Case Report On British Airways Ba Management Essay

Case Report On British Airways Ba Management Essay The fast changing technological advancement and unpredictable economic situation are forcing businesses to respond quickly to adapt to change. Failure to manage change will cause organisation lose its competitiveness and disappear from the market. In order to meet the challenge, British Airways has to review their development approaches, especially those related to the organisational behaviour, structure, culture and other human resource issues. The organisations vision of being worlds global premium airline can only be sustained and supported through continual review and improvements in the aspects mentioned. It is important to note that the change in the organisation is very much related to the role of managers in developing strategy. Though there is a pressing need for the organisation to undergo change, peoples need should not be sacrificed. This report aids the improvement process in British Airways by providing discussion on the key frameworks in the HRM issues and recommendati ons for future. 2.0 Introduction This is a report for the management of British Airways Plc which present, analyze and evaluate the change management issues in the organisation. Factors such as organisational structure, behaviour, culture and technology, political and social aspects as well as economic strengths and weaknesses are made throughout the whole report. It is hoped that this report would provide an insight to the human resource activities for future improvement. 3.0 Organisations Strategic Plan 3.1 Organisations Background British Airways Plc (BA) has a long history beginning from the launching of words first schedule air service by its forerunner company, Aircraft Transport Travel Limited (AT T) on 1919. In 1924, Britains four airlines merged to form Imperial Airways Limited. Later in the 1930s, some smaller UK air transport companies started their operations and merged to form the original privately-owned British Airways Limited. Following a government review in 1939, these two companies were then nationalized and formed the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). BOAC, together with a new airline, British European Airways (BEA) were the main British operators in the industry in the 1950s. However, these two separate airlines eventually merged to form British Airways in 1974. With the execution of Civil Aviation Act 1980, the government sold its shares in British Airways and Lord King was appointed as the chairman. Many changes were carried out since then to bring British Airways to its presen t status as one of the worlds leading global premium airline (British Airways 2010). The company is principally base in London, with hubs at Heathrow, Gatwick and London city airports. Its core activities are to carry out the operation of international and domestic scheduled air passengers and cargo services. In 2009/10, the company carried nearly 32 million passengers and 760,000 tonnes of cargo to different destinations. Together with its partners, BA flies to over 300 destinations throughout the world. It also has a strong fleet operation with 238 aircrafts in service at the end of March 2010 (British Airways 2010). 3.2 Organisations Vision and Mission The companys long term vision to be the worlds leading Global Premium Airline is constantly leading the company moving towards higher achievements in the future. BA has plotted different mission statements in pursuing toward this vision. These mission statements are: Be the airline of choice for long haul premium customers Deliver an outstanding service for customers at every point of touch Build presence in key global cities Build on leading position in London Meet customers needs and improve margins through new revenue streams (British Airways 2010) 3.3 Industry Overview The aviation industry has a big global economic impact. Few key facts provide the evidence of the worldwide influence of this industry. According to Capoccitti, Khare and Mildenberger (2010: 67), more than 2.2 billion vacation and business passengers flew on the worlds airlines. Over one-third of the values of worlds manufactured exports were carried through air freight. 32 million jobs opportunities were created for people in different countries. Moreover, the aviation industry contributes nearly 8% to world gross domestic product. In general, airline industry can be divided into four categories: International companies with annual revenue of $1 billion or more National companies with annual revenue between $100 million and $ 1 billion Regional companies with short-haul flights and less than $100 million revenue Cargo companies that generally transport goods only (Investopedia 2010) Though the degree varies with the category that an airline belongs to, air companies need to cope with various complicated issues. Some of the major issues include airport capacity, route design, technology, costs to buy or lease the aircrafts, weather, fuel price, and employees (Investopedia 2010). Despite these challenges, competition remains lofty as more and more airliners enter into the market by offering cheaper prices to customers. 