Shots at Fortune and Life Essay Example for Free

Shots at Fortune and Life Essay Very few people get a shot at Fortune and Life but Margaret Bourke-White simply snapped her fingers and got into both. This very attractive and talented photojournalist made her name in the industry through her pictures for Fortune and Life Magazine. Living during the era when journalism was still way ahead of video productions, her photographs told much of a story with a shot from her lens. Margaret Bourke-White was born on June 14, 1904 in the Bronx, New York to Joseph White and Minnie Bourke. Joseph was of Polish-Jewish background while Minnie had Irish-English blood. (Women in History) Her parents were both believers of a religion called Ethical Culture which was a form of atheism. Ethical culture was very rigid to the point that it only allowed sexual intercourse between married couples for the sole purpose of creating children. (Goldberg 1986 pp. 4-5) In adherence to its philosophies, the couple brought up their children in a mentally stimulating and moral home. (Keller 1996 pp. 8-9) Mr. White was an engineer who was able to develop many versions of printing presses while his wife was totally dedicated in nurturing their children. Minnie was a very strict mother. She limited the children’s exposure to fried food and funny papers. Joseph, on the other hand, was an amateur photographer who was able to pass on his love for still pictures to his daughter. Margaret’s passion for photography began when as a child of eight years, she went with her father to watch the manufacture of printing presses. The marvel of seeing molten iron being poured captivated the photographer in her. (Margaret Bourke White par. 1) However, her total absorption into photojournalism was still far behind her mind. She began her college years in 1922 at New York’s Columbia University in a course for herpetology which is the study of reptiles. However, she met Everett Chapman, an engineering graduate student and got married in 1925. The marriage ended in divorce a year later which was also the time she decided to incorporate her mother’s last name into her own. (Margaret Bourke-White Biography 2007 par. 2) She became the student of Clarence White, a known photography instructor which sparked her interest enough to leave herpetology. She switched courses and schools several times before she finally graduated in 1927 at Cornell University. (Bois 1997) She opened her own photo studio after college at Cleveland wherein she specialized in architectural photos of industrialization. At that time, Cleveland was enjoying industrial progress and she marveled in taking pictures of this era which can be considered as symbols of economic prosperity. â€Å"She romanticized the power of machines through close-ups, dramatic cross lighting and unusual perspectives† that gave people a different view of industrialization. (â€Å"The Photography of Design† 2004 par. 5-6) Her pictures got the attention of well-known publisher, Henry Luce. By 1929, he was able to get her to shoot as staff photographer for the first issue of Fortune Magazine. The assignment was a difficult one that had to focus on Swift and Company’s hog processing plant but her perseverance to be the best made her finish the job well. (Cox 2003) By 1936, Luce introduced the first issue of Life Magazine. The front page photo of Fort Peck Dam that at that time was still under construction was shot by Bourke-White along with her essay inside. Fortune and Life magazines gave her numerous opportunities to see the world for various photo assignments. She was able to capture photos of World War II in Europe including Nazi camps, Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Korean War and the social unrest in South Africa. (Lee Gallery par. 1)

