ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Erich von Stroheim is considered one of the most popular and discussed directors of motion pictures of the twentieth century. He is very well known for his categorical accuracy and realistic portrayal in his films and had written a lot of screenplays and won outstanding commendation as an actor, particularly for his roles as a megalomaniac and as a sadist. Stroheim was also considered to be a notorious fabricator, who is being a master actor of the silent films had created for himself a past that made him known as an Austrian nobleman who had served a distinguished career in the military. Born in Austria, von Stroheim was considered a military expert, and his popularity was such that he could get away with making long films of up to eight hours duration which remained popular for the entire period of his life and for a considerable time after his death also. Although the films during that time were of the silent era, he was able to successfully convey his depiction of love, seduction, passion, cruelty, hunger, and lust very effectively among film enthusiasts and critics. In his later years, von Stroheim had become a very familiar figure and had come to be popularly known as “the man you love to hate”. But the large-scale popularity that was once associated with his capacity to pull large crowds could not be maintained for a very long time. During his heydays he could literally move around like a colossus in the film circles and gatherings of the time and millions of dollars could be spent by film producers and enthusiasts at his command. He was born in Vienna to a Czech mother and Silesian father and having been fed up with working in his father’s factory as a manager, he shifted to America in 1906. Initially, he had a difficult time there and had to struggle for some time in the film industry. He had to wangle for jobs as an advisor on war films and was able to get a break as an actor from 1914 onwards. He started acting in good roles and was able to grab some assignments in the films made by DW Griffith such as Intolerance and The Birth of a Nation, which surely gave him the means to live through the extravagant lifestyle that he came to be accustomed to by then. As he became more popular he got good assignments from Universal Studios such as The Devil’s Pass Key and Blind Husbands, both of them being in the nature of being squalid films that were stories of people engaged in distasteful activities. However, the silver linings in these films were the remarkable performances by von Stroheim in regard to the erotic nuances, dazzling details, and hypnotizing feats which easily won him the popularity that was to come for him as an actor of extraordinary attributes. However, von Stroheim was not able to maintain cordial relations with the management of Universal Studios and by 1922 he had crossed swords with the general manager of the studio, Irving Thalberg, who was considere
Introduction Management today is hovering at the edge of the great divide between the old management concept, which is dying and new management concept, which is still being born. The old management concept comprises of classical theories of Henri Fayol, Mac Weber, and Frederick Taylor that was used in managing simple conditions during the industrial age (Drucker & Maciariello, 2008). On the other hand, the new management concept comprises of human and social factors. Despite the fact that the new stream of management concept has appeared, bewilderment still lingers over what the concept will comprise of when it matures. It is widely accepted that the new concept of management should present individuals with the authority to control their lives, and must ensure that they are answerable for their performances. This article seeks to compare the old and new management concepts. Old verses new management concepts The organization structure of the old management concept was hierarchical in nature. Through this hierarchical model of organizations, the pyramids in Egypt, medieval churches, the great wall in China, and new industries during the industrial age were established (Halal, 2001). It should be noted that the model dominated up to the industrial age because it was an appropriate management custom task performed by uneducated workers. Currently, the information age has resulted in numerous revolutionary forces that have rendered hierarchies outdated. Under the new management concept, corporations have disbanded hierarchy form of organization structures
Introduction Overview of the concept ‘Brain in the Gut’ There is a false assumption that biological processes in the organism are subjected to the central nervous system, namely the brain and the spinal cord. Numerous researches have revealed that the digest track is also controlled by the so-called second brain that sends nervous impulses to the cerebral brain (Sorokie, 2004). This brain in the gut is another proof that the somatic peripheries of our organism are toughly connected to the neurological and psychological processes within the body. Judging from the above, physiological dynamics within the organism interact reciprocally with other systems and build a defense mechanism against physical and mental dysfunctions. At the same time, any physical disorders are reported to the brain through nervous impulses to turn biological disorders with the mental ones. In order to explain the presented hypothesis in detail, Wilson’s (2004) article called Brain in the Gut should be analyzed to highlight