Drink and Creative Writing Planning Essay Example for Free

Drink and Creative Writing Planning Essay Sometimes people choose to try things for the first time because they want to or they like trying new things or they are forced to. It was the day I was always waiting for, my first ever 9th grade party. I was so thrilled that the person even invited me, only the ‘cool’ people were invited to huge parties and well let’s just say I was an ordinary girl. My friend Adriana and got ready at my place with excitement and off we went to experience our one life opportunity with the popular groups. I walked in the big huge giant building I started to have goose bumps all over my body, my heart started to race as fast as a rocket, I was so nervous. It was all dark and the music was so loud my ears felt as if I was on a plane and about to take off. Everyone was dancing, drinking and doing all sorts of things I only thought happened in movies. I looked on my right and there was Adriana with some guy sitting on his lap and drinking, she moved quit fast. I went over to check if she was okay. She said she was but she sure didn’t look okay. I was already starting to regret coming to this party. I didn’t fit with these people, I was with all the ‘popular’ people but I still felt like an outcast. Sitting in the corner alone, then a loud voice crawled into my ear â€Å"Hey, what are you doing sitting down alone? Come with me! † I had never seen this girl in my life, or maybe I have but she was just covered by the heavy make-up. The strange girl handed me a drink, and told me to drink it, it’s nothing. Mum warned me about this, not taking drinks from random people. I hesitated and told the girl I don’t want the drink. But she kept implying that I should just take a little bit and I was in the middle of all her friends and I didn’t want to be humiliated. I took my first sip of alcohol and then I saw myself dancing and making a complete full of myself. The room started to spin uncontrollably. I don’t remember half of the things I even did; it was like I was a different person. I look to my right and I see two people fighting and Adriana in the middle. I was so worried she was in trouble so I headed over there to help her. I was pushed and shoved around trying to get to Adriana and all I remember is some aggressive boy picking up a bottle and I was on the floor. All I could see was a blurred vision of Adriana screaming my name and it all went blank. That night would have to be the worst night of my life. One single drop of alcohol changed my whole night. I regret every single decision I made that night. I wish I can take it all back. Who would’ve thought the impossible could be possible.

Human Resources Management Reform in Chinese Banking

Human Resources Management Reform in Chinese Banking The Human Resources Management Reform in Chinese Banking A case of Bank of China Chapter 1: Introduction Challenge to Chinese Banking December 11, 2001, after 15 years of arduous negotiations, China officially access to the WTO. On the hundreds of pages of Chinas WTO accession Protocol, the financial services trade is the most important part of it and gets the most attractions from all sectors of the community. Since then, Chinas financial opening was provided to an external accelerator and timetable. The all-round opening up of Chinas financial industry era has begun. Until the end of 2005, 16 Chinese banks introduced foreign strategic investors and a total of 71 foreign banks from 20 countries and regions had set up 238 operational entities in China. Foreign banks enter the Chinese banking sector has always been the impact of the banking industry, academia and regulatory agencies pay close attention to the problem. Gains and risks on both sides of a coin, the Chinese foreign capital into the banking sector in the enjoyment of the proceeds must also face the attendant challenges. Compare to foreign banks, Chinas banking sector is still in a very traditional approach to management, backward technology, simple business method, single-species products and obsolete business concepts. In a long term, Chinese government takes bank as a very important part of the National Economic Sectors; therefore, four state-owned banks enjoy the monopoly state in China. Chinese government set a set of policies to protect the development of these banks. Now, Chinas accession to the WTO situation, the traditional banking sector faces a foreign financial industry developed into one of the great challenges. In that case, it is urgent need for them to present the financial industry for rapid reform and the development orientation should conform to the world development trend. In the face of the challenges of the circumstances, Chinas banking sector began one after another round of reforms, changes in business philosophy, business form and management form, and so on. 1.2 Aim of the Dissertation This paper through analysis the recruitment and selection situation and human resource reform in Bank of China is to explore the human resource reform experiences and the development of human resource management in Chinese banking and it also could be a good reference to the whole Chinese banks. The aim of the research is therefore to understand the challenges with foreign banks entry into China and the current development of human resource management situation in Chinese banking. Furthermore, the human resource reform in Bank of China invited an American consultancy company as the councilor. There is no doubt saying it would begin to practice more western human resource management methods to manage this traditional state-owned bank which in a long time is considered as in a conservative industry area in China. On one hand, these advanced western human resources concepts are introduced to China. they have to pursue their rules in line with the Chinese legislations and current situation. Therefore, related to the real situation and pool of candidates on Chinese banking to study the manipulation and transfer of recruitment and selection practices in Bank of China will help us come to further understand the development human resource management situation on Chinese Banking, especially the development of recruitment and selection field. From it we can know in what aspects the western recruitment and selection practices are more rational and scientific than Chinese local enterprises. On the other hand, these methods always implemented by foreign banks in their parent-country and now are transferred and practiced by a representative Chinese character banks. Obviously, it also could be a good reference and experience to foreign banks who want to enter into the Chinese market. In a word, this study seeks to fill the gap by evaluating the western recruitment and selection practices in China and provide a new perspective to Chinese local banks and foreign banks how to introduce these practices and manipulate them. Chapter 2: Literature Review Long Yongtu, Chinas point man on WTO negotiations, said, as the people, enterprises also need external pressure could push them ahead. If there no pressure comes from outside, Chinas enterprises is impossible to form. After Chinas accession to the WTO, the enterprises have to face a considerable external pressure and force them taking the path of internationalization and enhance their competitiveness. Unlike the overall economy, due to relatively weak foundation, the financial services industry will face more pressures, but in the medium and long term it will benefit more. According to Premier Zhu Rongji s words, there are pros and cons for financial opening to the outside world. If we can do a good job, the advantages would outweigh the disadvantages. The so-called do a good job, can not be limited to the impact of the simple response, but conversion mechanism, update the system and improving the competitiveness in a comprehensive way. 2.1 The Status Quo and Opening- Up Process of Chinese Banking From 1949 to the 1970s, Chinas banking sector under the planned economic system running, four state-owned commercial banks play the key role of specialized banks in Chinese banking sector. The late 1980s, the new commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions had set up. Some of the newly established commercial banks, now known as the other nationwide commercial banks, allowed providing nationwide commercial banking services, while some commercial banks only allowed operating in the local market. After Chinas accession to WTO, Chinese banking launched a comprehensive joint-stock reform and the successful listing. They through improve corporate governance, develop strategies, operate performance to reduce the ever-narrowing gap with the advanced international banks. Since 2003, four former state-owned commercial banks (Bank of China, Peoples Construction Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China) pattern no longer exists. The U.S. Gold man Sachs share the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Royal Bank of Scotland share Bank of China, and Bank of America also become the one shareholder of Peoples Construction Bank of China. At present the only state-owned Agricultural Bank of China whose shareholding system reform is now in progress. In future, there will be no state-owned commercial banks in China. Actually, as an important component part of Open-door policy, China has opened the door to foreign banks since 1979. At the end of September 2001, foreign banks operating in China, a total of nearly 190 institutions, of which 158 branches, corporate bodies 19, two branches 13. Foreign banks total assets reach 44 billion U.S. dollars, 18.6 billion U.S. dollars loans, deposits 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, capital (including working capital) 3 billion U.S. dollars. 