Nestle International Business Management

Nestle International Business Management The rapidity of global assimilation has been dramatically changed in recent years. Rapid and improved changes in the communications, technology and transportation have provided the process a new momentum and have made the planet more co-dependent than ever (Global Policy Forum, 2010). The multinational organizations manufacture their products in a number of countries and sell to the consumers around the globe (Global Policy Forum, 2010). Raw materials, Money, technology and human resources have started moving across nations more swiftly than ever. Along with that the products, finances, cultures and ideas circulate more easily (Global Policy Forum, 2010). As a consequence, the legal, social and economics movements have been forming in International level. It is the time to have globalization in every aspect; globalization of economics, globalization of culture and legal environment (Global Policy Forum, 2010). Nestle is one of the most respected brand name in the global food and beverage industry. The company promotes its products in around 130 nations across the globe (Nestle, n.d.). Some of its well known global brands include Maggi, Nestea, Nescafe, Friskies and Nestle. Apart from its own products the company owns around 52% of shares of Alcon Inc and about 30 % of the cosmetic giant, LOreal (Hoovers, 2010). Such diverse range of products makes it a leading brand not only in the world of food and beverages but attempts to elevate it to greater heights. This part of the report has been based on the tactical theories, written by renowned authors on international strategy. Competitive advantage emerged from the differentiation among different firms in any of the attributes as well as the characteristics. These attributes and characteristics are supposed to let one firm to create customer value and do something analogous better than its competitors. The common sources of competitive advantages include possession of better assets, access to well organized distribution and supply networks and better talent pool, productive operations (Tallberg, Adhikari Helsinki, 2007). Firms, which have decided to enter into the foreign markets, have to face a challenge while deciding on the right entry mode to enter into the market. This is a quite influential decision as it may have a continual impact on the firms global business performance. Two major modes which have been considered more often is the export of products and services and through the usage of foreign direct investment. Firms, adopting the very first one, try to make their existence in foreign markets by exporting to those regions. After having knowledge to that country they go for having their own operation facilities in those regions. Firms using the second one use the foreign direct investments to make their existence in foreign markets (Chung Enderwick, 2001). Competitive Advantage Nestle has described themselves as the food, health and wellness company. The Nestle Nutrition was established with the purpose of strengthening their focal point, i.e. their core nutrition business. Attaining leadership in this market is one of the primary aims in their well defined corporate strategy. Modern day consumers are more influenced by the claims that the company make regarding the nutritional contents of their products and the customer while making his purchase decision makes it his primary motivation. The establishment of Nestle nutrition as an independent business unit was with the aim to reinforce their competitive advantage in this area. The unit was given the responsibility of looking after its operations in the business of health care nutrition, infant nutrition and performance nutrition. The aim was to confirm a superior performance by providing products which are enriched with consumer trusted and scientifically approved nutritional components. The corporate wellness unit has been responsible to integrate nutritional value in their food and beverages worldwide. Its responsibility includes coordination of horizontal as well as cross functional activities that properly address existing customer concerns and at the same time anticipate consumer trends in future. In simple terms the unit is meant for aligning the research and development expertise of Nestle with customer benefits. The research and development division is one of its strong footholds, because of which the company has been able to make its presence felt in the global market. It has its well-built innovation heritage with a comprehensible visualization of the future (Bauer, n.d.). The resources required to build up their business are readily available. Nestle has got access to a pool of experienced suppliers who are aligned with Nestlà ©s assurance for innovation and excellence. Quality is surely one of the competitive advantages that Nestle has. Better quality products and services at reasonable prices is what Nestle strives for. From the above, it is apparent that the company operates on product differentiation with preference being given to better quality. The suppliers, employees, processes, business units and the research and development divisions have all contributed to make this happen. It can be deduced that Nestle has achieved its market leadership on the base of its cost effectiveness and innovation. Nestle has a well built economies of scale which helped it to attain low cost of reduction. Another important factor which contributes to the success of Nestle is their knowledge about the consumers in the market. To meet the varied customer needs Nestle prefers to blend their product mix with that of their local ingredients. Nestle has a well established transportation system for its distribution network. This helps the company to transport products in bulk to different factory outlets. Infrastructural development is another major concern of Nestle. (FAO, n.d.). Nestlà © has shown such an example in China. In China they had developed roads to carry out their distribution process smoothly. Mentioned above are some of the factors which have collectively assisted the company to excel in innovation and customer services. Foreign market entry strategy As the markets are getting more competitive as well as more flat, it is very much apparent that Nestle would be looking