Rational Perspective And Approaches To Strategic Management

Rational Perspective And Approaches To Strategic Management The word strategy mainly takes for granted the historical and geo political conditions under which management precedences are determined and executed. Strategic Management is not just restricted to the business world rather it can be seen in the ever widening circle of problems which are suitable for its application- from public sector and NGOs to regional economic development. In this essay we try to explore the rationalities to help managers improve organizational effectiveness and corporate profitability. The dynamic approach seeks to explore the nature of strategic management as an organizational process. The rational approach exposes the contradictions between the idealised myth of perfect competition and the more realistic ramifications of market power as explored by business school strategists (Porter, 1980). But at the end of the day, for both approaches, it has been seen that managers are the only players within the organisational structure of the market who have any power in the real strategic process. This eventuality has been criticised by such eminent scholars as Whittington (1993), who proposes mechanisms to ensure that the strategy process remains objective rather than being captured by a particular management faction; moreover, he suggests that managers can draw from broader, less visible sources of power, such as the political resources of the state, the network resources of ethnicity, or, if male, the patriarchal resources of masculinity (1993: 38). Moving away from managers One limitation of the dearth of literature available on the analysis of strategic planning is an account of how a faction of global managerial staff came to assume and maintain a stronghold on the strategic processes in the larger scheme of the market. There, however, have been individuals who have addressed this issue, notably among them Shrivastava, who, in a landmark critique in 1986, sought for emancipation in the acquisition of communicative competence by all subjects that allows them to participate in discourse aimed at liberation from constraints on interaction (1986: 373). He also called on researchers to generate less ideologically value-laden and more universal knowledge about strategic management of organisations (1986: 374). Post modern critiques, such as that by Knights and Morgan (1991), take a leaf out of Shrivastavas book and similarly propound a more constitutive and inclusive approach to strategic planning. They see corporate strategy as a set of discourses and practices which transform managers and employees alike into subjects who secure their sense of purpose (1991:252). So they are saying that managers cannot stand at a passive distance from ideology and impose their personal rationales on an unaware workforce. But for all practical purposes, that is what takes place in the actual workplace a core group of elite members, often known as the executive board, are the only participants of strategic discourse, with more actual manual labour deployed on workers as we go further down the line. This norm looks like it is here to stay, at least for a while. This is because even in the contemporary business scenario, mid0level managers, even if they assume any strategic responsibility, are possibly livi ng an illusion if they feel that they have any decisive say in the actual decision-making process. If we draw from Sun Tzus seminal work on military strategy, The Art of War (1983), we find echoes of this theory, where, as in a military structure, it is the field marshall who is behind the drawing board and the foot soldier who is out there on the ground fighting. The captain, or the mid-level manager, does have a say on the functioning of the troops on the ground. But in actual effect, all he is doing is relaying the strategy of those above him, or the executive board members. The rational and dynamic approaches Before we move on further and investigate the pros and cons of the two approaches under discussion rational and dynamic let us start by taking a brief look at both. The rational approach This is concerned with an organisations ability to achieve the goals that it has set for itself. For this, the organisation must first identify a goal for itself, then define a set of means or objectives that can be employed to achieve this goal, and then set in place a list of activities that help put the objectives in action. An evaluation of the organisation is then based on the number of objectives it achieves in comparison to the number it had planned. The primary motivating factor in this model is profits for the company. As such, the top echelon of decision making under such a system can tend to be more autocratic in nature than in other models. Managers who are inspired by financial statements alone in turn tend to leave their workforce uninspired. In a critical study for his PhD, C.P. Washburn says, What we found is that executives emphasizing rationality in their decision making are less likely to be seen as visionary by their subordinates and more likely to be seen as autocratic. But the more holistic executives are seen as more visionary and less autocratic. But as things stand today, despite the non-holistic nature of a rational approach (Washburn, 2006), it still predominates in the global workplace. This is possibly because of the logical framework that defines a rationale approach. Managers who follow it believe that a precise end to an objective should be sought through equally precise and calculated means, and that focusing their energies on quantifiable activities that can be observed and measured is the best way forward. Even if not quite, in a sense, the rational approach can be summarised in the famous sentence from the 1987 movie Wall Street, Greed, for the want of a better word, is good. The dynamic approach The dynamic approach to strategic planning is aimed more at smaller businesses that lack the necessary revenue to implement all the complicated strategies that a larger organisation can. It was conceived by Edward Pierce, who was at the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University until he retired in the early 2000s. The need for a new approach that moved away from the traditional rational approach was instigated primarily for the benefit for smaller firms. Apart from a basic strategy that is absolutely essential for a line of sustained credit, anything else is a luxury, not least because strategic managers are usually prohibitively expensive for such firms to hire. Moreover, it is not within the financial realm of these smaller organisations