Training professionals have a leading role in innovation and change Essay - 4

Training professionals have a leading role in innovation and change - Essay Example the importance of training this important component to ensure consistent innovation that subsequently result into enhancing the organization’s competitive edge. This paper explores the role of professional training in promoting innovation and change in the current organizational setup. According to Omachonu and Einspruch (2010: 6), innovative duties require versatile people with ability to function in a wide conceptual environment. In addition, technical ability and proficient communication skills are important attributes for innovators. Unlike the previous specialists who specialized in a particular discipline, ability to multitask is a highly sought attribute in a professional in the current business environment. This implies that such a person can make valuable technical contributions and strategic decisions in diversified areas of business engagement. Therefore, promoting innovation culture in an organization does not only require recruitment of passionate innovators but also individuals with business acumen, enterprising character and negotiation skills (Resnick 2008). Recruiting a professional with these attributes requires more than just perusing resume or initiating volunteering programs in the organization. Therefore, organizations have become cognizant o f the need to incorporate training programs to promote innovation and positive change in their businesses. Various writers have investigated the role of training professionals in the current business environment in delivery of innovations. Bondarouk and Looise (2005: 163) classified the roles in context of three major human resources management issues, namely work structuring, organizing design and personnel issues. According to Bondarouk and Looise, (2005: 165) work should be structured in manner that encourages creativity and innovation. This includes changing the supervision model and creation of semi-independent teams in an organization. Work structure plays an important role in

Mystic Monk Coffee SWOT Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mystic Monk Coffee SWOT Analysis - Case Study Example The vision of the company was declared to be: â€Å"acquiring a large parcel of land - a new Mount Carmel – and building a monastery with accommodations for 30 monks, a retreat center for lay visitors, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, and a hermitage† (Turnipseed 2011, 237). While this vision clearly defines the goal of the monastery for the next year or several years, it needs some improvement as it sounds more like a strategic plan than a vision statement. In order to achieve the above listed strategic objectives, the monastery needs to have an appropriate strategy and business model. At the present moment, the monastery does not have clearly identified strategy. Current business model is based on the sales of roasted coffee beans to Catholic visitors, wholesale shops, and churches. The monastery purchases fair trade Arabica beans at $2,99, roasts it, packages, and resells at $9,95 per 12-ounce bag. The sales are carried out mainly online, via the corporate website of the monastery. If customer purchase three coffee bags or more, they are granted free shipping service. Also, there exists a â€Å"coffee club†, whereas customers are offered to a monthly delivery of one to six bags of preselected coffee (Turnipseed 2011, 237). All these elements make up the current business model of the Wyoming Monastery Coffee business operations. Before recommending any improvements on the strategy and business model, it is necessary to analyze t he key internal strengths and weaknesses of the monastery and evaluate major threat and opportunities. The first initial strategic option was to consider Mystery Monk Coffee operations as a potential source for funding the project. For implementing this strategy it is necessary to produce a calculation of the monastery’s production capability.  

Rene Descartes And Rationalism

Rene Descartes And Rationalism Rene Descartes method of doubt centers on destroying knowledge to reconstruct knowledge thus, gaining certainty. To do so, one has to first doubt everything. This in my opinion promotes a certain kind of disunity in the world of knowledge, thus leading to no definite knowledge. Descartes states that in order for man not to be deceived by the supreme and powerful being (the devil), man will have to doubt everything, to be more specific, doubt everything in the physical sense. Descartes emphasizes that the only thing true in the world is thinking. Indeed the senses tend to make mistakes, but Descartes fails to see that these mistakes have a possibility in helping man conform into the world of knowledge. The method of doubt downplays every aspect of success in the realm of knowledge. There are several scientists who made scientific breakthroughs and contributions to the world of science by making these mistakes. This method of doubt is borderline pessimistic by nature. A mistake is in itself an error for man, but what Descartes fails to see is that these mistakes can help in making man better. Certainty cannot be obtained by doubting everything. Rene Descartes fails to present an endpoint. Meaning, he doesnt say when man has to stop doubting everything. Rene Descartes states To conquer that habit, therefore, I had better switch right around and pretend (for a while) that these former opinions of mine are utterly false and imaginary. He then states that he will stop doing so, until he finds a something that can counter-balance the weight of old opinion. All Rene Descartes does here is to present a means to an endpoint. But he never states what that endpoint is. Thus, rendering