towards other new markets from the growth perspective. Successful implementation of strategies for market development requires more flexibility, ability to adapt to an unforeseen market conditions and the vision to achieve long term goals. Nestle has been relied on the foreign direct investment for entering into different foreign markets (Rao Murthy, 1999). Nestle, being the first mover, tries to enter the emerging markets in an early stage. Nestle is not generally inclined to go through the expensive process of setting up its brand name in the prospective markets; rather the company prefers to acquire local companies which are known in the indigenous market. This actually helps Nestle to overcome the cultural hurdles and consumer resentment to the foreign brands. Nestle first used this policy to start its business with the basic consumer needs like infant food; an d after that they expanded their business in the upscale market segments of chocolate , soft drinks, instant food and beverage items as per customer needs. The strategy is quite simple but strong. The strategy is to start from a basics and then only move to the more niches with the rise in demand. Sometimes they connect their expansion plan with other brands as per the rising income of the population present there. The company provides some 8500 product brands; but only around 750 are registered in multiple nations and only about 80 are registered in over ten distinct countries (Nestle, n.d.). Nestle uses this approach as it is easier to reach the consumers with local brand names because of their attachment to these local names. Consequently the marketing becomes easier in such a situation as the local company has its own distribution channel, reputation and its own customer base. With due course of time, Nestle starts the marketing of its own products. In such a situation Nestle ca n very well concentrate on enhancement of the product line as well as process innovation. Nestle must evaluate their basic entry strategy before entering into a new country. The company is supposed to make choices based on the long run profitability of different foreign markets. The strategy is all about balancing the cost, benefits, innovation and excellence. Nestle matures by acclimatizing food components and processing technology in local environment; it is mostly done by employing the appropriate local brand name. For an instance, in many countries in Europe, Nestle introduced few dairy products under the brand name of Sveltesse (Nestle, n.d.). In Asia, the strategy was mainly to acquire the local companies present there. This is mainly done with the motive to structure an assembly of independent regional managers since they know the local cultures and markets better than the foreign employees. The companys strong cash inflow as well as its powerful debt equity ratio gives Nestle with ample power to venture into acquisition and consolidation. Nestle has been using a broad strategy for Asian market. The strategy is to produce different products in distinct countries to be supplied to the entire regional market. For an instance, Nestle produces soya sauce powder in Singapore (Nestle, n.d.), cereals and coffee in Philippines (Nestle, 2008). All these products are produced to serve the regional market. Market enhancement strategies Market enhancement strategies are primarily divided into four major parts. Market penetration and development of the existing market are done by Nestle in two ways; either by marketing the existing products in the existing market or by introducing new products in the existing market. Nestle, during the early stages of its initiation only marketed the milk products, a sort of infant food. In the year 1905, the company merged with Anglo Swiss Condensed milk to enhance and broaden the milk product line (Nestle, n.d.). This acquisition helped Nestle to penetrate further into the market thereby enabling it to enhance its existing products already present in the market. The risk is considerably reduced as the market is already aware of the existing product line. The small market size of Switzerland forced Nestle to explore other regions for their long term growth perspective. Consequently, Nestle established its milk products and infant food processing plant in Asia, Africa, Britain and America (finntrack, n.d.). This is an example of market development strategy where Nestle used its existing product lines to enter into the new regional markets. Nestle had certain inherent risks, the primary being, the unfamiliarity with the market and the absence of customers awareness regarding the product. In such a case, most of the times, they start with some local brands of the local companies which are readily recognized by the local consumers. In such a course the products are more readily accepted by the regional consumers. In the year of 1929, the company moved into the chocolate business. This happened when the company acquired the Swiss chocolate maker. The next product was one of the most revolutionary one, Nescafe, the first soluble coffee powder of the world (finntrack, n.d.). In coming years, Nestle moved its business to other segments, primarily through a number of acquisitions which included Maggi, Findus, Cross Blackwell and Perrier (finntrack, n.d.). The entry of the new products in new markets diversified its range of acquisition. For most of the market enhancement techniques, Nestle had used either acquisition or consolidation. Be it the existing market or be it the new market, Nestle has always strived for innovation and brilliance. Global and local strategies Nestle is one of the renowned global organizations. So it is not surprising that the international strategy would be at the core of its tactical focus. Nestle is a decentralized company with the operational responsibilities spread out among the local units. The local units enjoy autonomy in regards to pricing, marketing, distribution etc. For an example, in Nigeria, Nestle has done away with its traditional distribution procedure of operating from a central warehouse because of Nigerias poorly developed road system. Instead Nestle has constructed several small warehouses around the country. This shows that the companys responsiveness to diverse local conditions. Nestle even employs local staffs for their regional offices as they are