Sustainable Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Sustainable Development - Essay Example Every person wants to raise his standard of living above the minimum level of sustenance but the resources provided by nature are limited. Limited resources may include the finite ones like land, drinking water and petroleum. Along with these there are intangible resources like the deterioration in quality of water, productivity of land and so on. Hence by these two arguments, one can easily judge or evaluate sustainable development in terms of political, technical and social and even environmental development. This difference between available resources and level of needs to be met has driven human beings to engage themselves in erratic interaction with the nature. This erratic interaction almost in all the cases has led to the deterioration of the future generation’s quality of life. When the natives of Easter Island engaged themselves in severe destruction of the Palm forest, they seldom managed to measure the future atrocities that they had to undergo following their own action

Final scenerio analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Final scenerio analysis - Essay Example Based on the Global Enterprise, we take an analysis of the case facts and ethical issues concerning the enterprise’s operations (Nakmwil, 2012). In addition, we also take into account the ethical alternatives and recommendations the business has at their disposal in order to survive the legal accusations they have (Nakmwil, 2012). Case facts Global enterprise international (GEI) is a military contractor charged with the responsibility of manufacturing protective body armor, ammunition equipments and armored vehicles that are all useful during military operations (Nakmwil, 2012). The company has employed 140 workers who are all highly paid union technicians, mechanics, union members and Armor workers (Nakmwil, 2012). For the United States military, Global Enterprise International manufactures body flask jackets, night vision riflescopes and armored tank vehicles (Nakmwil, 2012). Contrary to the spelt out international laws and treaties, Global Enterprise International also part icipates in the manufacturing of land mine explosives (Nakmwil, 2012). The company’s best customers for the illegal land mines products are Afghanistan and Iran (Nakmwil, 2012). Based on these sales, more than half the company’s profits come from these stealthy operations (Nakmwil, 2012). ... For instance, the flak jackets do not effectively protect military soldiers as required from personal ammunition (Nakmwil, 2012). In addition, the night vision rifles produced by the company in many cases end up causing severe injuries and deaths to the users while in combat situations (Nakmwil, 2012). Besides, armored vehicles despite having strong sides and tops, the composition comprises solely of a single thin sheet layer emended on the undersides (Nakmwil, 2012). This makes them very vulnerable and weak to IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explosives (Nakmwil, 2012). Despite all these modifications, the inclusion of superior and quality materials in the flak jackets are capable of effectively preventing the unnecessary injuries encountered when utilizing fake products produced by the company (Nakmwil, 2012). However, Global Enterprise International spitefully declines altering their materials because this would cost the company a fortune and probably at the end lose the contract (Nakmwil, 2012). In addition, most of the landmines sold by the company to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Iran are not effective (Nakmwil, 2012). Those who attempted to plant the mines died in the process as they contained faulty switches. Later on, United States military realized numerous flaws characterizing these jackets, night vision rifles and armored vehicles, which it purchased from Global Enterprises International (Nakmwil, 2012). The United States justice department initiated legal investigations and the families of the deceased military members followed suit (Nakmwil, 2012). They also started forming mass actions and filing lawsuits against the concerned company. A

Organizational paradigms Essay Example for Free

Organizational paradigms Essay Every organization is different and there is no perfect organizational paradigm that fits an organization in all situations. Even though the most common organizational paradigms are hierarchies, holarchies, coalitions, teams, congregations, societies, federations, and matrix organizations there are many more kinds that exist which are a combination of these with a few extra attributes. â€Å"What is clear is that all approaches have different characteristics which may be more suitable for some problems and less suitable for others† ( Horling Lesser, 2005) I feel that among these organizational paradigms a combination of hierarchical and team based designs offer the best of the attributes. Because, hierarchical structured organizational is one of the oldest and time tested paradigms with very clear advantages over the other paradigms. A hierarchical organizational design helps decomposition and that is its major advantages. In addition, hierarchical organizations are formed with number of departments each with a hierarchy of its own and that helps the organization tackle large scale projects and scaling is comparatively easy depending on the need of the situation. They are also the simplest to understand and induction of new employees and their reporting system are comparatively more systematic and well organized. The trouble with hierarchical systems, however is that they tend to develop bottlenecks and decision making processes tend to take longer. That is the reason, for my belief that if the hierarchical organization create teams within itself, it would improve the overall flexibility of the organization and avoid the creation of bottle necks. Because teams are set of employees who work towards a common goal supporting and coordinating with each other. Whenever a larger problem crops up that cannot be handled by individuals the team can take care of them and take the organization forward. References Horling Lesser, 2005, A Survey of Multi-Agent Organizational Paradigms, retrieved May 14, 2009 from http://polaris. ing. unimo. it/didattica/cas/L6/Lesser_OrgParadigms. pdf