to develop a complicated strategy (which in all possibility only a handful of people in the organisation are competent enough to fully comprehend) and then let it gather dust. Unlike the larger organisations that have the means and the resources to leave strategic planning to the hands of a few select individuals in the executive board, these smaller organisations have a more hands-on approach across all levels of management, with even mid-level managers sometimes given a free hand to take decisions. The common necessity for a vision and mission Whether it be a large scale MNC or a small-scale non profit organisation, each must have a vision for the company. Essentially, the vision of an organisation is the single statement that will be able to guide the enterprise across its several strategic business units (SBUs) (Whats In a Vision Statement, 2003). Talk of SBUs brings us to the consideration of another critically important component of strategic planning a mission. There has been much debate over whether vision is more important that mission and it is not our prerogative to enter further debate here. Instead, we can simply define vision as an enterprise view and mission as an SBU view (Whats In a Vision Statement, 2003). Of course, the vision and mission of a particular company are determined by its positioning in the market context. The larger a company, the more complicated is its vision statement and more tedious is the process of achieving its mission. For instance, if we take LG as an example, the parent company has one single vision, but it is modified to suit the needs of its various SBUs such as those for phones, wireless equipment and other electronic appliances. It would not be feasible to assume that this vision statement would apply equally across all the different SBUs within the company. The same would hold true even in the case of a small company, say one that specialises only in making carpets. The vision statement would remain fundamentally the same, but would be applied in different avatars across the different departments that the company might have, such as carpet-manufacturing, the sales division, the training department and so on. Basic differences between the two approaches As we have seen so far, a maximisation of profits is the founding principle behind an organisations rational approach. It is the more traditional way of functioning, and due to its emphasis on increasing revenues as the most important objective, it finds support and has for a long time in Wall Street. But given the vagaries of the market situation not just right now post the financial crisis, but for a while now, there had been the need for a more theoretical approach to strategic planning than simply a total profit = total revenue total cost way of thinking. This is where, apart from the previously discussed need for a holistic approach, Edward Pierce stepped in with his dynamic approach. The rational approach was an all-encompassing one that looked at business through a one-light prism of profit. The dynamic approach, at least according to me, represents a better view of the complex market scenario that is prevalent at present. Large businesses have taken the biggest hit in 60-o dd years. Small businesses on the other hand are continuing to face the future with a bright prospect. In such a situation, a low-cost, direct-result-oriented approach to strategic planning suits the needs of a market that is thriving more for smaller businesses than for large conglomerates. But even while saying this, the benefits of a rational approach despite its disadvantages are there for all to see, and have been for many years now. The main amongst these benefits are an improvement in sales and profitability. It should follow then that productivity would see a similar surge through the rational model. This might have held true earlier more than it does now. Right now, it is possibly the inclusive nature of the dynamic approach that can be best utilised to increase productivity. And this increased productivity today apart from a more harmonious working relationship between the different levels of management would lead to more sales and profitability later down the line. The problem that I have with the rational model is that to an extent, it is behind the credit crisis that we faced as a world a couple of years ago. The greed that operated in Wall Street the same greed that is the basis of the rational approach filtered down to Wall Street. The world at large lost its humane characteristic to a degree and hankered after immediate financial returns and benefits, which is what led to the crisis that we faced. The other problem with the rational approach is its non-inclusive nature. If we take the example of any global financial institution that was affected in the crisis be it Lehman Brothers or the Royal Bank of Scotland how much of it was due to the middle-income banker who sits at his terminal in Canary Wharf for example? How much of an idea did he or she have as to what was afoot in the top rungs of the ladder? More significantly, if such people did indeed have an idea of how harmful the trend of borrowing from mortgage brokers was becoming and were not party to it and had feasible arguments to counter and tackle it were their voices heard? I am guessing not, because it takes a middle-income banker with tremendous guts to walk through the door of, say, the vice-president and tell him or her that what he or she is doing possibly for greed if not on a personal level then on the companys behalf could later have ramifications that the entire world at large would reel under. Another advantage that the dynamic approach has over the rational approach is that because it is more human-oriented than the rational approach, which is more finance-oriented, there is a reduced resistance to change. This is of critical importance since in the rapidly evolving global market scenario, continually changing to adapt to situations is the need of the hour. Moreover, since larger multinationals have been exposed post the financial crisis (which is a necessary standpoint for any study of strategic planning in the present scenario) smaller organisations are seeing the light of day more than in the recent past. This means that evolving approaches to strategic planning should be geared in such a way that it suits the needs of these lesser organisations so that they can play their inevitably crucial role in getting the world back to where it was. That is possible more through a dynamic approach to the problem than a profit-oriented rational approach. In fact, the very word, dynamic, is a literary representation of the zeitgeist of our times.