31 foreign banks have been permitted to conduct RMB business, including 23 in Shanghai, 8 in Shenzhen, with total assets of RMB 41 billion Yuan. In market share, foreign banks were up to 20% and 30% in foreign exchange loans and international settlement business areas. The speed of Chinese banking sector opening up, from a global perspective, still is a faster as well. Although many developed countries has joined the WTO and signed the terms of trade in services, they still not yet open up the domestic currency business to forei gn banks and the implementation of geographical restrictions. According to Chinas WTO accession protocol, in the financial services industry, the banking sector is completely open commitment: (1) Prudent business of issuing permits. It means there are not economic needs tests or quantitative restrictions in the business license. After Chinas accession to WTO 5 years later, they should abolish all the existing ownership, management, foreign financial institutions and enterprises to establish branches of the non-permission of prudent measures. That is, when foreign banks apply for the establishment of branches, the Peoples Bank of China in addition to carefully follow the standards can not set other restrictions. Foreign banks set up business outlets in the city, with the approval conditions of Chinese domestic bank. (2) The timely opening of foreign exchange business. Chinas accession to the WTO, foreign financial institutions will be fully liberalized to foreign exchange business and the abolition geographical and customer restrictions. In other words, once accession to the WTO, China will allow foreign banks to all customers (including Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese residents) operating all foreign exchange operations (including the companys business and retail business). (3) The phased opening of RMB business. For foreign banks RMB business in China will grant to open 20 cities in four years. Five years later, they will abolish all geographical restrictions for foreign banks. In the service targets, two years after accession, foreign banks would be allow to handle RMB business with enterprises in 12 cities of China. After five years accession, foreign banks would be allowed to provide services for customers in all China. (4) Financial advisory business categories timely open. Since the date of accession to the WTO, foreign institutions can be obtained the right to engage in related business deposits and loans, financial leasing, pay for all the designated services, security and acceptance, the company mergers and acquisitions, securities investment advisory, brokerage and other ancillary services in China. That is to say, joining the WTO 5 years later, there are no differences in service area and service object between Chinese domestic financial institutions and foreign financial institutions. Chinese government made an important commitment to realize trade liberalization, opening up the domestic market and in accordance with international practices which go beyond the general peoples expectations. 2.2 Human Resource Management in Foreign Banks As an increasing number of foreign banks enter the Chinese market, the content and the extent of competition crossing international borders has surged dramatically to Chinese banking. The competitive advantages of foreign banks mainly reflected in: financial advantages, institutional advantages, the network edge, technological advantages, innovative advantages and business strengths. Foreign banks expand their business in China, the biggest obstacle for them it is not familiar with the local situation, and therefore, the only way to take the short cut is to achieve the management of localization, because of their well-known local business, market information, public relations, skills of the management of state-owned commercial banks, and the most pressing needs of local people. Thus, human resource management inevitably becomes one of the most important fields of this competition. Especially, accompanied by the increase of foreign banks, they need to recruit more and more qualified m embers from local labour market. In China, owing to these foreign banks competitive salary, systematic career planning, good work condition, and oversea work opportunity .etc; their recruitment always attracts many most excellent peoples attentions. It is, thus, imperative for Chinese banks to attract, select, develop and retain best employees who can live and work effectively in this international competitive circumstance. However, Chinas historical development, political structure and culture influence its business philosophy and management way. Therefore, some standardized recruitment and selection methods developed in western have to be modified according to Chinese situation. They need more reform experiences and practical opportunity. In that case, the study of recruitment and selection practices of Chinese banking, actually, illustrates how to implemented western advanced practices under conditions of high cultural and institutional distance country. Human resource management is a systematic management relevant to recruitment and selection, training and development, performance, and rewards. All of these areas are mutual influence, interrelation and thus constitute a complete set of human resources management system. Human resources reform is in this interaction, and mutual contact conducted, thereby improving overall organizational performance, enhancing the effective and efficient of all the organization. Therefore, although this paper more concentrates on recruitment and selection area, it still will contain other areas of human resource management reform content in many places. Chapter 3: Methodology and Research Design 3.1 Research Questions Chapter 4: Case Study and Discussion 4.1 Introduction Bank of China, as one of the four state-owned commercial banks, like the other Chinese state-owned enterprises, it also constrained by its obsolete institutions and management in a long time. However, on the list of The Ideal Employer for Chinese Graduates released by Swedish Universum Communications specialized in employer brand management, Bank of China always looms over the whole list in recently years. In 2005, surpassing such transnational banks as CitiBank, HSBC and Deutsche Bank, it tops all financial enterprises. What makes the Bank of China be able to compete successfully with these foreign banks? What is the Bank of China to surpass those of foreign banks preferential treatment salaries and oversea opportunities and finally to choose it? As the major part of the stock holding system reform, the reform of human resource management in Bank of China is a most profound, most complex and most arduous one. Early in 2003, Bank of China had invited famous American consultancy company as the councilor of human resource reform. Combining with the banks actual situation and local experiences, they had worked out human resource reform program and practice scheme after repeated argumentations and revisions. In August 2004, human resource reform at the head office level was carried out. At the end of 2004, pilot reforms were conducted in its two branches in Jiangsu Province and Sichuan Province respectively. In 2005, human resource reform was implemented throughout its system in a full scale. The human resource reform in Bank of China is so spectacular that it is indeed quotable for other domestic banks. This chapter will concentrate on the analysis of interview and documents findings in order to explore the recruitment and selection situation in Chinese banking sector as well as the development of relevant human resource management policy in Chinese banking. The other concern of this research is to compare the gap and the differences of human resource management practices between Chinese banks and foreign banks. Interviewees were selected from all levels of the hierarchy and different banks of various ownerships in order to acquire more reliable primary data and more varied opinions within the Chinese banking. 4.2 Background to Bank of China Bank of China is one of Chinas four state-owned commercial banks. Its businesses cover commercial banking, investment banking and insurance. Members of the group include BOC Hong Kong, BOC International, BOCG Insurance and other financial institutions. The Bank provides a comprehensive range of high-quality financial services to individual and corporate customers as well as financial institutions worldwide. In terms of tier one capital, it ranked 18th among the worlds top 1,000 banks by The Banker magazine in 2005. Over the past century, Bank of China played an important role in Chinas financial history. It was established in February 1912 and is Chinas most long-standing history of the bank. During 1912 to 1949, the functions of the Bank of China have changed three times. From 1912 to 1928, Bank of China was the central bank of that time. In 1928 it was changed to the concessionaire of the international exchange bank. In 1942, Bank of China became the professional development of international trade banks. As the pillar of the countrys financial industry, Bank of China was committed to serving the public and developing the domestic financial sector. During these volatile years, the Bank strived to expand its presence in the market by prudent operation and aggressive reform, leading the market in many areas of its operations for a long period. Having branched out into overseas market, the Bank opened a brilliant chapter in Chinas modern and contemporary banking history. 