3.4 SWOT Analysis Figure British Airways SWOT Analysis (Euromonitor International 2011) The figure above shows the current SWOT analysis of British Airways. Further explanations are made as follow. STRENGTHS Strong Fleet Operations British Airways has a strong fleet with more than 200 aircrafts. The fleet includes Boeing 737, Boeing 747- 777, Airbus A319 and Airbus 320. Recently, the company had also ordered additional 23 new Boeing 787 to replace the current Boeing 767. These new aircrafts will join in the long haul fleet from year 2012. With such a strong fleet, the airline covers all the continents around the world (Euromonitor International 2011). Online Services British Airways also seizes the opportunity of the widespread of internet to boost its business performance. With the implementation of online services, passengers obtain the convenience to book flights, hire cars, book hotels and access travel information in a quick and safe way. This has not only greatly reduced the companys operating costs, but also help it to attract more customers (Euromonitor International 2011). WEAKNESSES Labor Dispute The dispute over pay and condition of its cabin crew has caused an industrial action to take place in 20-22 March and 27-30 March 2010 (Euromonitor International 2011). The strikes held by Unite, which represents about 25,000 workers at British Airways, had incurred more than  £150 million loss to the company in year 2010. Poor Brand Image Apart from the above incident, the chaos that happened during the opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 airport also diminished the companys brand image. Cancellations, delays of flights and lost of baggages had led to huge disappointment on many loyal customers. This weaken the companys competitive advantage and loss many businesses to its rival. Poor Performance in All Geographic Regions Due to global financial crisis and high fuel prices, British Airways has a poor performance in all its geographic regions. The business revenues in its largest geographic market had decreased 12.9% in March 2010. The sales in its second largest market, America had also shown a decline of 4%. It is concerned that the continuity of such performance would lead to business collapse in no time (Euromonitor International 2011). THREATS Disrupt Operation With the unstable restructuring and changes policies, British Airways faces strong opposition from its workforce. The extension of labour dispute into future will continue to disrupt the companys normal operation. Huge amount of time and money will have to be spent on devising contingency plans to resolve the issues. Increased Competition Poor management strategies in handling labour dispute and the opening of Terminal 5 makes the company vulnerable to its rivals. Better offers made by competitors such as Virgins, Ryan Air and Easyjet will cause British Airways losses its premium passengers. Bankruptcy Poor performance in all geographic regions increases the risk of bankruptcy in BA. OPPORTUNITIES Reward Packages/Employee Relations Opportunities to offer better reward packages and to improve employee relations can be identified in the case of British Airways labour dispute. The restructuring and changes process will get into a better shape if two ways communication is to be built up. Monitor Operational Performance British Airways is currently monitoring its customer views on the Think Customer Survey (British Airways 2010). This offer great opportunity for the organisation to improve its business performance as it can find solution to improve its departure punctuality, which is one of the main concerns of the passengers. Merger Agreement with Iberia The entering into a merger agreement with Spanish airway Iberia offers opportunity for BA to step into Latin America market. This merger will also save the airline  £350 million a year (BBC 2010). 4.0 HRM Issues 4.1 Leadership and Management The terms leadership and management have been used interchangeably by many people. In fact, these two terms denotes two different meanings. From a general point of view, leadership can be defined as a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people. Management, on the other hand, is usually defines as getting things done through other people in order to achieve stated organisational objectives (Mullins 2010: 373). A major study of the nature of leadership has been developed by a political scientist, James MacGregor Burns in 1978. Burns states that organisation states can be categorized into two convergent (stable condition) and divergent (dynamic condition). He contends that the best approach for the convergent state is the transactional management style. The managers will aim at completing tasks, achieving companys goal, and striving for the companys performance through gradual changes (Burnes 2009: 498). On the other hand, transformational leaders are most appropriate in the divergent state. They will introduce radical change and use the influence of their personality to gain the trust and commitment of their followers (Burnes 2009: 499). The figure below shows Burns theory on leadership. Figure Burns Contextual Approach to Leadership (Burnes 2009: 499) Along with Burns theory, the diagram below also shows the distinctive activities between managers and leaders (Burnes 2009: 492). In fact, in real life situation, leaders need to possess both transactional and transformational characteristics, depending on the circumstances. Figure Distinct Activities between Managers and Leaders (Burnes 2009: 492) In relation to the theories above, BAs