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce Essay

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce Essay This project examines the operation of British Petroleum (BP) in the light of established international business theories. Two major aspects are considered; Globalisation strategy and corporate social responsibility ethics. Although certain failings are highlighted BP is assessed to perform optimally on both counts. A conclusion is drawn and certain recommendations with respect to the style of research are made in the final section. Report Contents The report assesses the operations of British Petroleum to establish to which degree the operations of BP are in line with related management theory. The project starts with a brief introduction on the business of BP. This sets a stage and develops a context for further discussion. The second section discusses the research method adopted in the preparation of this project. Several methods are explored and the most feasible selected as the method of choice. The third section looks at BPs operations in two respects; international trade and globalisation strategy, and corporate responsibility and ethics. The final section of the project is a conclusion that summarises the main themes highlighted in the work, noting its achievements and limitations and sets the stage for future research. At this stage some recommendations are also made. Introduction British Petroleum (BP) is a global Oil and Gas company with its headquarters in the UK. It is one of the worlds largest businesses by virtue of its revenues. On is corporate website, it terms its self as one of the worlds largest companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemical products for everyday items. As of its financial year end 2009, it owned 22400 service stations around the globe, it owned operations in 30 countries around the world, it employed 80,300 people in different countries, it owned 16 refineries around the world (with the biggest in Houston Texas), it produces 2.3 million barrels per day and owned oil reserves of about 18.3 Billion barrels (BP web 2010) Research Methods This project aims to assess the operations of BP. It takes into focus two major issues in global business and strategy; International trade globalisation strategy and ethics including aspects of corporate social responsibility. The management literature proposes several qualitative research methodologies (Bryman, 2004). These methodologies include; surveys, questionnaires, case studies, focus groups, experiments and interviews (Bryman, 2004). Pursuant to the aims of this project, a case study approach is employed in which I consult several documents which discuss management theory (detailed in Hill, 2009) and I examine how their application in practice basing on the case of British Petroleum. I use the BP website as a core source to derive information for this purpose. Given the lack of resources, other research methods such as interviews, questionnaires and focus groups are impractical. The next section details the operations of BP and the related theoretical underpinnings. British Petroleums globalisation strategy Globalisation refers to the current trend where the world is becoming a global village by effectively inter-knitting, national boundaries are being relaxed and countries are increasingly dependent on each other for survival. Globalisation presents significant opportunities to businesses as well as challenges. Firms that can cope with the trend enjoy larger markets, cheaper resources and therefore higher profitability. Firms that are unable to compete efficiently are faced out. As highlighted above BP is a global company with a highly acclaimed globalisation strategy. The success of this strategy could be attributed several (three main) factors as discussed below. First-mover advantage The history of BP can be traced back to the establishment of the Anglo Persian Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company in 1909. This firm explored the Persian golf for many years and was converted to the British Petroleum company after the Second World War. Scanty reports show that the firm expanded tremendously by 1960 developing its operations beyond the Persian golf into North America. Most importantly it established a significant presence in the North Sea by being the first company to find Oil in Alaska (BP web, 2010). The above indicates the length to which BP has gone to establish itself as one of the worlds biggest and most successful companies. New Trade theory suggests that first movers can benefit enormously from certain economic and strategic advantages in terms of operations. The theory argues that for those products where economies of scale are significant and represent a substantial portion of world demand, the first movers in an industry can gain a scale based cost advantage that later entrants find almost impossible to match (Hill, 2009. p 187). First mover advantage can potentially explain the structure of the Oil and Gas industry. The industry is made up of few big players and many small players in the Western world where competition is free. In other countries