1949 founding of the PRC, the new Chinese government took over the Bank of China and in December the same year the headquarters of the Bank of China moved to Beijing from Shanghai. Bank of China in 1950 under the management of the Peoples Bank of China head office leadership. October 27, 1953 the Central Peoples Government Cabinet announced the statute of Bank of China and specifically endowed the Bank of China as the Peoples Republic of China Cabinet Chartered Banks foreign exchange professional. From then on, Bank of China became the state-designated specialized foreign exchange bank and substantially contributed to development of foreign trade and the national economy. In 1994 and following the entrenchment of the reform of the financial sector, Bank of China was converted from a state-owned specialized bank into a wholly state-owned commercial bank. Together with the other three wholly state-owned commercial banks, it constituted pillars of the countrys financial industry. As a Chinese financial institution with a history of almost a hundred years, the Bank is well known for its continuous business innovations, introducing many brand new products and services in the domestic banking industry. It is widely recognized and commended by its peers and customers in international settlement, foreign exchange, trade finance, etc. In 2003, it was named by the State Council as one of the pilot banks for joint-stock reform of wholly state-owned commercial banks. In order to develop itself into an internationally competitive modern joint-stock commercial bank, with the capital adequacy, strict internal control, safe operations, good service and efficiency, building international competitiveness of the modern joint-stock commercial banks objectives, Bank of China further improved the corporate governance mechanism, strengthened risk management and internal control system, integrated management Processes and business processes, promoted human resources management re form, speed up product innovation and service innovation, and steadily push forward joint-stock transformation. In 2004, the Bank of China from state-owned commercial banks overall restructuring for the state-controlled joint-stock commercial banks, known as the Bank of China Limited. In 2005, Bank of China introduces the Royal Bank of Scotland and Temasek, and other strategic investors. In October 2005, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC announced a $3.1 billion investment which would give the British bank control of just under 10 percent stake in the Bank of China. Further investments were made by Swiss bank UBS AG, and by Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd, who also promised to subscribe for an additional $500 million worth of shares during Bank of Chinas initial public offering. In 2006, the Bank of China listed on June 1 in the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was the largest IPO in the world since 2000, and the fourth largest IPO in the world ever, raising some US$9.7 billi on in the H-share Global Offering. The Over-Allotment Option was then exercised on June 7, 2006, raising the total value of their IPO to US$11.2 billion. In July 5, it listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It successfully made the largest IPO in mainland China on July 5, 2006, by offering up to 10 billion A-shares on the Shanghai A Stock Exchange, or up to RMB20 billion. These were priced at RMB3.00 per share. In 2007, the Bank of China and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) cooperated to the public private banking business of Bank of China. All of these reform and incorporation make it turn a new chapter in its history and signal a huge step forward in becoming a modern joint stock commercial bank with good corporate governance practices. Furthermore, Bank of China is the most internationalized commercial bank in China. BOC London Branch, the first overseas branch of the Chinese banks, was established in 1929. From then on, the Bank successively opened branches in global financial centers, and has built up its network in 27 countries and regions. Currently, it had over 10000 domestic operations and over 600 overseas operations. In 1994 and 1995, Bank of China became the note issuing bank in Hong Kong and Macao respectively. It was the first among Chinese banks to recruit international experts and to introduce modern business management concepts into its operations with a view to become a premiere international bank. It has received wide recognition from its peers, customers and authoritative media for the credit and performance it achieved in past years. It has been awarded Best Bank in China and Best Domestic Bank in China by Euromoney for eight times; it has been included in the Fortune Global 500 for 16 consecutive years; in addition, it was awarded Best Domestic Bank in China by The Asset, awarded Best Trade Finance Bank in China and Best Foreign Exchange Bank in China by Global Finance, and awarded the Top 10 Product Service Enterprises in China by Far Eastern Economic Review; since BOC Hong Kong was restructured and listed in the Hong Kong stock market, it has been the winner of many significant awards, including Best IPO Investor Relation Award issued by the Investor Relations Magazine and Best Transactions and Best Privatization Award issued by Asian Finance. 4.3 The Challenges and Problems There are gains and risks on both sides of a coin. Chinas banking sector in the enjoyment of foreign capital into the revenue, it must also face the attendant challenges from it. The author is known as its challenge rather than risk or defects, because these challenges from the competitions of foreign banks is an integral part of the main power of Chinese banks reform. The only choice is to take the initiative to actively fight. For a long time solely state-owned banks have absolute monopoly position in China, although such a monopoly can get benefits from its scale. However, its survival and development is formed under the planned economy of monopoly and depend on policy and the protection of the state, which resulted in Chinas financial markets both single and thin. Chinas banking industry, especially the four major state-owned commercial banks, has long been regarded as a government-driven development of the countrys economic engine. They had to implement of considerable mandate of government policies, including investment loans, interest-free and low-interest loans, veterans resettlement and local governments intervention. Someone describe the state-owned banks as a dinosaur, because the death of dinosaur is too much energy consumption and too slow response. When the enemy bites the tail of the dinosaur, it will need five minutes to convey this message to the brain, and then five minutes time to make a c ounterattack. If Chinese banks do not get rid burden, in the face of the competition of foreign banks, it is bound in a passive position. According to the statistics, to the end of 2001, the four major banks have over 100 million employees and per capita profit is only 16,700 yuan, while foreign-invested banks in the number though much less, but in the same period the per capita profits 270,300 yuan which is 16 times of state-owned banks. Now, the banks historical burden was getting heavier and heavier. Access to foreign banks, the existence of such a burden, Chinas banks would lose the conditions for equal competition, in a very disadvantaged position. Lack of flexibility of their personnel system and institutional setup is extremely unreasonable. Like other state-owned enterprises, Bank of China also constrained by its rigid personnel system. Because ownership is not clear, the banks policy-makers and operators are the same members. The lack of the necessary internal control mechanisms resulted in lower levels of management, lax management. Their assessment is not operated on actual performance-based, but in line with the government officials ranks, that is, the higher your position are and the better your assessment result can get. Furthermore, they designed banks job description and ranks according to the State Civil Service series. On the other hand, banks at all levels in the institutions set up on the still-led administration and management level was complexity. Compared to western commercial banks focus on customer relationship management, such pyramid-like and multi-level administrative management had proved their effects v ary widely. Specific to the area of human resources management, mainly concentrated in the areas ¼Ã… ¡ First is the traditional orientation of Human resources Management Department. The traditional orientation of Human Resources Management Department of Bank of China is only a personnel department. The majority of works remain in the management people and other affairs and it mainly reflected