Aphoristic Dangers of Alexander Pope Essay Example For Students

Aphoristic Dangers of Alexander Pope Essay If imitation is the sincerest flattery, then more than 250 years after his passing Alexander Pope deserves a spot in the ranks as one of the most flattered writers of all time. His works have been dissected of every phrase of possible significance and spilled onto page-a-day calendars and books of wit across the world. The beauty of his catchy maxims is that they are not only memorable, but attempt to convey his philosophy with perfect poetic ingenuity. Unfortunately, his well-achieved goals of striking the reader more strongly (Man 2527), easy retainability of his words, and most decidedly, conciseness, also yield an undesired effect. Utilizing this dicey method of epigrammatic couplets for such serious issues, Pope sacrifices pieces of his intended message, for the sake of rhyme, leading to easily misleading and generalizing messages that are open to scathing criticisms, misunderstandings and the possible loss of his some of his compositions integrity as well as a confusion of his own convictions. The keys to great aphorisms are their ability to be applied to more common situations, thereby making them even more memorable by their availability for frequent usage, their ear-catching prominence and their paradoxical nature. That final element is what makes aphorisms so engaging. The most witty and intelligent examples are those that expose two supposed opposites for their ironic closeness and display the fine line between contradiction and a surprisingly parallel relationship between both. A good example of such a saying is found in line 213 of An Essay on Criticism. Trust not yourself; but your defects to know, / Make use of every friend and every foe. Here Pope is in the advising stage of his Essay and uses the surprise ending and every foe as a display of irony, in that its not only the counsel of friends one needs to depend on, but the unabashed critique of ones rivals that can prove useful, as well. It is these types of witticisms that are a notorious characteristic of essays in general, but the most enjoyable and artistic part of Popes works. Popes true genius is displayed in his one-line masterpieces that do not rely on rhyme to stay memorable. An Essay on Criticism is full of these. For fool rush in where angels fear to tread (line 625). Be silent always when you doubt your sense (line 566). To err is human; to forgive, divine (line 525). But it seems that in an effort to create such tenets poetically, he foregoes real philosophical arguments that one might fi nd in Locke or Hume. He does little to create or heavily build upon previous thought, rather drawing on many centuries of philosophical wisdom on formal critique. An Essay on Criticism progresses and heavily depends on aphorisms that summarize quite logical processes. His point that, What oft was thought, but neer so well expressed (line 298) needs only to be clarified and becomes, What seems so true may never have been felt. Suddenly it becomes clear, there is no way of assuring the truthfulness of such a statement. The point is, what might have been genius upon initial impression can just as easily be cast off as nearly nonsensical Seuss-like rhymes that are only memorable for their rhythm rather than their wisdom. Therefore, one might as well opt for the pleasure of concise and witty, yet meaningless writing he promotes for its ease and enjoyment instead of a definitive ideological stance. It is also in this essay that he begins to confuse his most identifiable position as a humanist by axioms like, One science only will genius fit; / So vast is Art, so narrow human wit (line 60-1). If humanists believe in the possibility of ultimate progression of mankind unto perfection then why is a statement of such heavy limitations made? It sounds like something that would more likely come out of Swifts Gullivers mouth than a humanist like Pope. Moreover, its fairly clear that he uses so many negative connotations of man to help contrast between the fool and the learned, but to be a person with truly consistent beliefs that man is in a continual state of growth and evolution towards greatness, Popes essay points out time after time mans weaknesses. Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move, / For fools admire, but men of sense approve (line 390-1). Here he pokes fun at the easily entertained fools of society and does so again in lines 572 through 576, Tis not enough your counsel still be true; / Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do. / Men must be taught as if you taught them not; / And things unknown proposed as things forgot. Again he uses this for contrast and points out the necessity to be honest and forthright in ones critique, but also points out the necessity for over-simplicity to be used, not something a person who considers man to have perfection within their grasp would easily think. .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .postImageUrl , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:hover , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:visited , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:active { border:0!important; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 { 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; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:active , .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .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; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6 .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u60ca0056e8f4557d6630d1e2b9a1c3e6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Multicultural EssayAn Essay on Man is where Pope puts together a free-standing and exceptional argument for the case of All are parts of one stupendous whole, / Whose body, Nature is, and God the soul (lines 267-8). What claims his argument is the final line of his essay. Not only does he make the statement, Whatever Is, is Right, but boldly prefaces it with One truth is clear (line 294) to remove any doubt as to his convictions in his statement. It seems that it is this final line that claims his entire argument for the sake of a punctualizing epigram. His message could and should be read in reference to the beginning of his tenth point, that we need only to submit to the one disposing Powr (line 287) and in respect of this, whatever is, is right. Yet, his trouble lies in the fact that although submitting to that greater power is a magnanimous thought, believing that whatever occurs is the way it was meant to be, may be overstepping the bounds of ones own innate reasoning. He does, though, use this essay to reinforce his humanist stance. By reproving mankind to imitate nature as a guide for living, Pope finds several places wherein he is able to promote the advancement of man, while still advising man to follow nature and remain in his Order. Hope springs eternal in the human breast:/ Man never is, but always to be blest (line 95-6) is a definitive line for the endorsement of the possibility for man to grow as long as man does not aspire for more than his natural order allows. In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies;All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies. Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes,Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell,Aspiring to be angels, men rebel;And who but wishes to invert the lawsOf ORDER, sins against th Eternal Cause. (lines 123-130)Not only is this an explanation of his theories on mans place according to Nature and Order, but also more context with which Whatever Is, is right is meant to refer. Yet, it is such a blanket statement, he is doomed to backlash. The ultimate significance of Popes use of epigrammatic couplets as his rhetorical device of choice in these two essays is that many faults are found in such a method, for the sake of didacticism. True scholars would be able to take his message, had it instead been explicated in prose, and thoroughly, and without uncertainty, been able to learn and build upon his salient arguments. Were his goal merely to advise and entertain, then he did so exceptionally well while building a legendary volume of aphorisms in the process, but if Pope was truly trying to develop and compose an argument for critique and the state of man to follow and imitate Nature, then essayistic prose following the models of Locke and Hobbes would have been more appropriate and less ambiguous. Works CitedPope, Alexander. An Essay on Criticism. The Longman Anthology of BritishLiterature. Volume 1C. Ed. David Damrosch, et al. New York: Longman,1999. 2459-2478Pope, Alexander. An Essay on Man. The Longman Anthology of BritishLiterature. Volume 1C. Ed. David Damrosch, et al. New York: Longman,1999. 2526-2535Words/ Pages : 1,401 / 24

