Parental Issues in A Midsummer Nights Dream Reading the science of Law into a Cautious Tale about the Return into the Lapse of Nature

Introduction: Shakespeare’s Wisdom and Wit The ideas in Shakespearean plays have never been too on-the-nose; conveyed in an extremely subtle manner, they often hid in between the lines, allowing the readers time to ponder ethical dilemmas. Not necessarily being the focus of the work, the given problems nevertheless stood out on their own, making it clear that the poet addressed the social issues of the time as well as telling entertaining stories.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Parental Issues in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Reading the science of Law into a Cautious Tale about the Return into the Lapse of Nature specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Which is even more enthralling, the ethical issues that Shakespeare raised in his works still remain topical. Considering the issues that concern rather human nature than the morals of a particular epoch, Shakespeare created timeless works that offered the re aders timeless dilemmas, as well as the solutions to these dilemmas, hidden between the lines of his works. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy with an unusual moral question for the audience to consider, is one of such works. Thesis Statement: Despite its age and topic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings up topical legal and ethical issues, as well as creates a connection between people and nature, bringing up the principles of strength, power and stealth as the key means to win, which the primitive society was guided by. The plot of a Midsummer Night’s Dream can hardly be related to anything legal, with its fairytale setting and the romantic premises. Analyzing the curves of the plot, however, one will come across the fact that the play offers a very unusual perspective on parenthood, namely, on adoption and the rights of a custodian. Though it is usually considered that a mother should be given the rights to take care over a child, in case of a father and a ste pmother, the issue becomes much more complicated. Therefore, the problem that arises between Titania and Oberon can be seen from the legal point of view as well. Moreover, it is necessary to mention that the play blurs the line between the legal solutions of the problem and a more ancient and, therefore, more savage means to solve the given problem. Using brutal force, Oberon tries to get the hold of the child, while Titania flees with her son, relying on her cunning rather than on the support from anyone with enough authority. Finally, in addition to the criminal subtext and the nature versus nurture issue, the play also offers a gender problem that stems from the conflict between Titania and Oberon. Concerning both biological specifics of gender and, therefore, referring to the previously raised nature–nurture argument, as well as setting male and female gender apart and, thus, leading to a gender issue, the conflict leads to a question concerning who has the qualities of a better parent. However, it is worth mentioning that the third issue can also be viewed as a contribution to the argument concerning the legal rights for adoption. While the former issue is relatively independent and, thus, can be used as an argument in discussions, the latter is an implication stemming from the biological premise.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Play Summary and the Obvious Ethical Question Before proceeding with the description of the plot, one must mention that Shakespeare, as a true master of intrigue that he was, managed to intertwine several plot lines within a single play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are three key storylines. The first and the most important one concerns the love relationships between Lysander and Hermia, and touches upon the idea of arranged marriage. The second one revolves around the couple of elves, the king Obe ron and his wife Titania, who runs away from her royal husband and takes her son with her, being afraid that, as a stepmother, she has no right to prevent Oberon from taking her stepson away and is the key point of discussion in the given paper. The final plotline, which lies the closest to reality, depicts the attempts of the Athenian actors to put up a play based on the notorious love story of Thisbe and Pyramus. Hence, it seems that the issue of divorce between Titania and Oberon is left in the shadow of the unfolding events of the play. The very idea of a conflict between a couple seems quite trivial for Shakespeare; however, resulting in a â€Å"divorce† between the lead characters, who quite frankly belong to the real of the Greek mythology and, to top it all, with an issue regarding the â€Å"custody fight† between the characters, the problem becomes rather unique. When Literature Meets Jurisdiction: The Mother, the Father and the Child As it has been mentioned above, the play incorporates the elements of a moral dilemma concerning who the parent of a child should be in case the parents decide to separate. While in Shakespeare’s play, the case with the custody is very black-and-white, with little to no indications that Oberon could also play the role of the child’s father successfully, the poet states clearly that the issue concerning single parenting exists and that it must be addressed. Shakespeare is obviously on Titania’s side, which does not make his point of view revolutionary in the modern sense of the word. However, given the fact that in the epoch during which the events in the play occur, women’s role in society was restricted to following the orders of the husband and that the mother’s opinion was in no way significant, the choice that Titania makes running away with the child is quite solid. From this point, there are two ways to interpret the issue. On the one hand, the problem can be viewed through the lens of modern jurisdiction, which dictates that the right to bring a child up belongs to the mother, yet states that kidnapping is a punishable offense. On the other hand, Titania’s runaway can be considered outside of the modern justice context as a manifestation of a very motherly instinct to save the child. Shakespearean World: Where Passion Is a Sufficient Reason for Kidnapping At first, what Titania does to save her stepchild from her savage husband seems irrational. While Oberon does act like a cruel beast, disregarding his wife’s feelings towards her stepson, Titania also breaks all possible laws in the light of the modern law, literally kidnapping the child and running away.