Franklin Delano Roosevelt Is One Of Our Countrys Best Known And Most B

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is one of our country's best known and most beloved presidents. He is commonly remembered for taking a tired, beaten, nation and instilling hope in it. This positive view of Roosevelt is held by Burns, who paints the picture of a man whose goal was to alleviate our nation's economic pains. But, is this view too myopic? Is Roosevelt deserving of such a godly reputation? These questions are posed by Conkin as he points out the discrimination that underlies many New Deal programs, and even suggests that many of Roosevelt's actions were for purely political motives. During the weeks preceding Roosevelt's inauguration the country was engaged in an economic crisis that was quickly spiraling downward. Banks failed, people panicked, and the nation looked to someone, anyone, for help. Hoover, sensing the country's desperation, but realizing his lack of power, and the feelings of resentment harbored towards him looked to Roosevelt. He asked the president-elect to join in economic planning, support policies, and most importantly to reassure the nation. While both authors note Roosevelt's unwillingness to cooperate with Hoover they site different reasons for it. Burns talks of Roosevelt's belief that the nation was not yet his domain, and that Hoover had the authority to handle the situation. In addition, Burns excuses Roosevelt by maintaining "Roosevelt did not foresee that the banking situation would reach a dramatic climax on Inauguration day. No man could have." (P. 148) This position is an exceedingly benevolent one when contrasted with Conkin's wh o writes Roosevelt "did nothing, and helplessly watched the economy collapse, letting it appear as one last result of Republican incompetence." This measure allowed Roosevelt to emerge as the "nation's savior," and ally the Democratic party with this image. Furthermore, the two authors differ in their assessment of the effect of public opinion on Roosevelt's actions. Burns gives the impression of a president who looked to engage all in his coalition. He states, politically, his cabinet "catered to almost every major group." Burns also adds, "Roosevelt did not slavishly follow the wishes of group leaders." (P. 150). Roosevelt is portrayed as the paragon of a humanitarian, "he wanted to help the underdog, though not necessarily at the expense of the top dog. He believed that private, special interests must be subordinated to the general interest." (P. 155) Conkin attempts to poke holes in this idealistic portrayal of Roosevelt. Conversely, Conkin implies that many of Roosevelt's programs helped the top dog, at the expense of the underdog. He argues, many New Deal programs such as the AAA and NRA, ignoreed the plight of the common American, while helping the politically more influencial sectors of the population. Similarly, many programs such as the Wagner Act, Social Security, and the AAA did not apply to migrant labors: those with the least political clout, and a comparatively low rate of voter turnout. I have come to be a believer in many of the arguments made by Conkin. While Burns spends much time praising Roosevelt and focusing on his successes, he ignores to talk about the non-existent benefits that the New Deal brought to a significant percentage of the population. He does not focus on Roosevelt's policy towards blacks. Why? Because Roosevelt's programs typically did not aid this sector of the population. As noted by Conkin Roosevelt's AAA led to an increase in unemployment among blacks, and Roosevelt refused to support an anti-lynching bill, fearing that his support would alienate the white Southern Democratic vote. My support for Burns' opinion is strengthened by my additional outside knowledge. Roosevelt's programs such as the CCC and PWA were not designed, to and mainly did not include women. Moreover, under the Roosevelt administration a law enacted which legally allowed only one family member to hold any type of job, this measure essentially kicked married women out of t he workforce. I think Conkin's argument is much more concrete than Burns'. While Burns focuses on high figurative language to praise Roosevelt, Conkin gives the reader concrete examples that serve to cast doubt on this demi-god image of the former president. What must be understood is that Conkin does not go as far as to denounce Roosevelt as a leader, he merely makes us look at some