better equipped to handle the business procedures and customers. This in turn helps the organization to respond to the local demand more effectively and efficiently; resulting in increased market share and profitability for the company. The adaptation procedure embraced in China is another example of the companys focus on long term goals. After some 13 years of discussion, Nestle was finally invited to China in the year of 1987 by the government (finntrack, n.d.). Nestle started by opening of a powder milk producing farm in 1990; but soon after that the company realized that transportation infrastructure over there was inadequate to carry on the process. The infrastructure used to inhibit the accumulation of milk and delivery of the finished products. Rather than putting up with the existing infrastructure, Nestle made a plan to build up its own road for the transportation of milk and other finished products. Farmers used to bring the milk to the centers where it was weighed and checked for quality. Nestle used to pay the farmers on time. That acted as an incentive for the farmers and they increased the production of milk. This resulted in an increased number of cows in the district. After a period it became the res ponsibility of the area managers to organize the delivery of the milk to the factory centers. Although initially the whole procedure seemed very costly; but Nestle had the vision to see its long term profitability. This paved the way for the companys success in China. Another example which shows that Nestle inclination to adapt local products is its operation in Syria. In Syria there is a huge demand for tomato and its related ingredient. The company used it to boost their sales. By using local ingredients and concentrating on the local demand, the company has earned a good rate of return in those regions. However this is not the case everywhere. Nestle had faced severe problems in Japan. Failure to make its coffee brand compatible to the weather condition, forced Nestle to lose its significant market shares to Coca Cola (finntrack, n.d.). Organizational Structure Nestle has seven different strategic business units worldwide. Now, these units have the responsibility to make strategic decisions as well as to look after the overall development of the business, which even includes consolidations and other market ingress strategies. Apart from this structure, a regional organizational structure operates almost parallel to the previous one. This structure divides the whole operating zone into five foremost geographical regions, including North America, Europe and some others. These regional divisions are in charge to make the development strategies for their individual regions, hence contributing towards the overall tactical decision making. Local units are responsible for local operating decisions; the tactical business units or the regional heads have nothing to do with their decision making. Nestlà © makes exhaustive use of their local managers, to connect its diverse operations through out the world. They also make their managers move from one country to another. These managers are mostly selected on the basis of their characteristics, their inclination towards such kind of lifestyle and their working ability. This company also uses its management program to enhance optimistic energy level among their employees. The reason behind carrying out such kind of workshops is to provide them knowledge about Nestlà ©s strategy and the culture. One of the most important departments, in this company, is its research and development division. Nestlà ©s global network is spread around 17 research and development centers and are enriched with about 3500 qualified and experienced people from more than 50 countries; the main think tank being the Nestle research centre at Switzerland (Nestle, 2006). Nestle research division is expected to become bigger and better with time in its attempt to attain higher degree of innovation. Recommendations The company should work further to make better quality products. It needs to be aware of the fact that the incident happened in melamine in Chinese made infant food should not get repeated again (redOrbit, 2008). Situation can turn adverse for Nestle if these would happen again. The company must try to make its product differentiation by enhancing the quality of food and beverages (redOrbit, 2008). Conclusion Nestle has been able to make its presence felt as the worlds largest food company. Since its inception it has been able to increase the market share by implementing successful growth strategies. This indicates that the overall tactical practice of Nestle has been quite effective in the regional markets they have entered into. In conclusion it can be said that the key reason behind the companys success is their amalgation of customization with globalization. It would be wrong to say that the country has marked its sign with the help of globalization. For an example, the company had entered into the China market as part of globalization efforts; but it was a success in that country because of the alignment of products and services with the consumer demands over. Despite having inferior infrastructure, Nestle was able to increase the production of powdered milk by a large amount. This actually showed the triumph of their strategy and flexibility. The reason behind companys success in ex panding into prospective markets can be attributed to the organizational structure as well as its core corporate strategy. Two significant reasons behind this success have been its flexible response towards the environmental change as well as its willingness to learn about the new culture. Despite the recent downturn Nestle has been able to maintain a continuous growth, even in the new markets, with the help of skillful market enhancement strategies. This excellent performance is facilitated by the execution of its unique strategy in building up bonds with customers through the local employees and managing the entire process using a very distinct approach. With most of the marketing strategy in its favor Nestle is expected to continue making profits and increase its market share but it also has to take certain factors like economical, cultural and into account while pursuing the strategy to ensure an all around development of the company.

