Business process mapping analysis for achiffa snack foods Essay

Business process mapping analysis for achiffa snack foods - Essay Example The company management has come across a number of gaps within the various systems and operations associated with the production, logistics, supply and warehousing departments. The management had in the past focused on increasing the product line by adding new products to its portfolio, and did not stress on improvement and service. Presently, there are a number of issues that are being faced the company on various fronts. There is an urgent requirement for changes in the facilities and the marketing fronts, customer handling, product pricing, product line system maintenance, packaging and storing of products. The image of being a quick service and supply chain of Achiffa Snack foods has been diminished of lately, resulting in losses to the profit margins of the organization. With pressure to get back on track with better profit margins, it is time that the Achiffa management thinks about implementing changes and improvements and devise a proper improvement strategy that focuses on e nhanced operations and better customer satisfaction. SECTION 1 BUSINESS PROCESS MAPPING ANALYSIS FOR ACHIFFA SNACK FOODS Business process mapping is related to identification of activities that are involved in the business of Achiffa Snack Foods. The process map clearly defines what the business does, the various procedures that are involved. The business process mapping of Achiffa clearly defines the various tasks involved throughout the whole supply chain of the company, from the order placement to the final delivery of the order to the customer. Business process mapping will help the company to identify where the gaps exist within the chain and which task needs more attention from the management and whether or not improvements can be made to the current process, (Kim 2006). Below is the business process mapping for Achiffa Snack Foods. The entire business of the company is divided between six departments which are identified as below – 1. Customer department – This department is in charge of functions likes order generation and collecting payments from customers on time. 2. Sales Department – This is concerned with maintaining the sales of the company at competitive levels. 3. Credit and Invoicing department – This is concerned with the accounts of the entire business. 4. Production Control Department – This is concerned with the production management of the products manufactured by Achiffa Snack foods. 5. Copying Department – This is concerned with the production scheduling and warehousing and logistics scheduling of the final delivery product. 6. Assembly and Shipping – This department is concerned with proper packaging, labeling and shipping of orders on time. PARETO ANALYSIS FOR ACHIFFA SNACK FOODS One of the recommended quality tools for Achiffa Snack food case study is the Pareto Analysis that has helped in identifying and solving the most common problems and concerns within the Achiffa

The Influence of Mass Media in Society Research Paper

The Influence of Mass Media in Society - Research Paper Example The effect of television on the way that people perceive reality can be seen in its full clarity through the influence of reality shows in the daily loves of people. The Kardashians, The Beverly Hills Wives, Guiliana and Bill, these are all scripted programs that â€Å"depict† the â€Å"real life† of a celebrity in such a manner that what they are doing on-screen becomes gospel truth to the voyeuristic viewer. This paper will focus on how television, through reality shows, has managed to changed the way that people perceive the reality of their own lives. Using facts and other verifiable information from various websites, articles,books , and/or journals, this paper will do its best to explain the phenomenon of the reality show and how it manages to change the way people view how they should conduct their lives based upon the television images and â€Å"real life† situations that they see. Towards the end, this paper will make mention of â€Å"The Hunger Gamesâ €  and how that particular movie helps to depict the evils of reality shows and how people sometimes, can no longer tell the truth between fiction and real life because of what television shows them. In order to best explain the phenomenon that has been created by the reality shows, one must first understand what a reality show is and what comprises the format. It is important for people to know that to call a reality show â€Å"unscripted† is a fallacy. According to David Rupel of the Writer's Guild of America reality shows do not have scripts but there are writers who â€Å"create formats, cast people based on character traits and edit scenes to tell a powerful, intriguing tale† (â€Å"How Reality TV works†). There are actually two types of reality shows, it either has (1) very little structure like The Kardashians, which means that the producer needs to sift through days worth of footage in order to develop a story line that the viewers will find intriguin g and stick to watching. Or (2) it is a reality show that is heavy on the formatting side such as The Amazing Race wherein the situations are pre-determined and thus includes a sense of drama that is more engaging for the audience (Rupel, David â€Å"How Reality TV Works†). Because reality shows have nothing real happening within them, one cannot help but wonder as to how the producers of such shows manage to alter the perception of people about the reality of what they are watching and influence them into illiciting an emotion that connects them to the show. Rupel, gives us a perfect example of how television and reality shows manages to alter the viewers perception of reality. He explains: When I worked on Bug Juice(a show for Disney Channel about kids at summer camp), we faced a major problem with our big boy-girl love story. After weaving this storyline through nine episodes, we were caught flat-footed when our boy Connor had the nerve to dump his girl, Stephanie, off-cam era! We had enough interview bites to explain what happened, but we needed a good visual to make it work... If you catch a rerun of the show, you will see a happy Stephanie obliviously bounce up to Connor, who solemnly takes her hand and leads her off, as his interview bite explains he needs to end things. With the help of a tender music cue, it turned out to be a touching and bittersweet end to our summer romance. The reality: Steph walked up to Connor, gushed about his Adidas

