Article Summaries Essays - Abstract Art, Alceo Dossena, Takpr, Above

Article Summaries Essays - Abstract Art, Alceo Dossena, Takpr, Above Article Summaries Article 1- Excavating Egypt (Newsprint) This article tells of a typical working day for an archaeologist in Egypt. It tells of an experienced archaeologist named, Dr. David OConnor. He speaks of his working site, Abydos, and tells of what he has discovered since he started working on the site. In his 30 years of working there, he has uncovered 12 wooden boats, each about 60 feet long encased in 96-foot graves. He has also found the remains of an entire settlement covering about 16 acres. He annually spends up to $150,000 to pay of his fellow archaeologists and his laborers. He does receive funds from private institutions and government agencies to help support his effort in Abydos. In reading this article, I have become puzzled as to how so many people working there can split $150,000. It says that 20-25 scientists and 30-60 laborers are employed. I understand that he does receive funds from institutions, but I would not think that it would be upwards of enough money to support so many people. I have always respected archaeologists for what they do but now I have a deeper respect for Egyptian archaeologists. I do hope to visit Egypt someday though and experience what it is like firsthand. Article 2- Cosmetic Surgery Discovered on Ancient Roman Portrait (Newsprint) This article tells of artists in the modern day performing work on damaged ancient artifacts. It specifies on a head statue that was received as a gift by the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Scientists noticed some unusual features on the statues head and investigated it to discover that somebody had fixed it up before it was given to them. They used gamma-radiographs to find that somebody had fixed the heads broken neck with metal dowels and clamps. I found it pretty remarkable that some people may get away doing this without anybody knowing of it. It makes me wonder if some of the great artifacts that we have on display today have been tampered with and that they may not be 100% ancient. I dont see that there is anything wrong with this. Id rather look at a fixed up display than view one that has been badly damaged and is hard to make out. Article 3- Faking It: A Forgers Biography (Newsprint) This article tells of a modern day man, Alceo Dossena (1878-1937), and his ability to create artificial art pieces of ancient civilizations. He created sculptures in almost every style: Greek, Etruscan, Gothic and Italian Renaissance. He would sculpt them, then age them by giving them acid baths and then would proceed to bury them, allowing them to age. He was able to fool some of the greatest historians and scientists in the world. One of his art pieces was sold to a dealer who then sold it for $225,000, the highest price of any of Dossenas artworks. Dossena claimed that he did not make his art to cheat people out of their money. He then sued his dealer and won. When reading this article, I began to wonder if some of the great artworks today might be fake. Perhaps someone painted or sculpted them earlier in the century, and sold it off as an ancient work of art. I am reluctant to think that it happens more often than not. It probably doesnt work on the level of great museums, but it might work on unsuspecting dealers looking to get rich. Article 4- Joined by a Bridge This article is really interesting for it tells of a man, William Cochran, and is efforts of painting a bridge. When the subject came up of covering a small stone bridge in Frederick, Maryland, Cochran ran this suggestion by and it was approved. Many residents rejected the idea at first and would vandalize the work that had been done up to date. As soon as his efforts came to an end, the bridge was seen as a tourist attraction for the city. Since its completion, there have been many other paintings added onto the bridge by suggestion of the townspeople. Before reading this article, I had no clue that something like this could be done. I am interested in how he went about doing this. I am also interested in whether or not this bridge is allowed to have cars pass over it. Someday if I make it to Frederick, Maryland, Ill head over to the bridge and find out for myself. Article 5- Walking Encyclopedia This article tells a small town, Columbus, in Indiana and its claim to fame through architecture. The town is nationally known

