Multiple Performance Measurement Standards Essay Example for Free

Multiple Performance Measurement Standards Essay Performance measurement is a modest thought without a basic definition. Basically, performance measurement investigates the prosperity of a work assembly, modify, or conglomerations exertions by contrasting information on what really happened with what was arranged or expected. Performance measurement asks Is advancement being made to sought objectives? Are suitable exercises being undertaken to advertise accomplishing those objectives? Are there issue ranges that need consideration? Auspicious ventures that can serve as a model for others? Performance measurement is the choice and utilization of quantitative measures of limits, courses of action, and conclusions to advance informative data about discriminating parts of exercises, incorporating their impact on the people (Safavi, 2006). Discussion Performance Measure Sadly, there is no precisely regarding our group utilization of the expression performance measure. Different individuals have extremely clear and distinctive definitions for what constitutes the measure part. The exceptional news is that granted that there are numerous diverse plans regarding what a measure is, there is one commonality around them: A performance measure measures somethingusually advance to a destination or objective. So it doesnt make a difference assuming that we call it a performance measure or a performance marker or, in a few cases, a performance standard. What matters is the idea: A performance measure measures something. Heres a great, straightforward meaning of a performance measure: A Performance Measure is the particular quantitative representation of a limit, process, or result esteemed pertinent to the appraisal of performance. Performance Standard A Performance Standard is a for the most part acknowledged, objective standard of measurement for example a tenet or guideline against which a conglomerations level of performance could be analyzed. A performance standard creates the level of performance envisioned (Penrod, et al. 2012). Norms might be expressive or numerical. An enlightening standard describes certain framework parts or certain exercises – that is, sure limits or forms – that are needed to be set up. Here are some example unmistakable performance gauges: * A framework for transmittable illness observation and control might be administered. * The neighborhood open health framework is actively included in the improvement and audit of open health approaches. * The qualified information frameworks in utilization empower the gathering, utilization, and correspondence of information. Aspect of Performance Management Performance administration is your main event with the qualified information youve improved from measuring performance. Performance administering methods utilizing performance measurement qualified data to maintain your open health limit and forms: for instance, to audit benefits and projects; evaluate and amend objectives and destinations; evaluate advance against targets; lead worker assessments; and form and advocate plans. Pros and Cons The performance measures you select will rely on and reflect your ability to complete your live up to expectations. You would prefer not to attempt to do more in performance measurement than the limit accessible to you permits. For instance, advancing measures that need factual investigation abilities to which you dont have access is counterproductive. At the time you havent got the accounts or base or other required limit to measure certain methods or conclusions, submitting to those measures in the trust of advancing the limit can set you up for washout (Chiesa, et al. 2009). The measures could introduce an impression of your work that doesnt do it equity and veil generally great ventures. Conclusion Yet open health profits in the performance measurement wander by having set up two held-in as relatable point structural systems for all open health drill: the three center capacities and the key open health administrations. These systems might be utilized to assist comprehend the nature of the work we do and to describe measures of its performance. Furthermore open health has a broadly concurred upon and noteworthy set of goals – Healthy People 2000 and 2010 – that could be utilized as objectives, guidelines, or some other measure of performance by people; work bunches, arrangements, or different conglomerations; or crosswise over gatherings, customizes, or associations.