such as Kuwait, Saudi, Russia, China, Iraq and Qatar competition in the industry is restricted and the major oil exploiters are government owned. BP has established itself in most of the western world due to its first mover advantage. It is able to cut costs in its operations and derive benefits from economies of scale and scope. Many firms can compete effectively in Oil exploitation, exploration, extraction and refining, and therefore they turn to engage in the provision of support services such as distribution or the derivation of chemicals for other manufacturing industries. Competitive advantage Porters findings on national competitive advantage can be extended to understand why BP locates in the regions it does. BP is a global firm but has operations at varying degrees in about 30 different countries world wide (BP web, 2010). Despite operating significantly in 30 countries, its products and services are available in over 100 countries (BP web, 2010). Porters diamond asserts that the degree to which a nation is likely to achieve international success in a certain industry is a function of the combined impact of factor endowments, domestic demand conditions, related and supporting industries and domestic rivalry (Hill, 2009. p 191). Hill (2009) argues that based porters theory a profit seeking firm should localize its operations in those countries where such activities can be performed optimally. BP operates in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America. In Africa, it operates in Joint Ventures with firms in Egypt, Angola and Algeria. Its choice to operate only in join ventures in this country can be explained by the political economy of these countries. These countries cannot be termed as full democracies and are often susceptible to civil crisis. Operating as a joint venture, curbs the firms risk in the event of a political crisis but allows it to enjoy the revenues to be derived from its operations. It also has a huge presence in the Southern regions of Africa but in these regions it engages more with the marketing of its solar energy concepts. This region is rich in natural resources (sunshine) but the development of energy networks is very poor. The countries in this region rely heavily on hydroelectricity which is usually not sufficient to provide for industries and households. BP also operates as joint ventures in Asia with operations in Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, South Korea and Malaysia. It manufactures lubricants and solar panels in China and India where labour is cheap. BP does not explore petroleum in Australasia. Its operations in this region are geared towards the provision of solar energy. BP operates as a stand alone entity in much of Europe. Its operations in Russia are partly owned (joint venture) by a Russian company. It has major exploration and production facilities in Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Columbia. These regions are rich in natural gas and oil necessitating BPs localisation to the areas. Products Hill (2009) noted that Raymond Vernon developed the product lifecycle theory after his realisation that firms had to keep innovating in order to maintain a demand for their products and ensure growth in revenues. The theory can be used to explain the globalisation trends, innovation drive and product mix of British Petroleum. BP currently produces a wide range of energy products including oil, natural gas, wind energy, solar energy, bio fuels and petroleum based lubricants. Two decades ago, its primary product was Oil. Research and development in the industry has led to the introduction of cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy. These forms of energy are widely regarded as the future of the Oil and Gas industry. Speculators believe that at some point in time oil will be faced out as coal was faced out with the discovery of oil. BP has realised the fact that oil as a product has reached its maturity stage and its demand might diminish with the advent of new forms of energy. The firm has taken a colossal position in the new energy market by running a major portfolio of energy products representing the mix of all bespoke and innovative new forms of energy. Unlike televisions for example, Oil cannot be re-engineered and further developed. Innovation by modification is therefore difficult. BP has turned the focus on energy efficiency i.e. researching and developing ways in which energy can be saved. Instead of devising faster or stronger energy which might be impossible BP has turned the focus to the development of equipment and usage techniques that will save energy through low consumption. This encompasses innovation that fuels the demand for its products. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility As Hill (2009) emphasized ethical issues in international business are brought about by political, legal, economic and cultural differences in between countries- what is considered normal practice in one country might be considered unethical in another (p. 124). The ethical challenge, I will argue, is significantly increased for global firms. BP for example operates in all the different continents of the world. In keeping with Hills argument ethics is relative and context dependent. In certain countries, it is ethical to employ young people. In the UK, all employees must be above the legal age of 18 to gain full employment. The legal age changes significantly between countries varying from 16 to 21. Most multi national firms deal with this challenge by devising a set of corporate values which govern their operations in all regions. BP web (2010) argues that the company is driven by four major values; progressive, responsible, innovative and performance driven. In terms of being