in attendance, personnel file management, pay and benefits, and some other traditional work. The foreign banks have taken Human Resources departments in a clear strategic position which take on the major functions of personnel training and development and as the important guarantee of banks core competitiveness. The main reasons of this difference lies in the banks human resources is not the end results of competition in the market and personnel training, lack of market concepts, leading to large-scale and very difficult to promote change. Second is the difference in personnel recruitment and deployment of standards and evaluation of the value. In a long term, Bank of China takes the management responsibility of foreign currency exchange. It is a commercial bank and also is a part of government. In that case, it shows strong administration tendency. One of main representations is the recruitment and deployment is under the unified management and distribution of its head office or regional branchs human resources management department. The actual needs are poorly understood and valued more than diploma and the past experiences. However, foreign banks have their own recruitment of competent model for quality standards, according to the requirements of jobs analysis on-demand recruitment. They focus on candidates practical work capability and potential, more concerned whether candidates match with the organisation. There are survey shows that foreign banks in the recruitment process always use talent measurement tools and pay much attention to staffs personalities, especially the values of the match with organizations. Third is the difference in the understanding strategic significance of training. Although Bank of China has its own training base and develop training programme, it was taken as the main function forms sticking to the training books and classroom teaching model and following the what is lacking and what will teach in school practice. It only focused on the surface of the master work skills and ignored the staff own development and value-added value. The quality of the staff can not be matched with market demand. The former president of Chase Manhattan once said, Only by allowing banks to advance the personnel development to the business development, can more quickly adapt to the international financial markets and to develop. Under the guidance of such concept, during the training of the current work, these foreign banks also pay more attention to the quality of staff training and development potential. With each individual staffs situation, training program also need be intent tail ored and help them achieve career goals. In training, teaching experiments, simulations, the network learning, and other new educational methods are widely used. The difference over the foreign banks will be mainly due to the attitude to the people, that is, foreign banks take talents as a strategic and scarcity of resources and the ongoing effective staff training and development of competition in the international banking is an important component of the strategy and also is one of the most important strategic investment. Take Citigroup as an example, it establishes a special institution and equipped with full-time staff with responsibility for training. According to different posts and the personal characteristic of staff, they develop detailed training programme and take the appropriate incentive measures to promote and guarantee staff training. Citibanks Shanghai branch, the per capita cost of training is more than 17,000 yuan and in the Bank of China, the training costs of Sha nghai Branch per capita is less than 500 yuan. The main reason of this situation is they still take training as a cost Spending. On training and curriculum design is very arbitrary and even that on several occasions Dangke can also replace part of the training target. Fourth is the difference in performance management and performance assessment. Performance Evaluation is the core of modern human resources management issue. It not only provides important information basis for the distribution and selection of personnel, but also is considered as a strong incentive for the staff (Michael, 2008). State-owned commercial banks as a financial enterprise, its operating profit maximization is their goal, thus human resources management should be subordinated to and serves this business objective. However, the state-owned commercial banks have not established a systematic, scientific and reasonable performance appraisal system. First, there are not distinguish between the different categories of staff posts in the evaluation, but they adopted the moral character, ability, diligence, achievements, these relatively abstract and difficult to quantify the indicators to evaluate. Even, they had not yet been standard analysis of jobs. It presents in there are no standard title to regulate all types of positions and no uniform standard job descriptions, so that the staff responsibilities of different positions is very fuzzy; Third, the evaluation index system in the absence of key performance indicators (KPI indicators), in particular, guard against and defuse financial risks has not yet fully reflected in the evaluation of specific indicators in the evaluation. In addition, the performance evaluation of the results did not become the direct indicator of employees pay and rewards, job changes and incentives. Performance evaluation is often a mere formality and away from the commercial banks operating objectives. As one of the state-owned Banks, Bank of China also got into this trap in a long time. They thought performance management is the regular staff evaluation that the bonuses were paid to staff and provide the basic references for promotion, that is, simply equate performance management with performance evaluation. Generally, appraisal objective was set by the bank unilaterally and the staffs can only passively accept. Therefore, it often for the evaluation and assessment ignored the real purpose of the examination, that is, raise the level of individual performance of staff. In addition, the unscientific assessment standards and methods and the ineffective implementation of the results of the evaluation made the performance appraisal could not play their due role. The cause of the gap is also the main reason for the management of Chinese banks, the strong bureaucracy and lack of the necessary lines of communication between management and staff. In the course of investigation, the author also learn that in three years ago, in one county branch of Bank of China, subsidiary manager of this branch submitted his resignation after this

The Role of Women in Religion :: Religion Religious Females Gender Essays

The Role of Women in Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The role of women in religious scripture dictates an inferior position in society. Beginning with the creation of Adam and then Eve, as his helpmate. Her purpose was that Adam would not be lonely. This origin provides the ground work for inequality of genders on the basis of religious scripture. The roles prescribed determined that women should be in a subordinate position to man. The female role and relationship with God is defined by the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the reported actions of Jesus Christ, and finally the Qur'an.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Initially, Old Testament describes women as the corrupter of man. However, through interpreting the action of Jesus Christ, we see that he holds women in equal roles as men, to include mention of female apostles. The New Testament does not promote equality but does mention the acts of Jesus. Finally, the Qur'an places women in a subservient role allowing men to keep their under control, by any means. Interpretations of the Gods word under the disguise of organized religion are the product of the gender discrimination of the time and continue to paint women as lesser creatures in the eyes of God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The books of the Old Testament, and variations, are recognized by the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. Each paint women as the temptress responsible for the mistakes of men. Women were the cause of the first punishment given to mankind. Eve persuaded Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, from the tree of knowledge. For this act, inspired by woman, mankind was forever punished and expelled from paradise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many examples of woman’s negative influence in the Old Testament. In Genesis 19:30-36, Lot's two daughters made their father drunk with wine on two successive nights. Each daughter committed incest with her father, and became pregnant.8 This is illogical, if Lot was so drunk he probably could not have performed physically and it occurred over two separate nights. He could have been unwitting the first night but not the second. Again in Judges 16, Delilah seduced Sampson in order to find out the secret of his great strength. This ultimately led to Samson's death.8 1 Kings 11 describes how Solomon's many foreign wives and concubines convinced him to worship other gods and build Pagan temples. This led to his downfall.8 The moral to these stories seem to be that women are responsible for the mistakes and men are easily corruptible by women.