Scarlet Letter (Different Perspectives) Essays -

Scarlet Letter (Different Perspectives) Scarlet Letter: How does Hawthrone Show Suffering In The Scarlet Letter? Foul whisp'rings are abroad. Unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds. To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than the physician. (Shakespeare - Macbeth) Okay, I know this is Shakespeare, but it sums up the suffering of The Scarlet Letter well. Doesn't it? Hester suffers society's judgement for her adultery, the letter A (a constant reminder of her infidelity). Hester is burdened by her solitude. For though she realizes her folly, she is unable to accept that she alone has sinned. ...if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne's? Be it accepted as a proof that all was not corrupt in this poor victim of her own frailty, and man's hard law, that Hester Prynne yet struggled to believe that no fellow-mortal was guilty like herself. ...in the view of Infinite Purity, we are sinners all alike. * Dimmesdale suffers by the inconsistancy and unassurance of his mind. As his guilt consumes him, his body withers (along with the help of the leech). Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these. Mr. Dimmesdale (was) conscious that the poison from one morbid spot was infecting his heart's entire substance. In Dimmesdale's case he was tortured by his lies. No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the constrast between what I seem and what I am! And Satan laughs at it! Shakespeare break: For when my outward action doth demonstrate The native act and figure of my heart In compliment extern, 'tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am. Othello * Chillingworth suffers from his obsession. Like Dimmesdale, he dies because of his moral illness. Hawthorne allows us to see his gradual demise. Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale's death, in the appearance and demeanor of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth. All his strength and energy--all his vital and intellectual force--seemed at one to desert him; insomuch that he positively withered up, shrivelled away, and almost vanished from mortal sight, like an uprooted weed that lies wilting in the sun. This unahppy man had made the very principle of his life to consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of revenge; and when, by its completest triumph and consummation, that evil principle was left with no further material to support it, when, in short, there was no more Devil's work on earth for him to do, it only remained for the unhumanized mortal to betake himself whither his Master would find him tasks enough, and pay him his wages duly. English Essays