responsible, BP asserts that We are committed to the safety and development of our people and the communities and societies in which we operate. We aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. This commitment can be seen in the fact that BP reporting covers all aspects beyond financial reporting including health, safety, human rights, environment and energy. BP is at the forefront of the cleaner energy debate. It does its bit by engaging in energy saving initiatives and constantly researching on cleaner ways in which energy can be produced and delivered. It has diversified strongly into the green energy industry engaging in the production of liquefied petroleum gas, fossil fuels and renewable energy. A major part of corporate ethics that has been pervasive in the management literature in recent years is corporate social responsibility. Hill (2009) argues that multinational corporations such as BP have power that comes from their operations and their ability to move production from country to country. Considering for an instance the revenues generated by BP annually, I find that the corporations revenues is higher than the GDP of many countries. Social responsibility advocates that managers should consider more than just the economic consequences of their decisions (hill, 2009). More importantly, importance should be placed on the social consequences of decision making. The European commission defines corporate social responsibility as A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (EC website, 2010). It basically refers to the companys interactions with its surrounding communities and looks at how the company strives to promote development and social cohesion and participates in maintaining the environment within such communities. A firms community is a major stakeholder of the firm and thus needs to be considered. BPs financial reporting incorporates major aspects such as its social responsibility, its strive for cleaner energy, its contributions towards preserving the environment and its strive to improve sustainable extraction of energy. Communities take corporate social responsibilities seriously especially when it comes to Oil and Gas firms. This is largely as a result of the potential dangers that can arise from their operations with these communities. Recent crises have ranged from large explosions with severe casualties to major spillages with the destruction of flora and fauna. -A review of the BP 2010 Oil spill crisis BP faced a deep water horizon drilling rig explosion which killed 11 of its off shore workers and injured 17 other workers. The rig gushed out over 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Mexican Golf between April and July 2010. The spill was catastrophic and so were its effect on wild life, the fishing industry, the tourism sector and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In response to this BP set up a crisis management program. It publicly apologized for the distress it caused and undertook to foot the clean up costs. The company has currently set up a $20 Billion dollar fund to manage the after-effects of the crisis. During the crisis, BP showed effort employing several techniques to attempt to stop the leakage. It also arranged a compensation plan for those affected by the crisis. This attests to the fact that BP takes its corporate social responsibility and ethics very strongly. Hill (2009) also notes the social contributions or social investments of BP in Algeria. Hill notes that BP realised its communities in Algeria lacked clean drinking water and created two desalination plants to produce clean what for the public. To add to this, the company provided water cans to help residents transport water from plants to their homes. Conclusions Summary of findings This study has examined the operations of BP in the global context to see how certain management concepts are applied in practice. Two aspects; globalisation strategy and corporate social responsibility were reviewed. BP is found to have a sophisticated globalisation strategy which it has fortified over the years. This helps it to compete efficiently and to remain one the worlds leading corporations. Again, BP is found to have a robust stance towards corporate social responsibility and ethics. Its industry is hazardous and it is pruned to corporate disasters such as spills and explosions. BP has managed to keep these to a minimum and when they do occur, BP has taken necessary steps to manage the crisis and limit the damage Limitations This work is limited in the fact that it strongly relies on public information sources to assess the operations of BP. Several aspects could have been better scrutinized and invaluable insights drawn through other research methods such as interviews with key workers and focus groups to draw varied opinion. Due to the limitations in space (number of words) the aspects discussed can not be reviewed in greater detail. Future research Recommendations This research has examined BPs operations in light of established theory but has not confirmed if such a method of operation is optimal. It might be interesting to investigate whether the product strategy, globalisation strategy or their approach to ethics and corporate social responsibility affect their performance or contributes significantly towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. The limitations highlighted above also provide avenues for future research into the area. Several theories have been propounded in the management literature. Their understanding will only be facilitated by examining how these theories are applied in practice or by investigating the contributions of such theories to management practice. In light of this argument, this form of study is encouraged.