Ten Mistakes Parents Make in Choosing a Boot Camp :: essays research papers

The past twenty years has seen a major change in residential programs for self-destructive and struggling teens. In the past virtually every residential intervention available was funded and controlled by governmental agencies, including decisions as to who would be enrolled. What has changed is that we now have a rapidly growing network of private residential schools and programs focused on allowing parents more choices. Usually this involves parents paying the tuition, or at least making arrangements for payment through their insurance policy or other resources. This is having the effect of empowering parents, giving them many more effective resources to which to turn when their struggling child is making self-destructive decisions. These new options enable parents to intervene before a tragedy develops. With that new ability and responsibility, comes the opportunity for parents to make their own mistakes. Listed below are ten of the most common mistakes I have seen parents make during my sixteen years working with parents of struggling teens. I present this with the hope that parents who are beginning to search for residential schools and programs will rethink their initial assumptions to avoid self-defeating choices. 1.) "We want a place close to home." Just as the needs of struggling teens vary widely, so do the strengths and weaknesses of residential schools and programs. Restricting one's search to a limited geographical area increases the chances of excluding the most appropriate places that have the best chances for being successful with your child. In effect, this is settling for second best, which increases the chances of a placement not working. 2.) "We want something affordable." The most expensive residential school or program is the one that doesn't work. A quality school or program that has the structure to keep on top of manipulative and contrary teens and still be effective in changing attitudes is going to be expensive, whether the parent or the taxpayers pay the bill. Most low cost schools or programs are inexpensive because they are undercapitalized, cut corners financially, have a poorly thought out program, hire too few people and or hire minimum wage staff. It is very risky to entrust your child to one of these places. An exception to this is the quality school or program, usually Christian oriented, that has a large endowment or a successful fund raising program, or is able to attract good staff because they consider themselves on a mission.

Humanism :: essays research papers

Humanism, in philosophy, attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. A basic premise of humanism is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and goodness. The term humanism is most often used to describe a literary and cultural movement that spread through western Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. This Renaissance revival of Greek and Roman studies emphasized the value of the classics for their own sake, rather than for their relevance to Christianity. The humanist movement started in Italy, where the late medieval Italian writers Dante, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Francesco Petrarch contributed greatly to the discovery and preservation of classical works. Advertisement Humanist ideals were forcefully expressed by another Italian scholar, Pico della Mirandola, in his Oration on the dignity of man. The movement was further stimulated by the influx of Byzantine scholars who came to Italy after the fall of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) to the Ottomans in 1453 and also by the establishment of the Platonic Academy in Florence. The academy, whose leading thinker was Marsilio Ficino, was founded by the 15th-century Florentine statesman and patron of the arts Cosimo de' Medici. The institution sought to revive Platonism and had particular influence on the literature, painting, and architecture of the times. The collection and translation of classical manuscripts became widespread, especially among the higher clergy and nobility. The invention of printing with movable type, around the mid-15th century, gave a further impetus to humanism through the dissemination of editions of the classics. Although in Italy humanism developed principally in the fields of literature and art, in central Europe, where it was introduced chiefly by the German scholars Johann Reuchlin and Melanchthon, the movement extended into the fields of theology and education, and was a major underlying cause of the Reformation. One of the most influential scholars in the development of humanism in France was the Dutch cleric Desiderius Erasmus, who also played an important part in introducing the movement into England.

