therapy and counselling

Use of drugs such as morphine in cases where the victim is badly injured

Finding purpose through spiritual guidance

Rehabilitation and detoxification services by medical military professionals.

Conclusion

Combat trauma in active and veteran soldiers cannot be ignored. Trauma can take the form of intrusive memories, negative thoughts, cutting off people and changes in emotional and physical reactions. These people can however be helped through therapies and counselling sessions done by professionals, administration of drugs that are likely to reduce trauma once the patients recover, spiritual guidance and rehabilitation and detoxification services done by medical military professionals.

Abstract

Combat trauma is a common thing among soldiers; both veterans and those active in service. Soldiers are trained in such a way that they view each other family and as such a closely knit relationship is often seen when serving and long after they get off service. However, their time is can be characterized by traumatic events which can affect their lives in a very destructive way. Combat trauma often appears in the form of intrusive memories such as nightmares and reliving traumatic events, cutting off people or avoiding places where the traumatic event occurred, having negative thoughts some which may be suicidal and also changes in emotional and physical reactions such being aggressive and highly irritable. This paper also focuses on the causes of combat trauma and specifically looks at causes such as war and the terrific occurrences that happen, loosing fellow soldiers and never having enough time to grieve, changes in environment once they return home and also betrayal by fellow soldiers. However, this is a mental condition that can be dealt with before it morphs into a chronic mental disorder such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These solutions include Rehabilitation and detoxification services, administration of drugs that reduce the likelihood of having PTSD, therapy and counselling and also seeking purpose and spiritual guidance from spiritual leaders.

References

Holbrook, T., Galarneau, M., Dye, J., Quinn, K., & Dougherty, A. (2010). Morphine Use after Combat Injury in Iraq and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. New England Journal Of Medicine, 362(2), 110-117. doi: 10.1056/nejmoa0903326

For Military Treatment Professionals. (2019). Retrieved from https://stoningtoninstitute.com/treatment-programs/starlight-program/military-treatment-professionals/

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2014. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.) Chapter 3, Understanding the Impact of Trauma. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – Symptoms and causes. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

Columbus Letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez, 1493

History

Students Name

Institution of Affiliation

HIST 1302Date

Columbus Letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez, 1493

Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez who was among his patrons and had assisted him to finance his exploration trip (Wadsworth, 2016). Columbus wrote the letter in March of the year 1493 upon his arrival from his return journey from Cathay, which would later be named as America. The author was not administrative personnel but a missionary explorer as well as an economic scout in search of treasures. By his description of the nature of the inhabitants of the regions he visited as being timid indicates that he was an educated individual. In fact, a scout and explorer who is in charge of a voyage have to be educated enough so that he is capable of determining the routes and recording the encounters in his diaries.

Lord Raphael Sanchez was the intended recipient of the letter. In his letter, he used a more formal language that was in Spanish where it was later sent to Italy for translation to Latin. Lord Raphael Sanchez could not be able to read in Latin, and therefore this prompted Christopher Columbus to make extra efforts for the conversion of the letter. The main reason behind writing the letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez was due to the debt owned for financing his journey, his success to subdue the native people that he found on the islands as well the thrilling environmental nature of the region. The area was full of rich indigenous culture with the people know neither possessing weapons. The matter amazed Columbus and saw this as an opportunity to show allegiance to Lord Raphael Sanchez through taking control of the area and converting the people to Christianity, paying loyalty to the king and the people of Spain. The other reason for writing the letter was because Lord Raphael Sanchez was among the patrons of Christopher Columbus voyages and thus he was required to report all his discoveries to Lord Raphael Sanchez.

The storyline behind Columbus’ letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez is the detailed accounts of what he witnessed during his journey to America. He tells of how the people in the regions are fearful and timid and how they become friendly after realizing that there was no harm to them. He continues to tell how he exchanged items with rifles and to sometimes nothing in return claiming that the people were so generous. The generosity of the people in the region amazed Columbus making feel ashamed for trading useless items with the most precious items in the region such as gold. In an attempt to convince Lord Raphael Sanchez, Columbus says that the people had a potential to obey the king and serve him without questioning and even love the king’s people (Wadsworth, 2016). Columbus also tells Lord Raphael Sanchez that he could organize that they could obtain more men as slaves from the region to work as soldiers and provide other labor in the home country. Columbus further continues to claim that with Lord Raphael Sanchez’s assistance he would ask his men to search for medicine and other valuables such as gold in as many contents as possible.