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Parental Issues in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Reading the science of Law into a Cautious Tale about the Return into the Lapse of Nature specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On a second thought, though, it is essential to mention, though, that the plot of the poem is based on a Greek myth, which makes a sufficient excuse for what seems a completely illogical and even criminal step from the point of view of modern judicial system. Therefore, the poem also serves as a graphic example between the present-day judicial system and its principles, and the legal postulates that were used several centuries before. Thus, one can see clearly the progress that has been made in term of both re-establishing the rights of a mother and at the same time polishing the existing system so that the victim should use it as a tool for restoring justice instead of running away from it. From the Viewpoint of Nature: Mother’s Care vs. Father’s Protection Choosing a Better Parent With the idea of mother’s prerogative for raising children, the reasons for the given idea do not seem to be questioned often. However, it is reasonable to suggest that there are c ertain arguments stressing a mother’s advantages as a child tutor. These specifics stems from the times when men and women had defined social roles, women being engaged into children upbringing, while men devoted most of their time to hunting (Fiske, Gilbert and Lindsey 952). At present, with a considerable shift in the social roles of men and women, the idea of women as the only possible child tutors seems to have become dated; however, in the Shakespearean epoch, women had the ultimate privilege of raising children as opposed to taking any part in the social or political life of the country (Wright 89). Hence, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, questioning the reasonability of the given prerogative, Shakespeare, thus, is several centuries ahead of his epoch. While the solution might seem obvious, there is still a lot to discuss. Indeed, a mother gives birth to a child, which means that from the point of delivery, a kind of a spiritual connection between a mother and a chi ld appears. On the other hand, Titania was not the biological mother of the child, which makes the given argument invalid. Given the fact that in the Shakespearean times, and especially in the times of the legendary Oberon and Titania, women were restricted to the social roles that they were told to play (Blundell 76), it is rather doubtful that with Titania’s protection, destiny would have been much more favorable to the child. On the contrary, staying with Oberon as his servant, the child would have obtained at least some education and had a career. However, the specifics of the epoch aside, the assets of a single mother are just as strong as the ones of a single father. Hence, saving her son from becoming her husband’s servant, Titania makes the right choice that signifies her maturity and motherly qualities. As Kehler puts it, Titania becomes â€Å"the voice of ethical commitment† in the play (Kehler 317).Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion: A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a Retreat into the Primitive Regardless of its flippant charm and the obvious comedic elements, A Midsummer Night’s Dream offers a lot of food for thoughts in terms of its subplot of kidnapping and the following argument concerning the best choice of a parent. While the focus of the play is obviously on the relationships between the characters, as well as on the situational comedy, the issue of parenthood is still touched upon. Therefore, the play intersects with legal issues concerning parenthood at certain points. Moreover, bringing up the question concerning who the best parent is, a caring mother or a protecting father, A Midsummer Night’s Dream appears to be a much more dimensional play than one might think it to be. Works Cited Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print. Fiske, Susan T., Daniel T. Gilbert and Gardner Lindsey. Handbook of Social Psychology. Vol. 2. Ne w York, NY: John Wiley Sons, 2010. Print. Kehler, Dorothea. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001. Print. Wright, Courtni C. The Women of Shakespeare’s Plays. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. 1993. Print. This essay on Parental Issues in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Reading the science of Law into a Cautious Tale about the Return into the Lapse of Nature was written and submitted by user Maleah Mckinney to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Rome 100-600 Essays

