Critical Perspectives on Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Critical Perspectives on Management - Essay Example This research investigated the Derrida's views on the worth of deconstruction for management students and vital aspects of deconstruction between managerial decision-making of managers and a set of specified contingent situational training factors: decision type, perceived skill requirements, and objective skill inputs (Bowie N. E.,2002). The term deconstruction was coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1960s and is used in contemporary humanities and social sciences to denote a philosophy of meaning that deals with the ways that meaning is constructed by writers, texts, and readers and understood by readers (Campbell J., 2002). One way of understanding the term is that it involves discovering, recognizing, and understanding the underlying and unspoken and implicit assumptions, ideas, and frameworks that form the basis for thought and belief. It has various shades of meaning in different areas of study and discussion, and is, by its very nature, difficult to define with out depending on "un-deconstructed" concepts (Ciulla J. B., 2005, 5-28). The results show a significant training for management student and relationship between the choice of decision styles and the postulated contingency variables. Only 1% of 615 senior managers consistently use a single decision style, more than two-thirds use four or five different styles. Very large variations occur as a function of different decision tasks, perceived skill requirements and objective skill availability (Cropanzano R.).According to the expert analysis, Derrida has been called a philosopher, anti-philosopher, fictional theorist, fictional subverter and thinker joker. But his innermost doctrines are clear. For management students, his conceptions are a source of excel once we use language (speech or writing) to submit to actuality, that realism is linguistically formulated and therefore undetermined. Import is not impressive preexisting in the mind that we move violently to articulate. Like the maj or logical schools of management students for talking philosophy from Hume onwards, and different from Saussure, Derrida does not consider words as the appearance of ideas (Bowie N. E.,2002).

Motivation of Maids in Motels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Motivation of Maids in Motels - Essay Example According to the essay "Motivation of Maids in Motels" findings, the additional responsibilities such as being maà ®tre d’hà ´te, preparing the work roster can keep them more engaged. Similarly, combining several work activities can help in creating challenging and enriching job description. Through this, the maids would feel that the role that they do is much more important and meaningful than before. For example, as a part of their core job of housekeeping, a combination of tasks such as profiling a customer, providing inputs to the other service teams and so on can be assigned to them. This allows the maids to learn and use a wide variety of skills than before, thus providing them more opportunities as well as ensuring that the get the opportunity to indulge in workplace learning. These physical changes in the job description can be a source of great motivation to the maids. Along with the physical changes, it is also necessary to consider the strategies to enhance the pe rsonal identity of the motel maids. The main strategy that needs to be considered here is to make sure that the self-esteem of these workers is not just preserved, but improved (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). For example, improving their dress code and ensuring that they look smarter can be a great way to enhance the personal identity. Many employers think that since a maid does not have interaction with the guests, there is no actual need for a good and smart dress code. Another strategy that should be considered seriously is reinforcement. The management of the organization should reinforce constantly about the high importance of the role that they play in the organization (Chance, 2003). Efforts should be taken so the maids feel that they have a crucial role to play. This will provide the necessary respect and would make them proud about the work that they do. Furthermore, steps also should be taken so that the maids do not feel that they are at the bottom of the hierarchy of the org anizational structure of the motel. From a long-term perspective, there should an aim to move to a horizontal organizational structure. For Western motels, the right approach to leadership would be the transformational style of leadership. One of the main reasons that were identified as the reason of the high churn rate of maids was very low motivation. A transformational leader would have the capability to bring around a good change in this respect (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). This form of leadership has the potential to create a very valuable change in the staff and can enhance motivation levels, performance as well as the morale in the staff. With the help of individualized concentration, the leader can act as a mentor or coach and try to understand the reason for high attrition. Through intellectual stimulation, the leader can stimulate creativity and positivity in the staff. In the case of the maids, by providing them a variety of options, the leader can foster creativity to

Comparison of UK and Indian Cultures