lamb Essay -- essays research papers

The lamb is a symbol of innocence, ignorance, purity, and self justification. In William Blake’s poem The Lamb, children are biblically innocent and the speaker contrast himself to the higher divinity. In this interpretation of children the speaker may possibly be trying to use ignorance as an excuse for sin in his life. The lamb’s natural gifts are clearly envied by the speaker, the gifts being food, shelter, and happiness. William Blake may have used this scene of fertile valleys to allow the reader to also feel the envy towards the lamb’s peaceful existence. â€Å"The lamb by no fault of its own is prosecuted by speaker, later to be found incoherent with his own tortures and suffrages†(Paananem 40).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Blake used direct dictation through his poem, â€Å"The Lamb†, in distributing his theorem, which we, humans, seek to find peace within our selves only after reestablishing our identity with something pure. Humans are biblically damned to eternal unhappiness, the past was the beginning of future’s pain. The biblical reference to Adam and Eve is subtle but clear enough with the envy portrayed by the speaker towards the lamb. The eternal suffering will not cease until humans take acknowledgment of their own faults and own sins. The speaker is seeking answers to his questions, about how the lamb gained such natural innocence here. There are no clear answers to any of the speaker’s questions throughout the poem, causing the readers to stir within themse...

Toyota: a Glimpse of Leadership, Organizational Leadership, and Organizational Structure

Toyota: A Glimpse of Leadership, Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Structure Courtney Berry Organizational behavior is the study of application of individuals’ behaviors within structured groups within an organization (Robbins & Judge, 2007). The field of study identifies behaviors within specific groups and individuals in organizations and how the structures of organizations play a role in behaviors (Robbins & Judge, 2007). In the past several months, the leading company in the car industry has been experiencing a quality control and consumer product safety issue. Toyota is not only encountering a quality control issue but also a senior management crisis issue. The corporate leadership team of Toyota did not recognize the importance of addressing the consumer safety issue with the sticking accelerator and not to mention the huge public relations blunder that came with it. Does this failure to address a quality control issue and a real senior management public relations issue have anything to do with Toyota’s leadership, organizational behavior, and organizational structure? Leadership, organizational behavior, and organization structure Toyota’s thought on leadership is to empower employees and develop their people. If the employee has not learned a specific task, the leader has not done a good job (Womack & Shook, 2007). Plan, Do, Check, and Action (PDCA) Cycle is something that Toyota implements (Womack & Shook, 2007). This cycle engages employees to question products and processes and implement new action. Senior leadership is also expected to perform this. In fact, senior leadership regularly makes visits to the plant floors to engage with people and help with processes. This type of leadership employs mutual adjustment and interaction from both the employees and leadership. Leadership has much to do with behaviors within an organization. Organizational behavior looks at behaviors on an individual, group, and organizational level and how the levels are interelated. According to Henry Mintzberg, organizational behaviors can be grouped into three primary categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional (Robbins & Judge, 2003). These behaviors are found at the managerial role but play an mportant and predictive role at determining the behaviors of an organization and its structure. When Toyota led the way in the car industry the organization was firing on all cylinders in their organizational behavior. At the individual level, job satisfaction empowers the employees to make decisions on the line and create effcient processes that lead to high production. At the group level, communication and decisions are made across multiple teams and employees to engineer the highest level of product leadership (Womack & Shook, 2007). The organizational level mirrors the individual and group level that creates a culture of pride within Toyota. This organizational pride creates a culture of employees with a belief that Toyota engineers the best products. Organizational structure is the backbone to the strategy of an organization. It helps carry out new strategies by differing structure designs and parameters in which individuals and groups communicate within organizations (Mintzber, Lampel, Quinn, & Ghoshal, 2003). The car industry typically mirrors the machine organizational structure. The work is highly standardized and is designed to run by a large technostructure to formalize behaviors and actions (Mintzber, et al, 2003). The structure of this design typically limits power at the operator level. This type of horizontal structure ends up not engaging the people at the organization and does not benefit the customer as a whole (Mitzber, et al, 2003). Toyota, while a machine organization, does not place value vertically and rather creates power horizontally. The organization has a history of empowering their operators with knowledge and career paths. Toyota is noted for this. Conclusion Toyota’s leadership and organizational structure does not predicate the failure for senior management to fail to address a quality control and product issue as well as a public relations issue. The organization’s role of interpersonal communication and decisions made both vertically and horizontally within its structure would lend to fix a problem and engineer the best product. All employees are empowered to ask why an accelerator should be engineered with a certain spec and require certain raw materials. The leadership and structure creat high quality product processes. The organizational behavior could have explained the blunder on senior management to fail to address a quality control issue based on the culture. According to Benjamin Heineman, Toyota’s culture of, â€Å"We did it right, the problem is small, the critics are wrong† (paragraph 5, 2010). Toyota’s culture and pride of engineering the best could have predicted this public relations blunder that has striped consumer confidence and may lead to a business failure or a chief executive officer stepping down. References Heineman, B. W. (2010). Flunking Crisis Management 101. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://views. washingtonpost. com/leadership/panelists/2010/02/crisis-management-recall. html Mintzberg, H. , Lampel, J. , Quinn, J. B. , & Ghoshal, S. (2003). The strategy process: Concepts, contexts, cases (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Womack, J. P. & Shook, J.. (2007, October). Lean Management and the Role of Lean Leadership [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www. lean. org/images/october_webinar_project_slides. PDF.

What can you learn about Roosevelt from this Source?