the connection between the mind and the body and understand how psychological and neurological aspects are connected with normal functioning of a human organism. Defining the Main Peculiarities of Enteric Nervous System (ENS) Digest system reports to the brain about any shifts in functioning through enteric nervous system. This system innervates the gut and, as a result, the digest track and related organs can be supplied with neuron (Smith and Morton, 2001). It is often identified with the cerebral brain due to the independence of operation and control of the gut-brain (Wilson, 2004, p. 32). Though the enteric nervous systems reports to the brain, the brain is not directly connected with the gut and, therefore, the enervated stomach can function as independent system. It implies that it can receive messages and monitor all digesting process on its own. Despite separate functioning, the brain and the gut can still cooperate successfully with each other. Being one of the independent systems in the organism, the enteric nervous system takes control of the digestive process and does not have to report about the processes to the brain (Smith and Morton, 2001, p. 15). Despite automatic mechanism, the neurological aspects of functioning are also presented. According to Smith and Morton (2001), cell bodies “…are stimulated by distension or irritation of the gut all which activates mechanoreceptors and by substances in the food, which activate chemoreceptors” (p. 15). Judging from the description above, it is purposeful to define the connection between the central nervous system (cerebral brain) and enteric nervous system (the brain in the gut). Understanding the Connection between Mind and the Body through the Gut and the Brain Relations Freud’s experiment described by Wilson (2004) is explicit proof of the independence of inne
Company Background BMW of North America (BMW NA) is one of the leading automobile manufacturers and marketers in the United States. The corporation was established in the year 1975 (Madlani and Ulvestad 12). Initially, the firm’s business model focused on the production of luxury and high-performance automobiles. In 1980, the firm began to import and distribute a wide range of motorcycles from the parent company in Germany. The firm distributed its first line of trucks in the region in the year 1999. Currently, BMW NA is headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. It has several manufacturing firms in different locations such as Nazareth and Port Jersey (Jefferson 8). The parent company began its distribution in the U.S. after winning distribution rights (Jefferson 12). To emerge successfully, the new firm focused on the changing needs of the targeted customers. The gathered information made it easier for the company to deliver first-class cars and trucks that met the needs of the targeted clients. Within the past forty years, the company has managed to acquire and distribute superior cars to the greatest number of people. The firm has established the best relationships with different communities, distributors, and clients. The leaders at the company have always focused on technology, elegance, beauty, and utility (Madlani and Ulvestad 18). These values have continued to resonate with the wishes and expectations of the targeted customers. Unfortunately, the performance of BMW NA has been characterized by a wide range of challenges. For instance, policies focusing on air emissions, safety standards, and fuel economies have dictated the business models of many companies in the industry. BMW NA has been on the frontline to address the issues and deliver quality cars that meet the needs of the customers. To become a leader in the automobile industry, BMW has come up with a powerful vision statement that guides every business process. The current vision for the company is “to become a successful manufacturer of first-class automobiles in the industry” (Madlani and Ulvestad 16). The vision is used as a model that empowers different stakeholders and employees to deliver quality care to targeted customers. BMW NA’s mission statement is “to remain the world’s leading manufacturer and provider of superior services and automobiles that support individual mobility” (Madlani and Ulvestad 5). With this kind of mission, every process is re-engineered to ensure premium cars are available to the greatest number of customers in the United States and Canada. Several goals guide the company to empower targeted customers. The vision of the company is treated as a goal that should be taken seriously. This is the case because the firm implements
Analysis In Tennessee Williams’ play “The Glass Menagerie,” the story is told of a small family. The father of the family deserted them many years ago and the mother, Amanda, from old Southern genteel stock, finds it nearly impossible to accept her current conditions, instead constantly talking to her children about the good old days when she was popular and surrounded by beaus. The son, Tom, is the younger of the two children and the play opens with him working at a job he detests as a means of supporting his female relatives while secretly dreaming of traveling and being a writer. However, he knows he will never accomplish his dreams while he is supporting his mother and sister and his frustration is taken out in drinking and going to the movies, which disgusts his mother who feels he should be spending his time in loftier pursuits. Finally, there’s Laura, a young woman who is extremely shy, partly because