Comparison of UK and Indian Cultures Introduction In this era of globalization in business environment, companies are expanding their business all over the world, i.e. in different countries and each of them with different cultures. One area in particular of growing importance is intercultural management skills. Culture in international business nowadays is recognized to have a major role to play in the international sales, marketing, recruitment, management and mergers. In short, culture is behind everything we do or say. (www.kwintessential.co.uk) Therefore, in the international and multi-cultural business community, there are very much possibilities of misunderstandings which can have a negative effect on the people which will intern affect the productivity of the organization. This complexity requires a manager to adapt in order to offer modern solutions to these problems. (www.kwintessential.co.uk) Culture is: Something shared by all or almost all members of some social group. Something older members of a group try to pass to younger members. Something (as in the case of morals, laws, and customs) that shapes behavior, or structures ones perception of he world. Therefore culture is all that one needs to know in order to be accepted in a society or an organisation which is a sum total of all the beliefs, values and norms shared by a group of people who have been brought up in a society to think, feel, interpret and react in a particular manner. Or it is a human need of adapting to circumstances and transmitting these skills and knowledge to the next generations. It can also be said as culture as mental programming is also crystallization of history in the hands, minds and hearts of the present generation. (Hofstede, 2001). This essay will talk about the cultural difference between India which is my home culture and UK which is the counterpart. I have chosen UK because I have been to UK for my Supervised Work Experience (SWE) and during my stay in UK I never paid attention towards the UK culture dimensions and would now like to analyze with respect to the different models. But before that lets have a look at some customs or values that are followed in these countries: India Hinduism Social freedom amongst the sexes is not appreciated. Use of first name to address people is avoided. The method of greeting depends on the social status of the person you are meeting i.e. if a son is meeting his father usually he greets him by bowing down and touching his feet. Where as educated people, in business meeting shake hands to welcome or greet each other. If invited for dinner one may only have the dinner with the business partner and not the whole family and do not get upset if you host asks you several times to have some more food. It is Indian custom to make sure that the guest does not get up hungry from the table. Also at the table one should use the right hand in passing food as Indian consider left hand as impure. UK: British people are formal, sophisticated, value privacy and are sensitive. Within UK controlled business environment, maintain decorum and avoid casualness in dress and conversation, loudness and shouting is too taboo. Family names and first name are preferred. British people are good negotiators as they are tolerant and good listeners. Fine manners and good etiquette are expected at all social occasions. Gift giving is not a normal custom in UK. (Harris, 2004 Rodrigues, 2001) Hofstede Model Cross-cultural study to find out the differences in national cultures, this was done by Hofstede across 60 different countries which included matched samples of business employees. These studies together identified four independent dimensions of national culture differences. The dimensions explored were Power distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism verses collectivism and Masculinity verses femininity. The first of four dimensions discovered by Hofstede is called power distance. Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful member of an organization or an institution accept and expect that the power is distributed unequally (Hofstede, 2001). The basic problem which is prevalent here is to what extent in a culture the degree of inequality between a less powerful individual and a high powerful individual is expected and accepted. India stands at the 10/11 position in the survey with a score of 77 whereas Great Britain is on the 42/44 position with a score of only 35. (see appendices-) For example During my SWE the service operation head of the whole hotel chain was very friendly, who was also the head of my department. I used to share my personal problems with her and even go out for dinner. This example would be further analyzed in the competencies. The second dimension is labeled as uncertainty avoidance (UA). It refers to the extent a culture or organization prepares its members to feel comfortable or uncomfortable in an unstructured situation (Hofstede, 2001). The issue involved here is the level to which a culture or society would accept strict laws and regulations over uncertainty and risk. Countries or cultures scoring high on UA have long history and the population is homogeneous. Risks even calculated are avoided and new ideas and concepts are difficult to introduce whereas countries on low UA scores are completely opposite. Although there is not much of a difference in the ranks given by Hofstede but still India scores a higher rank than Great Britain, also this dimension does not have a major role in the core competencies.( see appendices-) The third is individualism and collectivism which is the degree to which a culture stress on that right of an individual as compared to those of a group. Countries scoring high on individualism live in the I culture and strive for personal goals and achievements. In such countries it is acceptable to pursue personal goals at the expense of other. Whereas a country scoring low in individualism has the we culture. Individual desires and goal could be suppressed for the good of the group. For Example In UK culture people always consider themselves as an Individual, they are more bothered about themselves even if they belong to same family, whereas in India people consider each other as a part of a group and thats the reason joint families still exist in Indian society. The last one is masculinity and femininity which refers to the distribution of role between the two genders i.e. male and female. Countries with high masculinity are observed to have the following characteristics i.e. Priorities in life for people are achievement, wealth and expansion. Usually people settle conflicts through aggressive means.Women and men have different roles in society. OftenProfessionals in these countries work for longer hours and short vacations. Whereas in counties which are low in masculinity the following is observed. Priorities are the family, relationships and quality of life.Conflicts are usually solved though negotiation.Men and women share equal positions in society. Masculinity/Femininity are equally powerful but in respect to Hofstede, 2006 research both India and UK share common Masculinity culture as in both of these cultures social gender roles are clearly distinct.