Teen Pregnancy Issues in America

Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined greatly within the past few years, it is still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. These rates are still higher in the 1990's than they were only a decade ago. The United State's teenage birthrate exceeds that of most other industrialized nations, even though American teenagers are no more sexually active than teenagers are in Canada or Europe. Recent statistics concerning the teen birthrates are alarming. About 560,000 teenage girls give birth each year. Almost one-sixth of all births in the United States are to eenage women are to teenage women. Eight in ten of these births resulted from unintended pregnancies. (Gormly 347) By the age of eighteen, one out of four teenage girls will have become pregnant. (Newman 679) Although the onset of pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some teens are at higher risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. Teenagers who become sexually active at an earlier age are at a greater risk primarily because young teenagers are less likely to use birthcontrol. African-American and Hispanic teenagers are twice as likely to give birth as are white teenagers. Whites are more likely to have abortions. Teenagers who come from poor neighborhoods and attend segregated schools are at a high risk for pregnancy. Also, teenagers who are doing poorly in school and have few plans for the future are more likely to become parents than those who are doing well and have high educationsl and occupational expectations. Although the rate of teenage pregnancy is higher among low- income African-Americans and Hispanics, especially those in inner city ghettoes, the number of births to teenagers is highest among white, nonpoor young women who live in mall cities and towns. (Calhoun 309) In addition to the question of which teenagers become pregnant, interest is shown in the social consequences of early parenthood. Adolescent parents (mostly mothers) may find that they have a â€Å"lost or limited opportunity for education. (Johnson 4) The higher a woman's level of education, the more likely she is to postpone marriage and childbearing. Adolescents with little schooling are often twice as likely as those with more education to have a baby bafore their twentieth birthday. Some 58% of young women in he United States who receive less than a high school education give birth by the time they are twenty years old, compared with 13% of young women who complete at least twelve years of schooling. (Tunick 11) Teens who become pregnant during high school are more likely to drop out. Calhoun 310) A teen mother leaves school because she cannot manage the task of caring for a baby and studying, and a teen father usually chooses a job over school so that he can pay bills and provide for his child. (Johnson 4) Teen mothers usually have fewer resources than older mothers because they have had less time to gather avings or build up their â€Å"productivity† through work experience, education, or training. (Planned Parenthood 1) Because of this, teen mothers are generally poor and are dependent on government support. Newman 679) The welfare system is usually the only support a teen parent will receive. Welfare benefits are higher for families with absent fathers or dependent children. (Calhoun 309) In some cases, teen mothers may also receive help like Medicaid, Food Stamps, and â€Å"Aid to Families with Dependent Besides educational and financial problems, teenage mothers may face a great deal f emotional strain and may become very stressed. Teen mothers may have limited social contacts and friendships because they do not have time for anything other than their baby. Lack of a social life and time for herself may cause the teenage mother to become depressed or have severe mental anxiety. (Johnson 5) Depression may become worse for a teenage mother because she usually does not know much about child development or about how to care for their children. Children who are born to teenage mothers usually suffer from poor parenting. (Berk 188) Also, children of teenage parents start being exually active before their peers and they are more likely to become teenage parents themselves. These children may also suffer from financial difficulties similar to that of their parents. Children whose mothers are age seventeen or younger are three times as likely as their peers to be poor, and are likely to stay poor for a longer period of time. † (Calhoun 311) The children born to teenage mothers sometimes score lower on development tests than the children of older mothers. It seems that â€Å"rather than declining over time, educational deficits increase in severity and the children show lower academic chievement, higher drop out rates, and are more likely to be held back in school. † Teenage pregnancy comes with not only a child, but also many consequences. Teen mothers face greater health risks than older mothers, such as anemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, toxemia, premature delivery, cervical trauma, and even death. Many of these health risks are due to inadequate prenatal care and support, rather than physical immaturity. The teenage mother is more likely to be undernourished and suffer premature and prolonged labor. (Calhoun 311) The death rate from pregnancy omplications are much higher among girls who give birth under age fifteen. (Gormly 347) Poor eating habits, smoking, alcohol and drugs increase the risk of having a baby with health problems. Johnson 3) The younger the teenage mother is, the higher the