of her crippling disease (pleurosis) which forces her to wear a brace on her leg and walk with a limp. Too shy to attend the business school her mother enrolled her in and without any friends of her own, Amanda decides marriage is the only answer for Laura and forces Tom to find a beau for his sister. Unfortunately, the one he finds, while perfectly acceptable to both Laura and Amanda, is already engaged and leaves Laura with a broken heart, symbolized by the broken unicorn Laura encourages him to keep as a souvenir. The play is a tragedy because Laura, having already had the opportunity to learn from her past, continues to live in a dream-world of her own creation. She does this by failing to recognize the real strengths and weaknesses of her children and in encouraging her daughter to live the same way. Throughout the play, Amanda regales her children with stories about when she was young, in the process pointing out the various ways in which Laura is a failure as a daughter. Although this is not necessarily done in a mean way or with deliberate intentions, as she discusses her own days of youth, Amanda continuously points out the various ways in which Laura does not measure up to her expectations. She indicates girls in her time “knew how to entertain their gentleman callers. It wasn’t enough for a girl to be possessed of a pretty face and a graceful figure – although I wasn’t slighted in either respect. She also needed to have a nimble wit and a tongue to meet all occasions” (I, 148). It is noticed that while Laura has the pretty face, she does not possess the graceful figure her mother deems important thanks to the braced leg nor does she have the sparkling personality her mother lists, being too shy to mumble more than a word or two when confronted by strangers. Amanda’s imagined world is made obvious as the family finishes dinner and Amanda sends Laura out into the family room to prepare for the “flood, there must have bee
Introduction We live in a fast-changing and dynamic world, which brings new changes in our everyday lives. All companies go through a certain life cycle as well: some of them are on the stage of growth, and some – are struggling hard to maintain their profits. Every organization’s initial target consists in not only short-term goals, like profit but also in the long-term results such as building a unique brand and ensuring the company’s profitable and efficient future. Furthermore, each company has a leader, who is guiding and managing the organization all the time, and who will stay with it till the last day of the company’s existence. A good example of such a leader is John Peterman, who started one of the most profitable catalog companies in the USA in the nineties. This person has several traits, which helped him to launch the company and develop it. John Petermans’ characteristic First of all, this man was an open-minded and sincere person, who wanted to express his thoughts to the people around him. So he shared his opinion in the newspaper advertisement. He used simple, but sincere words, which came from his heart. No wonder, some people liked the ad and decided to become his first customer. Secondly, he is an inventive person, because if he was not, it would be impossible to find new items to offer and new ways to sell the products. The products which were offered by his small company were not inventions at that time, but the way they were sold was, in a certain way, an invention, an invention made by John Peterman. The example of a duster, an ordinary item, but shown in a very romantic way is another proof of John Peterman’s talent to touch people’s hearts. John Peterman is a very hard-working person; without this trait, the company would not survive. This man spent hours and days developing his business, he devoted most of his time to his “child”. At first, he did not get any salary, sacrificing this money to the people, who were working with him. So, here is another trait of the leader – a high level of generosity. Undoubtedly, John Peterman has good organizational skills, because when his company started to grow, involving new people and new products, he managed to handle everything. Managing a growing company, when the processes in it start getting more and more complicated, is a real challenge. And the leader of the company should have a strong personality, with a certain level of self-confidence. And John Peterman, certainly, possessed this quality. It helped him to work under the pressure of investors, who wanted to see the immediate results of their investments. Despite all the misunderstandings and misinterpretations from the newcomers, he continued recruiting more staff members, training them on the companies’ philosophy and its target goals. John Petermans’ traits One of the most important traits of this man is that he was trying to stay true to himself, to the chosen field. When products and their images did not match companies’ philosophy, he did not include them in the catalog. And the company’s idea fit in six simple, but sincere words: “excellent”, “au