( see appendices) Halls Model The vital distinction is made by the anthropologist Edward Hall between high and low- context cultures and how these contexts have an effect on communication. In High Context cultures high context communication: information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person with little communication in the explicit words or message and on the other hand a low context culture communication most information is contained in explicit codes, such as words (Harris, 2004). High context cultures depend heavily on the external environment, situations, and non-verbal behavior in creating and interpreting communications. In high context cultures when individuals communicate they try to find out how much the listener knows about what is being discussed. People in high context cultures emphasize on interpersonal relationships, also developing trust is very important factor or step which should be made before starting a business. People are collectivist and work on their intuition rather than on reasons and are more indirect as well as formal. India is high context culture. Whereas in Low Context cultures the environment is less important, and non -verbal behavior is often ignored. While communication is going on the listener knows nothing or little and need to be told about what is being discussed. People in low context cultures emphasize legal documents rather than inter personal relationships or trust. People are individualistic and work based on logical reasoning and not on intuition, also they are direct and informal. UK is a low context culture. For example During my SWE I was asked by my colleague to help her with the work load. Instead of saying I can not, I said it would be difficult. The example would be analyzed in the competencies areas. The second concept given by Hall was to do with the how different cultures structure or manage their time i.e. polychronic verses the monochronic time orientation. The polychronic cultures believe in doing many things at one time and the monochronic cultures believe in doing one task at given point of time and time is subordinate to interpersonal relationships. UK belongs to monochromic culture and India is a polychronic culture. Stereotyping Another important factor or variable that the managers in the organization need to keep in mind is stereotyping. Stereotypes are set of attitudes that causes us to attribute qualities and characteristics to a person based on the group to which that individual belongs. (Harris, 2004) It basically involves categorizing and making perceptions about people based on ones experiences and it guides ones behavior towards that group of people in a particular way. Teamwork A team is a number of persons associated in same joint action, while teamwork is described as cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of persons working together towards the actualization of a goal (Harris, 2004). A hotel firm can only survive if the employees are ready to work and produce an effective team. As each and every operation in the hospitality industry is interrelated to each other. For example front office is depended upon housekeeping department for clean rooms and restaurant is dependent on kitchen for cooking food. Thus in order to have a successful multicultural team member should have complimentary skills and should think in favor of the team.( example see appendices-) Communication All activities involve communication. In the global era different managerial activities like motivating, leading, negotiation exchanging information etc are all based on the manager of one culture to communicate effectively and successfully to people of other cultures. Communication can not only verbal or written but also non-verbal i.e. body language, expressions etc (Adler, 1997). In international Hospitality and Tourism industries language plays a very important role, as both of these industries include direct guest contact; good language and communication skills can either make or break the impression of the organization especially hotels.( example see appendices) Conflict and Negotiation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conflict- A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests; a clash (www.ANSWER.COM) Causes of conflict communication failure personality conflict value differences goal differences methodological differences substandard performance lack of cooperation differences regarding authority differences regarding responsibility competition over resources non-compliance with rules (www.geocities.com) These are some of the factors which causes conflict in an working environment of an organization which needed to be resolved through various modes and means Force Negotiate Bargain Avoid Accommodation and Appease (Mead 1998:2005) The most important tool is negotiation whichs is used to resolve conflict Negotiation is a process in which two or more entities come together to discuss common and conflicting interests in order to reach an agreement of mutual benefit (Harris, 2004). In international business negotiation, there can be misunderstanding due the difference in the culture to culture in language, cultural conditioning, negotiation style, approach to problem solving etc. Negotiation plays a very important role in Hospitality and Tourism Industries, such as negotiation on room rate with guests and travel agents in different