Dracula As an Outsider Essay -- Literary Analysis

Dracula, as it was written by Bram Stoker, presents to us possibly the most infamous monster in all of literature. Count Dracula, as a fictional character, has come to symbolize the periphery between the majority and being an outsider to that group. Dracula’s appeal throughout the years and genres no doubt stems from his sense of romanticism and monster. Reader’s no doubt are attracted to his â€Å"bad-boy† sensibilities, which provide an attraction into the novel. Looking first at his appearance, personality, and behaviour at the beginning of the novel, we can easily see Dracula’s blurred outsider status, as he occupies the boundaries of human and monster. Related to this is Dracula’s geographic sense of outsider. For all intents and purposes, Dracula is an immigrant to England, thus placing him further into the realm of outsider. To look at Bram Stoker’s Dracula as solely a monster in the most violent sense of his actions would to be look at a sole aspect of his character, and so we must look at how he interacts with the outside world to genuinely understand him. The purpose of Dracula’s physical description is to place him against humanity and see how he stacks up. He has various features which obviously make him a vampire, such as a set of sharp teeth. But there are other peculiarities to his description which mark him as being an outsider. For instance, when Jonathon Harker, and by extension the reader, first meets Dracula, he describes him as being â€Å"a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot† (Stoker 15). At this point, he is a regular looking man, or at least normal enough that nothing elicits a reaction in Jonathon. Later, however, the aberrant constitution of Dracula co... ...elf by taking other shapes and become something that no longer even reveals a human. Every part of Dracula’s â€Å"adventure† in England is a reaction to his outsider status, but more so because he attacks the readers, or at least the readers that Stoker was writing for, in their native land. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, Dracula’s otherness stems from the fact that he is an immigrant from a foreign land, a land that is itself removed from certainty as it is culturally between. This immigrant status first starts out as basic hatred, then turns into a fear as Dracula attempts to colonise England and dominate it. Works Cited Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Toronto: Project Gutenberg Publishings, 1897. Kane, Michael. â€Å"Insiders/Outsiders: Conrad's "The Nigger of the "Narcissus" " and Bram Stoker's â€Å"Dracula†Ã¢â‚¬  The Modern Language Review. 92.1 (1997): 1-21. Print.