chances are that she and her baby will have health problems. This is mainly due to late prenatal care (if any) and poor nutrition. (Planned Parenthood 1) An adolescent mother and her baby may not get enough nutrients and, because the mother's body is not fully mature, she may have many complications throughout the duration of the pregnancy. Along with the mother, the children of teenage parents too often become part of a cycle of poor health, school failure, and poverty. Infants born to teenage mothers are at a high risk of prematurity, fragile health, the need for intensive care, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. (Johnson 5) Low birth weight is the most immediate health problem. Babies born to teenagers are often born too small, too soon. Low birthweight babies may have immature organ systems (brain, lungs, and heart), difficulty controlling body temperature and blood sugar levels, and a risk of dying in early infancy that is much igher than that of normal weight babies (five and one-half pounds or more). Calhoun 310) â€Å"The death rate for babies whose mothers are under fifteen years of age is double that of babies whose mothers are twenty to thirty years old. † (Johnson 5) Because of these extremely serious problems, many government, as well as local, organizations are fighting to stop the occurence of teenage pregnancy by helping to educate children of the risks involved and the consequences after. Some research indicates that â€Å"the percentage of teenage birthrates has declined simply because fewer eenagers are having sexual intercourse and more adolescents are using contraceptives. Researchers say that the recent trends in sexual activity and contraceptive use are the result of a number of factors, including greater emphasis on abstinence, more conservative attitudes about sex, fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, the popularity of long-lasting birthcontrol methods such as the contraceptive implant (Norplant) and the injectable (Depo-Provera), and even because of the economy. In addition, researchers say that young people have become somewhat more conservative in their views about casual ex and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Some attribute this change in attitude mainly to concern about sexually transmitted diseases. Others say that it is because of the involvement of conservative religious groups in the public debate over sexual behavior. Many researchers believe that the strong economy and the increasing availability of jobs at minimum wage have contributed to fewer births among teenagers. (Donovan 32) Americans, however, seem to be against some of the methods used by these various organizations to reduce the teen pregnancy rates. The most controversial aspect of adolescent pregnancy prevention is the growing movement to provide teenagers with easy access to contraceptives. † Most Americans believe that giving teenagers birthcontrol pills and/or condoms is the same as telling them that early sex is allowed. Some studies that were conducted in Europe show that some clinics in Europe that distribute contraceptives to teenagers have the same sexual activity rate as in the United States. However, in these European studies, it is apparent that teen pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion rates are Teenage pregnancy does cause many problems for the mother, child, and economy. There are, however, some incidences where the mother overcomes this down-hill trend and makes a successful life for her and her child. The outcome of teenage pregnancy turns out better if the mother goes back to school after she has given birth. (Berk 190) Staying in school may help to prevent teenage mothers from having a second pregnancy. (Planned Parenthood 2) The outcome is also better if the mother continues to live with her parents so that they can help to raise the child. Young, teen mothers need health care for themselves as well as their children. An adolescent mother also needs a great deal of encouragement to get her to remain in school. Single teenage mothers also need job training so that they can get a good job to support themselves and their children. Teen mothers need to be taught parenting and life-management skills and also need high quality and affordable daycare for their children. Schools that provide daycare centers on campus reduce the incidence of teenagers dropping out of school. These school programs also ecrease the likelihood that the teen mother will have more children. Because the government has begun to take action in preventing teen pregnancies, the rate has continued to decline. The large numbers of young people in America–as well as the values, health, education, skills they gain–will greatly affect the future of society. Therefore, increased attention should be given to the well-being of adolescents. Since greater care is being given to the young people, improvements are already occuring. The level of education that young people receive is much higher than that of their parents, and he â€Å"expectation that young people should obtain at least some secondary schooling† is growing. The numbers of women who have a child during their teen years is declining, and recognizing the impact of childbearing on education, parents and communities are continuing to discourage sexual activity, marriage, and motherhood at a young age. (Tunick 13) These recent trends, if continued, will more than likely educate the adolescent population about the risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy and reduce the incicence of teen pregnancy and childbirth altogether. Teen