Rome 100-600 Essays Rome 100-600 Essay Rome 100-600 Essay Emma Betz World History AP Period 2 Comparison Essay on Rome Between 100 C. E. and 600 C. E. , Rome went under many changes both culturally and politically. Culturally, Rome had a change in the empire’s religious beliefs. Politically, there was a division of the empire. With so many changes, there were a few continuities, such as Paterfamilias and the political standing of women. Religion was a large part of any Roman’s life that was changed drastically. In the early empire, Paganism, where there was a belief in many gods, was the main religion. When the idea of Christianity came around, it initially attracted the poor. Eventually it gained popularity in the other classes. Eventually such a large amount of people believed in Christianity that even though the authorities had rejected the religion in 100 C. E. , Constantine was forced to legalize it in 313 C. E. Christianity quickly spread through the Roman Empire and took over the other religions. A huge change politically was the division of the Roman Empire into east and west. There were extreme economic issues and battles both internally and externally. During this time, most of the emperors were weak and there were many disputes over who was next in line for the throne. Germanic tribes took advantage of the chaos and tried to take over land to the east and west. Rome had to split their forces in order to fight them, dividing the empire. Another reason for the division was that the Roman Empire was so vast that there were too many different ideas on how to run the empire and it was impossible to make everyone happy, thus dividing the empire. Paterfamilias was one way culturally that Rome did not change. A male who was the father had complete control over his family. He had control of his children’s lives for his whole life. He controlled their occupations, spouses, economic possessions, and could choose to kill them if he wished; although, he usually tried to consider their needs and desires. He had power until his death and was the only member of a family that had full legal rights. Paterfamilias remained dominant through 100 C. E. to 600C. E. Women’s political status did not change during this time period. Women offered advice, plotted behind others backs, and sometimes went through in public, but they were denied public office and a role in government. They had no political importance, although some women influenced their husbands and sons who had high power. Freeborn women generally had more rights than freedwomen. Women were unable to own property. The only women who had some rights were those who took a vow to chastity (the Vestal Virgins in Rome), they were more respected in society and even had the privilege to own land. The Roman’s experienced many cultural and political changes, religion and division, and many continuities, Paterfamilias and standards of women. These changes and continuities between 100 C. E. and 600 C. E. influenced other matters and changed the Roman Empire throughout the rest of it’s history.

Using Java Naming Conventions

Using Java Naming Conventions A naming convention is a rule to follow as you decide what to name your identifiers (e.g. class, package, variable, method, etc.). Why Use Naming Conventions? Different Java programmers can have different styles and approaches to the way they program. By using standard Java naming conventions they make their code easier to read for themselves and for other programmers. Readability of Java code is important because it means less time is spent trying to figure out what the code does, leaving more time to fix or modify it. To illustrate the point its worth mentioning that most software companies will have a document that outlines the naming conventions they want their programmers to follow. A new programmer who becomes familiar with those rules will be able to understand code written by a programmer who might have left the company many years beforehand. Picking a Name for Your Identifier When choosing a name for an identifier, make sure its meaningful. For instance, if your program deals with customer accounts then choose names that make sense for dealing with customers and their accounts (e.g., customerName, accountDetails). Dont worry about the length of the name. A longer name that sums up the identifier perfectly is preferable to a shorter name that might be quick to type but ambiguous. A Few Words About Cases Using the right letter case is the key to following a naming convention: Lowercase is where all the letters in a word are written without any capitalization (e.g., while, if, mypackage).Uppercase is where all the letters in a word are written in capitals. When there are more than two words in the name use underscores to separate them (e.g., MAX_HOURS, FIRST_DAY_OF_WEEK).CamelCase (also known as Upper CamelCase) is where each new word begins with a capital letter (e.g., CamelCase, CustomerAccount, PlayingCard).Mixed case (also known as Lower CamelCase) is the same as CamelCase except the first letter of the name is in lowercase (e.g., hasChildren, customerFirstName, customerLastName). Standard Java Naming Conventions The below list outlines the standard Java naming conventions for each identifier type: Packages: Names should be in lowercase. With small projects that only have a few packages its okay to just give them simple (but meaningful!) names: package pokeranalyzer package mycalculator In software companies and large projects where the packages might be imported into other classes, the names will normally be subdivided. Typically this will start with the company domain before being split into layers or features: package com.mycompany.utilities package org.bobscompany.application.userinterface Classes: Names should be in CamelCase. Try to use nouns because a class is normally representing something in the real world: class Customer class Account Interfaces: Names should be in CamelCase. They tend to have a name that describes an operation that a class can do: interface Comparable interface Enumerable Note that some programmers like to distinguish interfaces by beginning the name with an I: interface IComparable interface IEnumerable Methods: Names should be in mixed cas e. Use verbs to describe what the method does: void calculateTax() string getSurname() Variables: Names should be in mixed case. The names should represent what the value of the variable represents: string firstName int orderNumber Only use very short names when the variables are short-lived, such as in for loops: for (int i0; i20;i) {  Ã‚  Ã‚  //i only lives in here } Constants: Names should be in uppercase. static final int DEFAULT_WIDTH static final int MAX_HEIGHT