present Chief Executive Officer, Willie Walsh is considered to be a manager rather than a leader. This can be seen from the way he transformed his former company Aer Lingus, a nearly bankrupt airline into one of the most profitable one in Europe by cutting one-third of its workforce using the power of his position (The Independent Business 2011). This action had caused him to win an uncomplimentary nickname Slasher Walsh, thus revealing his sturdy personality trait. Partly because of this, he was attracted into the board of BA (The Wall Street Journal 2011). However, as the company is in a dynamic state, the transactional characteristic that Willie Walsh possessed is seemed to be unsuitable. In the dispute with the Unite Union, Willie Walsh is entirely focused on the present organisations need reduce costs but ignored the need to create a culture of shared value in the long run. His managerial approach will only enable him to carry out his du ty and fail to gain followers. The management should realize that the pressing need of British Airways is to have leader who is capable to win trust and support from its members in order to implement change. 4.2 Organisational Structure In order to ensure the organisation meets its goals and objectives, organisation usually has a formal structure to divide the work and responsibilities. This formal structure is presented in the organisation chart. Different roles and relationships are incorporated in this process to direct, control and carry out the tasks and activities (Armstrong 2009: 365). People in these groups are usually bound by certain formal rules, relationship and norms of behaviour. Formal work group can be differentiated by basis of membership, tasks to be performed, nature of technology or positions within the organisations and etc. (Mullins 2010: 311). Though the formal groups are planned and created by management, informal structure will also arise during the day-to-day interactions of the staffs. Unlike the formal structure which is based on a defined role, the informal groups are based more on friendships. The goal is to satisfy psychological and social needs rather than achieving the tasks (Mullins 2010:312). Both formal and informal groups are crucial as the formation can contribute to the enhancement of work performance. The higher the group cohesiveness, the more likely they can progress in the stages of group development and form teams. However, tasks at team level require higher level of coordination, control and trust. From the organisational chart in Figure 4 below, it can be seen that the division of work in the organisation is based on individuals different tasks and functions, such as sales and marketing, engineering, investments and etc. This institution is important as members tend to follow the established values and norms of behaviours. However, as group size increase, it will increase the difficulty for managers to handle. In general, group cohesiveness is hard to achieve when a group exceeds 10-12 members. Absenteeism, conflict over incentive payment and differences in opinions are some of the normal phenomena that can be seen in a group. Therefore, groups should be divided into sub-groups when the numbers go beyond 12 (Mullins 2010: 315). Managers should also be sensitive on the balance of work performance and social interactions in the informal groups. Sometimes, groups may be inclined toward social processes and spend too much time talking rather than working (Mullins 2010:314). Managers therefore need to be capable to observe and create a better climate in the groups. Figure British Airways Organisational Structure (The Official Board 2010) 4.3 Organisational Culture Organisational culture plays an important role to bring in change in organisation. According to Armstrong (2009:384), organisational culture is the unspoken ways that shape the ways in which people in organisations behave and things get done. Drennan (1992) also defines culture as typical of the organisation, the habits, the prevailing attitudes, and the grown-up pattern of accepted and expected behaviour (Brown 1998: 8). One of the factors that formed the organisational culture is the influence of visionary leaders. British Airways had undergone many waves of culture change since late 70s. Under the leadership of Collin Marshall, the companys chief executive during 1983, the company was transformed from a disastrous loss-making company into a profit-making world class organisation. He introduced Putting People First program and had successfully overturned the atmosphere in the organisation. He challenged the hierarchical and militaristic culture that existed at that time by asking the staffs not to wear uniform to work. He also constantly motivated the staffs to have positive attitudes in themselves, set personal goals and dealing with stress. Members of the organisation are very much encouraged by the families atmosphere promoted during that period (Irena and Adrian 2002). British Airways experienced few more restructuring processes in the hands of different leaders following Collin Marshall. It is believed the organisation is also undergoing a major culture change under the current leadership of Willie Walsh. The organisational culture is changed from people-oriented to power-oriented under the management of Willie Walsh. Members in the organisation became more competitive and responsive to personality as the values and beliefs are changed. Although it cannot be concluded by saying one culture is better than the other, the culture that Willie Walsh introduced into the organisation seems to be inappropriate and hinder its performance (Armstrong 2009: 398). 