Pregnancy Issues in America Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined greatly within the past few years, it is still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. These rates are still higher in the 1990's than they were only a decade ago. The United State's teenage birthrate exceeds that of most other industrialized nations, even though American teenagers are no more sexually active than teenagers are in Canada or Europe. Recent statistics concerning the teen birthrates are alarming. About 560,000 teenage girls give birth each year. Almost one-sixth of all births in the United States are to eenage women are to teenage women. Eight in ten of these births resulted from unintended pregnancies. (Gormly 347) By the age of eighteen, one out of four teenage girls will have become pregnant. (Newman 679) Although the onset of pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some teens are at higher risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. Teenagers who become sexually active at an earlier age are at a greater risk primarily because young teenagers are less likely to use birthcontrol. African-American and Hispanic teenagers are twice as likely to give birth as are white teenagers. Whites are more likely to have abortions. Teenagers who come from poor neighborhoods and attend segregated schools are at a high risk for pregnancy. Also, teenagers who are doing poorly in school and have few plans for the future are more likely to become parents than those who are doing well and have high educationsl and occupational expectations. Although the rate of teenage pregnancy is higher among low- income African-Americans and Hispanics, especially those in inner city ghettoes, the number of births to teenagers is highest among white, nonpoor young women who live in mall cities and towns. (Calhoun 309) In addition to the question of which teenagers become pregnant, interest is shown in the social consequences of early parenthood. Adolescent parents (mostly mothers) may find that they have a â€Å"lost or limited opportunity for education. (Johnson 4) The higher a woman's level of education, the more likely she is to postpone marriage and childbearing. Adolescents with little schooling are often twice as likely as those with more education to have a baby bafore their twentieth birthday. Some 58% of young women in he United States who receive less than a high school education give birth by the time they are twenty years old, compared with 13% of young women who complete at least twelve years of schooling. (Tunick 11) Teens who become pregnant during high school are more likely to drop out. Calhoun 310) A teen mother leaves school because she cannot manage the task of caring for a baby and studying, and a teen father usually chooses a job over school so that he can pay bills and provide for his child. (Johnson 4) Teen mothers usually have fewer resources than older mothers because they have had less time to gather avings or build up their â€Å"productivity† through work experience, education, or training. (Planned Parenthood 1) Because of this, teen mothers are generally poor and are dependent on government support. Newman 679) The welfare system is usually the only support a teen parent will receive. Welfare benefits are higher for families with absent fathers or dependent children. (Calhoun 309) In some cases, teen mothers may also receive help like Medicaid, Food Stamps, and â€Å"Aid to Families with Dependent Besides educational and financial problems, teenage mothers may face a great deal f emotional strain and may become very stressed. Teen mothers may have limited social contacts and friendships because they do not have time for anything other than their baby. Lack of a social life and time for herself may cause the teenage mother to become depressed or have severe mental anxiety. (Johnson 5) Depression may become worse for a teenage mother because she usually does not know much about child development or about how to care for their children. Children who are born to teenage mothers usually suffer from poor parenting. (Berk 188) Also, children of teenage parents start being exually active before their peers and they are more likely to become teenage parents themselves. These children may also suffer from financial difficulties similar to that of their parents. Children whose mothers are age seventeen or younger are three times as likely as their peers to be poor, and are likely to stay poor for a longer period of time. † (Calhoun 311) The children born to teenage mothers sometimes score lower on development tests than the children of older mothers. It seems that â€Å"rather than declining over time, educational deficits increase in severity and the children show lower academic chievement, higher drop out rates, and are more likely to be held back in school. † Teenage pregnancy comes with not only a child, but also many consequences. Teen mothers face greater health risks than older mothers, such as anemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, toxemia, premature delivery, cervical trauma, and even death. Many of these health risks are due to inadequate prenatal care and support, rather than physical immaturity. The teenage mother is more likely to be undernourished and suffer premature and prolonged labor. (Calhoun 311) The death rate from pregnancy omplications are much higher among girls who give birth under age fifteen. (Gormly 347) Poor eating habits, smoking, alcohol and drugs increase the risk of having a baby with health problems. Johnson 3) The younger the teenage mother is, the higher the