The document was written due to the necessity to acknowledge Lord Raphael Sanchez’s effort to finance the voyage as well as being the patron of the voyage and therefore as a fact, a subject is expected to show allegiance to his master. It is in this quest that Christopher Columbus wrote the letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez immediately after his return from the voyage. Lord Raphael Sanchez had interests in the exploration journey, and therefore it was a necessity for them to be notified of the success of the crew as the patron. Columbus had to report whatever he saw and anything that was of value to the kingdom including all the treasures that he found in the regions of the visit. All these made him write the letter immediately after his return. Columbus was so much excited about his success of subduing the indigenous people and also their willingness to work with him devoting whatever they had to the crew as they were seen as gods to whom the people referred to as the people who fell from the sky. Columbus’ letter is more of research than just a mere trip as he was assigned the duty of searching the valuables and reporting back to the patron (James, 2016).

Columbus letter to Lord Sanchez can be termed as more of a political and economic document though to some extent it might be seen as a private letter. The reason as to why it can be regarded as a political letter is due to Columbus claim that the area and its people could pay allegiance to the king. Also, there were economic motives along with political motives. The reason to why it can be referred to as economic letter is the claim that if he had more support from the government, he could bring along more treasures such as medicine, gold and men to work as soldiers and provide the necessary labor in the land. Furthermore, the letter says that the people could easily be converted to Christianity a religion which proves the letter to be more of a spiritual encounter for missionaries in the attempt to convert more people to Christianity (Young, 1983). On the other hand, the letter may be deemed to be private; this is because Lord Raphael Sanchez was a patron to the crew and among the personnel behind the financing of the voyage and thus a unique finding could be directly addressed to him. The inclusion of Lord Raphael Sanchez’s names may, therefore, proof the letter to be more private.

In the letter, Columbus made no assumptions to Lord Sanchez. He wrote the letter in Spanish and sent it to Italy for its translation to Latin. He knew Lord Raphael Sanchez could not read Spanish and a translator would be needed. Taking into consideration that it was a private letter, he was prompted to translate the letter in advance before it reached to his patron. Yes, I can believe the document as it is the original document written in Spanish making me think and believe that Columbus was the original writer of the letter. Also, his direct address to Lord Raphael Sanchez and as well the letter is written in the first person singular meaning that whatever was written was the personal encounter to which he narrated to the recipient in the form of a letter.

The letter postulates that the people from Columbus region were opportunists who took advantage of the weaker people making them their subjects forcing them to adopt their culture and making them slaves to the extent of making them worshipped (Hickman, 2016). The people were used to slavery as Columbus took several individuals with him along his return journey were on some made it through as they were subjected to torture threatening their lives. It is also evident that the Spanish people were Christian and therefore were in the urge to make colonies and convert the inhabitants to Christianity. The issue of economic exploitation is not new in his homeland, as he tells Lord Sanchez that if he had the support, he would bring all the treasures such as gold and medicine along with the slaves to work as soldiers.

Columbus’ letter is an important document in history as it indicates the pioneers of colonization and economic exploitation in the world (Phillips & Phillips, 1993). Though it might not be of much relevance in today’s political activities, it can be used as a reminder of the indigenous cultures of the early people. It is through such documents that we come to realize how the world was viewed during the past days in history by inhabitants of the areas.

The letter is important to me as it contains Columbus own views on the indigenous people of the new world to which he explored. It is through this letter that I understand the kind of relationships to which the explorers had with the indigenous people and how they traded. It is to my surprise that the explorers took advantage of the indigenous people’s fear to exploit them both socially and economically. The letter is also of vital importance to historians and navigators as the explorers were the pioneers of navigation.