Ethical Arguments on Child Labour

Ethical Arguments on Child Labour The ethical arguments concerning organizations using suppliers which employ children. For the time being, the number of child labourers exceeds 250 million worldwide. In fact, child labour is defined by the International Labour Organization (2008) as types of work performed by children under 18. In most cases, however, child labour assumes full-time work done by children under the age of 15 that assumes health hazards and virtually excludes obtaining education. The entire situation is worsened by the fact that many suppliers hiring children blatantly disregard international UN conventions on children rights as well as the provisions of applicable national legislations. By ignoring national laws that prohibit child labour under the age of 14, the contracted factories and local suppliers in poor countries actively apply children aged 11-14 to work in sweatshops to manufacture items for such brand names as Primark, Gap, Nike, Wal-mart, Target, Hanes etc for mere 6.5 c. per item (Gorgemans, n.d). The internationally acclaimed clothing retailers conventionally build up their global businesses on contracting factories and suppliers in the developing countries. Therein, local employers apply unethical and illegal practices to the workforce while benefiting the abovementioned global retailers. For a number of times, these organizations were reported as such that are exploiting child labour disregarding set ethical norms and legal regulations. In all cases, the traditional response from the corporate management is limited to the lack of awareness of such unfair instances and injustice applications. This indicates that despite the impacts of pressure groups and advocacy organizations these global brands are unwilling to bear either ethical or legal responsibility for their dishonest employment practices. Fortunately, owing to the enormous efforts of various international pressure groups, the companies like these have recently taken adequate measures to cease unethical applications, particularly those associated with child labour (Gorgemans, n.d). By placing such enforcements, pressure organizations invaluably contribute to the expansion of civil society based on ethical principles of respect, justice and human right priority. In such a way, various pressure groups, media, and youth rights groups are fighting against dishonest companies and their suppliers to protect children from illegal exploitation. Fact is, it is almost impossible to reveal the truth since suppliers are operating in the areas that are difficult to monitor, which enables the latter to conspire their unethical and illegal practices. Whenever the unethical scandals addressing child labour exploitation are revealed, the corporate managers tend to deny their awareness of such illegal happenings allowed in the contracted factories or suppliers. For example, Primark have been a subject to BBC news reports after the detection of child labour use in the clothing manufacturing, which made the company to conduct a follow-up investigation on their suppliers. In most c ases, therefore, pressure groups cannot prove the rightness of their claims due to the insufficiency of actual evidence, and therefore lose lawsuits. This provokes the situation where nobody is ethically responsible, while millions of unprotected child labourers are daily exploited worldwide. Even the US boycotting of the exports of Nepalese carpets manufactured by children in early 90’s did not provide adequate solution to the child labour problem since this measure caused 7,000 Nepalese children taking up prostitution (UNICEF, 2008). Ostensibly, the global problem of child labour is immense and in most instances falls beyond any reasonable ethical or legal control of the responsible authorities. Considering this, it is a common knowledge that legal regulations have always been based on the ethical principles reflecting social morale. Therefore, primarily it is a question of ones ethics and morale to intentionally accept and apply child labour for low pay and in appalling conditions. Nevertheless, in practical terms it seems that many suppliers actually do not mind unethical and illegal exploitation of child labour solely caring about enlarging their profits, expanding consumer markets and winning competitive advantages owing to cheap workforce that consists of ethically and legally unprotected children from Mali, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Liberia, Pakistan and many other destinations worldwide. To this end, according to International Labour Organization and the United Nations, the child labour is considered ex ploitative (UN General Assembly, 1989). Nonetheless, nearly half of all children labourers are traditionally engaged in the agricultural sector, though during the last two decades child labour has been actively applied by multinational corporations (Nike, GAP etc) and smaller companies in manufacturing as the effective means to save on this virtually costless and easily operative workforce. Largely, the underdeveloped socio-economic situation in many world countries provokes parents to agree to their children exploiting in hazardous works that involve physical tensions and the use of complicated machinery and devices difficult to operate. Consequently, the reasons of child labour in poor countries are purely economic driven by poverty concerns, and for the time being there is no single international convention that is declaring child labour illegal (Hindman and Smith, 1999). The main ethical issue in due respect is that under the umbrella of world renowned brands, local suppliers are unethically applying child labour considering house-to-house poverty and the devastating domestic conditions in Africa and East Asia wherein most families often regard their offspring as the sole source of income (Hindman and Smith, 1999). Considering this, it is rather difficult to say where the issue of ethics should begin. Hence, the analysis of relevant theoretical approaches is necessary to fully comprehend the seriousness of the issue. In essence, ethical theories are based on the core foundations, i.e. principles predetermining common goals intended to be achieved by every ethical theory, including but not limited to: least harm, beneficence, justice, and autonomy (Ridley, 1998; Penslar, 1995). In fact the exploitation of child labour does not comply with either of the abovementioned ethical principles. Neither does it produce a positive effect on children in accordan ce with the ethical principle of beneficence. According to the ethical principle of least harm, it is apparent that while companies are managing their short-term exporting and business concerns at the cost of the developing world, they are crippling millions of children by depriving them of the right for better future. In such a way employers show total disrespect for children autonomy, including their concerns, preferences and actual motivations (Hindman and Smith, 1999). Finally, child labour is a true example of injustice practice which assumes overall adverse affects to child labourers and economy on the whole. This indicates that the global economy will continue to shrink since the gap between rich and poor is rapidly expanding, and hardly any organization needs uneducated and/or unhealthy employees either today or in the future. The application of ethical theories in case of child abuse practices is a rather delicate issue which necessitates addressing previous experiences of child labour applications by commodity suppliers. While illegally exploiting child labour, the suppliers preliminarily trespass the deontological theory and do so intentionally for the sake of companies’ profits (Ridley, 1998; Penslar, 1995). For instance, since 1990s the international producer of sportswear Nike has been continually criticized by various right protection and activist groups (e.g. The International Labor Rights