4.4 Resourcing and Legal Issues Another crucial aspect to achieve the goals of the organisation is people resourcing. Organisations need to make sure they can obtain and retain the right people that can fit into their organisational and perform in a productive way. Therefore, strategies such as human resource planning, recruitment and selection, selection interviewing, selection tests, introduction to the organization and release from the organization are genuinely required to build up the strength of human aspect in the organisation (Armstrong 2001). In devising its strategy on human resource planning, British Airways has to be to be able to forecast future people needs (demand forecasting), forecast future availability of people (supply forecasting) and make plans to match supply to demand (Armstrong 2001). These require the human resource department of British Airways to have thorough understanding of both the internal and external environments of the organisation. Examples of the internal environments include sales forecast and introduction of new technology whereby instances of external environment are such like labour market condition and labour turnover (Wilson 2011). Many organisations tend to promote people from within the organisation when there are vacancies in the upper level. This resourcing policy is known as qualification driven. British Airways is not an exception to this. British Airways advertises internal vacancies to its employees and provide cross training when necessary (British Airways 2011). With the implementation of restructuring programme named Compete 2012, British Airways also encourages its people to move between functions to develop their talents and skills. This once again confirms its usual practice of promoting people internally (British Airways 2010). Despite its focus on internal promotion, British Airways does not neglect the importance of injecting talents and fresh ideas into the vein of the organisation. Its external recruitment is carried out firstly through its recruitment website, which also forms the initial selection process. Applicants are then asked to attend the assessment day. They will then be accessed through different methods such as group exercises, interviews, psychometric tests, presentations, fact-finding exercise or role play (British Airways 2011). As a global organisation, BA is renowned in its workforce diversity. This requires the organisation to comply with different laws and legislations such as Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976 and Data Protection Act (British Airways 2011). In spite of the diversified culture image that it has built up over the years, flaws can still be seen in the way British Airways manage its people. The company was sued for indirect sex discrimination by one of its female pilot in year 2005. Jessica Starmer, BAs female pilot requested to work 50% part time to take care of her newborn baby. However, the organisation can only offered her 75% work, which was unacceptable to Starmer and will cause her to give up her favourite job. It can be seen from this case that British Airways was not ready to accommodate working mothers and possibly exclude females from its pilot. Starmer eventually won this discrimination case and British Airways had to reconsider its way of managing work life ba lance for both men and women (BBC 2005). Employees well being should constantly be examined and improved in the organisation. 4.5 Skills, Training and Development Learning, training and development processes are ways to ensure individuals and organisations can enhance their performance and meet organisations objectives. One crucial framework of understanding how people learn is the work of Kolb. Kolb suggests learning as recurring process with four stages as shown in the diagram below. Figure Kolbs Learning Style (Clark 2008) The four stages (concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation) was then categorised by Honey and Mumford as activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. It is contended that activists prefer to learn by actively participate in activities, reflectors learn through observation and reflections, theorists learn best through linking their experiences with concepts and theories, and pragmatists have a preference in transferring new information to real-life situations (Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010: 357). Understanding how people learn through different HRM frameworks are crucial for British Airways to design the learning for its employees. By examining the training and learning design of British Airways, it is quite satisfactory that British Airways has provide ample training resources such as learning centres, library facilities, reference materials, audiotapes and video based learning (Job Vacancies Advice n.d.). British Airways also develops different training schemes such as Behaviour for Success, Leadership Matters and A Leader Development Portfolio (British Airways 2010). Graduate opportunities and training schemes are also provided to the students and graduates through series of interviews