countries etc. As India belongs to polychromic culture, while taking decisions people from India tend to involve other people (colleagues) into the negotiation process which makes the process longer. This also confirms the stereotype associated with them. This also happens as India a collectivist and high PDI country. Whereas UK which is monochromic culture they see time as an asset and quantity to be scheduled, they emphasize on making agendas and finish the work or taking the decision in time. Negotiation can also be effected by the communication style of the country i.e. as explained earlier the concept of high and low context cultures i.e. misunderstanding due to lack of clarity amongst the two cultures thus leading to unsatisfactory results of negotiation. Evaluating myself- Me, As a manager After completing my reflective practice assignment and following up the tasks given to us. After doing the Hofstedes measuring cultural differences approach model or exercise and I found that I measured masculinity more than femininity which clarifies that the job which is given or I undertake is done to get personal sense of accomplishment and I look for new and challenging opportunities for a high success .I would describe my self as low power distance human being as I would like to work with those mangers which makes decision by considering all the employees view points rather making their own personal decision I would focused more on collectivism rather on Individualism as I look for more opportunities to improve upon my skills and develop new skills by adapting to new working conditions ( see appendices- ) Cultures are normally attributed to groups of people but, within group each individual has his/her own individual characters which make the person stand out from others. I would describe my self as a good listener, good observer, cooperative with employees, Flexible and competitive (see appendices-). These individual characteristics make me stand out from other members of different cultures. The results of CCAI indicate that my strongest are is Personal Autonomy and my weakest area is Flexibility/Openness. While scores in Emotional Resilience and Perceptual Activity almost the same.( see appendices-) The area in which I lack the most is communication among different cultures; while I can easily handle situations in which things do not go as per plan or situations and in which stress and tolerance occurs. I lack in area where I am expected to communicate among different cultures, despite of the fact that, I would love to spend some time with people from different cultures. By improvin g my intercultural skills such as communication i.e. how to react on different ideas, people and experiences and I should not focus on what other people are saying and doing rather make my own decisions. This will make me a better person while I am in different culture and in my own culture. Also I should learn to appreciate different people and expenses. In the next six months by following up the action plan I would improve on my communication skill by reading novels and newspapers and also at the same time try interact and discuss on different issues with people in college whom I normally dont interact with, as it will also help me in appreciating different people as well. Completing this exercise would help me in dealing with different people at my future work place and also communicating effectively with them.(see appendices-) Conclusion and Recommendations The main focus of this essay was to analyze similarities and dissimilarities among Indian and UK cultures. This was done though use of two models of cultural analysis done by Hofstede and Hall. It was realized that both the cultures are too different from each other. As hospitality and tourism industry are growing at a rapid scale and due to globalization of the business, the demand for multicultural employees is increasing, but managing employees from totally different cultures like in India or UK would be great challenge faced by the managers in the industry. Also international visitors often expect that service providers should understand and respect their customs, beliefs and cultures, if not it may lead to cross cultural conflicts. Following are the recommendations for UK and India based managers: Cross cultural training should be provided to the employees so that they can adjust in new cultures. Information about other cultures should be provided which will lead to better understanding amongst the employees and enhanced teamwork. While communicating with Britishers, Indian people should use simple words which are grammatically correct should be used and direct communication should take place as British people belong to a low context culture and prefer messages/communication to be structured directly, that they get immediate to the point and state conclusions and bottom line. Proper understanding of other cultures and choosing appropriate negotiation process can produce effective and useful negotiation. A manager must find out the common and the uncommon values of his and counterparts culture in order to conduct effective and successful negotiation. While negotiating between UK and Indian cultures, managers should take care of the body languages, Gestures and use of grammatically correct language for communications should be used also, importance of time should be taken into consideration. Cross cultural training should be provided to the employees so that they can adjust in new cultures. Information about other cultures should be provided which will lead to better understanding amongst the employees and enhanced teamwork. Another consideration for global managers is that they should have/develop good listening skill. Bibliography Adler .N.J, (1997), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 4th Edition, South-Western, United States. Abercrombie.N and Warde .A( 2001), The Contemporary British Society, Black well PublishersLtd, Great Britian. Brislin. W.Richard , ( 1981), Cross Cultural Encounters, Pergamon Press, USA. Brislin.W. Richard and Cushner. K,( 1996), Intercultural Interactions, 2ed , Sage Publications, USA. Barker. C.