Fund; Vietnam Labour Watch etc) and media (e.g. BBC; Australian Channel 7 News etc) for exploiting forced labour practices, including women and child labour in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Cambodia, and Mexico. In various contracted factories (e.g. in Vietnam, 1996), Nike was reported to violate overtime laws and minimum wage requirements. At that, the company provided employees with indecent working conditions while exploiting cheap overseas workforce within free trade zones to manufacture their commodities (Harsono, 1996). Worse than that, in the course of 1990s, Nike followed the unethical and unsanctioned practice of child labour exploitation in Pakistan and Cambodia while contracting the domestic factories to manufacture footballs. Even now, despite numerous anti-sweatshop (e .g. United Students against Sweatshops) and anti-globalization campaigns, Nike continue to exploit child labour in the areas wherein monitoring or legal regulations are inadequate, which has ensured the company unprecedented profits over the last decade (Boggan, 2001). Considering such unethical and illegal practices, it is obvious that Nile is also breaching the ethical principles of utilitarianism, the rights ethical theory,the casuist ethical theory, the virtue ethical theory an/or their various combinations considering the circumstances. Since the law should be given the highest priority within the rights theory, Nike’s practices should be regarded both unethical and illegal (Boggan, 2001; Harsono, 1996). The similar unethical applications have been reported to be used by Gap. In May 2006, Gap’s supplier in Jordan known as Western, applied unpaid overtime and excessive child labour, and other unethical practices. In 2007, Gap’s Indian factories contracted by Gap were reported to vastly apply child labour. The majority of claims from the pressure organizations concerned unsafe working conditions, unpaid off the clock hours, forced abortion policies, which made the company to reconsider its employment practices. At that, feeling ethical and moral liability before the workforce, the Gap has been praised by advocacy and pressure groups (Verite, Labour behind the Label, Social Accountability International etc) for managing to resolve unethical abuses of employees’ rights in accordance with the internally applied global social accountability standard assuming decent working conditions SA8000. To this end, the company does not employ children under 14 anymore, provides r egular and transparent wage payment, and prohibits any physical or moral abuse on its contracted factories (Guardian 2007). Considering this, in 2007 the company has become a genuine example of ethical practices application rewarded by the national industry media (e.g. Ethisphere Magazine; CRO Magazine; Business Ethics Magazine etc). The aforesaid examples indicate that the business companies operating in the global competitive environment should consider ethical principles in addition to caring about profit-making. For this purpose, multinational companies establish internal codes of ethics and release social responsibility reports on annual basis to underline their ethical responsibility before general public and relevant communities (Hindman and Smith, 1999). Nonetheless, as is seen, there are numerous conflicts between the theoretically-declared ethical norms and empirical applications which confront each other. To this end, in the US child labour is banned by law as well as the policies of the US firms, whereas child labour is allowed in Pakistan and inspires domestic benefits therein. Thus, depending on the respective cultural and ethical norms, child labour is differently perceived in various countries (Hall, n.d.). At that, ethical theories should be applied to provide moral reasoning while responding to conflict situations like child exploitation. Utilitarianism ethical theory intends to maximize happiness in line with the limits of moral choice, whereas the deontological method seeks moral rules to choose the most relevant one to determine the moral action to be taken. In due sense, the utilitarian method is in favour of child labour since due to the gaining of extra income children maximize their own happiness as well as the delight of their parents who know that labour saves their children from street crime and/or prostitution. Conversely, the deontological method indicates that the practice of child labour violates moral norms and therefore child labour would need an alternative solution. For example, there are companies promoting educational programs for children by paying their families for being able to use their labour since they are 14 years old. This approach seems well-balanced, how ever, from the ethical perspective, the current dilemma indicate the non-coincidence of cultural relativism and ethical universalism (Adler, n.d). The discussed issue is currently unsolved considering the ethical viewpoint under which the importance of ethical and moral norms and values differs from culture to culture, and so there is no way to the application of universal norms able to guide moral choices. Human rights are based on moral and ethical norms; however fail to serve as a universal panacea to solve many problems concerning the protection of individual freedom. Therefore the universal formalization and legalization of child labour would require enormous contribution to be made by the international community, civil society and active pressure groups to solve the issue on the global agenda. To be genuinely effective ethical theory should be backed up by firm action and sustainable degree of individual responsibility for using child labour (Ridley, 1998; Penslar, 1995). Ethical theories based on relevant principles should be widely applied as the effective decision-making tools, though only their relevant combination seems most effective while coping with the child labour dilemma. Utilitarian ethics grounded on the casuistic theory may be used to objectively compare different viewpoints on child labour issue and offer the most appropriate choice of action. Ethical theories in various combinations help to analyze and manage critical situations in unbiased and constructive manner to come with the most correct solution from the ethical perspective. Thus, the abovementioned ethical theories can serve as a reliable framework to settle international child labour issues in the foreseeable future (Ridley, 1998; Penslar, 1995). List of References Adler, N. n.d., International Dimensions of Organization Behaviour, Canada Southwestern pp. 64-66. Boggan, S. 2001, ‘Nike Admits to Mistakes over Child Labor’, [Online] Available at: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1020-01.htm Gorgemans, A. n.d., ‘Addressing Child Labor: An Industry Approach’, [Online] Available at: http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0505/ijee/gorgemans.htm Guardian 2007, ‘Child sweatshop shame threatens Gaps ethical image’, [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/oct/28/ethicalbusiness.india Hall, E. n.d., Understanding Cultural Differences pp. 48-50. Harsono, A. 1996, ‘Nike Accused of Slave Child Labor’, [Online] Available at:http://www.albionmonitor.com/9606a/nikelabor.html Hindman, H., Smith, C. 1999, Cross-Cultural Ethics and the Child Labor Problem, Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 19, Number 1 / March, 1999 Penslar, R. 1995. Research Ethics: Cases and Materials. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ridley, A. 1998, Beginning Bioethics. New York: St. Martin’s Press. UN General Assembly â€Å"Convention on the Rights of the Child†, Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession byGeneral Assembly resolution 44/25of 20 November 1989 entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49 UNICEF, 2008 ‘Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse’, [Online] Available at: http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html