What can you learn about Roosevelt from this Source? Explain your answer, using details from the source. (6 marks) One thing that I think you can learn from source A about Roosevelt is that he was clearly a kind and caring man. Although Source A has been taken out of context it is clear that the writer of this letter thought that Roosevelt was a very fine president. From source A we can assume that the writer of this letter was having difficulties and was having trouble extending his mortgage so he wrote to the president asking for help. We can then assume that the President sent a letter in reply saying that he will send one of his workers or acquaintances to try and help the man/ woman get their house/furniture back for them. This shows that Roosevelt was very considerate and did not set himself back from the ordinary people of America. With acts like these, he inspired the American people and gave them courage throughout the Depression and Second World War. Though there are many things that can be learnt from source A about Franklin D. Roosevelt, there are still important things that cannot be learnt. We cannot learn whether the writer of this letter previously knew the President or find out who he or she was. Another important thing that we cannot find out from source A is the precise facts of what went on, i.e. was the house gong to be repossessed? Or what were his or her financial details? Without this information, it is hard to find out whether Roosevelt would have been as generous to everyone as he was to this person. Question 2 – Study sources B and C How far do these two sources differ in their view of Roosevelt as president? Explain your answer-using details from the sources and your own knowledge. (7 marks) Sources B and C differ in many ways. For example, one is anti-Roosevelt, and one is pro-Roosevelt. The cartoons were both drawn in the mid-1930's but source C clearly attacks Roosevelt while source B is optimistic and shows that Roosevelt is trying to remove the bad and clean America up. These sources are both cartoons that are opposite and show the views that were circulating at that time. Source B shows that the treasurer is counting the cost of this clean up and shows that FDR is ready for work as his sleeves are rolled up, and portrays him as a very dedicated president. The cartoon for source B shows FDR carrying out his promises, one of these were to take ‘action and action now!' Roosevelt worked alongside the Brain Trust, which was a group of experts, which passed new laws; one of these was called ‘The New Deal'. America's economy was in such a state that Roosevelt was given emergency powers and with these he carried out his three aims which were: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Roosevelt was prepared to provide a large amount of Government money to relieve the poor but to raise Government money taxes had to be raised and this, along with many other factors, is why the rich did not like FDR. In the mid-1930's the newspapers were not in support of FDR, neither were businessmen and the Republicans, this was because they thought for one, that the New Deal would be making people lazy, and certain people would just depend on Government help and handouts. They also did not like the New Deal, as it was the well off that had to pay for the Social Security of their workers. Source C differs from source B completely, as source C shows the taxpayer's money is being completely wasted and that all of the money that is getting put into the New Deal is not giving a just return. It shows that the actual New Deal has flaws in it that make the New Deal dysfunctional, whereas source B is pro-Roosevelt and shows that he is cleaning up the mess that President Hoover left America in. Source B shows that FDR is getting rid of all of the promises and things that Hoover was unable to carry out and things that were associated with Hoover. Source C and Source B can be seen as the rich and the poor people's views at this time of American history. Source C as the rich and Source B as the poor and those affected by the Great Depression. Source B shows that FDR is clearing the old (bad) and making way for the new (good). He is giving moral to the citizens by showing them how to forget the past and to focus on the future. The sources differ, and another way of explaining this is the way in which source B states the year that the cartoon was drawn and says who it was by, whereas source C shown the cartoon and assumes that it was drawn in the mid 1930's but does not say who by. Question 3 – Study sources D and E Which source is more reliable on the popularity of Roosevelt as president? Explain your answer, using details from the source and your own knowledge. (8 marks) The source that I think is more reliable on the popularity of Roosevelt as president is source E, I think for the following reasons. Source D is written by Roosevelt himself and shows his view on the previous government and what they did not do. He says and acknowledges that the previous government was dysfunctional and says that America had to go through nine years of allusions that Hoover and his government put forth. Roosevelt says that ‘powerful influences' (businessmen, rich and Republicans) are still trying to bring back the old government that ‘failed' and did not care for the ordinary people of America. This is probably because they did not have to pay as much money for Tax and did not have to pay for the Social Security of their workers. FDR states that government by organised money, i.e. rich businessmen, is as dangerous as decree by ‘thugs'. He says that it is the first time that he has been hated by these united forces, but he welcomes their hatred. Source E was written by a Republican opponent of the New Deal that clearly damned the New Deal. He says the deal is taking away far too much of ‘their' money (the tax-payers) in an attempt to reap equality he also says that this is a defiance of all the ideas upon which our civilisation has been founded. He also says that the cautious with money are being taxed while the lazy poor simply inherit. I think that source E is the most reliable source to see how popular was, because it is written by an opponent to FDR and his laws but still says how much FDR is helping to ‘relieve, recover and reform' those badly affected by the Great Depression. By doing so, it proves that those affected by the Great Depression and those left jobless were greatly helped by Roosevelt and were very fond of him as a president, whereas the republicans and the rich businessmen did not like him at all. So, taking into account that almost everyone in America was affected by the Great Depression and were looking for a president that would help them out, FDR would have been extremely popular with the general population, excluding the rich, which were at this time a minority. Source E, as written by an anti-FDR citizen shows this, which is why I have chosen source E as the most reliable source. Question 4 – Study sources F and G Which source is more useful for assessing the success of Roosevelt's New Deal? Explain your answer, using details from the source and your own knowledge (8 marks) The source that I think is more reliable on the popularity of Roosevelt as president is source G, I think for the following reasons. Source G shows a table that illustrates the performance of the US economy during the 1930s and from this chart it is clear to see some very important facts about the great depression and how it affected the labour force and the unemployed people of America in the 30s. It is very useful because you can easily see the evidence and Information of the facts of the depression and what the new deal achieved. Source G is more useful than the other source because it shows how successful the new deal actually was, it also allows us to see how much unemployment was reduced and was the new deal actually achieved. Source G shows us that that when the Second World War occurred countries were in high demand of manufactured goods and that is how America was lifted out of the depression. It also shows us that the graph on source G shows us that the new deal continually needed money to be pumped into it in order to stop the situation getting any worse and hopefully improve it. Source F shows us that the new deal made many citizens happy. Therefore source F shows us how successful the new deal was at gaining popularity from the cartoon, though this is not reliable evidence and a cartoon on the from of an NRA song book can not prove to us that that was the impression of Roosevelt though we can speculate. Source F shows us popularity and is not particularly accurate as it was an artist's impression and the artist that drew the cartoon would have been commissioned so they would have been made to embellish. Source F is not really an accurate source to analyse Roosevelt's success. It is not useful because it just shows people marching and shows Roosevelt's popularity with the people. The two sources show two different types of success of the new deal. but. Source F shows us how successful the new deal was but it is not useful like source g.. Source F does not show us how successful the new deal was it just shows us that it had popularity†¦ Source G therefore shows us more things and is therefore more useful and it is more reliable than source f. Source G shows so much more than source F and is therefore more useful in showing how successful the new deal was and what it achieved. Question 6 – study all of the sources and use your own knowledge. The following are two different views of Roosevelt: (i) He was a great leader, who inspired his country More sources support the interpretation that Roosevelt was a great leader than that he was an inconsistent president. The evidence that supports the interpretation that Roosevelt was an inconsistent president was unreliable. Source C is attacking the New deal. This source is unreliable because many of the newspaper owners were hostile to Roosevelt. Source E is also attacking the New deal but his is unreliable because an opposition of Roosevelt wrote it and it was written at a time when Roosevelt was unpopular. Also sources J and I are attacking Roosevelt but these are also unreliable. From this I can say that the evidence that says that Roosevelt was an inconsistent president is unreliable. From the evidence that suggests that Roosevelt was a good president there are still unreliable sources. An unreliable source A because it could have been written by anyone who supported Roosevelt. Source B is an inaccurate source because we do not know who Drew the carton. Source d is also unreliable because Roosevelt himself wrote the speech. Source F is unreliable because people who supported Roosevelt drew it. But Source G is reliable because it is a government document and therefore unlikely that it would be inaccurate. Source H is reliable because an historian wrote it and therefore the historian would have a balanced opinion because he would have analysed lots of evidence and he was not intimately involved with the depression. From this there are two pieces of evidence that are reliable and support the statement that Roosevelt was a great leader. The best-supported interpretation is that Roosevelt was a great leader, who inspired his country, relieved poverty and distress and dealt with the depression in an imaginative way.