Comparison of Operations Management of Ryanair and British Airways

Comparison of Operations Management of Ryanair and British Airways This essay will seek to examine, compare and contrast the operations of Ryanair and British Airways, two major but strategically differing airlines. In order to fully explore the nature of both organisations and to critically analyse factors such as the impact of operations on performance imperatives and the ability to communicate ideas persuasively regarding key operations issues. The essay will begin by providing a brief background to both organisations and their operations management transformation processes. The essay will, for each organisation, discuss the market in terms of performance objectives and will focus on key transformation processes used in their operations. Underpinning and interwoven in the analysis will be concepts and theories of operations management which will provide a rigorous conceptual framework from which closer analysis of both of these organisations will be possible. This will serve to enable a clear and distinguishing conclusion that clearly notes the k ey differences between each airlines organisational management approach. I have chosen to focus this essay upon the airline industry, a large, growing and highly competitive industry in which profit margins are often tight with external factors, such as the price of oil often having a large influence. The airline industry is an important modern component of globalisation, facilitating significant increases in economic growth, global trade, and international tourism. Deregulation of the airline industry in the US in 1978 and in Europe in 1997 resulted in a more competitive market and the inception of low cost budget airlines such as Ryanair to compete with the more proliferate domestic flag carriers such as British Airways. Analysis In order to analyse and discuss the organisational management and transformative processes employed by the different airlines, it is first necessary to provide a brief background to each in order to contextualise their respective positions within the airline industry. The decision to analyse Ryanair and British Airways was taken in order to discuss two very different airlines. There are similarities and differences between the two airlines. Both are privately owned and operated airlines, one Irish, one British, both are committed to safe and reliable air travel, and both have also had to deal with their share of controversy and adverse media attention: Ryanair over its reliance upon ancillary revenue, its approach to customer service, and its provocative advertising; British Airways over the intense rivalry with Virgin Atlantic and subsequent high profile lawsuit, and more recently the long running industrial relations dispute with its cabin crew. However, both organisations take a very different organisational approach to their operations and management, as we shall explore. A brief background to Ryanair and British Airways Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline, with its head office based in Dublin Airport and with a UK base at London Stansted Airport. In 1985 Ryanair was created by the Ryan family and began inauspiciously with one plane flying once a day carrying passengers between Waterford in the south east of Ireland to Gatwick airport in London (Ryanair, 2010). However Ryanair has rapidly expanded since the European deregulation of the airline industry in 1997 and the last decade has been characterised by rapid expansion to meet the massive increase in passenger numbers the airline carries, to the extent that now Ryanair is one of the largest and most successful airlines in the world, and is the leading low cost airline in Europe carrying over sixty six million passengers in 2009 (Ryanair, 2010). This analysis will explore how Ryanair has managed such a dramatic and successful transformation of its operations. British Airways has if perhaps a less spectacular recent history, a more illustrious (the concord for example) and proven record of longevity, with forerunner company Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited reaching back to 25 August 1919 and the worlds first international daily air travel between London and Paris (British Airways, 2010). In 1974, forerunner companies such as Cambrian Airways, Caledonian Airways, and North West Airlines were merged to become British Airways, however owing to rising fuel prices and economic recession British Airways was operating at a loss in the 1980s and under the Conservative government of the time was eventually privatised in 1987 becoming a plc in a bid to return it to profitability (British Airways, 2010). British Airways has since the mid 1990s operated fairly successfully attracting a high of just over forty million passengers in 2002, and the company making substantial yearly profits until 2008 and has suffered significant losses in 2008 and 20 09, owing to several factors such as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud and the industrial dispute which resulted in strikes and impacted upon operational capacity (BBC, 2010. This essay will seek to examine how British Airways has been seeking to turn around its recent fortunes and return to the profitability of the past in the face of stiff competition from low cost rivals such as Ryanair. Operations Management In the ultra-competitive airline industry, it is imperative that organisations understand their market, their operational world and their