Essay Sample - How to Use Words in Your Essay

Essay Sample - How to Use Words in Your EssayAn essay sample is a list of words that can be used in an essay or report. The contents or content of this list may be related to a particular subject or topic. Some college students will use this type of essay writing as a guide when they have no experience in writing.The sample contains words and phrases that are commonly used in general. It also contains the words used in a certain area of study. For example, it may include the words' science or mathematics in a science essay. By using these words in an essay, students will be able to compare the results of those two subjects.Other items in the sample contain the words that are used in a specific area of the subject. Some examples are words like community, religion, international or national interest. These words have specific meanings within the society.Using these words in a report or article is another way of incorporating these words into the writing. This type of writing is often a necessity for those who have very little experience in writing. If you are a student who is considering using this approach, it is important to read some of the usage manuals and see how many of the words are actually used.For example, if you are writing about the history of a country, one word that would be helpful would be it has been said that. However, if you write about someone's life, the actual name of the person might be more appropriate. There are plenty of other examples of words that could be used within the subject of a report.Word usage guides also include other words that describe certain thoughts. For example, one type of thoughts that is mentioned is passion. However, many people use the words' enthusiasm when describing the same feeling.Writing an essay is not a complicated task. Just follow the rules of writing and grammar guidelines to make your essay written correctly. This can save time and allow students to achieve the necessary grades required by the college to succeed.

102 Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Professor Ramos Blog

102 Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Reflection Reflect on the writing process for your first essay. Answer these questions: What did you do well in your essay? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your essay? Where did you struggle, if at all? Intro to Rhetorical Analysis A rhetorical analysis of a text examines a text  rhetorically. The meaning of the word  text  depends on how creative you want to get. A text can be a book, article, consumer product, movie, advertisement, or commercial, to name a few. For this assignment you will pick a text, define, describe, and analyze the rhetorical context and/or argument the text is making. All texts have an author or authors and are created with a purpose. A rhetorical analysis helps us to understand the purpose it was created for and what it is saying or arguing. Consider the ethos, pathos, and logos of the text. What appeals are being used in the text you are analyzing? Ethos – appeals to character. Pathos – emotional appeals. Logos – appeals to reason and evidence. What to look at for  a Rhetorical Analysis Consider the topic. Consider the audiences of the text. Consider the author. Consider the medium and design. Examine the language. Consider the occasion. Be specific when referring to your text. Have the text in front of you if you can. Then you can reference specifics and avoid generalizations. A Checklist for Analyzing Images (Especially Advertisements) on page 145 of our textbook is very thorough and helpful for analyzing images. Requirements 1200+ words in length 3 to 5 credible sources Image of text or the advertisement itself as featured image Clear thesis and introduction Use of ethos, pathos, and logos Well-supported claims Specific references and details from  the text A conclusion tying together your analysis Remember, this is a formal assignment, make sure you are using appropriate tone and diction!  Talk about the text, not what you think about the text! Let’s look at a speech and then we will do a rhetorical analysis. Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream Speech https://youtu.be/3vDWWy4CMhE In small groups, figure out how he is using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in his speech. How is he appealing to each? Ethos: Appeals to Ethics, Credibility or Character. Ethics, ethical, trustworthiness or reputation, style/tone. The credibility of the speaker persuades. Pathos: Appeals to Emotion. Emotional or imaginative impact, stories, values. Uses emotional response to persuade an audience. Logos: Appeals to logic. Persuade by reason and evidence. Visuals and I Have a Dream Speech The now famous speech â€Å"I have a Dream† by Dr. Martin Luther King was aided by visuals when it was delivered. He is at the Washington Monument, speaking to hundreds of thousands, smiling and waving. Behind him is the Lincoln Memorial. In this Aug. 28, 1963, black-and-white file photo Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The 45th anniversary of the iconic leader’s most memorable speech coincides with the day when another African-American leader, Barack Obama, is scheduled to makes a historic speech of his own, accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president of the United States Aug. 28, 2008, in Denver, Colo. (AP Photo/File) This image shows him speaking with people and some police behind him. The image you choose to use will add meaning to your text. Be careful which images you choose. What does it say if we use his mug shot from one of the many protests he was arrested at? Or this one. Have you ever seen this image of Dr. King? Or this one? Time’s Man of the Year 1964 The image your choose can help your audience understand your argument.