this kind of thinking unusable simply because one will never know when to stop doubting. The endpoint being certainty can also be doubted. This is because, how will one know that, that he is indeed nearing certainty or he has gotten to the truth. Rene Descartes offers absolutely no information whatsoever. All he does is again, state a means to an end. In Rene Descartes method of doubt the train of thought is always moving backwards. Backwards in the sense that in doubting everything, or by apparently destroying knowledge in order to reconstruct it, there is no sense of moving forward to certainty. The train of thought is always in the negative plain. In doing so, Id like to point out, man cannot reach certainty or at least know when to stop destroying knowledge to reach that certainty, by doubting everything. There should be a means of moving forward to that certainty, but in doubting everything all you are doing is going back and in fact lowering the plane of knowledge by doubting it. So what remains true? Perhaps just the one fact that nothing is certain? In thinking like this, Rene Descartes disproves that the only thing he is trying to find. In applying the method of doubt, I affirm that is indeed better to doubt something first before making a quick verification of something. In making a quick verification of things or in trusting your own senses quickly, at times you will err in doing so. But I would like to emphasize that I only affirm only until this aspect of Rene Descartes method of doubt. I believe it is in fact better to examine ones senses first before making a quick conclusion. Rene Descartes was right in saying that your senses are not clear enough to prove things. There are indeed things that elude the senses of man. But insofar, as doubting to the very core, I believe that no one will actually reach certainty. According to Rene Descartes, the only true science is mathematics. He states that, Mathematics is the only science that is indeed true. Insofar as certainty is concerned, there is no doubt that Mathematics is indeed certain in its plane of knowledge. But the certainty Mathematics emits is far different from the certainty we are looking for. Mathematics shows how the intellect can conform into something that is certain without the use of senses. But beyond that thinking, Mathematics is in no way useful. Mathematics as a starting point for reaching something that is certain outside numbers, will in no way bear any fruit. Mathematics is limited to the intellect. As far as certainty is concerned, it is indeed true. The big difference between Mathematics and all the other sciences is that, Mathematics is the only science that conforms to certainty. There is no way one can prove that 1 + 1 is not equal to two. In applying Mathematics as the basis for the method of doubt, I deny that Mathematics is useful. The mode of thinking in Mathematics is far distinct than the thinking used in the method of doubt. Meaning, the thinking in answering the mysteries of the world, or in this case, whether or not everything is an illusion, is far different from the realm of knowledge in Mathematics. Even if Mathematics conforms into something that is certain, I believe that Mathematics is still not a viable science in knowing whether or not something is true this is because the method of doubt of Rene Descartes is quite complex. Mathematics should not be the central science simply because it is the only science that conforms into something that is certain. Insofar as the statement Its not true if its not certain is concerned, there is no way one can reach at something that is beyond probable and without dispute. This is because the method of doubt has no clear path to begin with. The path to certainty with the use of the method of doubt, ultimately leads to nowhere. Furthermore, in the meditations, Rene Descartes emphasizes on doubting everything man sees because the devil works to deceive man. But I would like to point out, if man lives under these conditions, and supposing that there is indeed an entity that is out to trick man, man will not have a basis in understanding what is true. I believe man should never cower in fear of the unknown, and if a man does indeed doubt everything for the sole reason that there is an entity out to deceive man rather man should rise from this thinking and think accordingly. When someone is the author of his own thoughts and that author of thoughts is indeed wrong in something. I would like to argue that it is not because a supreme powerful being deceived that author of thoughts rather it is a mistake because of ignorance. The author of thoughts simply did not know what that thing is. It is not because of some supreme powerful deceiver rather the author of thoughts deceived himself because of his lack of knowledge. Mistakes in general happen because of a lack of knowledge. In conclusion, I believe Rene Descartes method of doubt is in fact useful only to a certain extent, but anywhere beyond it is downright absurd and a danger to the thinking of man. Certainty cannot emerge from doubt simply because in doubting everything, you also doubt truth as well. And in doubting truth or finding the real truth it beats the purpose of using the method of doubt of Rene Descartes. On Mathematics, I believe that Mathematics cannot be used as the central science in the method of doubt simply because it is the only science that conforms to something that is certain. And lastly, the method of doubt does not show any sign of an answer or a basis of what is true, rather all it states is to doubt everything until man reaches that very truth. Meaning, man will ultimately continue to doubt everything he senses without a limit. In doing so, if man does indeed doubt without a cause, I see no point in using the method of doubt.