Rights of Afghan Women Since the US Invasion Essay -- Afghan Womens R

As a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the issue of Afghan women’s rights came to the world stage. Through the media, populations of first-world countries saw firsthand the terrible oppression of Afghan women. One such instance was the famous picture of the â€Å"Afghan Girl† published in the National Geographic magazine, which became an international symbol for the plight of Afghan women. The United States and Afghan governments have repeatedly obstructed the progression of Afghan women’s rights, causing women’s quality of life to decline, women’s education to suffer, and women’s representation in government to be limited. Women’s rights in Afghanistan have not always been suppressed. Throughout the early 1900s to the mid-1900s, women were free to travel unaccompanied. King Amanullah constructed schools for girls and passed laws eliminating arranged marriages (Kolhatkar, 2013). In the early 1950s, the government outlawed the Islamic principle of purdah, or gender separation. Moreover, the government granted Afghan women the right to vote in 1965, a year earlier than American women, and by the early 1960s, held half of all legislative posts (â€Å"Women,† 2013). King Amanullah even made the burqa, the symbol of oppression, optional and encouraged a Western style of dress (Kolhatkar, 2013). When the Taliban came to power in 1996, all of that changed. The Taliban believed it was their duty to protect women and their family’s honor. Enforcing a version of â€Å"Sharia†, or Islamic law and drawing principles from the â€Å"Pashtunwali†, or traditional social code, the Tali ban effectively banned women from going to school, studying, working, leaving the house without a male relative to accompany them, showing any skin while in public settings, ... ...bglj Levi, S. (2009, September). The long, long struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, 2(12). Retrieved from http://origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-women-s-rights-afghanistan Mahr, K. (2014, April 14). Waiting for the Taliban. Time, 183(14), 24-38. McCurry, S. (1984, December). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/ photographers/afghan-girl-cover.html Peace unveiled [Television episode]. (2011, October 25). In P. Hogan, G. Reticker, A. E. Disney, & C. Rizzi (Producer), Women, war and peace. New York, NY: PBS. Women in Afghanistan: The back story. (2013, October 25). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Amnesty International UK website: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/womens-rights-afghanistan-history#.U0If0FzxWP8