The Legendary Invention of Silk

The Legendary Invention of Silk Is the fabric known as silk 7000 years old? Did people wear it from as long ago as 5000 B.C. before civilization began at Sumer and before Egyptians built the Great Pyramid? If silkworm cultivation or sericulture is as much as seven millennia old as the Silk Road Foundation says it may be the chances are poor that we will ever know exactly who invented it. What we can learn is what the descendants of the people who discovered silk wrote about it and what their legends say about the origins of processing silk. Although there are other stories and variations, the basic legend credits an early Chinese empress. She is said to have: 1. Cultivated the silk-producing caterpillar (Bombyx mori).2. Fed the silkworm the mulberry leaf that was discovered to be the best food at least for those interested in producing the best silk.3. Invented the loom to weave the fiber. Raising Silk On its own, the silkworm larva produces a single, several hundred-yard-strand of silk, which it breaks as it emerges as a moth from its cocoon, leaving residue all over the trees. In preference to gathering the tangled silk caught in the trees, the Chinese learned to raise the silkworms on a fattening diet of the leaves of carefully cultivated mulberry trees. They also learned to watch the development of the cocoons so they could kill the chrysalis by plunging it in boiling water just before its time. This method ensures the full length of silk strands. The boiling water also softens the sticky protein holding together the silk [Grotenhuis]. (The process of pulling out the strand of silk from the water and cocoon in known as reeling.) The thread is then woven into beautiful clothing.   Who Was the Lady Hsi-ling? The main source for this article is Dieter Kuhn, Professor, and Chair of Chinese Studies, University of Wà ¼rzburg. He wrote Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist for Toung Pao, an international journal of sinology. In this article, Kuhn looks at what the Chinese sources say about the legend of the invention of silk and describes the presentation of silk manufactures invention across the dynasties. He makes note of the contribution of the lady of Hsi-ling in particular. She was the principal wife of Huangdi, who is better known as the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi or Huang-ti, where Huang is the same word we translate as Yellow when used in connection with the great Chinese Yellow River, and ti is the name of an important god that is used in the names of kings, conventionally translated emperor) is a legendary Neolithic era ruler and ancestor of the Chinese people, with almost godlike proportions. Huangdi is said to have lived in the third millennium B.C. for 100-118 years, during which he is credited with giving numerous gifts to the Chinese people, including the magnetic compass, and sometimes including silk. The principal wife of the Yellow Emperor, the lady of Hsi-ling (also known as Xi Ling-Shi, Lei-Tsu, or Xilingshi), is, like her husband, credited with discovering silk. The lady of Hsi-ling is also credited with figuring out how to reel silk and inventing what people needed to make clothing from the silk the loom, according to the Shih-Chi Record of the Historian. Ultimately, the confusion seems to remain, but the upper hand is given the empress. The Yellow Emperor, who was honored as the First Sericulturalist during the Northern Chi Period (c. A.D. 550 - c. 580), may be the male figure depicted in later art as a patron saint of sericulture. The lady Hsi-ling is more often called the First Sericulturalist. Although she had been worshiped and held a position in the Chinese pantheon since the Northern Chou Dynasty (557-581), her official position as the personification of the First Sericulturalist with a divine seat and altar only came in 1742. Silk Clothing Altered the Chinese Division of Labor One could speculate, as Kuhn does, that the job of making fabric was womens work and that therefore the associations were made with the empress, rather than her husband, even if he had been the first sericulturalist. The Yellow Emperor may have invented the methods of producing silk, while the lady Hsi-ling was responsible for the discovery of silk itself. This legendary discovery, reminiscent of the story of the discovery of actual tea in China, involves falling into an anachronistic cup of tea.   Chinese scholarship from the seventh century A.D. says that before the Yellow Emperor, clothing was made of bird (feathers can protect against water and down is, of course, an insulating material) and animal skin, but the supply of animals didnt keep up with demand. The Yellow Emperor decreed that clothing should be made of silk and hemp. In this version of the legend, it is Huangdi (actually, one of his officials named Po Yu), not the lady of Hsi-ling who invented all fabrics, including silk, and also, according to legend from the Han Dynasty, the loom. Again, if looking for a rationale for the contradiction based on the division of labor and gender roles: hunting would not have been a domestic pursuit, but the province of the men, so when clothing changed from skins to cloth, it made sense that it would have changed the storied gender of the maker. Evidence of 5 Millennia of Silk Not quite the full seven, but five millennia puts it more in line with important major developments elsewhere, so it is more easily believed. Archaeological evidence reveals that silk existed in China as far back as around 2750 B.C., which puts it, coincidentally according to Kuhn, close to the dates of the Yellow Emperor and his wife. Shang Dynasty oracle bones show evidence of silk production. Silk was also in the Indus Valley from the third millennium B.C., according to New Evidence for Silk in the Indus Valley, which says copper-alloy ornaments and steatite beads have yielded silk fibers upon microscopic examination. As an aside, the article says this raises the question of whether China really had exclusive control of silk. A Silken Economy The importance of silk to China probably cant be exaggerated: the exceptionally long and strong filament clothed a vast Chinese population, helped support the bureaucracy by being used as a precursor to paper (2nd century B.C.) [Hoernle] and to pay taxes [Grotenhuis], and led to commerce with the rest of the world. Sumptuary laws regulated the wearing of fancy silks and embroidered, patterned silks became status symbols from the Han to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (2nd century B.C. to 6th century A.D.). How the Secret of Silk Leaked Out The Chinese guarded its secret carefully and successfully for centuries, according to tradition. It was only in the 5th century A.D. that silk eggs and mulberry seeds were, according to legend, smuggled out in an elaborate headdress by a Chinese princess when she went to her groom, the king of Khotan, in Central Asia. A century later they were smuggled by monks into the Byzantine Empire, according to the Byzantine historian Procopius. Silk Worship Patron saints of sericulture were honored with life-size statues and rites; in the Han period, the silkworm goddess was personified, and in Han and Sung periods, the empress performed a silk ceremony. The empress helped with the gathering of the mulberry leaves necessary for the best silk, and the sacrifices of pig and sheep that were made to the First Sericulturalist who may or may not have been the lady of Hsi-ling. By the 3rd century, there was a silkworm palace which the empress supervised. Legends of the Discovery of Silk There is a fanciful legend about the discovery of silk, a love story about a betrayed and murdered magic horse, and his lover, a woman transformed into a silkworm; the threads becoming feelings. Liu recounts a version, recorded by Tsui Pao in his 4th century A.D. Ku Ching Chu (Antiquarian Researches), where the horse is betrayed by the father and his daughter who promised to marry the horse. After the horse was ambushed, killed, and skinned, the hide wrapped up the girl and flew away with her. It was found in a tree and brought home, where some time later the girl had been transformed into a moth. There is also a fairly pedestrian story of how silk was actually discovered the cocoon, thought to be fruit, wouldnt soften when boiled, so the would-be diners got their aggression out by beating it with sticks until the filament emerged. Sericulture References: The Silkworm and Chinese Culture, by Gaines K. C. Liu; Osiris, Vol. 10, (1952), pp. 129-194 Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist, by Dieter Kuhn; Toung Pao Second Series, Vol. 70, Livr. 4/5 (1984), pp. 213-245. Spices and Silk: Aspects of World Trade in the First Seven Centuries of the Christian Era, by Michael Loewe; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland No. 2 (1971), pp. 166-179. Stories of Silk and Paper, by Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis; World Literature Today; Vol. 80, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug. 2006), pp. 10-12. Silks and Religions in Eurasia, C. A.D. 600-1200, by Liu Xinru; Journal of World History Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 25-48. Who Was the Inventor of Rag-Paper? by A. F. Rudolf Hoernle; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Oct. 1903), pp. 663-684.