Faulkner The Quintessential Southern Writer :: essays papers

Faulkner The Quintessential Southern Writer William Faulkner: The Quintessential Southern Writer On September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi, a son was born to Murry Cuthbert and Maud Butler Faulkner. This baby, born into a proud, genteel Southern family, would become a mischievous boy, an indifferent student, and drop out of school; yet â€Å"his mother’s faith in him was absolutely unshakable. When so many others easily and confidently pronounced her son a failure, she insisted that he was a genius and that the world would come to recognize that fact† (Zane). And she was right. Her son would become one of the most exalted American writers of the 20th century, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature and two Pulitzers during his lifetime. Her son was William Faulkner. As a child, Faulkner was well aware of his family background, especially the notoriety of his great-grandfather who had moved to the Mississippi Delta from Tennessee in 1841 (Zane). William Clark Faulkner was a Civil War Colonel, a lawyer, a planter, a politician, a railroad entrepreneur, and a best-selling novelist best known for The White Rose of Memphis. He died in the streets of Ripley, Mississippi, where a former business partner he had forced out of his railroad gunned him down (Padgett). While Faulkner had never met his great-grandfather, he was a powerful influence. When his third grade teacher asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, the young William replied â€Å"I want to be a writer like my great-granddaddy†(Padgett). After dropping out of school, Faulkner worked as a clerk in his grandfather’s bank and in his spare time wrote short stories and poetry and contributed drawings to the University of Mississippi’s yearbook (Locher). His talent was recognized early on by his good friend Phil Stone, Faulkner’s first literary mentor. Stone encouraged and instructed him in his interests and was a constant source of current books and magazines (Faulkner 699). After short stints in the Royal Canadian Air Force and then as a postal service employee, Faulkner, with Stone’s financial assistance, published The Marble Faun, a collection of his poetry. Sales were poor, however, and it was evident that Faulkner’s real talent was in writing fictional short stories and novels. His first novel, Soldier’s Pay, was published in 1926 and was an â€Å"impressive achievement†¦strongly evocative of the sense of alienation experienced by soldiers returning from World Wa r I to a civilian world of which they seemed no longer a part† (Faulkner 699).

Cheesecake Factory Research Proposal Essay

People eating habits have changed over years triggered by changes in lifestyles. Snacks have become typical food for majority of the working people first because little time is spent to eat them and peoples tendency to like sweet things. Social occasions have also increased and nice food has been adopted as the food to serve. Cheesecake factory is a U. S company dealing with restaurant services. The company currently operates about 200 dinner units and it intends to double this. The company has registered increased sales since its establishment indicating good business. Market information is important for any company intending to enter new markets. Such information would reveal competitors’ information and other products in the market. The information would help establish customers’ preferences, the economic well being of people customer royalties and rate with which this can change. This data informs the entrant company to strategize on their marketing so that they would draw customers to themselves and retain them. Market research involves an organized process of gathering relevant market information and coming up with results that would inform decision-making. Market research has successfully contributed to new business and the existing ones in a move to expand their business (James, 2002). For Cheesecake factory to manage to penetrate in the markets they intend to enter, they need to carry out a market research survey to gather data on several products and customer preferences. The main objectives of the study are to identify peoples’ economic well being, to find out peoples eating habits, the preferred eating junctions. The study would the decision to enter the new markets or otherwise. Differences in preferences by gender and age would also be determined and help the company know what products to produce for which groups. These are the hypothesis of the survey. First null hypothesis is that the population of the market under consideration comprises mainly of youth, people less than 25 years and the older people above 54 years. Hypothesis two is that majority in the population under survey have an income of less than $75000 per month. Hypothesis three is that people do not participate much in social occasions like family get tog ethers and in other festive celebrations. The other hypothesis is that people avoid prefer sweet foods. Hypothesis five is that people have no preferred eating junction. The alterative hypotheses are indicted below: one, majority of the population is aged 25 –54 years. Two, most