Treadway Case Essay Example

Treadway Case Essay Example Treadway Case Paper Treadway Case Paper The Treadway Tire Company Brief Case Analysis Consuela Jack EDD 8100 Foundations of Educational Leadership and Management 101 Laurel Springs Dr. McDonough, GA 30253 Telephone: (404) 944-1186 Email: [emailprotected] net Instructor: Dan Wait, Ed. D Introduction The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant is a brief case written by co-authors Skinner and Beckham. The case generally pertains to issues dealing with morale problems and high position turnover among those that hold the position of foreman. In this case, Ashley Wall is the Director of Human Resources charged with finding solutions to the issues within the Lima Tire Plant. Since Ashley Wall works for the Lima Tire Plant, she will have to face some political issues in regards to managing the action research project as an insider. A written replication of the key issues, contextual lens, and power relationships will offer more understanding of Ashley Wall’s charge to uncover solutions to the issues that the Lima Tire Company was facing. Key Issues There are several issues within the Treadway Lima Tire plant. The first issue deals with the morale of the employees especially those that serve as foremen. Morale is low due to the way the foremen are treated by their superiors and the lack of respect that they receive from their unionized workers. â€Å"An employee satisfaction survey conducted in August 2007 and exit interviews of departing foremen revealed solid discontent in the plant and highlighted concerns about the line-foremen position† (Skinner and Beckham, 2008, pg. 4). The foremen in the company are few in number with approximately twenty hourly unionized employees that they have to manage, as well as other duties as prescribed. Both foreman and the hourly employees are treated disrespectfully due to the constraints of the perspective positions. The foremen have a great deal of responsibilities that must be completed at the end of every 12 hour shift that they work. Production of tires is a key responsibility for the foreman; they must make sure that the employees working under their management are on time and present to make production goals/deadlines. Another issue combines hiring and the lack of training that the foremen receive before being internally promoted, externally hired, or transferred from another Treadway Tire plant into the positions of foremen. Those that are unionized hourly employees promoted to foreman lack college training and job embedded training. The line-foremen positions were â€Å"available when jobs were posted on the bulletin boards in the plant and the internet† (2008, pg. 5). The external hires are young college grads with book knowledge, but very little skill training. Both internally hired and externally hired are made to go through strenuous and grueling interviews before being deemed the right person(s) for the job. The fact that little training is offered and a sink or swim mentality is maintained by those that supervise the foremen leads to more communication issues. The communication issues caused ineffective and belittling discourse between the general supervisors and the foremen and the unionized workers. Contextual Lens Economic factors play a major role in the issues that Lima Tire Plant faces, but growth, change, performance, and training holds to a greater cause for the issues addressed. The temporal perspective is the direction Ashley Wall may want to focus on when she considers analyzing the issues of morale, hiring, and training. In reading the case, this seems to be the direction to go in, but budget constraints leave little or no room for effective on the job training to occur. â€Å"Reading through her personnel files, Ashley Wall knew the problem of turnover in the foreman position- affecting a third of the salaried work force- was a complicated issue for Lima management to address† (2008, pg. 6) Realizing that the plant was not effectively training new managers was a major cause of the conditions or issues within the plant. Power Relationships According to the Coghlan and Brannick (2010) text, â€Å"Clearly any form f research in any organization has its political dynamics. Political forces can undermine research endeavours and block planned change. Gaining access, using data, disseminating and publishing reports are intensely political acts† (pg. 127). Ashley Wall may have to use extreme caution as she plans the action research project of discovering a solution for dissatisfaction and high turnover in the company. There are ten key power relationship that Ashley Wall will have to consider as she proceeds on with the in depth inquiry process at the Lima Tire Plant. Since, Ashley Wall was given the charge to delve in to this process by the plant manager Bellingham, she has already gained her relationship with her sponsor. The relationships that will be more challenging throughout this process will be the relationships between the interdepartmental, executives and organizational members, and executives and higher management. All three of these relationships deal with company employees communicating with each other and that has been part of the issues. Will there be anonymity through out this process? It will be quite difficult, but Ashley will have to keep all stakeholders in this process aware of what is at stake for the future of the Lima Tire Plant. Gaps or Unanswered Questions An unanswered question that plagues is the fact that Bellingham knows that part of the major issue is that more effective training needs to take place, but because of budget issues he can not allow the training to take place. What is he truly thinking and how does Ashley Wall convince Bellingham to make a way in the budget for foremen training? Conclusion The central concerns, in the Lima Tire Plant stem from many different sources, which are all related. Effective communication, formal training, and economic factors all play a role in the key issues. Coghlan argues the question, â€Å"Given that doing insider research seems to be so complex and can be fraught with danger, wouldn’t it be better to advise people not to select this approach†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2007, pg. 5). The answer, absolutely; action research in the case of the Lima Tire Plant will bring about collaboration of the manager/researcher and those directly impacted by the outcomes and reflections. References Coghlan, D (2007). Editorial: insider action research. Action Research, 5, 5-10. doi: 10. 1177/1476750307072872 Coghlan, D. , Brannick, T. (2010). Doing action research in your own organization (3rd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN: 9781848602168. Skinner, W. , Beckham, B. (2008, June). The Treadway tire company: Job dissatisfaction and high turnover at the Lima tire plant. Retrieved from Harvard Business Publishing Web site: http://custom. hbsp. harvard. edu/b01/en/implicit/p. jhtml? login=CAPE042409Spid=2189