Ebay Essay Example

Ebay Essay Example Ebay Essay Ebay Essay Case Analysis: eBay Customer Support Outsourcing | | Name: Qiong HuangStudent #: 500423506Course #: MT 8216For: Professor BabinDate: December, 10, 2010| Situation eBay. com, â€Å"the world’s online marketplace†, is an online auction and shopping website in which people and business buy and sell a wide variety of goods and services worldwide. It is managed by eBay Inc, which is founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. eBay’ mission was to provide a robust trading platform where practically anyone could trade anything. It was recognized as the largest and most popular person-to-person trading community on the Internet. eBay Case, 2006) eBay posted US $8. 7 billion in revenue with a net income at $2. 4 billion in 2009. eBay is experiencing a 15% year-over-year increase. eBay’s marketplaces also benefit from a noticeable growth in its international business market, which accounts for around 60% of its market revenue in the 4th quarter of 2009. The marketplaces succ ess comes from the strong growth of its fixed-priced format, the continuing success of its highest rated sellers, and double-digit growth in sold items. (eBay 2009 Financial Report, 2010) Whitman purposed that eBay community of users was the foundation of the company’s business model. eBay Case, 2006) Customer service is substantial for e-commence business to survive and develop. The customer support organization in eBay was made up of two major units: general support, trust and safety. Most of the customer contacts were handled by the general support unit, and approximately 94% of customer service volume was email-based. Also, live chat and phone inquiries were growing. (eBay Case, 2006) To meet the inquiries of its customer base’s growth, eBay first hired remote contractors to respond customers’ emails. Then, eBay deployed Kana technology to improve its efficiency of customer services and to raise the customer satisfactions. However, those initiatives still could not keep up with the demand of growing customer bases. Thus, eBay operated an outsourcing pilot program in 2002. (eBay Case, 2006) Complications Outsourcing increases the productivity and quality of eBay’s customer support. Based on these benefits that were brought by the outsourcing, eBay increased the email volume of customer service sent offshore, even phone volumes in 2003. Yet, it arises some issues. One is the community reactions. More and more complaints from the community directed to the standardization of English, especially after outsourcing the phone volumes. These complaints refer to written English, accents, and language comprehensions. The other big concern is the customer relationship management. Customer support to PowerSellers and potential PowerSellers are not dedicated. eBay does not optimize its customer support to generate revenue. Besides that, eBay lacks of the talents who have rich experiences with outsourcing. Key Questions Should eBay continue to expand its outsourcing? Which outsourcing model can balance a competitive cost for eBay and retain its community? Is BOT a good alternative for eBay? Solutions To stay abreast of the continuing growth customer base and achieving cost differentiation, eBay should continue to expand its outsourcing. However, BOT is too advanced to eBay. It could not address the issues that eBay has now. Near-shoring is a better choice rather than outsourcing to India and Philippines. Compared to the other models of off-shoring outsourcings, near-shoring is to outsource in a nearby country, which shares a broader with own country. As for eBay, Canada, or some rural areas in both America and Canada are all good location choices. This first can solve the problems of language and culture issues as well as reduce the costs for eBay. Second, near-shoring is easier to manage. That ensures these outsourcing services can maintain the same standard with those services in the home country. Another alternative for eBay to optimize its customer support is to deploy CRM software. Customer relationship management is substantial to every company, especially to those e-commerce companies. As I discussed above, community is the foundation of the business model of eBay. Being first-to-market in the e-commerce world is frequently a competitive advantage. (eBay Case, 2006) The application of CRM software helps eBay not only to better serve its existing customers, but to develop new customers. It improves the efficiency and effectiveness in selecting, segmenting the customers and serving them, especially for those potential PowerSellers. This helps eBay to optimize its customer support. Conclusion Outsourcing is considered as a visible way for eBay to reduce costs, scale the demand, and leverage its investment. As for eBay, near-shoring will ground well in customer support, and CRM software will help to optimize the customer support. Reference eBay. (2010). Retrieved at December 10, 2010, from ebayinc. com/who. eBay Financial Report. (2010). Retrieved at December 10, 2010, from http://files. shareholder. com/downloads/ebay/1101818908x0x345224/b455630d-4bb9-4ba5-adb1-40dcf29e82ce/eBay_Q409EarningsRelease. pdf. Newman, S. , Crikscheit, G. , amp;Verna, R. (2006). eBay Customer Support Outsourcing. Indiana University CIBER.