Economic Policy Essay -- essays research papers fc

Economic Policy The new economic policy of the united states should include cutting taxes, reducing governmental waste, and balance the budget by having a smaller more efficient federal government. It should include equal opportunity for financial security but not through a government sponsored redistribution of wealth program. Cutting taxes across the board including income tax rates, capital gains and estate taxes among others should provide a growth spurt for the economy. Allowing people and businesses to keep more of their hard earned money would enable them to spend more money. People would be able to buy more cars, refrigerators, homes etc. The businesses would be able to build new factories with better more efficient high tech equipment. These new factories and expanded businesses would employee more highly paid workers which would expand the tax base and allow us to be more competitive in the world marketplace. Reducing the taxes would also motivate people to work harder and save more. The way things are now people can not seem to get ahead no matter how hard they work. The harder they work the more the government takes while others who choose not to work hard or have not developed the skills to earn a decent wage reap the same and in many cases more benefits. For example student loans and grants for college board and tuition fees are largely unavailable to lower middle class families let alone middle and upper middle class people. Reducing taxes on businesses would also allow them to invert more on new product development and research which in many instances the federal government now subsidizes which requires management. This government management bureaucracy cost tax payers money and is unnecessary because free market demands and the extra money they would save from tax cuts would motivate businesses to fund these programs themselves. This is just an example of what a smaller more efficient federal government. "Citizens in the united states today pay 38.2 percent of there income in taxes every year" (RNC Talking Points). This is way to much money for Americans to be paying. "Cutting everyone's taxes by 15 percent and giving them a 500 dollar per child tax credit would cut a typical families tax bill in half, a... ...Review and Outlook Dole and Taxes." The Wall Street Journal 29 July 1996: A12 Sepp, Peter J. "Are Republicans Serious About Cutting Fat?" New York Times 30 Aug. 1995: A17 "Dole Hopes Tax-Cut Move Will Energize His Campaign, but Which taxes to Cut?" The Wall Street Journal 15 may 1996: A16 "A Vote for a Sensible Center." Business Week 18 Nov. 1996: 194 "The National Debt. It's Eating Us Alive!" Internet http://www.europa.com/~blugene/deficit/debt.html "The Balance Sheet -- August 11, 1995." Internet http://www.rnc.ogr/news/balance/bal-950815.html "RNC Talking Points Cutting Taxes and Balancing the Budget Bill Clinton's Dirty Little Secret: A $64 Billion Tax Increase" Internet http://www.rnc.org/news/talking/tp-960913.html

Importance of Memory Color Essay -- Color Sight Vision Neuropsychology

Importance of Memory Color One of the most influential aspects on the quality of our lives is color. We use our perception of color every day. Without color we could not see traffic signals or enjoy sunsets, and learning techniques would be much more difficult. Color is an important function that signals and helps facilitate perceptual organization. Memory color is a phenomenon in which an object's characteristic color influences our perception of its color. The study of what colors will maximize memorization skills is important for many reasons. Human beings rely on color to keep order in our lives. Traffic signals, warning signs, and many other signals require perception of color in order to be effective. Without the use of color our world would become chaotic. Finding the colors that are most effective on memorization would increase safety and order in our lives. Also, finding the colors that best stimulate memorization could increase study skills in students, especially those with learning disabilities. Th e use of memory color could also be used in areas of business such as retail to optimize sales by using colors that are most familiar to people, and will therefore grab their attention. Furthering the study of the effect of color on memory would be beneficial in many areas. Our lives are kept in order by numerous signs, signals, and devices that provide instruction and precautions. We are constantly adapting these devices in ways that will increase our awareness of their function. Naor (2001) found that color knowledge interacts with object representation in many levels, depending upon the access level that is triggered by the stimulus. Therefore, using colors in signs and signals that are more familiar to people w... ...9 Goolsby, B. A., & Suzuki, S. (2001). Understanding priming of color-singleton search: Roles of attention at encoding and retrieval. Perception and Psychophysics Vol. 63(6), 929-944 Johnson, B. D., Altmaier, E. M.; & Richman, L.C. (1999). Attention Deficits and Reading Disabilities: Are Immedeate Memory Defects Additive? Developmental Neuropsychology, Vol 15(2), 213-227 Kido, M. (2000). Bio-psychological effects of color. Journal