strategy. Operations management and business strategy are key to business success, and incorporate a holistic approach to management strategy and decisions which drives an organisation towards a goal. Ryanair for example has an operations strategy to provide air travel at the cheapest cost, whilst maximising its revenue and profit margin, whilst British Airways aims to provide an upgraded service to everyone who chooses to fly with us (British Airways, 2010), whilst improving efficiency in its operations. In order to achieve these ambitions, successful operations management is crucial, as it: Can reduce the costs of producing products and services and being efficient; Can increase revenue by increasing customer satisfaction through good quality and service; Can reduce the amount of investment that is necessary to produce the required type and quantity of products and services by increasing the effective capacity of the operation and by being innovative in how it uses its physical resources; Can provide the basis for future innovation by building a solid base of operations skills and knowledge within the business. (Slack et al, 2007:22). Operations management then will have a significant impact upon a companys short and long term profitability. Key to successful operations management and to this essay is operations strategy as it informs and instructs the fortunes of an organisation by charting the direction that they will follow. Operations Strategy and the Target Market For years up until the deregulation of the European airline industry in 1997, the European airline industry was dominated by national flag carriers, often subsidized by national governments, that offered full service flights but generally with high fares, of which British Airways is a good example. British Airways operational and management past is more complicated than Ryanairs due to several factors but largely because of its history and status as a flag bearing airliner. British Airways has had to overcome obstacles to success in its history privatisation was successfully navigated through programmes such as Putting People First and A Day in the Life which emphasised staff development, employee engagement and a collaborative approach to industrial relations (Upchurch, 2010:3). British Airways in the early 1990s was a profit making organisation based upon customer related innovations, however other airlines quickly copied the operational strategy, resulting in declining revenue a nd resulting in major job losses (British Airways, 2010) owing to greater competition. British Airways thus had to evolve its strategy and ambitions, and ensure that the strategic objective was aligned with the operations management of the company: British Airways strategic objectives focused on engaging in mergers with other airlines, hiring and training a good crew and maintaining its financial and social status. The strategic objective of British Airways are in line with the operations management system of the company. The operations objectives make sure that British Airways would continuously provide the best service to clients. The operations objectives make sure that the organizational objectives are met. The operations objectives guide the firm so that the organizational objectives will be met by British Airways. (Operations Management, 2010). Deregulation of the industry increased competition not only from within pre deregulation competitors but also with newly created airlines, and paved the way for what was essentially a revolution in air travel that has seen the creation of a multitude of low cost airlines offering cheap fares but with reduced services. Ryanair is the principal and most successful of these airlines and it achieved this success through innovating and redirecting its attentions in the market. Rather than try and compete with existing airlines in attracting the usual business travellers, Ryanair a different target market by seeking to attract large numbers of leisure travellers instead (Chesbrough, 2007). However, Ryanair was not initially a profitable organisation, unable to compete with the more established airlines. Realising this, Ryanair crucially and fundamentally over hauled its operational strategy in 1991: We patterned Ryanair after Southwest Airlines, the most consistently profitable airline in the US [says Michael OLeary, Ryanairs Chief Executive]. Southwest founder Herb Kelleher created a formula for success that works by flying only one type of airplane the 737 using smaller airports, providing no frills service on board, selling tickets directly to customers and offering passengers the lowest fares in the market. We have adapted this model for our market place and are now setting the low fare standard for Europe. (OLeary in Slack et al, 2007:62). Essentially then, this change in strategy by Ryanair highlights how important operational strategy is to an organisation. Perhaps the biggest challenge for British Airways has been the ongoing struggle against the low cost airlines which points to a strategic choice for British Airways between continuing to operate a full service and customer service focused high quality liner, or to adopt the low cost model. British Airways has refused to go down the low cost route, preferring instead to differentiate its customer base, focusing on premium, high-yielding passengers (in First and Business Class) (Upchurch, 2010:3), whilst rationalising some routes, cutting loss making routes and attempting to increase efficiency and savings through job cuts. Through changing their strategy significantly to copy a successful model, Ryanair fundamentally altered its operations but importantly enabled it to grow to become the leading European low cost airline. It was the strategic decisions that were taken that have been key and these include stream lining the operations wherever possible and aggressively optimizing production costs. By using only one aircraft type the 737, Ryanair were able to save a significant amount of money through standardization