ISIS and Lone-Wolf Terrorism :: Lone-Actor Terrorists

Contrary to many people’s hopes, the rise of ISIS confirms that the war on terror isn’t over. In the post 9/11 era, stricter security measures, technological advancements, and anti-terror campaigns impede large-scale terrorist attacks. Consequently, terrorist organizations are utilizing a new, more elusive modus operandi, developed by AL-Queida, to harm civilians: lone wolf terrorism. According to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, ISIS’ new strategy is â€Å"terrorizing the West asymmetrically through individuals inside of Western countries.† Though unconventional, lone wolf terrorism is no less dangerous, a sad truth that became all too real for the victims claimed by these attacks. This game changing strategy disguises terror among average citizens, enabling it to be everywhere, anywhere and nowhere all at once, effectively making anonymity the new face of terror. Matthew Francis, a researcher on radicalization and extremism, affirmed that â€Å"This will undoubtedly be one of the lures of the tactic,† because it makes terrorists harder to find. â€Å"The ominous threat of attack inspired by lone wolves has a profound psychological impact on a society, creating tension, polarization and terror.† However, justice will be served. In the words of Joe Biden: â€Å"The American people are so much stronger, so much more resolved than any enemy can fully understand...when people harm Americans we don’t retreat, we don’t forget. We will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice, because hell is where they will reside.

Jane Austens Emma Essay -- Jane Austen Emma Essays

Jane Austen's Emma Jane Austen does indeed present a picture of a community who look to each other for entertainment as well as support, and are content with their limited outlook. The story never leaves the close surroundings of Highbury and there is no desire to do so. When the party goes to Box Hill, away from Highbury, there is tension and the trip is not enjoyed. It is interesting to note that the three characters that come into Highbury, are those which have the potential to ruin the tight community; Mrs Elton and her ‘vulgar†¦self-important, presuming, familiar†¦ manner’, and the deception of Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill’s secret engagement. The community in Highbury are very close and everyone knows each other’s business. This is represented through the amount of gossiping that occurs throughout Austen’s novel. Even small matters, for example the mystery of Perry’s carriage is discussed with great enthusiasm, ‘†¦and she mentioned it to her in confidence, she had no objection to her telling us, of course†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Gossiping demonstrates the topics that enthral the community in Highbury are certainly limited in outlook. They are interested in the happenings of their world, and this is the most important thing. With gossip being spread quickly, it is clear why neither Jane Fairfax nor Frank Churchill told anyone of their engagement, which they wanted to remain private. To a modern reader, this is trivial, but a reader in the eighteenth century would understand the harm that this deception could have caused, had it not been in a satirical novel. The society that Austen has created depends on trust and functions interdependently, which fits in with the view of an inward-looking community. This is w... ... very pretty young man to be sure, and a very good young man†¦great regard for him’. Here, Austen reflects one of the many good attributes that knightly has; that he can see past status. I think that in Emma Jane Austen does present an inward looking community, limited in outlook to a certain extent. If you look at Emma’s society as a microcosm of eighteenth Century society as a whole, which had a strict class etiquette, then this opinion is true. However it also represents hope for the ignorance of this etiquette because the reader sees Emma on her journey of self discovery and realisation of man’s worth. Nonetheless, the community are not all inward looking as they regard others of a lower class with respect. With this respect comes a close community, who believes Highbury to be the beginning and end of their lives which makes them limited in outlook.