Introduction Certain norms in society ought to be followed to the letter by all members of the given society irrespective of social standing. One of the key responsibilities entrenched in society is the role that parents are given to guard the wellbeing of their children, be it their biological or adopted ones. In the movie, Step Father, we see the main character, Dylan Walsh, who is entrusted with the lives of the little ones killing them. This incidence also happens severally today in most marriages and it becomes a moral question for any society. Killing in any society is evil as the right to life is strongly embedded in the constitutions of many countries in the world. Anyone who deprives the other of the right to life is heavily punished by being sentenced to death by several of the constitutions. In many societies, children are taught to trust their parents and to also respect all the decisions that the latter make in their lives. The trust begins with that of the children to their mothers. In the movie, Step Father, we see the children trusting their mother’s decision of getting married. The children find themselves in another family set up when their mother eventually gets married marriage to a man who they hardly know. The children are also seen to trust their father because their mother, Sela Ward, has shown trust in getting married to her husband, Dylan. It is devastating to see how the father ends up brutally killing the children and their mother. This demonstrates to the world that the children innocently believed and trusted their father. Society expects us to behave exactly the same as these children behaved. Even in times of suspicion, children are expected to always trust their parents. Love is blind The notion of love as being blind has been expressed by so many writers and philosophers. The fact that most people usually fall in love with their partners without doing any background investigation of their partners’ personal backgrounds is clearly brought to light by the movie (Cobban, 23). Most people are only interested in knowing about the present lives of their partners and never mind about their past. This is well demonstrated in the movie, Step Father, where we see the main character getting married to three widows one after the other and ends up killing all of them together with their children. While seducing he would be wives, Dylan Walsh pretends to be a gentleman and the women blindly fall for his seductive and charming advances. By falling in love blindly with someone, the other partner may take advantage of the situation and cause harm as is evidenced in the events of the movie. Marriage counselors always advice new couples to take time to know each other before ultimately settling down as husbands and wives. The personal history of someone can easily be obtained from the federal authorities. This would serve to expose someone who has previously com
The colonial era in Vietnam presents a very unfortunate experience to the Vietnamese people. Development and improvement of people’s life were measured and understand through unfounded scope that was targeted to please a few select members of society. The satirical representation of the concept of modernization presents how the Vietnamese society so much adores western ideals that they no longer question how logical it is to adopt the western civilizations (Trong 4-13). Set in the “late-colonial era”, Dumb Luck, candidly explains the emergence of the modernization and how irrelevant to people’s quest for better life continues to be an illusion. Modernization is the adoption of foreign ideals that are trendy, robust, and more outgoing while avoiding the indigenous way of life that is perceived to be retrogressive (Zinoman 16-32). According to Frank (185-187), modernization is the quest for better fashion that is mainly associated with European ideals rather than the overall improvement of people’s way of life. In the Dumb Luck novel , modernism is clearly represented as a form of colonial capitalism aimed imposing western ideas to people’s economic, political, and social undertakings. Modernity is therefore depicted as anything that is in line with the Western way of life. It is a civilization that is in line with the European social, economic, political, cultural, and technological inclinations. Trong (36-41) reveals that modernization is the addiction to western fashion. Dominance of fashion, mania for sports, and engagement in liberated sexual customs are believed to be the in-thing trends in Vietnam. Most Vietnamese resent their indigenous lifestyle. In the business arena, anything that reflects the European way of life is considered very fashionable and more appealing to the masses. This is a proof that colonial capitalism is an unwarranted approach to the development of a country’s economy as it mainly focuses on advancing the policies and operational mechanisms of the colony and not the interests and common good of the citizens (Zinoman 29-35). Through the mockery and satirical revelation of free market that is imposed on the Vietnamese business environment, it emerges that the free market concept is adopted without undertaking in-depth analysis of its relevance and applicability. To a greater extent, modernity is measured by how well colonial capitalism is enshrined in a given system of governance. Through his satirical explanation of how modernity affects the Vietnamese economy and people’s way of life, Trong (67-92) manages to reveal the fact that most development programs and business strategies being adopted are focused on increasing people level of consumption. For that matter, industrialization is not the focus on the prevailing economic activities. Mercenary adoption of “free market” that seems to fit the Buddhists society is not in line with the economic and social situation in the country (Frank 186-188). This is revealed in the fact that police officers are mainly forced on imposing impose fines to themselves in order to raise m