Criminal Behavior and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Behavior and the Law - Essay Example Finally, the paper will discuss the differences between index-one and index-two crimes under the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, as well as which of the two is classified under violent crime and the one classified under property crime. To begin with, criminologist and criminalists are terms more than often used interchangeably, according to Williams and McShane (2004). However, the two terms have some distinct differences that are worth noting. Williams and McShane (2004) note that criminologists deal with the study of behaviors of an individual in relation to crime, individuals who commits the crimes being studied, as well as the correctional facilities for criminals such as jails and prisons. This falls under criminology, which covers various fields of criminal justice, with emphasis on social behavior. Criminalists, on the other hand, are professionals charged with the responsibility of analysis criminal evidence at the scenes of crime such as bullets and bloodstains (Williams and McShane, 2004). They are also charged with the responsibility of recreating crimes scenes, work at crime scenes, laboratories, and courtrooms. Criminologists engage mainly in teaching and research, where they apply the knowledge to the administration and policing, study of public policy, drug addictions, correction, juvenile delinquency, correctional administration and policy, and victimology. Other areas of study include criminal ethnography, theoretical criminology and models or criminal behaviors (Williams and McShane, 2004). Criminologists also assist in analyzing psychological, sociological, and biological evidence such as finger and footprints, body fluids, and blood plaster using their skills and knowledge to establish the link between the suspect and the crime. Criminalist, on the other hand, is a professional who employs scientific techniques to identify and separate vital evidence from the scene of a crime (Williams and McShane, 2004). The evidence gathered is analyze d and interpret, establish the truth as regards the crime. Forensic psychologists are professionals who by virtue of their training apply psychology in a criminal investigation and law (Fulero and Wrightsman, 2009). Forensic psychologists play a big role in assisting fact finders or courts in arriving at a just and precise conclusion of a criminal case. They are often involved in insurance claims, custody disputes, and lawsuits, according to Fulero and Wrightsman (2009). Legal justice system uses forensic psychologists in analyzing the mental status of the accused before, during, and after the trial proceedings. For instance, criminal cases whose verdicts may be death penalty always require that before the accused is handed the sentence, a forensic psychologist is called to analyze the defendants mental status before, during and after the crime to establish whether the defendant was insane at the time of the crime or not. The analysis of mental status of the defendant in a case is i mportant since it aids in just and accurate decision making by the jury. White-collar vs. Blue-collar crimes Crimes are committed by different classes of people. In this regard, O'Hear (2001) defines the white-collar crime as a financially motivated crime committed by respected people with high social status in society. This crime is committed by high-class individuals who have inherited or earn a lot of money at the upper level jobs such as corporate bigwigs (O'Hear,

Financial Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Risk Management - Essay Example This study involves a comprehensive study of the risk management policies followed by Bear Stearns and how it led to its demise. Risk Management: An Overview Risk is a term associated with any type of business entity. Without risk it would have been an easy task for managers of a company to allocate its resources in the most effective way. And with the world experiencing the global financial crisis in the year 2008, effective and efficient risk management is the key to success for any financial enterprise. The idea of risk management may differ from person to person. In case of regulators risk management is a means of control, for traders it is a means of hedging their risks and for risk managers it is a means of obtaining the highest return possible by allocating capital in the best possible way. Risk management takes into consideration the magnitude as well as the nature of risks involved. It is all about optimizing the risk-return profile of a company. Sources of risk are many and it is due to the uncertainties of future events. In today’s world banks are engaged in wide range of activities like trading of derivatives to its customers which results in exposure, finally leading to risks. Thus risk management plays a vital role in case of banks. Study and analysis of risk begins with study of Markowitz model of portfolio analysis where he defined selection of portfolios based on mean of variances in return of portfolios. Sharpe and Lintner further added to this analysis by assuming the existence of risk free assets. The rate of return of a risky asset is governed by its systematic risk and ‘beta’ is the measure of this type of risks. Next Black-Scholes model for pricing of options gives a measure of the risk of an underlying security by measuring the volatility in the form of standard deviation. Again works of Modigliani and Miller showed that value of the firm is not dependent on the capital structure of the firm. Increase of debt, leading to greater leverage in the capital structure of a firm increases the financial risk for the shareholders of the firm. This means, reengineering of capital structure of the firm would not help the firm, and the management should consider implementing strategies to increase the value of the firm economically. However, it is very difficult and possesses a challenging task for a company to implement these risk management