household incomes are at least $75000 per month. Three that people in these populations are favorites of participating in social ceremonies. Four, majority of people prefer sweet foods availed at restaurants. Fifth, that people prefer restaurants and other fast food junctions. This last hypothesis would provide date on specific junctions within the areas under study that would also indicate preferred competitors. The reasons for such preference would also be outlived In order to obtain data from all the age groups, quota sampling would be used. The study would require certain numbers of people from certain age groups to be defined by gender so that we obtain representative sample sizes for both sexes. Stratified sampling procedure would be employed to define the locations from which certain numbers of respondents are required. The population in this methodology is divided into strata each stratum representing a people with common characteristics. Such characteristics could be by income levels, which determine where a person chooses to stay. There are some areas for high-income people, middle-income people and low-income people, all of whose data we need. These methodologies will enable the study gather information from all groups. It also helps in avoiding bias that would result from collecting data from only one group. The various in the study will be classified with regard to whether they are demographic, economic, opinions or otherwise. Some economic variables are household income levels per month, occupation of the respondent, amount spent on food products per month. The occupation of the respondent would in this case be an independent variable while income levels would be dependent variable. Other variables are the frequency of a respondent to participate in social gatherings such as friends’ parties. These variables could partly be related with income levels and the classification with whether they are independent or not would depend on the test being performed. Other variables of interests, demographic are sex, age or the respondent marital status all of which are independents variables. The area of residence is also important. The family size of the respondent is also an important variable on independent one. Other important variables are preferred types of foods, eating junctions, reasons for preference of certain eating. Another important variable will be people’s choice of T. V channels and radio stations. Other media habits that should be studied are newspaper and magazines reading habits. These variables, independent, would help the company know in which media to post advertisement to effectively reach the potential customers. The analysis of the data would be aimed at identifying media habits. The analysis should show associations between various variables that interact and the strength of such association. The analysis should answer such questions as: do more ladies than gentlemen prefer certain food types? Is there association between one’s income level and frequency of participating in social gatherings? Does marital status influence one’s choice for place to live? The analysis should also indicate the preferences of the population within certain age groups. The proportion of the population outside the one targeted should be known. Several statistical tools would be used to these tests such as chi square test, T- test, and Wilcoxon test among others (Birn, 2004). The purpose of any research is to obtain data that will help in decision-making. The results obtained from the analysis would help the company determine whether to enter the market under study of not. If the results indicate that a population has higher percentage of the very young and the very old, such a market should be avoided. A market whose population has a higher number of low-income earners should also be avoided. If a company is to establish business in these markets, it should be advised to locate its business in areas where people of high income reside. The company should also be advised to engage in products that are most preferred people especially during functions. Associations between variables would help establish the factors that influence the decisions at the customer. If association is found to exist between gender and preferred food types the company would market different products to the different sexes. Upon finding the reasons why certain food junctions or restaurants are preferred, the company should aim to offer better services than the competitors. By finding out how much people spend on food, the company would know the prices it would fix to their products to enable them to get customers as well as estimate the duration within which it should expect returns on its investment. A lot more information can be fetched from the analysis of the data. This means that the Cheesecake Company would reap more benefits by carrying out a survey as above explained. The secondary sources would help establish the other costs that would be incurred like licensing fees and government regulations. Other factors that may affect the business are security and the ease of getting space. Research is therefore necessary for the success of the company in all markets under consideration.