and selections (British Airways 2010). These shows that the organisation is concern about different learning styles of individuals and have provided different designs to match their learning needs. However, In relation to the chaotic opening of Heathrows Terminal 5, British Airways employees claimed that their failure was due to inadequate training days and the lack of essential support (BBC 2008). This incident should provide a little window for the management to realise that there is still a lack the way British Airways evaluate its employees learning activity and process. Furthermore, in dealing with the recent strike issue, British Airways is planning on training its ground staffs who have no flying experience to become cabin crews in 21 days (The Guardian 2010). This is inevitably worrying as these employees might not have appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitude to fill in the positions in such a short period. This hasty decision will only pull the company away from identifying and analysing the learning needs of its employees (Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010: 352). 4.6 Appraisal Performance appraisal is a key attribute in driving an organisation towards competitive advantage. Though it may not be unwelcomed by the participants, it nevertheless provides crucial data for efficient decision-making, identifies training needs, and set levels of reward (Gold and Bratton 2003: 250). An effective appraisal system will also help the organisations to assess their staff against companies objectives, provide opportunities for the organisation to give good feedback to employees and motivate them (Business Link 2011). Appraisal can be carried out in different forms such as top-down schemes, self-appraisal, peer appraisal, upward appraisal and multi-rater appraisal or 360-degree feedback (Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010: 323). The employees progress is monitored both informally and formally in British Airways. Informally, the staffs will have to discuss with their manager about their performance and formally, they will need to go through an annual performance review (British Airways 2011). This top-down appraisal system is designed to encourage continuous improvement in employees performance and behaviour. However, it is questionable whether the appraisal is effective. Due to the linkage of appraisal with pay in British Airways, employees might be reluctant to openly discuss their problems at work with their line managers. Issues such as preferential treatment and lack of partiality may also invalidate the effort taken. Though immediate manager are inevitably in the best position to appraise employee performance, consideration should be given to evaluate performance through peer appraisal or multi-rater appraisal (Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010: 323). 4.7 Coaching and Mentoring According to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIDP) (2010), coaching is a process to develop an individuals skills and knowledge in order to improve their work performance. Though it may involve the employees private life, the target is on achieving specific skills and goals. Mentoring, which is a method to transfer the knowledge, skills and experience in the challenging workplace, is often used interchangeably with coaching. Comparing to coaching, which is conducted in a shorter period, mentoring tends to describe a long term relationship where a more experienced staff supports the progression of his inexperienced colleague. In fact, coaching and mentoring is very much linked with overall learning and development strategies. According to the 2010 Learning and development survey conducted by CIDP (2010), more than half of the participants felt that coaching is the most effective way of learning and development. British Airways has always been a great success in coaching and mentoring its employees. As mentioned earlier, British Airways embed different training resources and programs to support and sustain the development of its people. Qualified pilots who apply to the Direct Entry Pilot Scheme offered by the organisation will need to attend training courses before they are allowed to join the fleets. They will be put under the supervision of experienced training team until the completion of Line Check (British Airways 2011). This efficient coaching and mentoring thus lead the pilots into the right behaviour and work effectively. 4.8 Performance and Motivation People need to be motivated to work. In order to improve the performance, it is important for managers to motivate and encourage their staffs. Throughout the years, various schools of thoughts on motivation have been established. Some of the well known theories are McGreggors theory X and theory Y, Adams equity theory, Maslows hierarchy of needs and Herzbergs two factor theory (Wilson 2011). This section will focus only the first two theories McGreggors theory X and theory Y and Adams equity theory. A notable study conducted from 1945-1965 revealed that what employees desire the most from a job is security, following by advancement, type of work and company. This is against the common belief that money is the primary motivating factor. However, this should not send the signal to the company to reward employee inadequately (Accel-Team 2010). However, in the recent dispute with its cabin