( 2002) , Making Sense of Cultural Studies , Sage Publications, London. Conflict: Definition, Synonyms, from answers.com ( online) cited on 2 November url: http://www.answers.com/topic/conflict Francesco, A. M. Gold, B. A. (2005) International Organizational Behavior : Texts, cases and exercises Upper Saddle Row, New Jersey, Pearson/Prentice Hall. Grazia. V.(1981), The Cultural Of Content,University of Cambridge , Cambridge Hooker.J,(2003) , Working Across Cultural , Standford University Press, Califonia. Hofstede .G ,(1985) , The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practises and Theories , London. Harris. P., Robert .T. M Sarah. V. M, 2004, Managing Cultural Differences Global Leadership Strategies for 21st century, 6th Edition, Elsevier, London. Hodgetts. R, Luthans. F, Doh. J, 2006, International Management Culture, Strategy, and Behavior, 6th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi. Hofstede. G, 2001, Cultures Consequences, 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, London Kwintessential (2008), Intercultural Training (online) cited on 3 December URL: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/intercultural-training.html Mead, R. 1998 International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions 2nd edition Cambridge MA. Blackwell Publishers Mead, R. 2005 International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions 3rd edition Cambridge MA. Blackwell Publishers Rodriguez. C, 2001, International Management A cultural Approach, 2nd Edition, South-Western College Publication, United Kingdom Robinson. M.(1999) , Cultural Conflicts In Tourism Inevitablity and Inequality, CAB Publication, USA Schneider.C.Susan. and Basoux Louis.J,( 1997), Managing Across Cultural , Prentice Hall, Europe. Storry.M and Childs. P.( 1997), British Cultural Identities,Routledge New York Samovar. A .Larry and Porter.E. Richard,( 2003) , Intercultural Communication , 10th edition , Thompson Learning, USA Singh.Y.(2002),Culture Change In India,Rawat Publication, Jaipur. Yahoo: Causes of conflict ( online ) cited on 4 November url: http://geocities.yahoo.com/causes of conflict

Concert Report Essay -- Music

For this concert report I chose to go to a performance of student composers held at the Kimball Recital Hall. I chose this one because I wanted to see some of the talent that my peers have in the music realm, and also it was one of the only concerts I have been able to attend because I usually work at night. It was impressive to hear pieces composed by students. I cannot imagine creating something as complex as a musical composition, much less actually performing it, so this aspect of the concert was particularly awe-inspiring. There was a large attendance, and I think that much of the audience consisted of friends of the composers and/or performers. I went with three friends, who I convinced by telling it would be interesting to see student composers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first piece was called Oblique/musique composed by Patrick Swanson. This piece instantly stood out among the others because of the instruments involved. The piece was performed by two people: one playing a vibraphone and the other playing a large drum/cymbal/gong. However, the piece also contained prerecorded sounds of static, bass, and an incoherent voice. In this piece the melody was repeated many times. It was similar to the works of John Adams because of its repetitions, background recording, and minimalistic sounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second piece was a piano composition by Thalia Ventimilla called Ecuadorian Afternoon. This piece had a very relaxing melody and a â€Å"walking speed† tempo. It was not fast and not slow. The intensity of the piece started out high and gradually declined, then built up to decline again. This went on in a series of decrescendos, rising and falling with lots of chords being played.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third piece was a duet for the flute and the oboe by Julia Grace Brown. The piece contained two movements, but I could not tell when one stopped and the second began because there was no pause. While they played the flute was quicker, playing in short, fast, high pitched notes. On the other hand, the oboe was steadier and carried the notes slightly longer, and it lead the flute through the song. Sometimes the two instruments played simultaneously, and sometimes the flute would mimic the oboe and follow it through the movement. Overall, the piece started out fast and eventually slowed with the two instruments ending together, but the flute always played in a higher range with a more piercing ... ..., intensity, and length. The entire movement had a feeling of rising to a maximum point which could not be surpassed. In the third movement the flute and the piano played together and played nearly the same thing, with the exception of the flutes higher notes. This to had an increasing in intensity and tempo. Now for the sake of time, and because this report is already too long, I will skip to the last piece. Also, the seventh piece was so long that I could keep discussing it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The final and twelfth piece was made up of excerpts from a longer work called Five Short Pieces for Clarinet and Bassoon. To me, maybe because the concert was beginning to get long or maybe because I did not have many notes over it, the last piece seems fairly similar throughout its movements, or â€Å"Short Pieces.† The first was an up-beat piece with a distinct melody. The clarinet and bassoon alternated, with the clarinet playing the higher notes. The second movement had a have complete feel to it. The two instruments played at the same time, close to it. The third movement was an impressive sounding mix of ups and downs. It seemed that the performers were working very hard and it sounded very complex.