The Character of Cities

In this course we have learned that a city’s character is â€Å"a legacy for seeing, interpreting, exploiting, and transforming its social, cultural and political opportunities as a physical community. † How is it possible for a city like Boston to have character? Well, the institutional and cultural continuity along with the resistance and reconstruction of culture has allowed the character of Boston to be defined simply by the underlying idea of conflict. Through J Anthony Lukas’ Common Ground and Richard Broadman’s Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, we can see that the catalyst for this sense of conflict has been social dissentions between classes and races. These dissentions are clearly detailed through both the Urban Renewal plans of Mission Hill in the 1960s and 1970s and the school busing case of 1974. When looking at the character of Boston one must understand the amount of controversy our city has encountered as well as the way they have identified and resolved these crisis’s. Through this deduction along with my own personal experience of living in Boston a step towards finding a distinct character of Boston may be possible. When analyzing conflict as the character of Boston, you will find that conflict is triadic not dyadic. This means that there are three parties involved instead of just two parties. This is important when looking at the two issues of urban renewal and busing. The concept of conflict includes established insiders with many options, struggling insiders with some options and ascendant outsiders with few or no options. When comparing this information to both urban renewal cases and the busing you will see that Boston does in fact have three parties for each of its conflicts. The politicians play the role of the established insiders; the white race plays the role as the struggling insiders and the minorities especially the African-Americans play the role of the ascendant outsiders. An alliance between the established insiders and the ascendant outsiders caused the isolation of the struggling insiders and this provides us with the busing case of 1974. When these groups form alliances or make certain deals the health of the city especially Boston may be disturbed. Boston has always been an ambivalent city when it comes to looking at new issues. This ambivalence has caused much friction and has brought much confusion and anger to the citizens of the city of Boston. For example, In Richard Broadman’s Mission Hill Miracle of Boston, you see a detailed look at the urban renewal plans for Mission Hill in the 1970s. Could it be possible that Mission Hill would end up like the West End? There was no chance that Mission Hill would end up like the West End because of the interaction and care the citizens of the Hill had for its neighborhood. Many of the people of Boston especially the Irish-Catholics had been oppressed for so long, for example the slogan, â€Å"Irish need not apply! † However when James Michael Curley came to office as mayor of Boston he gave the citizens of Boston a new hope. The conflict during his reign existed between the Yankees and the Irish. The Yankees owned the city while the Irish ran the city politically. The variance of the Yankee world of Harvard University, the Back Bay and Beacon Hill from the lives of a typical Irish Mission Hill citizen was pretty substantial. With the reign of Curley a sense of confidence in the Irish-Catholic community existed long after his term in office. Even though Curley was not reelected the atmosphere that he created in Boston lingered on and trickled down throughout the next two decades. From Mission Hill once being â€Å"an industrial neighborhood part of thriving industrial city,† is now today â€Å"an area torn by racial conflict with many burned and abandoned houses and factories with large open spaces where homes once stood. † From this 1974 quote you can get a sense of the aftermath of the urban renewal and flight of the African-American population into the projects. When the Urban Renewal Act was first presented, the citizens of the Hill were adamant about their disdain for the Act. There is â€Å"no way are they gonna take any property on Mission Hill because if they take one street then it was the beginning of the end; Mission Hill would no longer be. † The sense of community in Mission Hill was fantastic. The sense of togetherness and fight was combined and created into a massive force of angered citizens. The Urban Renewal Act was halted when the families of Mission Hill marched on the State House coming in droves of people. But the conflict between the citizens and the politicians would take a new turn when Harvard University and the hospitals would enter into the battle. New conflict, new problems. The idea of â€Å"who cares about the people only the land is important† was very evident. Before in 1941 when the first small projects were built, an affordable, easy cost of living was accessible. The difference between these projects and the ones built later in the 1950s was that you had voters and political pull actually living in these projects. So the projects were kept safe, new and beautiful. However, when the political pull was lost and the projects lost its importance blacks were forced to live there. Whites felt that Blacks were forced on them because of the Urban Renewal plan. Before this the Blacks and the Whites never really crossed paths and never had much conflict. And Harvard’s involvement had been trying to buy out the Mission Hill area since 1960. They have tried to buy it out piece by piece like a puzzle. The citizens of the Hill feel that â€Å"they are letting the neighborhood go to the dogs. † This conflict has been such a problem that some people believed in the 1970s that Mission Hill might one day not exist because of the growth of the hospitals. Boston according to J Anthony Lukas is the â€Å"cradle of liberty, no city in the nation can boast so many revolutionary events. †(Lukas, 315) When talking about conflict and the city of Boston the most recent case would be the school busing case of 1974. There is no bigger case concerning the desegregation of schools in the city of Boston. The reaction from the citizens of the city especially the citizens of South Boston and Charlestown have made Boston famous for its volatile reaction. In June of 1974 Judge Arthur Garrity found the city of Boston guilty of de facto segregation