of parts, maintenance and servicing (Slack et al, 2007:62), whilst saving pilot training costs as the average training time for flight crews on the Boeing 737 is two weeks compared to an average of seven on other aircraft (Roseingrave, 2000). Ryanair maximised the aircraft seating capacity, whilst implementing a policy of charging for the seat only and increasing revenue through ancillary services such as charging for luggage, for online check in, for priority boarding and for on board fo od and drink (Box, 2007). Ryanair have also diversified the range of services that they offer, a cursory glance at their website highlights the range of services currently promoted in addition to their low cost flight seats, such as car hire, travel insurance, discounted hotels, airport transfer, credit cards, gift vouchers, hostels and bed breakfasts, cruise holidays, cheap mobile roaming, villas and apartments and campsite holidays (Ryanair, 2010). However, this is not unusual for an airline company, British Airways offers similar but more aims for a more up-market target. Perhaps one of the most important strategic decision that has been taken by Ryanair management is the decision to use low cost secondary airports: Flying in and out of low-cost uncongested secondary airports has become the trademark of Ryanair. Selected airports are generally close to large population centres. Secondary airports work well for Ryanair because they are less expensive, generally because they are the only airline flying there. In some cases these airports actually pay Ryanair to provide services. As Ryanair has a strong negotiating hand, if airports raise costs Ryanair can move capacity to lower-cost airports. Since secondary airports are uncongested, Ryanair is able to do 25-minute turnarounds, which enhance aircraft utilization and on-time performance. (Roseingrave, 2000:49 50). This combination of strategies aimed at keeping operating costs as low as possible have proved to be successful. However their success is can only be measured if customers are satisfied with the service provided. Ryanair is not famous for its customer service; indeed OLeary, the Ryanair CEO, clearly states the companys policy on customer service: We guarantee to give you the lowest air fare. You get a safe flight. You get a normally on time flight. Thats the package. We dont and wont give you anything more. Are we going to say sorry for our lack of customer service? Absolutely not. If a plane is cancelled, will we put you up in a hotel overnight? Absolutely not. If a plane is delayed, will we give you a voucher for a restaurant? Absolutely not. (OLeary in Slack et al, 2007: 62). Essentially, this is exactly what defines Ryanairs service concept, a tripartite concept outlined by Johnston and Clark (2008: 42). Firstly, the organising idea, or the essence of the service bought or used by the customer (Johnston and Clark, 2008: 42) is the guarantee to be given the lowest air fare, a safe flight and usually an on time flight. For British Airways, customers are the focus, which means that their employees will strive to ensure customer satisfaction and they will provide a more costly and full service. Secondly, the service experience, or the customers direct experience of the service process which concerns the way the service provider deals with the customer (Johnston and Clark, 2008: 42) is displayed in the simplicity of the deal they are up front and honest about the fact that the customer, even a customer in a service industry, should not have high expectations of customer service or customer care in the event of things going wrong. British Airways has long p ortrayed itself as the Worlds Favourite Airline owing to its commitment to a high quality service and standard of care, including compensation where appropriate. Again this is a far more costly model than Ryanairs but is aimed at a different if smaller market. Thirdly, the service outcome or the result for the customer of the service (in particular, the benefits provided, the resulting emotions and assessment of value for money) (Johnston and Clark, 2008: 42) is proven in the price guarantee, and the fact that Ryanair has increased its share of the passenger market dramatically within the last decade going from carrying around seven million passengers in 2000, to an estimated seventy million in 2010 (Ryanair, 2010). Conclusion So was it just the success of Ryanair that allowed OLeary to predict that Ryanair would overtake British Airways by carrying 3.5 million passengers a month in 2005. He went on to say, The very fact that a Mickey Mouse Irish airline can start in a field in Waterford 20 years ago, and in 20 years, overtake the worlds self styled, self proclaimed favourite airline is testament to the demand for low-airfare travel around Europe (Box, 2007: 65). Or was British Airways in operational decline. It would appear that the low-cost model of airline has been more successful in recent times and it is fair to say that with the recent and ongoing worldwide economic uncertainties that it is likely to continue to be the dominant force in air travel. Whilst British Airways has had a track record of being able to successfully adapt its operational strategy, it has in recent years been in decline and has so far failed to convincingly react to the growing threat to it from low-cost airlines. It has had to deal with additional problems such as the industrial dispute, whereas Ryanair being a airline that operates without an employees union, has avoided having to deal with complicated wrangles. The recent merger with the Spanish Airline Iberia has provided stability. But is British Airways merely delaying the inevitable? Is it attempting to become an airline that is too big to fail? As we saw in the economic crash, banks that purported to be too big to fail can and did, needing state intervention to prevent economic disaster. Time will tell, but currently the future of air travel would appear to have found hegemony in the low-cost, no frills airlines.