Monitoring and evaluation Essay

Evaluating development programmes 5 What is impact evaluation? 6 Types of evaluation 7 Evidence-based policy making 8 Evaluation questions; hypotheses and performance indicators Development Finance (IFMR) Monitoring an Dec 2,2013 2/11 d Evaluation It is a process that increases â€Å"the range of human choice† [sen,2000] Development is a multidimensional concept: HDI (UNDP) Growth is unidimensional: PCI, GDP Growth and development are interdependent: two-way causality Inclusive growth or growth with a ‘human face’ Eradication of â€Å"capability† deprivations: hunger, malnutrition, access to healthcare, education, etc. Efficiency vs Equity: Bhagwat’ vs Sen 3/11 Development economics as a discipline Emerged in 1940s (following World War II): Asian, African and Caribbean colonies became independent How to achieve development in these emerging economies? Their problems are wholly different from those in advanced countries Need for planning was felt Promoters of development: The World Bank and its affiliates, agencies of I-IN, etc. New evelopment economics went beyond classical(Smith, Malthus, Ricardo) and neoclassical predecessors 4/11 lopment economics as a discipline Why a separate discipline? â€Å"Development economics consists in part of the refinement of general economics to deal with questions which arise in the context of development, and partly of certain special ideas which have proved useful in studying developing countries. † [Bliss, Handbook of Development Economics(1989)] Development economics is dead (Hirschman, 1981; Lal, 1983): ‘East Asian Miracle’ as a triumph of free market Initial phase: industrialisation (Mahalanobis model); inward looking policies

Compare Reunion Two Kinds Essay

It often surprises me how different individuals from different cultures and backgrounds all come together in one country and share many experiences. Individuals like Amy Tan who was born among Chinese immigrants, John Cheever from Massachusetts and Louise Erdrich who comes from a Chippewa Indian and German background and was born in Minnesota. A vast variety of origins and they all come to have several good or bad things in common in their work. Hardships of immigration is stated or implied in these pieces as well as parent-child relationship. Nearly all of them carry a sense of determination of different levels and stories of this kind not unlike the ones examined in this piece have a blend, colorless and depressing tone. â€Å"â€Å"Pleading child† was shorter but slower, â€Å"Perfectly Contented† was longer but faster and after I played them both I realized they were two halves of the same song† (Tan, 105) Now I usually avoid long quotations but this one by Tan should be engraved on gold and kept in the museum of great metaphors. Growing into your long and fast adulthood through your short and slow childhood is indirectly implied throughout Cheever’s Reunion as well. Here is a confession: When I read that last paragraph of Tans two kinds I got goose bumps. The Last sentence is the strongest and most beautiful ending I have ever read. That moment of clarity was more audible than the construction workers who made it nearly impossible for me to focus on the story as I read it. The Red Convertible on the other hand is of a different style, and looks at the relationship between Henry and Lyman. Two brothers who are in excellent terms and Erdrich emphasizes on that point by mentioning the trust they have for one another. They buy a flashy car together and that is the proof to the argument. A wise man once told me that â€Å"War will burn your soul and from your ashes it shall raise a new person†. I sensed a close relation to that quote reading Erdrich’s story. As Henry is dramatically changed after witnessing what went down in Vietnam first hand. The most interesting story award by far goes to â€Å"Reunion† by Cheever. One of the most interesting points in that piece was the fact that the son never showed any disapproval toward his father’s behavior no matter how out of line he went. Which implies the conflict the son had inside although never mentioned in the story. The conflict between his pre-approved father as he thinks to himself â€Å"I wish someone saw us together† (cheever, 106) and his own sense of right and wrong. How could someone seem so proper and successful and act like a drunken fool simultaneously . A potion of confusion and amazement that will take him years or decades to digest. Not unlike the confusion that accompanied Jeng mei trough her childhood and teen age. While the undeniable respect for a parent is carved into her brain, she sees her mom as a rival. Preventing all of her be-myself teenage dreams to come true. The tone of a story is like the background music to a scene from a romantic movie. It could either make it or ruin it for the audience. â€Å"Two Kinds† will bring your eyebrows closer to each other while â€Å"Reunion† will raise them up to the top of your forehead. â€Å"Two kinds† takes place in china town –not the best part of New York City – . An immigrant mother with broken English who yells at Jeng Mei for every mistake she makes on top of that, is definitely not helping her cause. The story does not calm down until the very end and when it does it is superb. While on the nearly parallel line reunion never changed its tone. It goes from blend to blend. It is amusing all along but it definitely misses a good climax maybe not as exotic as Tan’s but â€Å"And that’s the last time I saw my father† and the format has ended way too many stories. I see â€Å"Reunion† by Cheever and Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† as a closer match up and â€Å"The red convertible† is just as distant to the rest as its title is. The story still shares the common conflicts but the other two get into much more details and as a reader who has come from a third world country and has seen poverty and prosperity living next door to each other I can very much relate to them.