References

Hickman, J. (2016). Black Prometheus: Race and Radicalism in the Age of Atlantic Slavery. Oxford University Press.

James, M. (2016). The Great Explorers. New Word City.

Phillips, W. D., & Phillips, C. R. (1993). The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge University Press.

Wadsworth, J. E. (Ed.). (2016). Columbus and his first voyage: a history in documents. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Young, J. D. (1983). Confucianism and Christianity: The first encounter (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.

Columbus letter on his first voyage, 1493

History

<Students Name>

<Institution of Affiliation>

<Course Title>

<Date>

Columbus letter on his first voyage, 1493

Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to the king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who had assisted him to finance his exploration trip (Buckley, Veronica, and John, 2015). Columbus wrote the letter on 15th march of the year 1493 upon his arrival from his return journey from the Caribbean. The author was not administrative personnel but a missionary explorer. By his description of the nature of the inhabitants of the regions he visited as being timid indicates that he was a learned person. In fact, an explorer has to be educated enough so that he is capable of determining the routes and recording the encounters in his diaries.

Columbus wrote the letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella as the primary audience, though some of the people had access to read the letter. In his letter, he used a more formal language in Spanish where it was later sent to Italy for translation to Latin. The king could not be able to read in Latin, and therefore this necessitated Christopher Columbus to make efforts for translation. The main reason behind writing the letter to the king was due to the debt owned for financing his journey, his success to subdue the native people that he found on the islands as well the thrilling environmental nature of the region. The area was full of rich indigenous culture with the people know neither possessing weapons. The matter amazed Columbus and saw this as an opportunity to show allegiance to the king through taking control of the area and converting the people to Christianity.

The storyline behind the letter is Columbus’ letter to the king with detailed accounts of what he witnessed during his journey to the Caribbean. He tells of how the people in the regions are fearful and timid and how they become friendly after realizing that there was no harm to them. He continues to narrate how he exchanged items with rifles and to sometimes nothing in return claiming that the people were so generous. In an attempt to convince the king, Columbus says that the people had a potential to obey the king and serve him without questioning and even love the king’s people.

The document was written due to the necessity to acknowledge the king’s effort to finance the voyage and therefore, as a matter of fact, a subject must show allegiance to his master. It is in this quest that Christopher Columbus wrote the letter to the king immediately after his return from the voyage. The king together with the queen had interests in the exploration journey, and therefore it was a necessity for them to be notified of the success of the crew. Columbus had to report whatever he saw and anything that was of value to the kingdom. All these made him write the letter immediately after his return as it was like an exam although he was so much excited about his success of subduing the indigenous people. The letter is more of a scholarly thesis as it was more of research than just a mere trip.

The letter is more of a political document though to some extent it might be seen as a private letter. The reason as to why it can be regarded as a political letter is due to Columbus claim that the area and its people could pay allegiance to the king and thus somehow indicates that there was some economic along with political motives (Graziano, 2017). Furthermore, the letter says that the people could easily be converted to Christianity a religion which proves the letter to be more political due to exploitation. On the other hand, the letter may be deemed to be private; this is because the king and the queen were the personnel behind the financing of the voyage and thus a special finding could be directly addressed to them just like Columbus deed indication the king’s and queen’s name on the letter. The inclusion of the names may, therefore, proof the letter to be more private.

In the letter, Columbus made no assumptions. He wrote the letter in Spanish and sent it to Italy to be translated into Latin. He knew the king and the queen could not be able to read the Spanish language and could need a translator prompting him to translate the letter in advance before it reached to the king. Yes, I can believe the document as it is the original document written in Spanish making me believe that Columbus was the original writer also his address to the king and the queen are present. Furthermore, the letter is written in the first person singular.

The letter indicates that the people from Columbus region were opportunists who took advantage of the weaker people making them their subjects forcing them to adopt their culture (Olwell, Robert, and Alan, 2015). The people were used to slavery as Columbus took several individuals with him along his return journey were on some made it through. Just a few individuals making it to Spain indicate that they were subjected to torture that threatened their existence. It is also evident that the Spanish people were Christian and therefore were in the urge to make colonies and convert the inhabitants to Christianity.