Advertiser Pressure on Daily Newspapers

I.   Research Questions 1.   How does advertising money affect the reported of news in print news media such as  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   newspapers? 2.   How do advertisers mediate the demands of the advertisers while maintaining true to the objectivity of the news they report? .   Hypothesis The extent to which the advertising directors will allow unethical demands from advertisers to influence the news content will be in proportion to the extent that the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   profit/revenue will be affected.   Ã‚  The three hypotheses are as follows: First, the ad directors at small newspapers will be more likely to adopt unethical practices in response to advertiser pressure. Second, ad directors at chained-owned newspapers will be more likely to adopt unethical practices in response to advertiser pressure. Third, ad directors at chain-owned newspapers with smaller circulations will be more likely to adopt unethical practices in response to advertiser pressure. II.   Type of Experimental Design This experiment involved the use of qualitative research gained through questionnaires    and responses to scenarios devised by the research team.   The sample was a group of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   advertising directors of four sizes of newspapers based on circulation.   The sample was a random sample of 400 newspapers from the country. III.   Procedure Used The researchers developed four scenarios that suggested an unethical request by an advertiser.   The first two were requests to accommodate advertisers by running a photograph or a special story that featured the logo of the product or company.   The first one asked that a special story about summer lawn maintenance feature the advertiser’s information.   The second one asked that a local baseball team’s logo be featured in a photograph.   The second two scenarios were requests to actually â€Å"kill† a story or to allow the advertisers to contribute to the actual content of the story. The third scenario was about a local restaurant owner who wrote his own restaurant review and wanted it included in a restaurant feature story just as he wrote it.   The last scenario involved a car dealership owner who was arrested.   He threatened to pull his substantial advertising if the paper ran the story.   The second two scenarios are considered to be more unethical than the first two, though all four are considered unethical to some degree. IV. Independent variable, dependent variable, and confounding/extraneous variables if any; Independent Variables – the size of the circulation and whether the paper is chain-owned Dependent Variables – the decision to appease the advertisers V. Randomization (how did they assign individuals to the groups, based on what?); The groups were determined by the size of the paper’s circulation and whether or not the newspaper was part of a chain.   The groups are defined as follows: independently owned newspapers with small circulation – up to 25,000 subscribers independently owned newspapers with large circulation – over 25,000 subscribers chain-owned newspapers with small circulation – up to 25,000 subscribers chain-owned newspapers with large circulation – over 25,000 subscribers FULL CITATION Soontae, A & Bergen, L. (2007). Advertiser Pressure on Daily Newspapers.   Journal of Advertising. 36.2: 111-122.

lilies of the field

The â€Å"lilies of the field† was a 1963 production directed by Ralph Nelson starred by Sydney Poiter. This movie has naturally outlined the basis of modern religious heroism during the 1960’s. Understandably, such movie plot has been created to actually instill values upon the viewers with regards the major implications of religion and beliefs on social development and social values application. The main character, Homer Smith, which is played by Poiter is considered a modern day hero in the film. The approach though is rather different as it points out that the supposed hero of the film is not in the likeness of actually accepting the task. Most likely, he refused to accept the situation that is shown to him by the people as their hero primarily because he does not believe that he has been appointed, whatsoever by God to set a source of inspiration to the people as to how they should believe in God or as to how they should react on the belief that they are portraying as Christians. As a modern day hero though, Poiter’s character showed that heroism in a religious form today is a matter of one’s own choice and not a forced manipulation from the society as a basis of what they believe into. Motivating people to move in a much noble way to assist others or the community towards progress is a matter of self-push. One must be able to believe that he is able to make change to the lives of others, until he could really affect the lives of other people in the society. In the movie of the Lilies of the field, such implication has been given a better light as the main character has been introduced to have lesser interest in the manner by which people aim to treat him. He then left to find the purpose that he is really doing his job as a handyman for. Within a certain span of time, he returns and serves the best way that he could to be able to finish his job of building the church. Although he never expected anything in return, he was given gifts by the people, given a high regard for his reputation as a builder and a rather effective organizer of their community. He might have never realized how much he affected the community that he served, however, he left a legacy of unity and truthfulness among the people of the village as he worked on their church. It is as if he is sending valuable messages to the people although he never says a word to them. His understanding of the fact that he has a job to finish as a handyman likely increased the capability that he has in affecting the people around him through his works. He has been viewed by a nun as the tool used by God to create the church that would likely bring back faith to the people in the community in which she serves. Although Smith was resentful of this responsibility at first, he later on understood why the people termed his situation as something that is God sent to their community. Likely, it was what he was working for that made him a tool for unity, faith and salvation in the community that he served. He did not actually try to do anything than what he knows he is supposed to do in a wholehearted way that he was able to directly affect the lives of those people watching him see the work he does as he tries to accomplish the mission that he knows he accustomed to complete. Reference: Lilies of the Field (1963). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057251/synopsis. (March 20, 2008).