crew, it became obvious that British Airways Chief Executive, Mr. Willie Walsh is incompetent to address this idea. In this dispute concerning the cabins pay condition, Willie Walsh proves that his managerial style falls under McGreggors theory X. Unlike theory Y which encourages participative communication, Willie Walsh cultivates a downward direction communication flow from manager to subordinates (Barnett 2011). This can be seen by his act in snatching the offer of Unite union off the negotiation table in March 2010 without saying a further word (The Guardian 2010). His autocratic managerial style causes British Airways suffers heavy resistance from its employees and eventually leads to the decrease in employees morale. On the other hand, equity theory of motivation reveals the assumptions that individuals hold about what is value and worthwhile (Wilson 2011). This theory holds that a persons sense of fairness is resulting from comparison between his input-to-output ratios to the others see Figure 6 below (Business Balls 2010). According to a former British Airways crew member, the company has not treated its members with a fair view. The organisation compares its cabin crews salaries with low cost carriers such as Virgins and Easyjet. This is viewed as unreasonable since British Airways had been branded as a global premium airline. It is also found out that the organisations proposal for new fleet salaries of  £11,000 basic plus  £2.40 an hour is much lower comparing to other premium airlines such as Singapore and Emirates. Comparing to Singapore Airline (which pay not only  £20,792 to its crew, but also gives them the benefits of one months salary annual supplement plus health and pension p ackages) British Airways offer is apparently diminishing the effort of its members (The Guardian 2010). Equity theory should reminds British Airways management that its people must be managed and treated accordingly as they would compare the way they are treated with their surrounding environment (Business Balls 2010). Figure Adams Equity Theory (Business Balls 2010) 5.0 Future Directions 5.1 Change Management Plan With the fast changing global business environment, organisations have to be capable to respond quickly enough by implementing change. The chance of whether an organisation can survive is very much depending on how effective it deals with the changes such as new government policies, economic fluctuation, new competitors and etc. Changes are initiated by leaders who are clear with the organisations vision and put that vision into reality through medium term mission and deployment plan (Wilson 2010). Kotter and Schlessinger (1979) set out six approaches to manage resistance of change. These include the following: Education and communication inform people about the change effort beforehand Participation and involvement involve people in the change effort Facilitation and support provide coaching and mentoring to deal with adjustment problems Negotiation and agreement deal with resistance by offering incentives Manipulation and co-option give a leader a symbolic role in decision making without really involved in the change effort Explicit and implicit coercion force employees into accepting change by making clear that resistance can lead to losing jobs, transferring or not promoting (Value Based Management 2011) There is no one approach which out-ruled the other approaches. The suitability of the change approach is based upon the situation that an organisation is facing. Therefore, leaders have to exercise their wisdom and discernment when choosing the approach to deal with resistance. Willie Walshs tactic of using explicit and implicit coercion to manage change apparently is destructive to the organisation as it had pushed the resistance even further. As the cabin crews and the Unite union are in the position of power, it is more likely that negotiation and agreement should be applied. 5.2 Organisational Development Organisational development is defined as a process that applies behavioural science knowledge and practices to help organisations achieve g

Roleof Women in the Things They Carried

The Rose of the World Why do we blame Helen’s beauty for the Trojan War or Eve’s curious nature for Adam’s choice to eat the apple, thus beginning the mortal human civilization? Throughout history men have found it convenient to hold women responsible for their own weaknesses and intolerance. The apathy of anti-feminist and conservative movements showcases the reality of the Stockholm syndrome and medieval serfdom. Men have been the captors and the masters of the women for time in antiquity, but we still see empathy in women. Henry Kissinger could not have summarized it any better when he said, â€Å"Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There is too much fraternizing with the enemy. † Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is neither about the battle of sexes nor is it a feminist manifesto. The literary inferences, socio-political context, portrayal of various female characters, and their influence on the male characters truly depict changes in the social perception of gender roles, resulting conflict, and their outcome for American society. Along with all the things the men of the Alpha Company carried, they also took on the burden of feelings of love for the women they had left behind. Women are a source of