theories practically. For any financial institutions like global banks, before taking up risk management system they must ensure that, they are up to date with their databases regarding various financial transactions within the company and are also aware about financial rates available in the outside market. Also they must have relevant statistical tools to analyze those data. Risk management policies followed by Bear Stearns Bear Stearns was once considered as one of the most efficient managers of risk but at the end it was their faulty risk management policies that l ed to their downfall. Bear Stearns most profitable division was the securitization of mortgage, which brought in almost half of the company’s revenues. Regarding mortgage securitization, the company followed a model that was vertically integrated and made profit at every step starting from originating loan, securitizing them and then selling them. These

The Handmaids Tale Essay -- The Handmaids Tale Essays

In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste. Fear is power. Fear is ever-present in Gilead; it is implemented through violence and force. It is through fear that the regime controls the Gileadian society. There is no way Offred, or the other Handmaids can avoid it. The dead bodies hanging on the wall are a relentless reminder of what rebellion and conflict result in. The abuse of power is also present in chapter fifteen after Moira attempts to escape, she is taken to the old science lab and has her feet beaten with steel frayed wires and is then left on her bed, ‘’Moira lay on her bed as an example.’’ (pg. 102 ) She is an example of what rebellion results in. Therefore, creating fear in the other Handmaids to prevent them from rebelling. Handmaids are also branded like cattle, a numerical tattoo on their ankle consisting of an eye and four digits; similar to the tattoos on Nazi prisoners, prevents them from escaping. Offred refers to it as, ‘’ A passport in reverse.’’ (pg. 75 ) this reference implies that there is no escape or leaving her situation, as a passport would allow a person to leave a country. Atwood uses this tattoo to display the society’s exploitation of power, and has been related to that of the cruel regime of Nazi Germany. The Gilead regime uses language, particularly... ...t create a feeling of disorientation towards the reader. Atwood does this to enable us to understand just how disjointed life is in Gilead. Offred continuously involves the reader, she directly addresses us and anticipates our response and even feels she has to justify some of her actions, she is a self-conscious narrator. Atwood is also preparing us for the revelation in the Historical notes that Offred is recounting her story into a tape recorder. The story is open ended; we are not told what exactly happened to Offred, Atwood does this in order to have more of an impact on the reader. Works Cited Margaret Atwood, The Handmaids Tale, (first pub. 1986) Publish by Vintage London 1996. Sandra Langdon, The Handmaids Tale, Letts Explore for A level, (first pub.1998) http://www.novelguide.com/TheHandmaid'sTale/essayquestions.html (accessed 11/10/2014)

Supportive Work Culture

Need for supportive work culture – Gaming Industry Ravi Shankar Jayaman Today we have so many video games releasing every week. Most of the video games today bring in as much revenue as a Hollywood movie (reference needed). What was once considered a niche industry, thanks to various technological advancements, is no longer a niche industry. We have video games releasing for different age groups. Like movies, we have different flavours of games. We have dance games, party games, racing games, shooting games etc. Today, there really is a video game for everyone An introduction to video gamesIn 1958, William Higginbotham, a nuclear physicist, created what is now known as the very first video game – ‘Tennis for Two’ (reference). It was a two player tennis game played with two controllers. ‘Tennis for Two’ was meant for a small audience and was never seen as something people could make money from. This particular game was the inspiration to the fir st successful video game ever created ‘Pong’. ‘Pong’ was an arcade game that released in 1972. Pong’s success made people see gaming as a means of business and thus the gaming industry started. Today we have so many video games releasing every week.There are many different game consoles – ones that can be played at home and ones that are portable. We can also play video games on PC, tablets etcfor example (don’t use â€Å"etc† in a paper). Even the mobile phones we use every day can be used to play video games. All these factors have made the gaming industry a multibillion dollar industry. Today the gaming industry is worth more than the music industry and even Hollywood (reference). A new video game that is released today has a good chance to earn as much as a Hollywood movie would. In fact in more than a few cases a successful video game would make more money than most of theRavi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 1 movies ever w ould. For example, the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops totaled in at $1 billion worldwide within the first 42 days of its release (reference). Video games have always been something that people associated with fun. People see video games as a means of entertainment especially when they are with family and friends. Video games are good stress busters and can help keep people’s minds at ease. Video games are very helpful even in educational institutions. In fact a few gamers were able to break the AIDS enzyme puzzle that has been troubling scientists for decades (reference).All these factors bode well with the booming gaming industry. Video games today can be both fun and educational. History of video game companies Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney are credited with establishing the very first video game company (reference). They created Atari Inc. in 1972. In 1972, Video games were