Adam Smith Biography :: essays research papers

Adam Smith was born on July 5, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. At the age of fourteen, Smith entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied moral philosophy under Francis Hutcheson. Here Smith developed his strong passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. In 1740 he was awarded the Snell Exhibition and entered Balliol College, Oxford. In 1746 Smith left Oxford. In 1748 Smith began delivering public lectures in Edinburgh under the patronage of the Lord Kames. In 1751 Smith Was appointed the Chair of Logic at University of Glasgow, the next year he was appointed the Chair of Moral Philosophy, which was the position of his old teacher Francis Hutcheson. In 1759 he published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, it was embodied several of his lectures from his roles at Glasgow. In 1762 the academic senate of the University of Glasgow conferred on Smith the title of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). Smith subsequently resigned from his professorship and from 1764-66 traveled with his pupil , mostly in France. On returning home to Kirkcaldy Smith was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London and he devoted much of the next ten years to his magnum opus. The Wealth of Nations was published on March 9, 1776. It was written for the average educated individual of the 18th century rather than for specialists and mathematicians. There are three main concepts that Adam Smith expands upon in this work that forms the foundation of free market economics: division of labour, pursuit of self interest, and freedom of trade. As for Smith?s characteristics and personal views, not much is known beyond what can be deduced from his published works. Shortly before his death, Smith had nearly all his manuscripts destroyed. In his last years he seemed to have been planning two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts.

A Critique Paper on the Article Essay

There had been rampant news about economic crises that come and go due to a variety of reasons. More often than not, these crises affected a number of countries, and not surprisingly, a lot of businesses as well, especially those that operated in the affected countries. The issue here now is how a business’s top management will respond when faced with the repercussions of a crisis. Of course, there are many courses of action to choose from, and one of these options is restructuring. Corporate restructuring is entered into by firms that deemed that no other viable options exist but this. The usual form of restructuring is debt restructuring, wherein the creditor and the debtor renegotiate the terms and conditions of the existing debt of the latter in order to make it less onerous to fulfill. It may lead one to wonder why any sensible creditor would agree to this knowing it would be disadvantageous on his part. One of the main reasons why creditors agree to this arrangement is because of its relationship with the debtor. If it is in good terms with the debtor or has a history of mutual benefit, creditors would then consider this option, notwithstanding the detriments on its part. Restructuring is not also limited to corporate bodies. Any types of businesses, may it be small, medium or large enterprises, may use this option. In fact, this paper tackles the restructuring process and the probability of its success based on small- and medium-sized enterprises, given the following variables of determination enumerated in the paper. II. Main discussion a. Summary of the article This paper aims to measure the likelihood of success of a firm’s restructuring process with a bank’s assistance, given identified factors. To empirically test the paper’s hypothesis, the model is formulated as follows: Success in Restructuring = f (firm size, ROA, debt ratio, debt structure, bank debt, restructuring period, value of collateral) The size of the firm, which is measured using a firm’s total assets, is taken into consideration in determining the outcome of the restructuring process. This is so because it determines the level of resources a firm possesses. In the same vein, the value of collateral is considered as well as the degree of collaterized debt a firm has. The firm’s return on assets (ROA) is included as a measure of the firm’s profitability. The debt ratio, which is the portion of total debt on total assets, is considered for obvious reasons. The debt structure is incorporated to determine mainly the percentage of short-term and longterm to the total debt of the firm. The bank debt, measured as the percentage of debt owed to the bank in relation to the total debt, is taken into consideration. This is so because a firm receiving bank assistance for its debt restructuring may be affected because of their liabilities towards the ones helping them during their tumultuous times. Lastly, the restructuring period is added. A longer period would require more resources to be expended on the part of the distressed firm, in turn affecting the likelihood of success of its restructuring. Since this [paper] was made in the context of the Netherlands, the sample of firms and all other relevant data were taken from said country. The researchers gathered and classified 51 â€Å"successful firms† and 22 â€Å"unsuccessful firms†. The paper employed a qualitative response model (QRM), particularly the logit, to test their model in its multi-variate setting. The results of the empirical test were summarized in the subsequent tables (all taken from the paper): Table 2. 