The Most Influential Designers of the Century

Paul Poiret (1879 – 1944) is best known for liberating women from corsets. Lacking certain technical dressmaking skills Poiret made draping the focal point of his designs. He was interested in simple shapes that freed the body and being inspired by Fauvism, Japanese culture and the Ballet Russes mostly used exotic colours. He was the king of Oriental Era in 1910's and a natural businessman. He expanded limits of what fashion meant at the time and brought some serious innovations to the industry. Kimono coat, â€Å"hobble† skirt, â€Å"lampshade† tunics, â€Å"harem† pantaloons are all signature outfits of Paul Poiret.Along with other designers like Mariano Fortuny, Paul Poiret helped to establish what we now call a Classical style and of course, he is one of those designers who define Exoticism. While researching this revolutionary designer I came up with idea of three types of women he designed for: 1) Goddess-like woman in rich colored, empire waisted, b eautifully draped dress; 2) Exotic, seductive, slave-like woman in turban and harem pantaloons/hobble skirt. 3) Rich, extravagant Eastern/Japanese woman in fur, velvet, etc. lush fabrics.Gabrielle Coco Chanel (1883 – 1971) is rightfully called a queen of 20's. She was (and still is) one of the most influential designers of all time. The style that Chanel promoted is considered classic today, not to mention timeless wardrobe essentials as little black dress or Chanel suit. Channel started off by shortening hemlines so that women who now had to work in factories (post WWI) would feel more comfortable. Using unconventional fabrics (at the time) like jersey and tweed she adapted menswear to women needs and actually transformed what a modern woman means.Her woman was independent and strong. She lowered the waistline to upper hips level thus creating an androgynous/boyish silhouette – La Garconne. Combining elegance and practicality she used simple materials to create access ories: for the first time in history daring to mix pearls with glass beads and inventing â€Å"poor chic†. On the contrary to Poiret, Coco Chanel was an experienced seamstress and paid great attention to details. Later in her career, she stopped using sewing machines and started making every garment by hand.She was also known for her signature embroidery which was carried out by Russian house Kitmir exclusively for her. For me, Chanel stands for timeless elegance. She is inspirational image of independence and innovation. Nowadays, Karl Lagerfeld is a head of design in house of Chanel. Here are my three favorite looks this season (from pret-a-porter A/W 2012): Madeleine Vionnet (1876 – 1975) was the first designer to adapt her â€Å"haute couture† designs to high street and by doing so she transformed commercial fashion industry. Vionnet combined modern business practices with innovation in dressmaking.She is also praised for taking garment construction to the h ighest level – adopting and perfecting the bias-cut (many people say she invented the bias cut but in her biography Vionnet clearly states that is not true), making dresses with one seam and showing off outstanding cutting skills in each garment. Vionnet promoted style which I would describe as Grecian aesthetics minimized and polished to form clean, sleek, ageless idea of beauty. In 1925 British Vogue, articulating Vionnet's appeal, declared her ‘perhaps the greatest geometrician among all French couturiers'.Her ideas survived and are continued with great success in the house of Vionnet. http://vionnet. com Here are some of my favorite looks this season: Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973), Italian designer and the greatest rival of Chanel was a very influential figure in 30's fashion. Fascinated by Surrealism, she formed one of the most iconic partnerships between Art and Fashion while working with world-renowned artist Salvador Dali. (I must mention though, that she collaborated with many other artists of the time).Unfortunately, she didn't adapt to changes after WWII and her business had to close in 1954. Today, her garments are kept in museums and she is praised as a genius, messiah of ultramodern couture. Few of her creations are particularly famous: Tear (1), Lobster (2) and Skeleton (3) dresses and Shoe hat (4). Claire McCardell (1905-1958) is regarded as the inventor of the â€Å"American Look†. With the rationing of silk and wool during WWII, she employed corduroy, seersucker, denim and cotton fabrics to create sensational designs. She said, that â€Å"All of us, any of us, deserves the right to a good fashion†.Her Monastic and Popover dresses were massive hits, not to mention cloth ballet slippers which survived until today. She was the originator of mix-and-match separates, spaghetti straps, pedal-pushers, bareback summer dresses, strapless swimsuits, and feminine denim fashion. Immediately after WWII, Christian Dior (19 5 – 1957) jumped into a fashion arena. He launched his â€Å"New Look† in 1947 and it was an immediate success. After years of rationing Dior cut himself loose and designed dresses with full skirts (making of these required up to 50 yards of fabric), â€Å"waspie† waists and slender shoulder line.He brought back femininity and hope for a better life. Although many people in Europe were shocked with such drastic changes, Americans gladly accepted the new breeze and much of Dior's income in the first years came from export to USA. Unfortunately, genius died 10 years later leaving young master Yves Saint Laurent as an artistic director of his house. Today Dior house is one of the strongest leaders in fashion industry and one of my personal favorites as well. Here are my three favorite looks from A/W 2012 haute couture collection:Yves Saint Laurent (1936 – 2008) was hailed as the man who (at the age of 22) saved the house of Dior, a King of French fashion and a first couturier to present ready-to-wear collections. I think that the most important time began when he opened his own house in 1962. He was a genius and cared about empowering women, also (much like Schiaparelli) he aimed to shock. Therefore a trouser suit – Le Smoking – was born. It was a trend setting evening trouser suit and it became Yves Saint Laurent's trademark, also a must-have in modern women's wardrobe.We have to be grateful to him for blazers, see-through blouses and a business wardrobe for women. He was one of the main figures in 60's and 70's taking the best out of pop culture and translating it to fashion (Andy Warhol inspired dresses). He was also a great lover of art so he designed a collection of dresses inspired by his favorite painter Piet Mondrian. â€Å"Mondrian Look† (especially one particular dress) is as famous as New Look or Elsa Schiaparelli's Tear dress. Yves Saint Laurent house continues to make androgynous women designs under le adership of newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane.Here