relatively unknown. So, it was a very bold move by Bushnell and Dabney to venture into the unkno wn. Atari’s Pong was very successful and thus people started venturing into the video game industry. Today’s gaming companies are very different from the ones in the past.There are people working on video games almost throughout around the clock to meet the various strict deadlines. This is a lot of pressure on the video game developers to get their product out on to the market. We all know that video games are so much fun to play and are a great means of entertainment, but are they as much fun to make? Comment [JBC1]: Be careful of sweeping statements. Some people may not find video games fun. Gamers tend to be young and male. The Ugly side of gaming – Work culture in Video game companies The organizational structure in a video game industry is a network organization.Video game companies are virtual organizations in a network organizational structure. The video game console makers make the consoles and usually let the video game companies make games. There are companies that make Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 2 exclusive games for only one of the platforms and there are companies that make games for all the platforms available. Irrespective of the kind of video game Company, such is the video game industry these days that every video game company has to be continuously releasing great games.All the companies compete among themselves to attract the ever growing number of people who are buying video games. Working in such a competitive industry can be challenging for anyone. The kind of work people do in the video game industry is not your regular 9 to 5 kind of work. This industry requires people to put in a lot of work hours. Sometimes at a level that is unsustainable and destructive. This could lead to employee burnout. Employee burnouts are quite common in the video game industry. The term crunch time is used pretty extensively in the video game industry.Crunch time can be defined as the point at which a team is failing to meet its deadlines and milestones which could affect the launch of a video game. The complex nature of video games these days makes it tough to predict when one can achieve a milestone or a deadline. During crunch time situations the video game company exerts pressure on its employees to put in more effort. The sad part is that in a few cases people are not paid for this overtime. There was even a lawsuit filed against Electronic Arts because of the company’s push to make employees work for longer hours (reference).Working for so long can not only make an employee tired, but also affect the employee psychologically. The mental stress involved could have a really bad effect on the employee’s health. Aggressive work schedules and strict deadlines are something that leads to mental stress on an employee. The companies can be too demanding at times and may cross the line by making an employee work more than what he/she was/is supposed to. The necessity of proper work culture an d regulations to keep these kinds of adverse working conditions in check is really necessary. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 3 Team Bondage – The story behind the demise of Team Bondi Team Bondi was an Australian game developer that developed video games for all the video game consoles available in market today. The company was founded by Brendan McNamara, an ex-big gun from Sony, who had had vast experience in making video games (reference). McNamara was very successful with Sony and had made a number of hit games such as The Getaway. So, when McNamara founded Team Bondi in 2003, everyone believed that the company was destined for success. Team Bondi’s first game was announced in 2004 as L.A Noire. Sony had first dibs on this video game and worked out a deal for L. A Noire to be published by Sony. This meant that the game was exclusive for Sony’s Playstation 3. The game was expected to release in 2006-2007. In September 2006 news broke out that Sony has m oved away from the deal of publishing the game. Rockstar took over from Sony and the game was expected to release in 2008. This was the first sign of things not being ‘OK’ with Team Bondi. There were then multiple delays and the game finally released in 2011, seven years after it was announced.The game got rave reviews from critics and gamers alike. It was a commercial hit and everyone thought that Team Bondi was destined for more success. Sadly, in October 2011 news broke out that Team Bondi has closed down. It was not clear why, even after a very successful debut game, would the company close down. All the happenings during the development of L. A Noire were then revealed and the reason behind Team Bondi’s closure became clearer. After the game’s release former staff of Team Bondi came out to reveal the disastrous work conditions while developing L. A Noire.It came to be known that Team Bondi was making its employees work overtime because of crunch. Thes e overtime hours were not accounted for in the pay and there was extensive mental stress on the employees at Team Bondi. The former staff also questioned McNamara’s leadership. The former staff revealed that McNamara was a very angry person and also cited occasions when he shouted at employees. This style of leadership put off many people and many people quit. A Comment [JBC2]: Be explicit to be clear about his position at Sony. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 4 ew people were apparently so put off by McNamara’s leadership style that they vowed never to return to game industry again. Even Rockstar, the publisher of L. A Noire, cut ties with Team Bondi citing poor leadership/management skills of McNamara. The disastrous work conditions and leadership style led to the demise of Team Bondi. The story behind EA lawsuits Electronic Arts (EA) are one of the biggest game developers in the world with revenues of over $3 billion (reference). EA are credited with a great r ecord of releasing highly successful video games for over twenty years.In 2004 a blog showed up on the internet by someone named ‘ea_Spouse’. This blog explained how EA treated their employees. The blog highlighted mainly about the work culture followed in EA at that time. The blog said that employees were asked to work extensively for 12-14 hours six days a week and at times even seven days a week. The employees were reportedly given the occasional Saturday evening off for ‘good behaviour’. Employees were reportedly made to work up to 100 hours a week on a few occasions. All these overtime work done by employees were not accounted for.EA did not pay the employees for overtime. This forced the employees to file a lawsuit against EA (reference). The employees of EA successfully won this lawsuit. This particular lawsuit was a revolution of sorts and ensured that people in the gaming industry were paid on an hourly basis. Since this lawsuit hit EA very hard, E A were quick to take some positive steps to ensuring that no such events happen again. EA has taken steps to positively address work-life balance concerns. EA focused on long term planning, employee compensation and communication to improve work-life balance concerns.EA did an overhaul of its Human resource policies to make EA a better place to work in. John Riccitiello was appointed CEO of EA in February 2007 and he ensured that EA were serious about keeping the work culture good within EA. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 5 Importance of good work culture In these turbulent economic times, a lot is expected from the employees. An employee maybe required to put in the extra hours to get things done. An employee will be willing to put those extra hours only when the management recognizes the effort put by the employee. An employee will be more ommitted and motivated to his work when the management ensures a good supportive work culture within the organization. A good work cultu re keeps an employee more engaged to his work. A good work culture keeps the employee satisfied. A satisfied employee will in turn bring in more productivity and thus the organization is benefitted. Adding to the reasons above, a few other reasons on how a good supportive work culture helps the organization are listed below: 1. It retains talent: When an employee is satisfied with the work culture in an organization, he or she is very likely to continue working in the organization.When the employee is kept satisfied there is no reason for the employee to move out. 2. It attracts talent: A prospective employee looks at the work culture closely when assessing an organization. An employee usually looks for a change when the work culture in not that great. So, the company with a good work culture will be pretty high on the list for people looking for a change. 3. It creates synergy: A strong supportive work culture brings people together. When people can communicate with each other easi ly, everyone gets to know each other well. This brings the people together.When people communicate with each other well it improves the productivity of the employees. 4. It creates energy: Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 6 When the culture shows that people are valued by the organization, it creates a lot of good energy in the organization. In such an organization people can express themselves and this creates a lot of positive energy. 5. It changes the view of work The word ‘work’ in itself does not mean anything fun. It means that one has to do certain things. This understanding of the meaning of ‘work’ can be changed if an organization has a good culture.When an organization takes an effort to have a good culture, work would become more fun and an employee would have fun doing it. 6. It makes everyone successful: Everything discussed above helps not only the employee but also the organization. A good work culture keeps an employee more engaged and more motivated to do his or her work. An employee will thus get more productive. This in turn helps the organization. This is a win-win for both employees and organization. In a very demanding industry such as the video game industry we can see how a good work culture helps.In such an industry the company plays a very important role to help keep the employee morale high. When a company follows a good culture, all the points mentioned above become valid. The organization would benefit in the long run. In fact having a good work culture can become a competitive advantage. Comment [JBC4]: A good work culture is more likely or has the potential to engage employees but it’s not a sure thing. Same comment regarding productivity. Comment [JBC3]: Another sweeping statement. Some people find work fun. Importance of employee satisfaction An unhappy employee is very bad for an organization.The employee will not be able to perform his tasks at his or her full potential level. This may in turn affect the quality of the product. So, it is very Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 7 important to keep an employee satisfied especially in a very chaotic industry such as gaming. A happy and a satisfied employee will always give you a better result. The various factors affecting employee satisfaction are: Comment [JBC5]: Not necessarily. A happy and satisfied employee does not always relate to productivity, for example, they could be happy, satisfied and lazy or poor at their job. . Job Security: This is probably the most important factor affecting employee satisfaction. There is always consistent pressure on employees of a video game company to do well.The video game industry is a hit and miss industry. When a game does well commercially the companies reap benefits but when a game does not do that well the company gets a beating. So, job security is always on top of almost every employee’s mind. When a company can give proper assurances to their employees, the emp loyees are bound to be happy and perform well. 2. Compensation and Benefits: This factor is a no rainer. Everyone wants more money and benefits and the company that gives their employees these benefits and pay are more likely to keep their employees satisfied. 