of the public school system. In that, he tried to get the school committee to adopt a plan for integration but they refused. He was forced along with the state Department of Education to devise a plan that would integrate the Boston public schools. This plan entailed busing black students to nearby white schools in order for the black students to receive an equal opportunity of education. When these black students arrived to class on September 12, 1974 they were greeted with stoned buses, people shouting racial profanities at them, and people hurling eggs and rotten tomatoes. A typical day according to Phyllis Ellison, a black student who attended South Boston High School, included â€Å"between 10 to 15 fights! † â€Å"Teachers were almost afraid to say the wrong thing, because they knew that it would excite the whole class. † On December 11, 1974 tension ran high and escalated further. A black student at South Boston High stabbed a white classmate. This created such problems that black students had to hide in the principle’s office in order to stay free from any violent behavior towards them. Parents were forced to come pick their children up; some even carried their children out. The scene in the schools was out of control. J Anthony Lukas explains how school would be canceled at least once or twice a week because tension was too high. Lisa McGoff Collins explains, â€Å"I missed so many days of my junior year from walkouts and sit-ins and boycotts, I’m surprised I got promoted. † In Common Ground, we are introduced to three very different families. Through Lukas’ extensive interviews with the black family, the Twymons, the white middle class family, the Divers and the working Irish class family, the McGoffs we are invited into the world of the desegregation case of 1974. Lukas is able to present the ideas of the city of Boston (the school committee and the politicians) as well as the ideas of the three families from three very different lenses. Lukas’ book provides us with a valuable insight into the American urban experience, as it makes clear that urban communities stem from the perceptions and fears of every type of urban resident. It is evident that the residents of South Boston fall into this category. Many students as well as their parents spent that first day of school out on the street pelting the buses with whatever objects they could find. A boycott of the schools led to a 20 percent attendance record throughout that fall. South Boston residents were angered by the way this was being forced onto them. South Boston was a safe, industrious neighborhood that was being used to bear the brunt of the busing problems. â€Å"Why should a kid from across town be forced to wear another school’s colors on the gridiron? † This sense of competition and loyalty to your hometown was ever present and strong. People felt that Garrity being a WASP was getting his ultimate revenge on the Irish of Boston, â€Å"busing would fix them. To understand what busing did to South Boston one must look at the numbers. In the decade before busing only 3 black students had been enrolled in South Boston High School. By 1986, South Boston High still had the highest percentage of white students but it was down to about 30 percent. This is a great variance from the early 1970s. South Boston was changing and the city of Boston was changing. What has busing done to the city of Boston? It has given the city a better understanding of how to live with various ethnic races. Also, it has woken the city up and gotten rid of the fright that many people lived with in Boston. The fright of the other races and the possibilities of what these â€Å"races† could do to us. As the population grew and the sense of loyalty to your hometown outgrew busing became more accepted. In a way the people of Boston have learned from this social experiment. I believe that in trying to desegregate the schools and using busing as a tool, that we have brought education in Boston to an ultimate low. However, the diversity and experiences kids are introduced to may someday help in their own personal lives. Personally, coming from a prestigious school which is now addressing its own racial quota problems; I am glad I was introduced to many ethnic people. It was not only the minorities that enriched my life but it was the other white kids from Southie and Charlestown that I became intrigued by. I was interested in how a kid like me (that looked like me and had the same interests) acted even though he or she was from a different part of Boston. In some instances I had more in common with the black kid from Mattapan than the white kid from South Boston. The issue of what type of education you want your child to be exposed to the central theme here. Do you want the prestigious scholastic education of a Boston Latin or do you want the diversity of a Snowden or South Boston High. Boston has done a pretty good job at identifying important issues for the city to deal with but the decisions they have made concerning the urban renewal and bussing have left many people wondering what is going on with the city. Maybe these instances where city officials and politicians mess up help build the â€Å"character† of the city. What type of a city is Boston? That is a question that has many answers. Is it the Athens of America or the home of Yankee conservatives who want to stamp out diversity? In an overview one can see that Boston has built its reputation through the conflict that it has encountered. Whether the city has addressed these issues with the right answers or not it has made Boston a better place to be because it has already experienced so many things. From early revolutionary leaders to the fairly recent quota case at Boston Latin, Boston had seen its share of social dissention. Boston has resolved conflicts between different groups very professionally and orderly. In the past thirty years since the busing case not many cases of racial problems have surfaced. I think Boston provides the country with a very detailed and specific look at its issues. It seems that all sides of the issue are looked at very carefully before a decision is made. Through the urban renewal case and the busing case of 1974 one can see that when finding a distinct characteristic one would find conflict to be it. This sense of conflict surrounds every issue and blankets the ideas expressed in the movie, Mission Hill Miracle of Boston and the book Common Ground.