HR Scorecard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HR Scorecard - Assignment Example As noted by Becker, Huselid and Ulrich (2001), a company has competitive advantage if it has what it takes to make customers select its products and services over what other competitors offer. Meanwhile, through the use of the HR scorecard to determine the best working outcomes for employees, it is possible to be guaranteed that the employees will show an attitude towards work that is directly responsive to customer request, expectations and needs, making customers select them over other competitors. In the implementation of the HR scorecard however, there are some challenges that may be encountered. The first of this has to do with the assignment of assessment metrics to work outcomes that are considered more qualitative. Typical example of such work outcome is customer satisfaction. The second challenge has to do with cooperation from employees in the implementation of the outcomes with the HR scorecard (Lawler, Jamrog & Boudreau, 2011). The challenges can be minimized by having a communication system that fully involves employees and clearly explains the modalities of the HR scorecard to

HBC Dollarama Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HBC Dollarama - Article Example Through product inspiration from other high-end stores, the owners of the chain store were never short of ideas. They would then develop new and better items that would be sold for a dollar, or less. Its main product manufacturers were Asian and Chinese who acted as the corporation’s direct sources. Direct sourcing, according to the owners, cut on costs that were incurred by importers (Perold 2). Another problem the chain store faced was the administrative expenses that were incurred per annum. The amount of capital used on labour costs was also variable to sales in most of the chain stores. Commodity prices affected the cost of production of most of the store’s items. Preserving margins was becoming an uphill task with the rise in prices. A rise in input costs also presents a challenge to the one-dollar chain store (Perold 3). The solution the owners of the store went for was to adjust some quantities for there to be a counteraction of inflation. So long as the consumer still got value for their money, there was the need to adapt to save the financial situation they were in during that period. As the input costs were on the rise, it was crucial for the chain store to source the item somewhere else, which was less expensive. The other alternative was to restructure an existing item in the store, and sell it at the same price (Perold 4). The only difference this might have is that; it might get to attract someone. In conclusion, the owners admit that it is not an easy task running a store that offers items at less than two dollars. This fixed price point has its limits, but they do manage to get customers, and boost their sales. They did see a rise in sales, and this is promising to them as they hope to open at least, 30 or 40 more stores per year (Perold 4). It may be a dream, but it is possible for the