1 shows that both classes of firms were relatively comparable in terms of their size despite the difference (Total assets), but this is significant only at the 10% level, meaning, the size discrepancy is not enough to be a source of bias in the results. In the industry level, it can be seen that the Manufacturing and the Services and Transport industries are the ones that experience a lot of financial distress (results were significant at the 1% level, in other words, really significant). However, it is a different story between the two. The Manufacturing industry has more cases of unsuccessful restructurings whereas it is the other way around for the Services and Transport. The Other industries is also significant (10% level), which can mean that the researchers should have considered more industries rather than lumping them all in one. For the reasons of distress, it is surprising to see that only Overinvestment was significant (5% level). This can explain the reason why Manufacturing is on the top of the list: overinvestment has led the firms to grow at unmanageable levels, which was also coupled by a decreasing demand for the firm’s products, leading to their demise. Table 2. 2 answers the main topic at hand, which is the determination of significant factors (firm characteristics) to the probability of successful restructuring. These figures were taken pre-restructuring. The results show that the significant factors were those that relate to a firm’s debt. Moreover, it can be seen that unsuccessful firms had a really high debt ratio compared to the successful firms. It can therefore be concluded that a firm’s debt condition spells out its success or failure in debt restructuring. b. Significance This study can be useful for firms of all sizes and also to banks, the former to determine if restructuring is a wise decision given their debt situation, and the latter to decide if a financially-distressed irm is worth helping given their financial constraints. To put it simply, it helps both parties (especially the banks) to maximize the use of their resources that will reap them the most benefits. This is also not limited to developed countries, since this can also be applied in developing countries like the Philippines. Policy-makers can also get value from the results of this study by implementing the appropriate rules in connection with t his issue to ensure that the economic condition of the country will be protected from any harm that can emanate from this. III. Relation to class discussion It was actually in class that I have first heard of restructuring, and of course how to address the accounting problems posed by debt restructuring. In relation to this article, it actually deviates from the accounting issues learned in class, and takes it to another level, which is applying it in the real-world context. For my part, journal articles like these make me think that there is more to something that what we initially see. For instance, the class opened my eyes to the accounting perspective of debt restructuring, but this article made me appreciate this topic a whole lot more because of the familiarity I have with the topic and the discussion itself. Moreover, it has enriched my knowledge on the said topic. After this, I am really encouraged to read a lot more to quench my thirst for knowledge not only in my chosen field of expertise, but also in anything I am curious about. After all, living a meaningful and satisfying life is not by being ignorant, but by being curious about the things around you.

Great Expectations Essay

How does Charles Dickens introduce his characters, setting and themes at the beginning of his novel, Great Expectations? The world that Charles Dickens creates at the beginning of his novel Great Expectations is one of isolation, loneliness and sorrow. This is because he portrays the world in this novel through Pip, whose childhood is spent in loneliness because he was deprived of his parentage and the comfort of his siblings at an early age. His sister Mrs Joe Gargery brings him up and is extremely aggressive and abusive towards him. She pushes him to the extent that he isolates himself from the world, and spends part of his childhood grieving over the death of his parents in the graveyard. The atmosphere at the beginning is shown as being really distant and sorrowful, when describing the atmosphere where Pip is first introduced as, â€Å"the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry was Pip.† Dickens has chosen to use a variety of linguistic devices to help the reader visualise what the landscape looks like. For example he uses a series of adjectives to describe Pip’s immediate surroundings: ‘Dark, flat wilderness.’ In particular he uses metaphors to compare the different aspects of the environment; â€Å"the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea.† This presents the sea in such a way that the readers are given the impression that the sea is aggressive and hostile. This relates back to the way Pip’s sister behaves towards him, always aggressive towards Pip and takes every opportunity to abuse him both mentally and physically. â€Å"Bleak place overgrown with nettles.† This describes Pip’s surroundings as being overcrowded with nettles. The link that is significant between the nettles and Pip, is that the place is hazardous seeing that the nettles often sting and hurt when one comes into contact with them, signifying pain and distress. This relates to how the convict (later known as Abel Magwitch) treats Pip, when he comes in to contact with him at the graveyard. He handles Pip in an intimidating and aggressive way; he is very insulting to him partially because he wants Pip to help him. The picture that Dickens creates of Magwitch, contrasts with the church, especially because the church is a religious symbol where you can seek sanctuary from the rest of the world and its problems. â€Å"The river wound, twenty miles of the sea.† This gives us the impression that the river is alive and is unwinding. Also the image of the long river comes in to mind. â€Å"The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then.† A marsh is a great expanse of wetland, mostly useless because you can’t build anything on it. â€Å"The river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed.† This represents the environments as being a place of isolation, deserted because of a loss of inhabitants. People would not normally want to be in such an area. In the beginning of the novel, it reveals that Pip is found at this place. He is lonely and secluded from everyone, trying to find support and refuge amongst the dead; some of them being his parents and his brothers. The adjective in this quote shows how the graveyard has a livid atmosphere, generally to signify the connection between the dead and the unfortunate circumstances that they died in. The character of Pip in Great Expectations is portrayed as being very tolerant and silent when compared to the rest of the characters in his surroundings. He is always very diminutive when confronted by other people. Throughout the novel he is seen as being serene and distinctive, possibly because of his parentage and his social background. â€Å"I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them.† Pip had not seen his parents since he was born, as both of them had been deceased when Pip had been very small; however he was brought up by his only living relative; his sister. â€Å"My sister – Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith.† As Pip had never experienced the love and care of his parents he used to spend most of his time in the graveyard, trying to comfort himself with the presence of his family. â€Å"The shape of the letters on my father’s, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, â€Å"Also Georgiana Wife of the Above,† I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly.† Although Pip didn’t know how his parents appeared, he tried to change that by observing their graves stones to visualize what they looked like. The isolation that is felt at the beginning is apparent in the fact that he tries to imagine what his parents looked like from the shape of the letters on their tombstones. Pip’s brothers also died at a young age, which deprives Pip of having any companions to play or spend his time with. â€Å"Of five little brothers of mine – who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that universal struggle.† This leaves Pip being more isolated and alone than he would have been if they had been alive. The only thing that he knew about his brothers was their names; â€Å"Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The dark flat wilderness reflects the emotional feelings of Pip and the harshness of the atmosphere. This is important because it explains his isolation and surroundings, and how he seeks shelter in this dark deserted environment. The phrase â€Å"memorable raw afternoon,† directly relates to how cold, uncomfortable, rough and painful life is for Pip. There is also some importance in this extract taken from the novel. â€Å"The low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea;† These phrases describe the surroundings that Pip grew up in. The metaphors in this are given a lot of importance as they relate to the severity and loneliness in Pip’s life. The role of Abel Magwitch in the opening of the novel is considerable, although we do not see much of him other than in the opening and final passages, he is arguably one of the most influential characters in Pip’s life. Charles Dickens depicts Magwitch as extremely aggressive and impertinent; this presents him as a fearful and a cautious man. â€Å"A fearful man, all in course grey, with a great iron on his leg.† This is a really menacing image of him, as when he threatens Pip for food and drink Pip immediately responds to him by agreeing to steal the food. There have been many incidents in the opening extracts of the novel where Pip has been threatened by the convict. â€Å"Keep still you little devil or I’ll cut your throat.† This gives the audience the impression that Magwitch is violent and aggressive. He treats Pip with the same violence and aggression when he asks Pip to get things for him, not at all considering how old or small Pip is. This shows us how Pip is abused and insulted by Magwitch, for his own personal gain. â€Å"You get me a file.† He tilted me again. â€Å"And you get me wittles.† He tilted me again. â€Å"You bring ’em both to me.† He tilted me again. â€Å"Or I’ll have your heart and liver out.† He tilted me again.† The way Magwitch speaks is so different to the Standard English that Pip uses, this is because he uses colloquial language. This citation also proves that Magwitch is selfish and passionate, as he is so desperate to get what he desires that he will do anything to make sure he gets it, no matter how much turmoil and trouble it could cause. Furthermore, it shows that he is very dangerous and the influence he has over Pip can lead Pip to carry out a criminal act. The instant image that is created of Magwitch is of danger and neglect, because of all the exploitation and torment that he furnishes on Pip. â€Å"A fearful man, (†¦). A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head†¦ who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.† You can tell that that Pip is petrified of Magwitch due to his appearance and the way he conducts himself. This has an immense amount of impact on Pip as he still has nightmares regarding the convict, which frightens him. However this image of Magwitch is shown in a different light as we advance in to the novel. Pip is courteous and kind to him, as a result he decides to make Pip a ‘gentleman of great expectations.’ It is possible that because of the pain that was inflicted on to him in his past, he treats Pip in that way. Nevertheless, when Pip is being questioned about the theft of the food, Magwitch takes the blame on to himself, it is a possibility that he felt guilty about all the pain he caused Pip and also because Pip had been prepared to do so much for him. Another reason for Magwitch to make Pip a ‘gentleman of great expectations’- is because, although he was intimidating and traumatizing to Pip, Pip showed lots of respect and politeness towards him, in addition to bringing him what he requested. â€Å"Yes sir.