Open Text Essay

Connect’s main strength is its user-friendly, windows based interface, which allows user to seamlessly perform all document management activities, with only minimal training required. This simple and easy to use windows interface enviroment is fully integrating with Microsoft windows explorer, Word, Powerpoint and Outlook. Open Text has spent a lot of time and money patenting this interface as it the critical value-added selling point that differentiates Enterprise Connect from its competitors. Enterprise Connect is also integrated with Oracle, as it builds solutions on the Oracle Content Database structure. This allows for customers who already have an Oracle database, which is one of the most popular databases used in the world today, to fortify existing investment. As well Enterprise Connect is deeply integrated with SAP as Open Text has shared two-decades of partnerships can co-development with SAP, which is one of the most widely used ERP systems today. Competitive Analysis Market Leaders 1)IBM )EMC 3)Open Text Primarly Competitors: 1) IBM (Founded:1910, Size: 386,558, Location: 1 New Orchard Road Armonk, NY 10504): Strength: In 2007, IBM was the largest ECM vendor based on revenue. Their ECM solution, FileNet, is a well integrated, fully flexible ECM solution. IBM will be able to successfully sell FileNet through its extensive partner service channel and current leading positions in key vertical markets including its traditional financial services, insurance, banking and government markets. Weakness: However, IBM has two content management solutions, DB2 and FileNet and questions are beginning to arise as to whether IBM will be able to fully integrate them into a single, simply to use solution. As well, although FileNet does have strong integration, it is still not fully integrated with all of IBM’s software solutions creating havoc for current IBM customers. 2) EMC (Founded: 1979, Size: 38,600, Location: 176 South Street Hopkinton, MA 01748) Strength: EMC has been a consistent market leader in the ECM market leader. Their ECM software solution Documentum, addresses the entire content life cycle, from capture through to final archive and in this way provides strong document collaboration. Weakness: While the collaboration software solution provided by Documentum is very useful and beneficial, there are a few draw backs to using it. The main disadvantage being that Documentum’s software requires the use of a complex and complicated IT infrastructure. This requires an extensive amount of installation time and can be a major inconvenience to those business professionals who are always busy and on the go. Oracle (Founded: 1977, Size: 84,233, Location: 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065): Strength: Oracle’s ECM solution, Oracle Universal Content Management (OUCM) is a well-integrated software solution and has the strongest integration with Oracle databases than any other ECM provider. This is a major strength as Oracle is one of the most popular databases used today. OUCM will also has access to one of the most robust set of complementary technologies and resources. As well Oracle has an extensive selling channel and customer base. Weakness: Oracle has been known for only supporting its own software. There still remain questions as to the support Oracle will be able to give for other platforms outside the Oracle infrastructure.