of International Society of Life Info. Science, Vol 18(1), 254-262 Naor Raz, G. (2001). Understanding the role of color object representation; Evidence for multiple levels of interaction. Robinson, G., & Cipolotti, L. (2001). The selective preservation of colour naming in semantic dementia. Neurocase Special Issue: Vol 7(1), 65-75 Tavussoli, N. T. (2001). Color memory and evaluations for alphebetical and logographic brand Importance of Memory Color Essay -- Color Sight Vision Neuropsychology Importance of Memory Color One of the most influential aspects on the quality of our lives is color. We use our perception of color every day. Without color we could not see traffic signals or enjoy sunsets, and learning techniques would be much more difficult. Color is an important function that signals and helps facilitate perceptual organization. Memory color is a phenomenon in which an object's characteristic color influences our perception of its color. The study of what colors will maximize memorization skills is important for many reasons. Human beings rely on color to keep order in our lives. Traffic signals, warning signs, and many other signals require perception of color in order to be effective. Without the use of color our world would become chaotic. Finding the colors that are most effective on memorization would increase safety and order in our lives. Also, finding the colors that best stimulate memorization could increase study skills in students, especially those with learning disabilities. Th e use of memory color could also be used in areas of business such as retail to optimize sales by using colors that are most familiar to people, and will therefore grab their attention. Furthering the study of the effect of color on memory would be beneficial in many areas. Our lives are kept in order by numerous signs, signals, and devices that provide instruction and precautions. We are constantly adapting these devices in ways that will increase our awareness of their function. Naor (2001) found that color knowledge interacts with object representation in many levels, depending upon the access level that is triggered by the stimulus. Therefore, using colors in signs and signals that are more familiar to people w... ...9 Goolsby, B. A., & Suzuki, S. (2001). Understanding priming of color-singleton search: Roles of attention at encoding and retrieval. Perception and Psychophysics Vol. 63(6), 929-944 Johnson, B. D., Altmaier, E. M.; & Richman, L.C. (1999). Attention Deficits and Reading Disabilities: Are Immedeate Memory Defects Additive? Developmental Neuropsychology, Vol 15(2), 213-227 Kido, M. (2000). Bio-psychological effects of color. Journal of International Society of Life Info. Science, Vol 18(1), 254-262 Naor Raz, G. (2001). Understanding the role of color object representation; Evidence for multiple levels of interaction. Robinson, G., & Cipolotti, L. (2001). The selective preservation of colour naming in semantic dementia. Neurocase Special Issue: Vol 7(1), 65-75 Tavussoli, N. T. (2001). Color memory and evaluations for alphebetical and logographic brand

Little Miss Sunshine Family Assessment Essay

Introduction Family can be a source of support, comfort, optimism, love and happiness, but family can also be a cause of depression, betrayal, hurt and pain. Family is not always determined by the having the same DNA running through one’s veins but it is the bond that people can have with one another. Family can consist of friends, co-workers, classmates, a community or a group of other people. Some family members can be the worst enemies because they have the most ammunition of secrets to bring a relative down. Being able to trust a person, depend on them, and be carefree is a person that can be valued as being a part of a family. In the movie Little Miss Sunshine, their dysfunctional family is loving, supportive, optimistic as well as motivating. The movie is filled with dark humor about a modern middle-class family that is about to encounter financial catastrophe but in the midst of their struggles they still find the beauty in life. In the opening of the movie Richard, the father is giving a motivational speech about winning, he states â€Å"There are two types of people in this world, winners and losers†. Richard is a protagonist motivational speaker that is obsessed with winning. He is so consumed with achieving that he ridicules his family for not being perfect throughout the film. Sheryl is the mother who is an optimist, she is always giving words of encouragement even when Richard is trying to bring his family down and she is all about honest. Frank is the brother of Sheryl whom at the beginning attempts to commit suicide due to a broken heart and losing his standing as America’s pre-eminent Proust Scholar. Dwayne is the son of Richard and Sheryl and is committed to being in the air force. He is so committed that he takes a vow of silence until he gets into the air force, but then finds out he is colored blind and breaks his silence. Olive is another protagonist character in the film, she is t he daughter of Frank and Sheryl and has dreams of  becoming a beauty queen. Grandpa is Olive’s beauty queen pageant coach and is a late in life convert to heroine and porn, he eventually dies from a drug