chances are that she and her baby will have health problems. This is mainly due to late prenatal care (if any) and poor nutrition. (Planned Parenthood 1) An adolescent mother and her baby may not get enough nutrients and, because the mother's body is not fully mature, she may have many complications throughout the duration of the pregnancy. Along with the mother, the children of teenage parents too often become part of a cycle of poor health, school failure, and poverty. Infants born to teenage mothers are at a high risk of prematurity, fragile health, the need for intensive care, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. (Johnson 5) Low birth weight is the most immediate health problem. Babies born to teenagers are often born too small, too soon. Low birthweight babies may have immature organ systems (brain, lungs, and heart), difficulty controlling body temperature and blood sugar levels, and a risk of dying in early infancy that is much igher than that of normal weight babies (five and one-half pounds or more). Calhoun 310) â€Å"The death rate for babies whose mothers are under fifteen years of age is double that of babies whose mothers are twenty to thirty years old. † (Johnson 5) Because of these extremely serious problems, many government, as well as local, organizations are fighting to stop the occurence of teenage pregnancy by helping to educate children of the risks involved and the consequences after. Some research indicates that â€Å"the percentage of teenage birthrates has declined simply because fewer eenagers are having sexual intercourse and more adolescents are using contraceptives. Researchers say that the recent trends in sexual activity and contraceptive use are the result of a number of factors, including greater emphasis on abstinence, more conservative attitudes about sex, fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, the popularity of long-lasting birthcontrol methods such as the contraceptive implant (Norplant) and the injectable (Depo-Provera), and even because of the economy. In addition, researchers say that young people have become somewhat more conservative in their views about casual ex and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Some attribute this change in attitude mainly to concern about sexually transmitted diseases. Others say that it is because of the involvement of conservative religious groups in the public debate over sexual behavior. Many researchers believe that the strong economy and the increasing availability of jobs at minimum wage have contributed to fewer births among teenagers. (Donovan 32) Americans, however, seem to be against some of the methods used by these various organizations to reduce the teen pregnancy rates. The most controversial aspect of adolescent pregnancy prevention is the growing movement to provide teenagers with easy access to contraceptives. † Most Americans believe that giving teenagers birthcontrol pills and/or condoms is the same as telling them that early sex is allowed. Some studies that were conducted in Europe show that some clinics in Europe that distribute contraceptives to teenagers have the same sexual activity rate as in the United States. However, in these European studies, it is apparent that teen pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion rates are Teenage pregnancy does cause many problems for the mother, child, and economy. There are, however, some incidences where the mother overcomes this down-hill trend and makes a successful life for her and her child. The outcome of teenage pregnancy turns out better if the mother goes back to school after she has given birth. (Berk 190) Staying in school may help to prevent teenage mothers from having a second pregnancy. (Planned Parenthood 2) The outcome is also better if the mother continues to live with her parents so that they can help to raise the child. Young, teen mothers need health care for themselves as well as their children. An adolescent mother also needs a great deal of encouragement to get her to remain in school. Single teenage mothers also need job training so that they can get a good job to support themselves and their children. Teen mothers need to be taught parenting and life-management skills and also need high quality and affordable daycare for their children. Schools that provide daycare centers on campus reduce the incidence of teenagers dropping out of school. These school programs also ecrease the likelihood that the teen mother will have more children. Because the government has begun to take action in preventing teen pregnancies, the rate has continued to decline. The large numbers of young people in America–as well as the values, health, education, skills they gain–will greatly affect the future of society. Therefore, increased attention should be given to the well-being of adolescents. Since greater care is being given to the young people, improvements are already occuring. The level of education that young people receive is much higher than that of their parents, and he â€Å"expectation that young people should obtain at least some secondary schooling† is growing. The numbers of women who have a child during their teen years is declining, and recognizing the impact of childbearing on education, parents and communities are continuing to discourage sexual activity, marriage, and motherhood at a young age. (Tunick 13) These recent trends, if continued, will more than likely educate the adolescent population about the risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy and reduce the incicence of teen pregnancy and childbirth altogether.