† This shows that even though he is being physically abused, he is being respectful; this may be because Pip is vulnerable and is in a sense of helplessness and danger. Abel Magwitch becomes Pip benefactor as he perceives Pip as being trustworthy and well mannered. It is shown later on in the text that Magwitch had a daughter. Therefore bearing in mind that Pip had lost his parents at an early age, Magwitch felt concerned about Pip and sought to replace the parental love that Pip was deprived. The theme of abuse is also present through out a variety of chapters. There’ve been many incidents in this novel in which Pip has suffered from abusive behaviour, physically and mentally, from numerous characters. Those of which includes; Pip’s sister – Mrs Joe Gargery, Estella and Ms Havisham. The type of abusive behaviour that he endures from his sister is revealed during the opening scenes of the novel. His sister is revealed as being very stern and intolerant towards Pip. She beats him severely and also attacks his mental state of mind. Her way of speaking to him is really harsh and her actions provide the audience with the assumption that Mrs Joe Gargery loathes Pip. â€Å"Knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me.† This implies that she used to hit Pip. The way that his sister used to punish him, would be unacceptable in today’s society as it would be seen as child abuse. â€Å"And what’s worse, she’s got ‘tickler’ with her.† What is meant by the term tickler is that it is â€Å"a wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame.† Mrs Joe Gargery used canes to beat Pip. The audience can imagine how much pain must have been inflicted on to Pip at such a young age. Not only does she use canes to beat Pip she also hits him with her hand. â€Å"She concluded by throwing me.† In the opening passage Mrs Joe Gargery also insults Pip and attacks his mental state of mind by making him feel unwelcome and unwanted. â€Å"If it warn’t for me you’d have been to the churchyard long ago, and stayed there.† She keeps reminding Pip that she is the only person left for him, and if it wasn’t for her he would have been abandoned and left to die. â€Å"It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife (and him a Gargery) without being your mother.† This quote is also saying that Mrs Joe Gargery has unwillingly had to look after him and replace his mother, and she is to some extent ashamed and unhappy of being Joe the blacksmiths wife and their relationship together is not what it should be of a loving husband and wife. The novel illustrates that Pip also receives abuse and neglect from Ms Havisham and Estella together. Although they may not be as violent as Pip’s sister, they do mentally abuse him and make him feel extremely small and neglected. â€Å"Sometimes, she would coldly tolerate me; sometimes, she would condescend to me; sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me.† This shows that Estella enjoys playing with Pips feelings and thrives on playing with his heart and emotions. Estella has acknowledged that Pip has taken a liking to her and she entertains herself when Pip tries to engage with her. Ms Havisham builds up the love in Pip’s heart for Estella. She fuels the fire in which Pip burns for Estella. â€Å"Does she grow prettier and prettier, Pip?† She is also seen to have a lot of influence over Estella and it seems that it is under her directives that Estella strives to break Pip’s heart. â€Å"Miss Havisham would embrace her with lavish fondness, murmuring something in her ear [that sounded like] â€Å"Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!† Ms Havisham has brought up Estella and it is under her instruction that Estella is directed to play with his emotions and gradually break Pip’s heart. The reason that Dickens had to write this story was that it reflected some of his own experiences; he presented Great expectations in such a way that some of it included some aspects of his own autobiography. â€Å"Great Expectations does draw on my own experiences. Like Pip, I grew up in the marshy country around Chatham and Rochester; like him I raised myself up in status in society. Pip discovers his secret benefactor, a kind of father to the orphan boy, is actually a criminal; my own father spent time in prison for debt.† In addition to this, there were many events in his life that had an immense impact on him as a writer. â€Å"The greatest was my experience as a young boy when I was taken from school and sent to do low and demeaning work in a Blacking Factory, pasting labels onto bottles of boot-blacking. I felt miserable and abandoned, and even at my most successful as an adult the horror of that time returned to me. It gave me a peculiar accuracy and empathy for childhood and the children’s point of view; and for the downtrodden and abandoned in general.† The relation that this states between Charles Dickens and Great Expectations is that in some stage in his life he felt abandoned and isolated. This being the reason that Dickens had empathy for children and had experienced as a child on what their feelings and thoughts were. My personal view of Great Expectations and why it is still such an important book is it reflects the organization of today’s society and why there is such a huge status gap between the rich and the poor. It also relates to how Pip has to struggle in life as a child, and how much torment and abuse he has to face all through his life. This reflects the life of many children today who face abuse and neglect from their families and relatives, or that when a child is kidnapped, they are physically and mentally harmed whilst being abandoned, away from the rest of the world alone and isolated My reaction to this novel was that it was extremely emotional and had a powerful story to it, which had the readers engaged in every moment of the novel. I found that the story which was based on Pip had a huge impact on me, and I got involved and anxious to know what happened next. The emotions and the way that Pip was treated, had been emphasised in the novel to a great extent, so that the audience felt truly apprehensive and sympathetic towards Pip. I think that this novel has been very successful in attaining the support of the audience. Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations represents the heart breaking accounts and feelings of many unfortunate children. All the more reason for the work of Charles Dickens to be appreciated and praised through out society.