motivation, inspiration, and comfort. Lieutenant Cross finds comfort and getaway from the war in his daydreams about Martha; for Henry Dobbins his girlfriend’s pantyhose are a reminder of her love, which he believes is a life-saving talisman; Norman Bowker can gather courage to talk to Sally Gustafson; and Fossie is madly in love with Mary-Anne to the extent that he arranges to fly her down to Vietnam. The interpretation of the word love has been romanticized to the extent that it never embodies the unwanted consequent feelings of anger, lust, objectification, jealousy, possessiveness, and insecurity. Jimmy Cross’ love metamorphosizes into lust and jealousy; he is obsessed with Martha’s virginity and begins to scrutinize every single detail, even the shadows, in the photograph. Even though Martha has never confessed about her feeling towards Jimmy Cross, his feelings of jealousy and lust transforms into anger at the death of Ted Lavender. Fossie’s love transforms into jealousy, possessiveness, and insecurity when he senses that Mary-Anne is drifting away from him. He finds it emasculating that Mary-Anne now prefers to spend more time with the Green Berets than with him and his colleagues. He conquers her by imposing marriage on her, which is evident when Rat Kiley says, Over dinner she kept her eyes down, poking at her food, subdues to the point of silence [†¦. ] Nervously, she’d look across the table at Fossie. She’d wait a moment, as if to receive some sort of clearance, then she’d bow her head and mumble out a vague word or two. There were no real answers (O’Brien 103). Mary-Anne’s state and Fossie’s forceful proposition justify what Andrea Dworkin says about marriage: â€Å"Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice. Rape, originally defined as abduction, became marriage by capture. Marriage meant the taking was to extend in time, to be not only use of but also possession of, or ownership. † One can sense a feeling of victory, sarcasm, and pride in Fossie’s tone when he says, â€Å"One thing for sure, though, there won’t be any more ambushes. No more late nights†¦I’ll put this way-we we’re officially engaged†¦Well hey, she’ll make a sweet bride [†¦. Combat ready† (O’Brien 103). This further justifies Andrea Dworkin’s claims about marriage, conquest of women, and their subjugation by men. The idea of young soldiers going to war for their country, romanticizing about the love of their life, and coming home victorious to claim their trophies (the women they love), is so ideal and over sentimental. This idea would be classified as the story truth by Tim O’Brien, something everyone would like to hear, but the happening truth that accepts the word love with all its connotations is deemed too negative by the story truth. P. B. Shelley’s poem â€Å"One Word Is Too often Profaned,† deals with Shelley’s resolve not to use the word ‘love’ to express his feelings because it has been used so loosely that it has become too profane to express the feeling for love. One word is too often profaned For me to profane it; One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it; I can give not what men call love; But wilt thou accept not. The love stories of Jimmy Cross, Mark Fossie, and Henry Dobbins end in either rejection or despair. These stories are more about cathartic redemption and courage rather than failure and pain. Jimmy Cross is transformed into a utiful and responsible leader after detaching himself from Martha. The author assumes an introspective tone as he discloses Lieutenant Cross’ transformation in the following excerpt: There was the new hardness in his stomach. He loved her but he hated her†¦No more fantasies, he told himself. He would accept the blame f or what had happened to Ted Lavender. He would be a man about it. He would look them in the eyes, keeping his chin level, and he would issue the new SOPs in a calm, impersonal tone of voice, a lieutenant’s voice, leaving no room for argument and discussion† (O’Brien 24-25). Henry Dobbins unlike Fossie, is able to keep himself together after his girlfriend leaves him, and now those stockings around his neck symbolize his resolve to withstand the pain of desertion and turn it into the strength to fight and stay alive in the war. Dobbin’s commendable light-heartedness after reading his girlfriend’s break-up letter is evident when he says. â€Å"No sweat. The magic doesn’t go away,† as he wraps his neck with the stockings (O’Brien 118). Mark Fossie is in absolute misery after Mary-Anne rejects him, to the extent that he does not talk or eat for days and gives up on his own existence. He is in a worse condition than Cross and Dobbins, as he feels responsible for the rebellious transformation of Mary-Anne, thus bringing rejection upon himself. From the male perspective, Fossie would label Mary-Anne’s transformation as rebellious, which he tries to quell down by the proposition of marriage and engagement. But from a female perspective her transformation would be labeled as liberating. The Green Berets symbolize the renaissance men and social charters of the ‘twenty first’ century who treat women as equals. In contrast, Mary-Anne symbolizes and foreshadows the emergence of the assertive women who are impervious to gender bias, and are not afraid to leave the shelter of men for achieving their own goals. Finally, Mark Fossie symbolizes male chauvinism that is in decline, and