3. Relationship with supervisor: The relationship between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor is very key to understand whether an employee is satisfied or not. The supervisor plays a very important role in keeping an employee satisfied. 4. The work itself: The work itself needs to be fun and engaging for an employee. A company that has a good work culture can ensure that the work is a lot of fun.As long as an employee is happy doing his or her work the employee is satisfied. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 8 There is a connection between work culture and employee satisfaction. A very good work culture can keep an employee satisfied. A satisfied employee is a boon to an organization. The productivity of the e mployee improves. This means that the quality of output will be pretty good. Isn’t that what every company wants? The way forward for video game companies There is no denying that the video game industry is a very challenging and demanding industry.There will be times when people will have to put in a lot of hours to get a game ready. These extra hours can be very intimidating for employees. Video game companies can make sure that these extra hours put by employees are not seen as a negative. The onus is on the video game companies to make sure that the work environment is more fun. Good Human resources management and supportive work culture can ensure the workplace to be more fun. The companies will then leave very little for employees to worry about. There are video game companies who have successfully done this. These companies have released great products too.These companies are proof to the fact that there is no tradeoff between good product and work culture/employee sat isfaction. Two such companies are listed below: Insomniac Games: Insomniac games are an independent video game developer located in Burbank, California. They have been making video games ever since 1994 (reference). This company has consistently been ranked as a great place to work in. As recently as October 2011, entrepreneur rates Insomniac as the 16th best place to work in. Entrepreneur has highlighted the workplaces practices at Insomniac games. 2K Studios Australia Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 9 It was initially called irrational games. This is a very small video game company that has been doing well financially and also in maintaining a good work culture at work place. Small studios are very vulnerable in a competitive industry and this studio has survived the competition. They released Bioshock in 2007 and this was the biggest game to release in 2007. The company is widely recognized as one of the most innovative development studios in the world. After looking at all the stories in the video game industry, we can come to a conclusion that video game industry is a pretty unique industry.It is a great mix of technology and entertainment, but at the same time it is a very challenging industry. Playing video games can be so much fun, but the making of video games is almost never as much fun. Aggressive work schedules, strict deadlines and mental stress can make jobs in this industry very demanding. In such an industry good work culture is a necessity. A great supportive work culture can keep an employee satisfied and improve employee productivity. With a good work culture in place the employee can excel and be on top of his or her ‘game’ (no pun intended). Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 10 References David Hinkle. (2011, July 5). Report: Game Industry worth $74 billion in 2011. Retrieved from: http://www. joystiq. com/2011/07/05/report-game-industry-worth-74-billion-in-2011/ Don Reisinger. (2010, December 21). Call of Duty Black O ps hits $1 billion milestone. Retrieved from: http://news. cnet. com/8301-13506_3-20026321-17. html CBC News. (2006, October 19). Video games can reshape education: U. S Scientists. Retrieved from: http://www. cbc. ca/news/technology/story/2006/10/19/videogames-education. html Medical News. (2011, September 20). Gamers crack AIDS puzzle.Retrieved from: http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/234664. php Ea_spouse. (2004, November 10). EA: The Human Story. Retrieved from:http://easpouse. livejournal. com/274. html Simon Carless. (2004, November 11). ‘EA Spouse’ weblog Raises Issues On Game Development Quality Of Life. Retrieved from: http://www. gamasutra. com/php-bin/news_index. php? story=4543 Kristan Reed. (2004, February 20). Team Bondi – The First interview. Retrieved from: http://www. eurogamer. net/articles/i_teambondi Brendan Sinclair. (2006, September 25). Rockstar gets L. A Noire. Retrieved from: http://uk. gamespot. om/ps3/adventure/l-a-noire/news/61 58595/rockstar-gets-la-noire Nathan Brown. (2011, October 5). Team bondi to close. Retrieved from: Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 11 Comment [JBC6]: All these references needed to be embedded in the paper. http://www. next-gen. biz/news/team-bondi-close Ben Maxwell. (2011, june 27). Former Team Bondi staff reveal troubled LA Noire development. Retrieved from: http://www. next-gen. biz/news/former-team-bondi-staff-reveal-troubled-la-noiredevelopment Nathan Brown. (2011, July 5). Report: Rockstar washes hands of Team Bondi. Retrieved from: http://www. next-gen. iz/news/report-rockstar-washes-hands-team-bondi Curt Feldman. (2004, November 11). Employees readying class-action lawsuit against EA. Retrieved from: http://www. gamespot. com/news/employees-readying-class-action-lawsuit-against-ea6112998 David Jenkins. (2006, April 26). Programmers win EA overtime settlement, EA_Spouse revealed. Retrieved from: http://www. gamasutra. com/php-bin/news_index. php? story=9051 Michael McWh ertor. (2008, April 7). EA employees Now Pleased As Punch To Be Working At EA. Retrieved from: http://kotaku. com/377116/ea-employees-now-pleased-as-punch-to-be-working-at-e