overdose. Main themes within the film are irony, issues of struggling to be perfect with the trials and set backs as a middle class family as well as exposing beauty pageants for little girls in America. Irony is a main theme in the movie because the roles each character plays contradicts who they are trying to be. Richard is all about motivating others to win and pushing his â€Å"9 steps to Success† however ironically he is unsuccessful in his motivational speeches. In the opening scenes Richard is giving his â€Å"9 Steps to Success† lecture to a class of no more than 4 or 5 students and his steps to success are denied because no one knows who he is. Olive’s character also shows irony because she is an overweight, unfashionable 7 year old that is competing in glamor beauty pageants. Grandpa is in late adulthood but is acting as though he is in the stages of early adulthood by doing drugs instead of watching out for his health to prolong his life. Dwayne is showed to be working out and lifting at the beginning of the movie like as if he is a pro-athlete but is very slender and pale. Throughout the film the irony within each character and the masks they wore cha nged for the better. Issues of struggling in the film for this middle class family shows how they are on the verge of a financial catastrophe. Richard was so invested in his contract for his steps to success and depended on that source of income only to find out his contract was cancelled. The Hoover’s van breaks down multiple times and has many issues, such as the horn constantly honking. The family also did not have the money to go to California but made the trip anyway to chase Olive’s dream that would may come true. Even after the pageant financial burdens await them with the transportation of grandpa’s corpse and the costs for a funeral. With all the struggles this family endures the characters ways of thinking changed into optimistic views of life. Little Miss Sunshine was the beauty pageant that Olive was competing in and when the family arrived they realized that the Olive did not contain the  glamor and elegance of the other contestants. This film displayed the process in which the little girls had to go through to fulfil the image of a beauty pageant queen. In the middle of the film Olive orders ice cream for breakfast and Richard lectures her about her way of eating and that beauty pageant winners do not eat ice cream so that way they can look thin and win. During the pageant Olive shows her talent of dancing and the judges are offended, the crowd is disgusted and the host of the pageant attempts to get her off stage all because she does not fulfill the image of what society says a beauty pageant contestant should look like. But after Olive’s performance Richard then compliments her for doing such a great job and that her grandpa would have been proud of her. Richard realizes that his daughter is who she is and is proud to know that she tries her best in all she does and enjoys herself. Assessing the family one can determine that they have yet to achieve homeostasis. The family system as a whole shows that they are unable to maintain a stable constant state of balance financially however they are able to achieve this with their family structure. An example of the strong structure in this family system is having dinner with everyone present at the table, even Dwayne though he holds his vow of silence. Boundaries within the family system are set by Richard and most of the time it is him against everyone else. Subsystems include the brother Frank, the children Olive and Dwayne and grandpa. Each member has a role to play where Sheryl’s role is the most important because she is matriarch of the family, she is what holds the family together with her optimism and encouragement. There is a strong relationship between Olive and Dwayne, when Dwayne breaks down after finding out he is color blind Olive is there to comfort him same with Dwayne being there for Olive when she is getting ridiculed onstage at the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. The parents however seem to be on the brink of a divorce due to the constant arguments, if financial burdens get any tougher it may break their marriage. The family is experience negative entropy, each member is growing and developing. Frank who was at first suicidal is giving Dwayne advice about life. Richard is realizing that life is not all about winning but seeing the beauty in loving his family for who they are and what they do. When questioning the family, concerns would be whether or not Frank is still at risk of suicide? Has Frank identified the immediate problem that is causing excessive stress? He is suffering from a broken heart and due to that he is losing everything else around him because the man before is overshadowing his family, his goals, and his future. Has Frank identified any strengths that he still has? This question is asked because he is depressed about losing his job and as well as his standing as America’s pre-eminent Proud Scholar. Frank does show some signs of depression, he has a made a previous attempt, and he has no spouse. According to the SAD PERSONS scale Frank as a client may be considered for hospitalization though he has an amazing support system with his family.(344).