Columbus’ letter is an important document in history as it indicates the pioneers of exploration and confiscation as well (Winsor, 2018). Though it might not be of much relevance in today’s political activities, it can be used as a reminder of the indigenous culture and how people used to conduct their daily lives. It is through such documents that we come to realize how the world was viewed during the past days in history by inhabitants of the areas. The document is important to me; this is because it has an original data, a letter showing a method of communication by then. Also, the contents of the letter are of much value to historians as they get to know the events that happened in the past and to which evidence may be lacking thus act as a bridging gap. The letter is also important to me as it is an original script written by a famous historian and explorer who in many aspects influenced the lives of many individuals.

Work cited

Buckley, Veronica, and John Middleton. “A LASTING LEGACY.” Lifelines in World History:” The Ancient World”,” The Medieval World”,” The Early Modern World”,” The Modern World” (2015): 241.

Graziano, Manlio. In Rome We Trust: The Rise of Catholics in American Political Life. Stanford University Press, 2017.

Olwell, Robert, and Alan Tully. Cultures and Identities in Colonial British America. JHU Press, 2015.

Winsor, Justin. Christopher Columbus. BoD–Books on Demand, 2018.

Columbus Custom Carpentry Case Overview

Columbus Custom Carpentry Case Overview

This case is presented as close as possible to the way you may encounter it in working life. Your role is that of a newly hired HR manager. You will learn about the company by reading the employee handbook, talking with various employees and reviewing the human resource information system (HRIS) database.

When you first join an organization, you will have an idea of what the organization is like, and there will be a few things of which you feel certain, but your list of unknowns will be much longer. Each interaction with employees provides more data, but you will find that not everyone agrees on the facts of a particular situation. Sometimes you may find that the people you are speaking with do not know the information you are asking about; at other times, they know a great deal about the issue but choose to manage the information they provide to you for their own benefit.

We will not intentionally mislead you in this case, but do not expect everything to fall neatly into place. Uncertainty, differences of opinion and competing priorities are the norm in the professional world.

In your role as the HR manager, you are expected to analyze the situation, identify the problems and develop workable solutions. For the purpose of this case, you are asked to provide a written and oral presentation to the company president (your professor). While there is no single best answer, you must identify the key issues so that the solutions you propose are appropriate to the situation.

Columbus Custom Carpentry is a small, successful company. Recently, though, labor costs per unit have risen faster than gross revenue per unit. The company president has also found that human resource issues are taking up more and more of his time and frequently result in production problems. Both overtime and late shipments are increasing. Until now, the president’s administrative assistant has handled all HR-related administrative activities. You are the newly hired HR manager.

Subject matter knowledge you will apply in this case includes:

Internal and external pay equity.

Job grades and pay range/structure creation.

Market pricing using salary data.

Turnover.

Job analysis and job description development.

MANAGEMENT INTERVIEWS

Monday, 7:45 a.m. Jennifer Reen, receptionist

“Good morning, welcome to Columbus Custom Carpentry. You must be our new HR manager. Here is a copy of your schedule for today. The president has already sent out an announcement about you. We are not a big company, so you should get to know the office employees pretty fast. Manufacturing is a bigger department, so getting to know those employees will take more time. The warehouse employees come and go so fast, you will probably get to know them only through the recruiting process. Mr. Cooney told me not to schedule any interviews for you today, but there is a stack of applications in your inbox. Cary Dobbins wants three new hires for next Monday morning.”