Mmm Mmm Good The History of Campbells Soup

In 1869, fruit merchant Joseph Campbell and icebox manufacturer Abraham Anderson started the Anderson Campbell Preserve Company in Camden, New Jersey. By 1877, the partners realized each had different visions for the company. Joseph Campbell bought Anderson’s share and expanded the business to include ketchup, salad dressing, mustard, and other sauces. Ready-to-serve Beefsteak Tomato Soup became a Campbell’s best seller. Birth of the Campbells Soup Company In 1894, Joseph Campbell retired and Arthur Dorrance took over as company president. Three years later, soup history was made when Arthur Dorrance  hired his nephew John Dorrance. John held a chemistry degree from MIT and a Ph.D. from the University of Gottengen in Germany. He turned down more prestigious and better-paying teaching positions to work for his uncle. His Campbells salary was only $7.50 per week and he had to bring in his own lab equipment. However, John Dorrance soon made the Campbells Soup Company very famous. Chemist Arthur Dorrance Finds a Way to Shrink Soup Soups were inexpensive to make but very expensive to ship. Dorrance realized that if he could remove some of soups heaviest ingredient—water—he could create a formula for condensed soup and slash the price of soup from $.30 to $.10 per can. By 1922, soup was such an integral part of the companys presence in America, that Campbell’s formally accepted Soup into its name. The Mother of Campbell Kids The Campbell Kids have been selling Campbells Soup since 1904, when Grace Wiederseim Drayton, an illustrator and writer, added some sketches of children to her husband’s advertising layout for a Campbells condensed soup. The Campbell advertising agents loved the child appeal and choose Mrs. Wiederseim’s sketches as trademarks. In the beginning, Campbell Kids were drawn as ordinary boys and girls, later, Campbell Kids took on the personas of policemen, sailors, soldiers, and other professions. Grace Wiederseim Drayton will always be the mother of Campbell Kids. She drew for the company advertising for nearly twenty years. Drayton’s designs were so popular that doll makers wanted to capitalize on their popularity. Campbells gave the E. I. Horsemen Company the license to market dolls with the Campbell label on their sleeves. Horseman even secured two U.S. design patents for the dolls’ clothes. Today, Campbell’s Soup Company, with its famous red and white label, remains a staple in the kitchen as well as American culture.

A Tale Of Glass Menagerie And The Grandmother From A Good Man

After reading so many good works of poetry and plays one begins to connect the dots on a certain trope of characters. Many different pieces of art use the headstrong character that usually gets others into trouble. A couple of characters come to mind when thinking about that trope such as Amanda Wingfield from The Glass Menagerie and the grandmother from A Good Man is Hard to Find. Amanda Wingfield is a single mother that stays home and takes care of her two kids. The grandmother is a Godly woman who lives with her family of five. On the surface these two woman look like they do not have anything in common, but they are all too similar. They both love to recollect their days in the past and they always fought so they would have their own way. The only difference among the two is that Amanda genuinely cared for her family while the grandmother only cared for herself. Though these two women meant well in their own minds neither of them ended up getting what they wanted. Amanda never su ccessfully found a gentleman caller for her daughter and the grandmother along with her family’s lives ended abruptly by a murderer. Neither of these woman got a happy ending like they wanted maybe having their head stuck into the past was not such a bad thing after all. Throughout both of these works one thing is very clear that both of these women live in the past. Amanda goes on about how she was a young Southern Belle with all these gentleman callers she did not even know what to do with.Show MoreRelatedFlannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find1171 Words   |  5 Pages When one first begins to read A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, one is assailed by the humorous petty grievances of a mother living under her son’s roof disrespected by her grandchildren and lonely in a house filled with people, clutching at memories of days long passed similar to the Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie. As the story unfolds one begins to see th e indifference of Bailey toward his family in general and especially his mother—rightly so, as the ‘old lady’Read MoreSummary Of Being The Token Negro2188 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"That was a big thing in the South. You’re white, and even if you’re a Jew, since you’re white you’re better than a so-called colored. Well, I didn’t feel number one with nobody but him, and I didn’t give a hoot that he was black. He was kind! He was good! I knew that!† p. 113 This is a perfect example demonstrating how everyone is equal regardless of his/her skin color. People are so quick to judge an individual based on his/her skin color and race that they overlook the fact to get to know the person