are my favorite looks from Spring/Summer 2013 ready-to-wear collection: Hubert de Givenchy (1927 – today) is best known for his elegant, refined style, and for his popularity with celebrities like Audrey Hepburn (Audrey Hepburn became a symbol of house of Givenchy, she popularized him in movies like â€Å"Sabrina†, â€Å"Breakfast at Tiffany's†, â€Å"My fair lady†, etc. ) , Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly and many others. Givenchy introduced a new concept of mix and match separates (unthinkable in 1950's). His signature garments were: little black dress and â€Å"Bettina† blouse.Creating elegance for 40 years straight, Givenchy house continues to astonish the world today with a new leader Riccardo Tisci. Here are my favorite looks from A/W 2012: Givenchy's idol was Cristobal Balenciaga (1895 – 1972) a great Spanish couturier and colorist. He was strictly modern, very technical and a master of illusion. He invented the threequarter-length sleeve and the standaway collar. He taught fashion design classes, inspiring other designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Andre Courreges, Emanuel Ungaro, Mila Schon and Hubert de Givenchy.He was so innovative, that he designed waistless dresses and tunics in 50's proving to be fashion forward by almost a decade. However, in 1968 he decided to close his business. Balenciaga house was bought by Gucci group and today is run by Nicolas Ghesquiere, one of the most talented designers of today(as praised by Vogue). Here are my favorite looks of the season: Mary Quant (1934 – today) is a British designer and fashion icon which has become synonymous with the â€Å"swinging sixties† in London. She is credited with the invention of a mini skirt, skinny rib sweater and false lashes.She reinvented the use of PVC material and created the popular â€Å"Wet Look†. She popularized hot pants and eventually received OBE and Hall of Fame awards from British Council for her outstanding contribution to fashion industry. Through 70's and 80's she concentrated on cosmetics industry and interior design and her clothing lines became of secondary importance. Today she has about 200 Mary Quant Colour shops in Japan where her cosmetic products remain popular. Vivienne Westwood (1941 – today) is the mother of 70's punk era.Together with Malcolm McLaren she established a brand that specialized in clothing with bondage pants, kilts, chains, leather jackets and T-shirts with provocative imagery. Popularized by McLaren's managed band â€Å"Sex Pistols† the look became a new wave of fashion . It was quickly accepted amongst teenagers and young adults and I think it captured the overall atmosphere of self-expression in 70's. Vivienne did not stop here though, she went on to receive prestigious OBE and DBE awards and opened quite a few labels under her name: Golden Label, Anglomania, Red Label and Man.Her house successfully work today and here are my favourite looks from A/W 2012 collection: Rei Kawabuko (1942 – today) is a Japanese avant-garde designer which managed to enter the international fashion scene with an uproar. In 1983 (together with another designer Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto) she presented a new concept in fashion – deconstructed silhouette, colourless, distressed fabrics and garments full of clothes. The look was immediately dubbed â€Å"the Hiroshima chic†, â€Å"boro look†, â€Å"beggar look† and similar.Her distinctive point of view shocked and amused the West and that earned her a place in Parisian Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-Porter. Today she is a head of her own company Comme des Garcons, and one of the most popular brands in the world. Here are my favourite looks from this season: Yohji Yamamoto (1943 – today) became popular at the same time as Rei Kawabuko. Presenting the unprecedented style concept to Western fas hion world with his 1983 cutwork collection he was instantly acknowledged and recognized.His asymmetrical designs always take a viewer by surprise, his commercially successful designs are sold worldwide and together with Rei Kawabuko Yohji Yamamoto is held responsible for putting Tokyo on the map fashion wise. Wonderful thing is, that despite similarities in Kawabuko's and Yamamoto's designs (and their life together in 80s – 90s) they both have different aesthetics and distinctive directions. Kawabuko occurs to me to be more conceptual and Yamamoto is way more elegant designer. Here are my favourite looks:John Galliano (1960 – today) is one of the most controversial designers today but nevertheless, genius. In short, he graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Galliano was awarded the â€Å"British Designer of the Year† in the year 1987, 1994 and 1995. Due to frequent financial troubles he accepted the job offer at Givenchy and in two years time he was transferred to Dior as a creative director of the house. He also has his own house under his name. Achieving that amount of success in a short period of time, he is proven to be genius and of course he has plenty of respectable awards to prove it.His creations are magical, his style is very dramatic and his presentations are always theatrical . Despite his recent â€Å"crimes† (in 2011 he was dismissed from Dior when found guilty of racial insults in public) Galliano name still stands for unspeakable elegance and innovation, his garments are highly collectible. It is unclear to me what happened to genius after he was dismissed from Dior. House of Galliano is working without his original captain under leadership of Bill Gaytten. However his idea of beauty prevails and I think he is the next Chanel. Here are my favourite looks from this season:Alexander McQueen (1969 – 2010) was a magnificent designer who left a huge imprint through his short lifetime. He wo n a great number of awards for his distinctive dramatic point of view, including Commander of the Order of the British Empire, International Designer of the Year 2003 by Council of fashion designers of America and others of similar caliber. Ever since he entered fashion industry he was considered a genius. Fashion editors were left in awe after each new collection, not to mention the infamous VOSS. He is well known for his collaborations with celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Bjork, Kanye West and Katy Perry.I would say his style is eccentric, avant-garde but extremely elegant at the same time. Alexander McQueen was original in every way and extremely technical as well. After unfortunate and untimely death of genius in 2010 Sarah Burton took the helm of Alexander McQueen's house and added her own feminine touch to the name. She has also designed a wedding dress for the Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince Williams. Alexander McQueen's house successfully runs today and here are fe w wonderful creations from this year Autumn/Winter collection: