Econ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Econ - Essay Example Economic problems and such as recession naturally happen subject to correction by the economy itself. Keynes, on the other hand, argued for a more reactive response from the government because without it unemployment will only extend. To battle this, government intervention is necessary because fiscal policies can stimulate the economy. The state cannot wait for the self-correction of prices and wages. Developed during the Great Depression, this theory assumes that prolonged unemployment will only hurt the economy. The solution to a swift revitalization to overcome a recession is by implementing government spending from taxes. This multiplies aggregate demand to get closer to a leveled real Gross Domestic Product. To prevent staggering inflation, the government only needs to increase taxes or decrease spending (Cliffnotes n.p.). From the fiscal policy of the United States during the current economic recession, we see that the government applies a more interventional approach in hopes of invigorating the low level of unemployment and to impede it from prolonging. This now could lead to a ‘crowding out’ because of higher interest rates which reduces investment and consumer expenditures that are affected by it. This diminishes the merits of the fiscal policy as implemented by the government (Cliffnotes n.p.). Bibliography Baumol, William J. and Alan S. Blinder.

English Traffic Light Curious Incident Essay Example for Free

English Traffic Light Curious Incident Essay Mark Haddon uses Christopher’s explanation of his confusion to create sympathy for Christopher throughout the book. Christopher is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. Christopher is extremely intelligent when it comes to maths and science. However, in the common cases of communicating normally, he struggles. He rejects being touched, and when he has absorbed too much information, he can’t handle it; he crouches on the floor and groans. His life is not a normal one; he goes to a special school, has no one he talks to who is of the same age, follows a strict timetable and lives alone with his father. This thing that Haddon has included creates endless sympathy for Christopher. In Chapter 29, Christopher reveals and justifies why he hates metaphors. He thinks that metaphors ‘should be called a lie because a pig is not like a day and people do not have skeletons in their cupboards. ’ This is an example of how Christopher doesn’t think like other people. This makes you have sympathy for him because he doesn’t understand that metaphors are used for; making things more interesting, to make more sense of things by finding similarities. In addition, Christopher’s tone, narrative voice, also contributes to the sympathy for Christopher. The very easy and comprehensible language uses makes you understand how he thinks; ‘And then it started to rain and I got wet and I started shivering because I was cold. And then it was 11:32 p. m. and I heard voices of people walking along the street. ’ After each chapter in the book, which go up in prime numbers, with parts of the actual story, Christopher tends to babble on about memories, calculations and ideas, which sometimes can be slightly boring. Nonetheless; they show how Christopher thinks. This makes you feel sympathy for him because he clearly finds it difficult to focus on one thing; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favourite book. ’ And it shows that he can only understand maths and science because that’s mainly what he always talks about. Furthermore, the way Christopher expresses his love for his father is different from the usual hug; ‘He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out I a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people, so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me. ’ This makes you feel sympathy for him because he can’t spread simple signs and messages to communicate love to people in the same way you’d expect or would find normal. Moreover, he has a strict routine timetable which is unlike others; (pg 192) To add to it, he finds it hard to distinguish between a smiling face and a crying one. (pg2)

E-commerce techniques used by Toyota Motor Corporation

E-commerce techniques used by Toyota Motor Corporation This report discusses the details of conducting a long-term comparison and analysis of the Automotive Industry-Covisint, specifically focusing on Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). The purpose of this comparison and analyses is to examine e-commerce techniques used by Toyota Motor Corporation. TMC has become the worlds largest automotive manufacturer in regards to sales and production (Schmitt, 2011). With innovative developments such as QR technology and use of e-commerce practices within their corporation, Toyota has become a leader with automotive practices. The practice of e-commerce in the automotive industry has lead to increased savings, profits, and productivity. Its greatest impact within the automotive industry has been in the manufacturing process. E-commerce enables companies to alter their ways in sectors such as Supply Chain Management (SCM) and B2B transactions. Covisnt is a global wide online marketplace for the automotive industry. Ford, GM and Daimler-Chrysler launched Covisint in 1999 with intentions to become an online exchange for supply chain management participants. The online auctioning portal allowed corporations to compete for customers based on buying needs such as price, quality and delivery time. Since Toyotas formation in the 1930s, Toyota has grown to expand into international operations. Despite various obstacles such as recalls and labor disruptions, Toyota has continued to successfully increase production while making efficient decisions within their corporation. Aside from automobile technologies, TMC has also developed technologies that have grown into industries outside of the automotive sector. Such technologies include QR technology, which is a 2D barcode that contains information in both vertical and horizontal directions, unlike traditional barcodes where information is only stored in one direction. QR technology was initially designed for automobile parts tracking, but has become a common social media trait in outside companies. The Toyota Production System has also grown to become a standard in many industries. The practice of using people as people and not as machines has become a success story for Toyota, while being credited as one of factors in Toyotas succe ss. ERP technology has also been a B2B and ERP integration model that has been growing within the automotive sector. E-commerce techniques such as online auctions and paperless transactions, has lead to reduced costs and increased efficiency. The technology has demonstrated to be effective with manufacturing processes and building relationships with buyers suppliers. Aside from B2B interactions, TMC conducts B2C activities. Goals and objectives for TMC are strived towards with the use of business plans, cases, revenue models and value propositions. Identifying strategic partnerships with suppliers will further increase cost savings, create higher quality products and ensure technological advancements. Focusing on e-commerce tools such as cloud computing can be used for information exchange on a global scale. Social networking should also be invested into for global communication. With strong relationships, collaborative goals and shared vision will achieve greater profits for all participants. To ensure TMC remains the worlds largest automobile manufacturer, an investment into its forward thinking culture must be maintained. Historical Background: B2b automotive industry history of covisint Ford, GM and Daimler-Chrysler launched an online marketplace for the global automotive industry by the name of Covisint in 1999. The inintial development of Covisint was to created to act as an online exchange for manufacturers and supply chain members. Covisint encompasses three areas of the vertical buy-side e-markets including e-procurement, supply chain management and e-development. Between 2000 and 2001, manufacturers Renault, Nissan, and PSA Peugeot had joined as investors in Covisint. Also during 2001, Ford saved $70 million in procurement costs by using Covisint (Konicki, 2001). Alongside Covisint, various other e-marketplaces were being developed to source and produce goods. The competition of other e-marketplaces caused a concern for Covisint, who then rebranded its image and services as an automotive industry software solutions provider and standards body (E-Marketplace Evolution). Covisints first step in its plan was to target online auction technologies since auction-driven e-marketplaces were the most popular business-to-business purchasing technology at the time. By using online auctions, corporations had the ability to work with competing suppliers within one platform. With competition, corporations could choose the best fit for their buying needs based on price, quality and/or delivery time. Online auctioning has been credited as an evolution changer as the success for e-marketplaces are based on supplier sourcing and price negotiation. Historical Background: Toyota Motor Corporation In the early 1930s, Kiichiro Toyoda began a trip to the US to learn about the automotive industry. Upon returning home to Japan from a trip Toyoda made from the US visiting carious automotive production plants, Toyoda decided to open up an automobile division named Toyoda at his fathers loom factory. By 1935, the first vehicle prototype was created, while establishments of research centres were made by the mid 1940s. Following World War II in 1945, Toyoda was rebranded as Toyota. Rather than following the American footsteps in producing medium-large sized vehicles, Toyota decided to focus on working towards the creation of small cars. Doing so gave Toyota leverage in the automobile market as the only leader in small-sized vehicles. It was in 1949 when Toyota was confronted a labor and management conflict because of an imbalance in sales and payroll resulting in Toyota paying employees with long-term promissory notes rather than cash (History of Toyota). After the resignation of President Kiichiro Toyoda as well as the executive staff, Eiji Toyoda and Shoichi Saito replaced their positions. Both executives visited the US in anticipation of learning the ways of production in the automotive industry. Toyota discovered international growth during the 1980s when the corporation was ranked second in worldwide production levels. During the 1980s, TMC became more involved with the American culture and joined forces with General Motors to create a manufacturing firm called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (History of Toyota). It was also during this time when Toyota announced American production facilities as part of their expansion. In 1992, Toyota ownership was transferred to Totsuro Toyoda. TMC had experienced an economic downturn during the recession, resulting in declining profits between 1991-1994. With new ownership, programs were implemented for reducing costs in various areas by 50 percent and production costs were reduced by transferring production to oversea markets (History of Toyota). At the time Toyota president Hiroshi Okuda, introduced Toyotas New Global Business Plan as a way to place focus on innovation and international expansion (History of Toyota). Toyotas New Global Business Plan objective was to localize production, and increase market share. Aside from production facilities, Toyota demonstrated initiatives in eliminating landfill waste and regulating stricter environmental practices. With Toyotas extensive growth in international markets such as Canada, India, UK, France and Turkey and China, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has grown to be one of the worlds largest automobile companies. By the year 2000, Toyota became the largest car company in Japan, while holding the 3rd position worldwide. toyota production system During the late 1950s, Taichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo had established the Toyota Production System (ToyoLand, 2011). Also known as lean manufacturing, the Toyota Production System was based on the theory that people should be used as people and not as machinery. Its concept was based on Fords manufacturing system; Ohno and Shingo had analyzed Fords system to determine where problems were occurring. During the initial stages, Ford had a number of problems dealing with the treatment of its people as machines. The Toyota Production System is made up of Jidoka and just-in-time production (ToyoLand, 2011). As illustrated in Appendix A, the concept of Jidoka is based on automation with a human touch (Toyota, 2011). Jidoka ensures that defects do not pass through the production process, eliminating the production of defective products (ToyoLand, 2011). Just-in-time production focuses on making what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed (Toyota, 2011). Reducing the amount of products in inventory not only reduces required maintenance, but also reduces capital costs and allows for ease in technological advancements. Not only has the system been effective for Toyota, it has been implemented in a range of industries around the world. QR COdes In 1994, QR Codes were developed by Denso-Wave. QR Codes were originally created for tracking automotive parts in vehicle manufacturing (Wave, 2010). Its Quick Response concept was based on 2D symbols, similar to traditional barcodes. It functioned using scanner equipment, where the information contained in the symbol was contained in both vertical and horizontal directions, whereas traditional bar codes contain data in only one direction (Wave, 2010). Presently, QR codes are used in areas beyond the vehicle manufacturing line and are implemented into a range of industries including entertainment, technology, social media, and much more. Specifically in the automotive industry, QR Codes are used as shipping labels and receipts containing customer information, product identification, shipping addresses and much more. QR Codes proved to be beneficial due to significant cost reductions and greater efficiency. how e-commerce has changed the industry The rapid advent of e-commerce has resulted in dramatic changes within the business environment. Due to the unique structure of the technologies, there are more opportunities for businesses to benefit from those advances. Using e-commerce related technologies, a businesses can reach their potential suppliers and consumers worldwide. The automotive industry has benefited significantly from the advancement of e-commerce. General Motors, one of the worlds largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries (General Motors Company, 2011). The industry has come to adopt e-commerce technologies by implementing Business-to-Business, and Supply chain integration models. By using the Business-to-Business model, automotive vehicle manufacturers have achieved efficiency in their daily operations. A typical B2B transaction within the automotive industry can be illustrated by an automakers need for direct material purchases from suppliers, while also having the ability to conduct sales. After the B2B related technology has been widely implemented in the industry, automotive companies are able to save costs by eliminating paper-based systems, and reducing the usage of mailroom staff. Also B2B concepts have assisted companies reduce the potential errors made by the employees in order to improve the companys data accuracy. Without an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system in place, the company would face a potential loss. EDIs can define and transfer standard data without human intervention. Finally, implementing a B2B model can improve the relationship between automobile manufacturers and suppliers in order to reduce procurement costs and improve efficie ncy. For example, Ford cooperated with its competitors creating an auto-exchange website (Covisint) to assist dealers meet suppliers online. By adopting a supply chain integration model, the automotive industry is able to manage information efficiently and create a smooth flow to distributors, suppliers, internal divisions and customers. Majority of automotive manufacturers are using ERP and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems in addition to managing their supply chain management process. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an industry term for the broad set of activities that helps a business manages the important parts of its business (The, PP. 123). The results obtained from ERP can assist managers evaluate the companys performance and see if it meets corporate objectives. CRM is a model built to help organizations reach customers easily and receive feedback. Since this model integrates customers information to the overall enterprise, the supply chain management is improved efficiently. In the automotive industry, e-commerce platforms are commonly used for automakers to buy material online from suppliers. For instance, Ford uses the system to divide the supplier for different levels based the components of a car. When the firm needs to buy systems or seats, the firm would inform first layer suppliers through its e-procurement platform. With that methodology, Ford can improve its relationship with suppliers, save transaction costs and reduce its inventory levels. industry analysis: current possible future state Current Covisints portal allows participants such as manufacturers and suppliers to trade based on a standardized process. The goal of the Covisint is to create a standardized industry system that any manufacturer and its partners can access. In 2001, Covisint hosted 1,400 auctions, which led to over $51 billion worth of transactions (E-marketplace evolution, 2006). Covisint has currently extended its services to providing a range of applications for its customers. Unlike its original approach of creating revenues based on subscriptions and/or transactions fees from its e-marketplace, Covisint now generates revenues through its extended applications services. Design collaboration, procurement, supply chain management, quality control and portal solutions are some of the extended applications apart of Covisints growth. In order to remain ahead of competition, corporations such as Covisint have begun to increase investment budgets for B2B infrastructures. By investing into new technologies, changes in day-to-day management practices can be shifted to increase efficiency and quality. Also, investment in B2B services can increase the variety of business interactions. Foreign automobile manufacturers are also entering the automotive industry, causing a threat to older corporations, such as Toyota Motor Corporation. The automotive industry faces a large amount of competition, where many factors may influence consumer and supplier decisions. Changes in technologies impact corporations based on their situation analysis. With increased technological advancements, a company may position themselves effectively while focusing on a specific target market. porters five forces Analysis Porters Five Forces (Appendix B) are significantly affected with the advent of technology enabling business to e-business and can be examined in respect to the automotive industry. Threat of New Entrants (Low):  New entrants, specifically foreign corporations, in the automotive industry serve as a threat. With low capital, knowledge and experience, corporations face a difficulty in staying ahead of the positioning curve. Using B2B models, corporations face an easier entry point, as companies are able to outsource more easily. Bargaining power of Suppliers (Low): The power of suppliers is limited and has been determined to be in the hands of the automaker, who chooses to do business with the supplier. If the automaker were to dispose of the supplier, the supplier may be left in a troubled situation. As a result it is important as a supplier to reach and maintain demands/requirements of the purchasing partner. Bargaining power of Buyers (High): The automotive industry faces a great amount of bargaining power by buyers with their influence in automobile prices. With such a competitive market, prices are based on supply and demand. With real time access to information such as research and design, buyer power will begin to increase. Threat of Substitutes (High):  Based on the automakers target market, the threat of substitutes may be a concern. Substitutes include public transit, airplanes, or possibly a competing company who manufactures a different style automobile. Gas prices also act as an influence to substitutes, as one car may cost less than another based on fuel needs. Competitive Rivalry within the industry (Low): The automotive industry is an oligopoly, where the industry is controlled by a small group of firms/corporations. Price based competition is not the focus of competition, but emphasis in value added services have grown with automobile corporations. future possible state Businesses worldwide now use B2B e-commerce to buy over a trillion dollars in goods and services yearly (Boeth, 2009). By shifting the B2B automotive network to a cloud based environment, the future industry can expect reduced costs. Social networking tools are more readily available to help improve alliances and cooperation amongst trading partners worldwide. As technology continues to advance, communication structures enhance communication security, enabling industries such as the automotive sector to share confidential information securely. With an emphasis on an organizations bottom line structure, the practice of outsourcing operations to emerging countries such as India and China is increasing. The future success of B2B in the automotive sector rests within its ability to connect the online marketplace with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. With the use of ERP platforms, costs an organization may incur can be reduced, while improving inventory management and developing positive global relationships around the world. toyota motor corporation: swot analysis A SWOT analysis is used to establish the efficiency of e-commerce within Toyota Motor Corporation, as well as any potential improvements that can be implemented. strengths Toyota Motor Corporation is an established international company and a manufacturing leader in the automotive industry. This allows its efforts in electronic commerce to be powerfully employed. The corporation is specialists in integrating B2B and B2C e-commerce into its business activities. The formation and employment of QR codes has provided TMC with a considerable lead in the automotive industry, ultimately decreasing costs and generating greater efficiency. The companys online showroom allows potential consumers to view the vehicles in customized forms by changing colour and allowing them to read up on added accessories and interior details. These showrooms ultimately promote purchase decisions. By using the internet, TMC has efficiently implemented online storefronts for vehicle purchasing. Toyota also has a strong system of reusing and salvaging parts through the use of e-commerce. Used parts are sold on the web through distributors, as seen in Appendix C. weaknesses Although the company has implemented online showrooms, consumers are unable to make the final purchase. The online storefront allows consumers to select and research the vehicle they wish to purchase, but cannot do so without visiting a certified dealership which they are shown at the end of their purchasing decision. There is room for more advancement in the e-commerce world by allowing consumers to search, purchase, and have a vehicle delivered to the home, ultimately eliminating the absolute need for a brick-and-mortar dealership where the purchasing process is traditionally completed. opportunities Continual international growth through e-commerce is attainable. There is demand for environmentally friendly vehicles, an area of strength for Toyota. By recognizing the extent of this demand, Toyota can use e-commerce to exploit it through online advertising and promotions (Bradbury, 2010). The internet has a great potential in reaching large audiences effectively while being efficient for both the seller and buyer, therefore marketing opportunities are forever huge. There is also room for improvement in regards to manufacturing efficiency by developing social networking concepts and mobile computing practices in order to strengthen relationships with suppliers and buyers. threats The external environment is what ultimately provides threats to any particular business, and Toyota is not an exception. These threats can fall into several categories including; reduced demand for the offered products, inability to meet consumer needs, and competition. Higher gas prices affects the demand for vehicles, making e-commerce efforts which have been promoting growth within TMC, become less effective (Bradbury, 2010). Competition in the automotive industry in respect to e-commerce is major, therefore Toyota must be sure to continuously improve and keep up-to-date with its rivals in terms of e-commerce implementation. By doing so, TMCs efforts in the e-commerce perspective will not be undermined. firm industry e-commerce effectiveness Improvements The Toyota Production System (TPS), also known as lean manufacturing, has become a system looked up to by the automotive industry and has also been implemented into a range of industries on a global scale. This lean initiative not only dominates the automotive industry but has recently has gone beyond the shop floor to white-collar offices and is even spreading to service industries (Likert, 2006). The recognition comes from the fact that with the use of TPS, Toyota continues to produce high quality vehicles faster and for less cost than most of its competition, which results in greater overall profits. They also manage more new vehicle launches annually than most of their competitors, thus creating a steady flow of high quality new products to meet consumer demand (Likert, 2006). Alan Miialty, who took over as CEO of Ford in 2006 was quoted the following about TMC, Theyre arguably the finest manufacturing company in the world, Ive been a student of the Toyota Production System for m y 37 years at Boeing. Ive been to Japan 47 times (Chappell, 2007). Underlying the Toyota Production System are the involvements of people, processes and technology. The Toyota Production System requires underlying principles that effectively integrate many aspects of the organization including people, processes and technology. Toyota is able to accomplish this by creating a learning culture across the organization to include continual, comprehensive, and coordinated effort for change and learning across the organization (Likert, 2006). The use of e-commerce initiatives has contributed to the success of the Toyota Production System. Planning Perspective CEO John Henke Jr. surveyed 231 Tier 1 suppliers, where suppliers graded six automakers based on categories such as: willingness to help suppliers cut costs, pay suppliers for cancelled programs and reward top suppliers with new business (Sherefkin, 2009). Although Toyota has always finished with top marks historically, Honda recently dethroned them in a North American survey as having the best supplier relations in the annual ranking. Honda, Toyota and Nissan remain above the industry average in supplier relations, while the Detroit 3 are below average (Sherefkin, 2009). Toyota engages e-commerce tools such as Covisint to emphasize its relationship management with its suppliers. As studies have shown, large hub firms are able to exercise power over their tier 1 (direct) suppliers (spoke firms) with an estimated 80% to 90% of tier 1 suppliers receiving or using EDI i n Australia (Tanewski et al., 2003). Although Covisint has focused on using XML Technology rather EDI (Tierney, 2004), the examples from Australia show the willingness of business-to-business e-commerce with both OEM manufacturers and suppliers. The use of Covisint allows Toyota to share information electronically with its tier 1 suppliers with lower transaction cost, therefore maintaining its lean production system. The transaction cost perspective is that the firm focus on more than just production costs, but also the associated transaction costs to do business, which include all search and information costs, as well as the costs of monitoring and enforcing contractual performance (Robins, 1987: 69). Prior to the development of Covisint, suppliers were using multiple software packages and file exchange formats to communicate with the different OEM manufacturers for engineering design information (Tanewski et al, 2003). This problem was addressed within the framework of Covisint en suring the benefits of this e-commerce exchange to be benefitted by all its members. Suppliers like Denso, makers of components for fuel saving hybrids, have also flourished due to their cooperation with of Toyota and will likely continue as they strive to become more of a global player. President Koichi Fukaya of Denso recently stated, Its Toyota first, Toyota is our biggest shareholder and originally like our father. Toyota holds a 21 percent stake in Denso and accounts for half of the auto suppliers sales (Greimel, 2007). Keeping close contact with trading-partners like suppliers and information systems portals like Covisint, as well as industry groups has been extremely helpful for manufacturers to lower its costs. Only in this way can manufacturer avoid very costly or rush projects necessary to stay in step with the industry and its customers (Piszczalski, 2003). Covisint has capitalized with the use of the internet to ensure these multi-million dollar auctions run more efficiently. By utilizing the internet compared to traditional fax machine based communicatio n, online auctions can be finished in as little as 10 minutes. Typically, Covisints average auction lasts about 45 minutes, and allows suppliers to instantly see what others are bidding so they know how much to adjust their own price (Loftus, 2002). The ability to see the pricing of other suppliers have both positive and negative impact, as the speed of these auctions, suppliers are warned to know what their lowest possible bid will be before an auctionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as there is hardly enough time to crunch the numbers if the prep work hasnt been done (Loftus, 2002). Significant savings can be realized by Toyota through the online auction function, as well as the progression into paperless purchasing transactions. In 2001, Ford revealed that it had conducted 65 online auctions for the year. The auctions helped Ford save about 19 percent, or $38 million, on purchases worth $200 million (Sedgwick, 2001). The growth of Covisint will only help facilitate greater cooperation and adaptation from both OEM manufacturers and its suppliers in all tier levels. In turn all the manufacturers involved, including Toyota, will realize greater profitability and faster production time. Toyota Motor corporation: e-commerce key concepts Toyota Motor Corporation has exemplified in the field of e-commerce. The corporation has implemented e-commerce concepts targeted towards maintaining strong relationships with their consumers, suppliers, and buyers. TMC has included B2B as well as B2C uses in their e-commerce activities. With the use of business plans, business cases, revenue models and value propositions, TMC has strived towards achieving business goals, benefits, and revenue growth. Aside from Toyotas involvement in Covisint, Toyota has generated their own line of electronic marketplaces targeted for private, public, and consortia sources. Toyotas involvement in business-to-business e-commerce includes transactions for direct materials. Common direct materials purchased and supplied by Toyota include automotive parts for the production of vehicles. Toyotas e-commerce trades are based on vertical marketplaces as they are dealt with only the automotive industry. In the year 2000, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that they would not conduct affiliated e-commerce practices. Based on Toyotas marketplace position, the internet as a middleman was not required, rather they would pursue in the intention of independent business-to-consumer e-commerce activities (Greenberg, 2000). The e-Toyota division was created in January 2002 with intentions of strengthening Toyotas B2C relationship. e-Toyotas components included TID (Toyota Internet Drive) and GAZOO.com (Fujitsu). An illustration of TID can be found in Appendix D. GAzzo.com Toyotas approach of business-to-consumer activities increased during the launch of GAZOO.com. GAZOO, an independent B2C website created by Toyota, was targeted towards prospective and current Toyota consumers. The website offers browsers e-tailing, internet malls, communication forums, vehicle information and much more (Toyota, 2002). Its plans included expanding into online brokering, financing, insurance, and dealers for future automobile purchases. GAZOO developers focused on creating a membership based website, where users obtained free membership by trading personal information. Based on data-mining techniques, Toyota discovered that 13.6 percent of website visitors purchased a Toyota vehicle within 6 months of accessing the webpage (Greenberg, 2000). Towards the end of the year 2000, GAZOOs membership numbers hiked to approximately one million, from its previous 430,000 in the end of 1999. Projected e-commerce revenues by 2003 were US$5billion (Greenberg, 2000). environmental initiative Toyota does not come short when working towards saving the environment. In 2001 Toyota announced their newest B2B e-commerce program. With the use of exchanges and auctioning, Toyotas recycling initiative introduced its promotion for reusing repaired/replaced automotive parts (Toyota, 2011). Used parts are sold nationwide online through part distributers. Appendix C illustrates Toyotas strategy in using e-commerce as part of its recycling initiative. G-book The development of Toyotas G-BOOK in Japan, which was based off of GAZOO, enabled subscribers to connect with navigation, news, weather, entertainment and much more (Toyota, 2002). G-BOOKs design provided information through wireless terminals connected to the Toyota vehicle internally. The technology was later introduced in both Toyota and Lexus line of vehicles. Its e-commerce component included its storefront for purchasing merchandise from GAZOOs Internet mall. e-crb (customer relationship building) Toyota Motor Corporation announced in e-CRB (customer relationship building) in 2004, serving as an e-commerce version for CRM (customer relationship management) (Toyota, 2004). The initiative was based on the G-BOOK technology. The objective of e-CRB was defined as improving the customer service relationships between dealers and consumers. e-CRB focused on improving customer service between the two parties, no matter their location in the world. Community activities Toyota Motor Corporation stands strong behind their motto Make Things Better (Toyota, 2011). Online and offline, Toyota has continued to portray a positive image in involvement in a range of activities affecting the future of the well being of others. According to Toyota Motor Corporations corporate website, the following are examples of Toyotas community involvements: Educational Contributions (ie. Scholarships, improvements) Safety Contributions (Rehabilitation clinics) Special Olympics Canada National Games Environmental Initiatives Volunteering Conclusion This

Henrik Isbens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House Essays

The expectations imposed upon Nora were created by society and her husband. In the nineteenth century women had few alternatives to marriage; they were not expected to step beyond their roles as housewife and mother. Females were confined in every way imaginable. Women were limited by their identities as it relates to society and their husband’s expectations. On page 1571, Mrs. Linde says to Nora ‘A wife can’t borrow money without her husband’s consent.’ Mrs. Linde expects Nora has gotten the money through other means; either the lottery or other indiscreet means. It wasn’t expected that women with a little business know-how could derive ways to earn or borrow money. Torvald treats Nora like a doll. He calls her by all manner of names: squirrel, silly child, lark, songbird. The names he uses directly relates to how Torvald feels about her at the time. He tends to treat her views and opinions as less than important or trifling. Torvald doesn’t want Nora spending too much money at Christmas. Nora wants to borrow against his upcoming promotion and subsequent raise in salary. Torvald states on page 1565 ‘Are your scatterbrains off again? What if today I borrowed a thousand crowns, and you squandered them over Christmas week.’ On the rare occasion when Torvald gives her money, he is concerned tha t she will waste it on candy and pastry. Nora asks Torvald what her most sacred vows are and he responds ‘And I have to tell you that! Aren’t they duties to your husband and children?’ Later on he states Before all else, you’re a wife and mother. Torvald states that her sacrifice for him was nothing. He states on page 1611 ‘I’d gladly work day and night, Nora, and take on pain and deprivation. But there’s no one who gives up honor for love. Torvald reveals his true feelings, which put appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife, whom he says he loves. Nora states on page 1611 ‘you neither think nor talk like the man I could join myself to. When your big fright was over – and it wasn’t from any threat against me, only for what might damage you – when all the danger was past, for you it was as if nothing had happened. I was exactly the same, your little lark, your little doll that you’d have to handle with double care now that I’d turned out so brittle and frail.

Eating Disorders - Womens Magazines and Cinderella Essay -- Argument

Women's Magazines and Cinderella      Ã‚   In the world today much of the literature aimed at the feminine audience keeps us trapped in the role of "Cinderella." We think of ourselves as the poor, helpless, and uncared for woman who needs to be saved. The covers, the advertisements, and most articles in women's magazines reinforce what it means to be an ideal woman in today's society.    Pick up most any feminine magazine in your grocery store today, and it will define for you what it to be feminine in the year 2000. It defines most women as being slim happy wives, with great careers and wonderful children. One example of this journalistic nonsense is the magazine Redbook. The covers read like a map to any woman's (or man's) fairytale life. Headlines like "Burn Fat Faster at 25, 35, 45" (169) and "Perfect Skin: 77 quick tricks"(cover November) encourage us to be the best we can be in his eyes. Another headline tells us why it Rosie O'Donnell may never be slim (cover November). Why should she be? She's perfect, but n... ...f Leslie Jane Seymour, publishers Hearst Communications, Inc.. Redbook advertisement by Virginia Slim volume #192 November 1999, Pg. 12 Virginia Slims advertisement, Editor-in-Chief Leslie Jane Seymour, publishers Hearst Communications, Inc. Sommers, Jeff and Lewiecki-Wilson, Cynthia, From Community to College, Reading and Writing Across Diverse Contexts, authors and published by St. Martin's Press 1996, quote found on pg. 114 in "Listening" an essay by Sey Chassler, published in 1984 in MS. Magazine

Foucauldian Studies and HRM Essay

When considering about human resource management (HRM) being understood as discourse, it is necessary to connect Foucault’ s theory on discourse with employee selection as a crucial part of human resource management. Though Foucault himself not a specialist in HRM, it appears that numerous organization studies scholars tend to drawn on Foucault’s ideas for the purpose of re-analyzing and re-understanding HRM. (Barrantt, 2001) The reason is that Foucault’s understanding of the relationship between discourse, truth and power implies how we should regard HRM from different perspective and put it into re-consideration. Generally, discourse could be understand as ‘ a set of concepts, expressions and statements that constitutes a way of talking or writing about an aspect of the world, thus framing the way people understand and act with regard to that aspect of the world’ (Watson, 2002: 118). And in Foucault’s view, discourse is a flexible term. In one of Foucault’ s book, The Archaeology of Knowledge, published in 1969, was an outstanding work of post-structuralism example. He believes that discourse is a statement unity. It talks about the statement (enonce), which is a rule for the discursive expression to become meaningful. In Foucault’ s view, the statement has some special archeological meanings. The rules give the meaning of its existence. The meaning of the statement is dependent on the context where it presents. So discursive framing provide a language to representing a topic (Foucault, 1969). So discourse is more than language. It is the way we understand or interpret the world. Due to discourse is shaped or unshaped by society and culture, there are various discourses. The same as for HRM, it can be understand and interpreted from a different perspective. There is no doubt that Foucaultdian studies give new understanding of HRM. This paper will analyze and critically think of three contributions of reframing HRM Foucaultdian studies give. The first part will analyze human resource management as discourse. It focuses on how Foucualtdiansm understand HRM in different perspectives. The second part will discuss the relationship between HRM and power, which includes how Foucault decodes power, its relationship with knowledge or truth, and how HRM associated with power. The third part will focus on one important aspect of HRM, employee selection, to explore how employee selection can be understood and interpret in different ways. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn based on previous discussion. HRM as Discourse Generally, HRM are treated as a set of practices that regard human as resource to achieve companies’ targets or interests. It is a product of modern society. From managerial perspective, human resource management featured with ‘rationality, optimism and authoritarianism’ (Legge, 1995). Numerous scholars have explored human resource management from Foucualdian perspective. Generally, the discourse in HRM is associated with power. Poole (1999) argued that it is probably happened that the discursive analysis contains the description of the HRM discourse related occasion. It will provoke the issue between the subjects who have the right to speak and its influence on employees. When it comes to Foucault, he did not study in HRM but attracts a number of scholars of HRM. Townley (1993) was a representative who put the relation between HRM and Foucault’ s disciplinary power into consideration. She argued that HRM could be best comprehended as a discourse and provides Foucauldian analyses of distinctive feature of HRM. Because Foucault provided a hint that there are interconnections between discourse, power and truth. So Foucault gave HRM discourse much place to be considered from new perspective (Du Gay et al, 1996). From Foucauldian perspective, HRM is to ‘impose order on the inherently undecidable-the employment contract’ (Legge, 2005:345). It is excising of power that allow managers to manage. Following Foucault’s theory, it is argued here that the subject plays a critical role in HRM. To support this, Foucauldian studies lay emphasis on the influence of the subject in HRM. In human resource management, ‘the subject plays a more active role’ (Barratt, 2003). The process of HR management witnessed examination and identification of the subject. Foucualt (1988) himself argued that individuals are influenced and influence others by their certain means. All aspects of HRM including employee selection, company’s culture and performance appraisal are the product of subjectivity. Take performance appraisal for example, employees have to subject to an authoritative appraisal system to confess their performance at work (Townley, 1993). It can be regarded as an action of subjective power. Emphasizing on subject gives space for diverse understandings and interpretations of HRM. Despite of the dominant understanding of HRM from managerial perspective, HRM can be something else because post-structuralism and Foucaudian studies propose that there is no definite understanding of a topic. For example, Nayab (2011) argued that HRM could be interpreted in five ways. The fist is normative perspective, which separates HRM as personnel management and strategic human resource management. The second is to consider HRM in a critical way. It is believed that the reality showed the contradiction between traditional HRM and the new one. The ‘behavioral Perspective’ is different from others. It put more emphasis on their performance. The purpose of HRM is to guide and manage employees in order to ‘attain the desired performance’ (Nayab, 2011). Seen from the systems perspective, HRM concerns about the outcome of human resource. It is a factory that using employees as material and producing organizational turnover. The last one is ‘agency or transaction cost perspective’ (Nayab, 2011). This understanding is putting HRM as a mediator of conflicts for the purpose of minimizing the cost. The five understandings of HRM are thinking HRM from different perspective, which inspire the new understandings or some changes against the dominant way of managing human resource. However, the most important stakeholder in HRM may be employee, because it is the opposite poison against managers also the employee’s voice is increasingly needed in modern HRM. The dominant understanding of HRM is hinking and defining from a managerial perspective. Actually, the employee’s view on HRM varied based on the HRM models (Whitener, 2001) Fiona Edgar and Alan J. Geare (2005) did some research on exploring employee’s voice on HRM. The result showed that employees tend to keep a positive attitude towards soft HRM model and resist the traditional and hard one. However, the current HRM needs so me change in order to meet employee’s need for self-development. It is possible that the different understandings of HRM push the revolution in both theoretical and practical field. HRM and power Michel Foucault is famous for his critical studies on power, knowledge and discourse. However, according to Foucault (1980), discourse has no definitive explanation. It could be understood in various perspectives. There is no definite truth in the world. People always impose their subjective consciousness upon the truth. So it is hard to keep the right way to the truth seeking. (Wetherall, 2001) Classical theory represented by Marx implied the traditional understanding the relationship between knowledge and power (Barratt, 2003). Ideology is regarded as a tool for power. It covers the truth so that people who are governed subject to managing without resistance (Braverman, 1976). However, one main defect of his theory is that he neglects the subject. He defined individuals at work as representation of economic or employment relations (Knights and Willmott, 1985, 1989). In Foucault’s theory, the connection between power and knowledge is complex. Power is everywhere. Also, we have to put human subject into consideration. The reason why discourse is important is that the point of Foucault’s theory not only lies in how the language expresses meanings but also in what is the relationship between the discourse and the objective behind, or what kind of power imposed (Luke, 1999). In the Order of Discourse, Foucault (1971) claimed that the notion of exclusion is well known in our society, but the most obvious one is prohibition. In other words, not all the topic is allowed in a certain occasion and not everyone is given the right to speak out everything. Discourse itself is not an important issue. However, the prohibition behind the discourse surprised us due to its connection with the desire and power. In addition, there is another kind of exclusion principle, which is the opposition between reason and madness. On one hand, the discourse of a madman no doubt will be regarded as invalid and unreliable. On the other hand, the madman is given the gift of predicting and revealing the truth. So in fact, there is no definite so-called â€Å"madness†(Foucault, 1971). The abnormal itself presents the control from a certain group of people. Or in other words, power defines the truth the madness to convince people. In terms of knowledge, Foucault (1971) argued that power create knowledge, they are connected with each other. Also, knowledge is only available to the public only when stated within discourse. He claimed that knowledge and truth are not independent and objective. They are connected closely with power and become the legitimate protection for power operating. As Foucault stated it in The History of Sexuality ‘Discourses are not once and for all subservient to power or raised up against it, and more than silences are. We must make allowances for the complex and unstable process whereby discourse can both an instrument and an effect of power, but also a hindrance, a stumbling-block, a point of resistance and a starting point for an opposing strategy. Discourse transmits and produces power: it reinforces it, but also undermines and exposes it, renders it fragile and makes it possible to thwart it. ’ (Foucault, 1980) Also, the power displayed in Discipline and Punish helps us to critically think about the self-regulation, which can be applied into workplace. It mentioned the disciplinary power. As Foucault (1977) observed, the prison designed by Jeremy Bentham is a technique of the panoptic gaze. The central tower makes prisoners to discipline themselves. So when it comes to the workplace, the panoptic gaze also normalizing individuals’ behavior. In 1950, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger put forwarded the Hawthorne effect (French, 1953). They observed the performance of labors in an electric factory. They found that when the lights become brighter, workers tend to discipline themselves and the production will increase. This kind of self-regulation also can be seen in modern workplaces where CCTVs and call centers are facilitated. It is a sort of ‘info-normative control’ (Frenkel et al, 1995) that evaluates employees’ performance objectively. But also the monitoring may damage the culture of leaning form each other and lay too much stress on workers (Knights & McCabe, 2003). However, it seems that power is everywhere but it does not mean power is everything. Knights and McCabe also argued that power is not possessed by certain group of people, even the disciplinary power cannot decide the individual’s behavior. Foucault (1980) supposed that when individuals put power into action, they are given their own identity and meaning. Subjects are getting gradually split from the collective class, but it is neither individualism nor collectivism (Knights, 1994). It should be treated dialectically. So the power has its influence on knowledge and discourse. Or even the disciplinary power promotes self-regulation and make employees subject to the power. However, the impact of the subject cannot be neglected. It interacts with power and discourse.

Charlotte

From the ginning of the story, it was already manifested how friendship and love became the foundation fifths novel, due to Fern's love for Wilbur he was saved from the hands of Mr.. Arable who intends to take the life of Wilbur. Despite Fern being only a little girl, she thought of Wilbur as her own child, whom he cared for and love so much. Aside from this, one of the greatest proofs of how important friendship is was depicted between Charlotte and Wilbur. Without Charlotte help, Wilbur would be butchered in the slaughterhouse.In addition, it is exhibited in the story, that even though Charlotte life was nearing its end, she still thought of helping Wilbur, together with Templeton, in the fair to provide moral support for her friend. Although Charlotte passed away in the end, her life became more meaningful and happier by helping Wilbur. Wilbur was not only saved from being killed, but what Charlotte woven words did was more than that, she proved to Wilbur that he is important and that he is loved which I believe is the best feeling anyone could experience.Lastly, before Charlotte die she entrusted her egg sac to Wilbur since she cannot make it back to the barn anymore, and s a loyal and grateful friend, Wilbur not only took the egg sac back to the barn but even cared for the three spiders who were left behind and their succeeding eggs. Setting This story took place in rural America at the Seersucker's barn. The story involved many seasons, although Wilbur was called a spring pig meaning he was born during springtime, most of the story happened during summer and fall. The barn was old yet very large as described in the story.This barn feels very welcoming and comforting as it smelled mostly of hay. Wilbur new home was at the lower part Of the barn, beneath the cows. Since according to Mr.. Seersucker's viewpoint, manure pile is great for pigs as they need mud to keep them warm and comfortable. Characters Wilbur – He is the main character in the book Ch arlotte Web. He is born as a runt of his litter, which caused Mr.. Arable to kill him. Fortunately, he was saved by Fern's love for him. He is very sensitive and vulnerable, yet, with the love from his friends, he was able to live life again better than before.Most of the times he feels insecure and emotional but with his friend Charlotte, he was able to move on to this and gain a little faith in himself. He undergo life's as and downs but with his friends, especially Charlotte, he was able to surpass it all and be happy in the process. He is forever thankful for Charlotte?s love and as a form of showing gratitude for this he looks after her kids. Charlotte A. Cavity – She is a barn spider who lives above Wilbur pigpen, and often portrayed as a heroine of the story. She is cool, collected, practical, talented, clever and loyal to her friends.She played an important part in Wilbur life, often perceived as a mother of Wilbur. She gave all her best effort even in her last day ju st to save Wilbur life and show people who Wilbur really is. Mr.. John Arable – He is Fern's father, who wants to kill Wilbur at first but due to Fern's objections, he spared Wilbur life. He let Fern take care of Wilbur but greatly stand with his decision to sell Wilbur at five weeks old. He is a practical man but at the same time loving especially when it comes to his daughter.Fern Arable – She is an affectionate little girl who saved Wilbur life from an untimely death and the only human being who can understand what animals say. She became a mother to Wilbur until it was time to sell him to his uncle. Despite this, she still visits Wilbur a lot and even kittens to the stories of barn animals. As, the story progresses, she grew up and moved away from the barn where she became more interested with Henry Fussy than Wilbur. Avery Arable – He is Fern's elder brother who is boisterous, aggressive, adventurous and carefree. Unlike Fern, he often wants to kill animals and rule nature.He is also a performer, somewhat like a clown at some point, and works hard in the story. Mrs.. Arable – She is the mother of Fern who at most times is overreacting especially when it comes to her daughter. She is very worried on how Fern thinks that animals can talk and hat most of her time is spent with the animals in the barn. She always try to push Fern to mingle with persons of his own age rather than visiting the barn. Mr.. Homer Ackerman – He is Avery and Fern's uncle and the proprietor of the farm near Rabble's residence. He raises animals for a living. Moreover, he bought Wilbur for six dollars from Fern.He is the saw and believed the words woven by Charlotte about Wilbur and decided not to take him to the slaughterhouse. He benefited from this, since Wilbur became famous and in return he cared more than ever for his animals. He entered Wilbur at a intention in the fair and won twenty-five dollars when Wilbur was granted with a special award. Mrs.. Edith Ackerman – He is the wife of Homer Ackerman who spends her time mostly in the kitchen. She is also the only person who thought that the spider, Charlotte, is the one who is truly amazing than the pig, Wilbur, described by the woven words.Luray – He works at Ackerman who also depicted what a very industrious person truly is. He was the first to see the web of Charlotte and when Wilbur became famous, he then took care of him extra carefully. He is very sensitive with Wilbur especially he does not eat his food. Dry. Dorian -? He is the family doctor of the Rabble's family. He told Mrs.. Arable that Fern might really hear animals talk because there are a lot of things that could not be explained by Science. He even attributed Charlotte web as one of the proofs of how wondrous the nature is. Minister – He is the first person to whom Mr..Ackerman shared the story regarding the writings in the web. He did not really believe him and even thought of Mr.. Acke rman as unusual. Henry Fussy – He is not really a very active character in the story' but was described s one to whom Fern is very fondled of. Templeton -? He is a rat that lives in Wilbur trough. He is portrayed as rather selfish who is also a glutton. Moreover, he would only help Charlotte and Wilbur when they would offer food in return. Nevertheless, he played an important role in finding words to describe Wilbur and in retrieving Charlotte egg sac.Lamb – He is an insensitive Lamb who refused to play with Wilbur and continued to humiliate him by belittling Wilbur saying that pigs mean less than nothing to him. Goose – He likes to tell Wilbur what he should do which most often sends Wilbur into ruble. She is a great mother to her kids and suspicious of the intents of Templeton, so she never lets him near her young ones. Gander – He is the partner of Goose, who like her is also protective of his children. He is brave and strong but quite into violence wh en it comes to Templeton and his goslings. Uncle – He is the large spring pig who competed with Wilbur in the County Fair. He also received a medal for his big size. Joy, Arena and Nellie – They are some of the children Of Charlotte from its egg sac. These spiders are the ones that stay with Wilbur on the barn and became friends with him. Lot Exposition: A new litter of piglets is born on Mr.. Rabble's farm, however one of them is a runt which is deemed to small and weak to be kept on a farm. Fern, the daughter of Mr.. Arable, pleads his father to let the pig live and let her keep it as a pet. Mr..Arable, who loves her daughter so much, gave in to the wish of his daughter and spared the pig. Fern was able to keep his pet, which she named Wilbur, for a few weeks until it was sold to his uncle, Mr.. Homer Ackerman, for six dollars. Rising Action: Although Wilbur felt lonely upon leaving Fern, he soon adjusted in the farm ND made some friends, especially Charlotte whom he mostly depends on. Fern, despite selling Wilbur to his uncle, still cares for the pig and visits him often. Fern, like Wilbur, also made some friends and even listens to their stories.Wilbur became very happy and carefree. He was constantly taken care of and fed slops that he wanted. Until, one day, he received a news. Climax: The lamb then tells Wilbur that Mr.. Ackerman is fattening him up for Christmas dinner. Much to Wilbur dismay, he will soon be brought to the slaughterhouse. This news cause distraught to Wilbur who is already so pappy in the barn and does not want to end up killed for Christmas. Falling Action: Charlotte then assured that she, together with some of their friends, will do anything to save Wilbur.She then weave words into her web, describing Wilbur greatest qualities and praises to him such as â€Å"SOME PIG! ,† ‘TERRIFIC,† â€Å"RADIANT' and so on. This gained attention from people all over the county, which made Mr.. Ackerman rethink of w hether Wilbur should still be brought to the slaughterhouse. Mr.. Ackerman then promised that if Wilbur wins the blue ribbon in the County Fair, he would never be turned into a ham for Christmas. Charlotte became worn out due to this work but still decided to go to the County Fair and help Wilbur win the contest.She then weaves the last word for Wilbur and then goes to work on her egg sac which will hold over five hundred eggs. Resolution: Wilbur anxiously waited to see who won the prize. Unfortunately, his rival, uncle, won the blue ribbon for being the biggest pig. But to everyone's surprise, Wilbur received a special prize for being a terrific and radiant pig! Unfortunately, Charlotte reached the end of her life span and was not able to be with Wilbur after his triumph nor see her children grow. As a sign of irritated for everything that Charlotte did for Wilbur, he vowed to take care of her children.To honor Charlotte, Wilbur hangs his medal on the nail in the doorway where Char lotte web used to be. When the egg sac hatched, most of the new born spiders flew away to find their own homes, but three of them, Joy, Arena and Nellie, stayed on the barn with Wilbur. Wilbur became good friends with them, much to his delight. Year after year new spiders are born to replace the old one but no one was able to match and replace Charlotte in Wilbur heart. Us Mary One morning at the breakfast table, eight year Old Fern sees her father leave he house With an axe and asks her mother where he's going.Her mother delivers the shocking news that Mr.. Arable is going out to kill a runt that was born the night before. Fern chases her father down and persuades him to spare the runt, telling him that it is unjust to kill a piglet just because it is small. Moved by his daughter's plea, Mr.. Arable decides to give the runt to her to look after. Fern names the piglet Wilbur and looks after him like a baby, pushing him in her pram alongside her doll and feeding him with a bottle. At five weeks old Mr.. Arable insists that Wilbur is sold and he goes to live in theAckerman barn down the road. Wilbur initially struggles at the barn because he misses Fern so much but soon he becomes acquainted with new friends, the best of whom is a lady grey spider called Charlotte. Wilbur is fascinated by Charlotte, although to begin with he is slightly suspicious of the way she catches her food – he doesn't like the idea that she spins bugs in her web and sucks their blood. He soon realizes that Charlotte is everything but cruel and bloodthirsty and that her method of eating is entirely necessary for a spider.Wilbur is complete happy during the summer days – Fern comes to visit and is new friend tells him exciting stories and has the patience to try and coach him about how to spin a web (although she knows fine well he will never be able to) but one day he gets some terrible news that puts an end to his carefree attitude. The sheep tells Wilbur that Mr.. Ackerman is fattening him up for Christmas dinner and Wilbur is distraught – he is so happy on the farm and doesn't want to die. Charlotte calms him down and promises him that she won't let him be killed. She hasn't worked out how to save him yet, but she is determined that she will.One morning as Curvy pours Wilbur slops, e notices Charlotte twinkling spider web in the morning fog. The words ‘SOME PIG' have been weaved into the web. Luray is gob smacked and utters a prayer. He quickly tells Mr.. Ackerman who is equally amazed and soon the news spreads near and far. Worried that people may be getting bored of ‘SOME PIG', Charlotte asks Templeton the rat to aid her in finding more words to write in her web. Knowing that if Wilbur is killed he won't have access to his slops, Templeton reluctantly scavenges for newspaper clippings to help Charlotte.The next word she writes is ‘TERRIFIC' and after that, ‘RADIANT. ‘ Meanwhile, Mrs.. Arable is concerned that Fe rn is spending too much time down at the barn and becomes even more alarmed when her daughter tells her about Charlotte and the stories Charlotte tells. Mrs.. Arable decides to go and see Dry. Dorian to ask him what he makes Of Fern thinking the animals can talk and what he makes of the mysterious writing in the web. Dry Dorian is very calm and rational and says that the real miracle is not the writing in the web but the fact that a spider instinctively knows how to build a web without any tuition.He says that it is quite possible that animals can talk and that the season that adults cannot hear them might be because they talk too much to hear what is going on in nature. With the news of Seersucker's famous pig spreading, the Ackermann and Arable decide to take Wilbur to the County Fair. Charlotte agrees to go too although she is feeling tired and soon has to build a sac to hold her eggs. At the fair, Charlotte is disappointed to see that beside Wilbur pen is a much larger spring pi g called Uncle. Knowing he is fierce competition, Charlotte decides to spin another web and once again Templeton is sent off to find a word.The adults and children enjoy homeless at the fair and Avery and Fern are particularly excited that they are allowed to go off without their parents all afternoon. Fern spends all afternoon with Henry Fussy and they go on the Ferris wheel together. For months after, Fern will look back nostalgically at her time on the Ferris wheel with Henry. Before nightfall Charlotte weaves her web with the new word ‘HUMBLE' written into it and throughout the night she makes her egg sac. In the morning the Ackermann and Arable See the web but they also notice that uncle has a blue tag on his pen – he has already won first prize.Mr. Ackerman ignores the tag and tells everyone to buck up and give Wilbur a buttermilk bath. Everyone who comes to Wilbur pen has something good to say about him. Suddenly, over the loudspeaker a voice is heard asking Acke rman to bring his famous pig to the judges' booth for a special award. Wilbur is awarded a medal for being phenomenal and completely out of the ordinary and Mr.. Ackerman is given $25. Since the writing first appeared in the web, the miracle has been on everyone's mind. After the press photos and the commotion, Wilbur is returned to his pen. Wilbur notices thatCharlotte is quiet and looks unwell. She tells him that she is content now that she knows he is safe – she knows Mr.. Ackerman will never harm him now, but she tells Wilbur that she is failing and will be dead in a day or two. Panicked and distraught Wilbur races around the pen, begging Charlotte to come home with him, but she hasn't enough energy to move. Wilbur decides to take Charlotte egg sac and promises Templeton first choice of his slops if he retrieves the sac. As Wilbur carries the sac in his mouth and is led into the crate, he winks at Charlotte and she musters all the energy she can to wave dobby.