Monday, 8:00 a.m. Anthony Cooney, president/CEO

“Welcome to the Columbus Custom Carpentry family. We have a busy day laid out for you, so I won’t take up too much of your time. You will begin with Barbara Duff, my administrative assistant. She will take you through our employee orientation and get you set up for payroll and benefits. Next, Matt Lee from accounting will give you your computer password and explain our network and backup procedures. The rest of your day will be devoted to meetings with various employees so you can get to know everyone and learn more about our company. “We had talked during your interview about the employee issues we are having, and I hope your outside perspective will help us get a better understanding of what the underlying problems really are. I would like to meet again on Friday, and you can give me a preliminary idea of what you see as the primary issues. After that, we’ll give you a couple more weeks to develop an action plan to deal with these problems. That may seem like a very fast schedule, but I want you to jump on this before your time gets filled up with other activities. I recently read about the concept of a ‘honeymoon’ during an HR manager’s first 100 days. The article indicated that during this period, you are able to accomplish things that will become impossible later. I want—we need—to make the most of this opportunity.”

Monday, 8:15 a.m. Barbara Duff, president’s administrative assistant

“I have been doing the employment tasks and record keeping. I’m sure you will find everything in order. I’ll take you through the regular orientation and benefits enrollment process. I’m glad you are here, because I have been asking Mr. Cooney for help for quite a long time; all this HR stuff keeps me from getting my real job done. We will get started by completing the I-9 form.”

A couple of videos and reams of benefit forms later, she gives you the employee handbook and returns to her desk.

Monday, 10:00 a.m. Matt Lee, accounting database administrator

Matt meets you at your office to go over the company network and show you how to access the HRIS database. At this company, the HRIS is an Excel file maintained by the president’s administrative assistant. Your e-mail inbox has already been created and contains 87 messages. As he is leaving, Matt says, “I’ve been doing the payroll because we didn’t have an HR department. Now that you are here, we should talk about transitioning that function over to you.”

Monday, 10:30 a.m. Mike Cooney, chief financial officer (CFO)

“We operate in a narrow niche market. We have to maintain a price advantage over the true custom manufacturers, or our customers will have no reason not to take advantage of the wider choices and individualized solutions. This means 6 © 2010 Society for Human Resource Management. Douglas Reys, SPHR that efficiency of operations is our primary competitive advantage. If we lose that operating cost advantage, our business plan collapses like a house of cards.

“We cannot produce at the incredibly low-cost level maintained by the mass market manufacturers. We would not get costs that low even if we mimicked their limited product lines and quality levels. We compete with them by creating styles and options that they don’t offer. Finding the balance between production costs and proliferation of models is a continuing struggle.

“We need to cut out the current levels of overtime to maintain our cost structure. It is not clear why we need this overtime. Our labor hours per unit made have stopped going down and are even up somewhat. Adding overtime to that increases our labor cost per hour as well. Turnover has been useful in the past, allowing us to replace higher-paid workers with more lower-paid new hires, but the pattern seems to be changing, and now it is our new hires who are leaving. The warehouse manager wants to increase wages in his area, but that raises our costs per labor hour without explaining how it will help us get our total costs down.”

Monday, 11:30 a.m. (lunch meeting) Derwin Boyer, manufacturing manager

“A variety of people issues are hindering our productivity. We have bottlenecks in the warehouse areas. These bottlenecks spill into our manufacturing area because we have to pull people off assembly work to get their own raw materials or to move finished product out of the production area. This also means that we are doing with more expensive manufacturing labor what should be done with less expensive warehouse labor. To operate at our needed levels of efficiency, employees need to be doing the jobs they are trained for. Driving around on a forklift just to find materials or to find a place to put finished units is not efficient.

“We operate under the concept of mass customization. Using modular parts, we can produce designs with features that appear to the end user as custom work but have the manufacturing advantages of mass production.

“The assembly jigs we have developed are the heart of our system. You can think of them as big clamps. They hold the material in just the right arrangement. If the assembler puts in the wrong part, the jig will not close, preventing the assembler from wasting materials. Once the materials are in place, the jig closes, and a single lever pull will drill any needed holes in the right place, in the right size and to the proper depth. It is fast, mistake-free and simple for the operator. Much of our assembly is gluing. Here is where the big clamp analogy is the closest. Once the jig is locked with just a couple of levers, proper clamping pressure is applied at exactly the right places. Assemblers no longer spend time placing individual clamps. Once closed, the jigs are tilted upright and rolled on their own rollers to a drying area. If they are to get painted, the paint hanger goes on before the jig is released and no one even has to touch the door unit until it is crated. Zero damage and zero waste in this part of the process.”

Monday, 1:30 p.m. John Brown, manufacturing supervisor

“It is hard to keep the guys working efficiently. We are always running out of raw materials, or the finished product builds up and I have to pull guys off the production floor to deal with it. The warehouse manager doesn’t do his job, but if I have my guys take loads over, he complains that they did not get stacked right and that the damage is our fault.”

Monday, 2:00 p.m. Cary Dobbins, warehouse manager

“We are treated like stepchildren; the manufacturing department pays more and has the best equipment. If I do get a good employee, this person transfers to manufacturing at the first opportunity. I tried blocking a transfer once, but the employee got mad and quit. If we get behind, manufacturing just drops product anywhere, and when it gets damaged, they blame it on us. They think anybody can do our job, but they can’t seem to put a blue crate into a blue bin without hitting something.

“I waste time interviewing and training when I should be working on the crating jig project that is supposed to reduce our damage ratio and make packing easier. My best guys can pack better than the jig right now, but I have to train new people all the time, and some just don’t seem to get it. Crating may not be rocket science, but putting nails in crooked damages the doors. Miss a corner—and the whole thing will fall apart the first time we try to move it. People get the idea that because it is manual labor rather than an automated machine, it is simpler. The opposite is closer to the truth. My forklift drivers don’t want to do crating because it has so much bending over and lifting that it is much harder physically than their regular work. The crating jig should make it possible for less-skilled people to do the crating job. This will eventually allow us to save money both on labor costs and the cost of replacing damaged goods.”

Monday, 3:00 p.m. Brandon Swift, marketing manager

“It is critical that we are seen by our customers as top quality because we charge more than the prices they see at the big-box stores. Damaged goods and shipping problems reflect poorly on our product, even if it is good quality. How many end users can truly judge the quality of our product? Not many; it’s all perception.

“We work directly with the homeowners in the design process, but the builders are the ones who refer the homeowners, do the sizing, place the orders and install the product. They are the ones who take the heat for shipping delays or damage. When they need service, parts or replacements, they want them now, not tomorrow or the day after. Time is money to contractors. We have to win on design but deliver at a price that makes our products a better value.”

Monday, 3:45 p.m. Stephen Moore, crater (new hire)

“I took this job to get off of second shift, but I am hoping to transfer to the manufacturing group as soon as I can. My friend who works over there told me about this place, but they make you start in the warehouse and work your way up. What I don’t get is why the crating job pays less than the forklift job; running the forklift is easier work. Besides, working on the crating jig is really like working in the manufacturing side, where they use similar jigs to make the doors. The manufacturing techs get paid a lot more than craters. It sure is nice being home with my family in the evening, but if I don’t get that transfer and the raise that goes with it, I will have to get a second job to make ends meet.”

Monday, 4:00 p.m. Nathan Smith, production technician (manufacturing assembly)

“When I first got here, we made the doors from scratch. You could take pride in a door you made yourself. Now we just throw parts into a jig and stick them together. It allows new people to make a quality door with little training, but it is kind of sad for those of us who consider ourselves craftsmen. Most of my old co-workers have moved into the housing industry as finish carpenters. I came from there originally, and I’m afraid of going back just in time to lose my job due to a downturn in the housing market.”

Monday 4:15 p.m. Jeffery Green, raw materials warehouse

“I like running the forklift in raw materials. I know I could make a little more in production, but I think it would be boring doing the same thing all day. We have a good team in my area; most of us have been here awhile and know our jobs. The supervisor spends most of his time working on orders and inventory issues rather than standing over us. I like that. It’s not the same in production. The supervisors are always on their tails, and if anything goes wrong, there is lots of yelling. They are always trying to blame other departments because they are under so much pressure to produce. They’ll switch models on the fly, then complain that we don’t have the parts bin correctly stocked. The worst is when they try to help. Talk about screwing things up in a hurry! We should take away all of their forklift licenses.”