Film “The Black Balloon” Essay

The film â€Å"The Black Balloon†, is a 2008 Australian AFI award-winning dramatic feature film that stars Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward; as well as a cast of newcomers. It is directed by first-time feature film director, Elissa Down, Despite being set in the early 1990’s, the movie, â€Å"The Black Balloon† still contains relevant messages for audiences in the modern age. These messages involve the discrimination the Mollison family is subjected to, the characters that Down has incorporated into her story and the coming of age by her one of her main characters Thomas. Discrimination is a major theme in the movie, â€Å"The Black Balloon†. This theme was shown throughout the movie when the residents of the town and the school displayed discrimination toward Charlie and the family. The most poignant example of discrimination is when Charlie has a breakdown/tantrum at the supermarket when his father, Simon, has to put gro ceries back. Charlie feels that his order has been interrupted and he doesn’t cope with the change. Not one of the community members or staff members who were seen to witness the tantrum offered to help or even offered an encouraging smile. Through Down’s use of close-up camera shots on the observers, the viewer is able to see the judgment and horror that the community is displaying towards the autistic Charlie. Discrimination is also show financially. Although it isn’t shown in the film, financing Charlie’s medication plus his routine doctor and specialist check-ups wouldn’t be easy and again, the community is not forthcoming with offering assistance. These judgments from community members still occur in modern day society and parents of autistic children are still subjected to judgmental looks when their child doesn’t cope in an â€Å"appropriate† way in a social setting. The director Elissa Down has designed her story with simple characters, these individuals are coursed with issues and are reluctant to overcome them. the characters rema rked in this story show a great amount of emotions throughout their journey in the film, Thomas Mollison hitting his highest points at life when he meets Jackie and meeting his all-time lows releasing his anger out on his autistic brother Charlie is a massive point in the film. The characters in the film have a sense of belonging to their family this is resembled by the Mollisons sticking strong as a group and overcoming challenges throughout the film. Romance is also another big remark for the characters, the romance contributed by both  Jackie and Thomas really hit hard in the film. Individuals in the film also need to overcome challenges and that’s more than certainly shown in the film. Overcoming issues like the dinner table scene and the big fight. The characters in this film really resemble to modern day audience due to actions the characters conduct to, the sense of family and belonging are still a massive emotion throughout a modern families relationship. The sense of romance hits a huge message throughout the lives of young teenagers everywhere, modern social settings have a diverse amount of young teenagers who conduct themselves with the messages that The Black Balloon shows. The coming of age shown by one of our main two characters Thomas Mollison has been touched on perfectly by director Elissa Down, she investigates that harsh times throughout Thomas’s early life and evaluates him to where he concludes at the end of the film. Coming of age is the transition from adolescence to adulthood. During this time Thomas faces many challenges and changes. In the course throughout the film Thomas is sequenced with hardship and faced with strong issues, two main issues are outlined including the embarrassment of Charlies actions with conducting a relationship with Jackie and the sorrow moments where Thomas is known to be pushed aside of Charlie. Thomas plays the part of ‘A coming of age story’ perfectly, growing up throughout the film and overcoming those issues in his life at that time. Thomas concluded at the end of the film with emotions such as pleasure and happiness, this is shown with close up shots of Thomas’s face during the scen e where he dances in Charlie’s performance. This resembles a message of growing up and that message conducts greatly in modern society, the facts of teenagers going through harsh times in many senses including home life, school life and life overall. Thomas played a part of every young adults life, showing the emotions of his tears in the bathroom scene when his mother addresses him and the joyful moments at the end of the movie. Highs and lows are registered throughout anyone’s life and Thomas has shown that through emotion and his actions in The Black Balloon. In conclusion the movie The Black Balloon outlines a variety of strong coursed messages, these messages relate to modern audiences in a course of factors. Discrimination of families and characters was a high remarked message for contemporary viewers to relate to, the taste of judgement reached out to the viewers and were widely in sighted of the social setting that they are in. The  characters were evolved throughout the film as they showed high courses of emotion and heavy scenes of action. Observers showed relevance to the characters of the film as they saw the rich lust of romance and family belonging. The coming of age of Thomas Mollison reached out to modern audience and distinguished the hardship of issues grieved throughout a young teen’s life. Thomas showed emotions of happiness and sadness while overcoming issues and representing himself as a strong young adult. Viewers receive the message of overcoming issues and relate to these by the actions Thomas did in the film, these messages show that The Black Balloon does hold modern views on society today.