this suggests that the institution of marriage cannot be used as an instrument to confine women for their convenience. The female characters in The Things They Carried can be classified into three theme-based groups. The first group consisting of Martha and Sally Gustafson characterizes the conventional love interests of the soldiers. Martha is inspirational for Jimmy Cross, but she never knows that she serves such a purpose in Jimmy’s life. She writes him letters, and gives him pictures, and sends him a pebble for a good luck, but never intends to be Jimmy’s romantic interest or his girl waiting at home for him. By the time of Ted Lavender’s death Jimmy knows that none of her letters has a romantic idea to them and that the pebble is nothing more than a good luck charm. She never mentions about the war in her letters to Jimmy. In a way, Martha’s character shows lack of empathy towards Jimmy, who is amidst a war. It is explained by the narrator’s reasoning of Cross’ feelings as he states, â€Å"In those burned letter Martha never mentioned the war, except to say, Jimmy take care of yourself. She wasn’t involved. She signed the letters Love, but it wasn’t love, and all the fine lies and technicalities did not matter† (O’Brien 24). Women like Martha feel sympathetic towards Jimmy, but they cannot understand what the soldiers are going through. This is could be attributed to the reason that conventionally women do not serve a major in wars except serving as medical nurses. Norman Bowker assumes that Sally would not be interested in hearing stories about Vietnam given her dislike of profanity. The profanity, blood, and gore in Rat Kiley’s letter to Curt Lemon’s sister would have had the same effect. She could not have been able to empathize with Rat Kiley, and help him find solace by replying to his letter. The woman, who retorts to the story of the baby buffalo being tortured by Rat Kiley with disgust and shame, fails to understand the nature of war and its effect on people. All these women conform to the conventional notions and reservations regarding the roles of women in society, especially that women cannot serve in combat. The second group of female characters consists of only Mary-Anne. She characterizes the liberated and confident pool of 21st century modern women. Mary-Anne’s appearance resembles the first group of female characters: â€Å"A tall, big-boned blonde. At best, Rat said, she was seventeen years old, fresh out of Cleveland Heights Senior High. She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly, too. (O’Brien 93). However, she is transformed after coming Vietnam into a self-aware, confident, and independent woman and this gives a sense of competition to other men. This is well depicted when Fossie and Rat Kiley are left without words when they meet Mary-Anne after six days, as she tells them, You're in a place [†¦] where you don't belong†¦. You just don't know,[†¦] You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know what it's all about†¦I get scared sometimes—lots of times—but it's not bad. You know? I feel close to myself. When I'm out there at night, I eel close to my own body, I can feel my blood moving, my skin and my fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark—I'm on fire almost—I'm burning away into nothing—but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am. You can't feel like that anywhere else (O’Brien 111). This passage captures the real essence of Mary-Anne’s transformation, distinguishes her from other female characters, and shows that she has more virility than even the men in the war. Hereby, O’Brien disapproves the notion that women are better suited for non-combat roles in war. Mary-Anne unlike the female characters of Martha, Sally Gustafson, and Curt Lemon’s sister who are either unaware or turn a blind eye towards the war, finds it very self-satisfying. â€Å"Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the whole country—the dirt, the death—I just want to eat it and have it there inside me. That's how I feel. It's like . . . this appetite,† O’Brien’s choice of words in this excerpt symbolizes that for Mary-Anne Vietnam has a stabilizing effect, and the way she wants to calm her inner chaos is by consuming (experiencing) everything that Vietnam has to offer. A contrasting character to Mary-Anne in this aspect is Rat Kiley, as he shoots his own foot in order to escape combat in Vietnam. Even the Green Berets, who are considered the most virile and badass soldiers in Vietnam are humbled by Mary-Anne’s courage: â€Å"There were times, apparently, when she took crazy, seath-wish chances-things that even the Greenies balked at† (O’Brien 115). Mary-Anne reminds me of another woman from the books of history who shares the same courageous traits as her, and led the men and a whole nation to victory; that is Joan D’Arc. Hereby, it is not surprising that liberty and the nationhood of France are personified as woman, the Statue of Liberty and Marianne, respectively. The third and the last group of women consist of Linda; she signifies how pure love can inspire and transform a person’s life. The relationship between Tim and Linda is the most optimistic one amongst all the relationships. Irrespective of his age at the time of his short-lived childhood romance with Linda, the relationship has a long lasting effect on him. Even though they did not get to spend a great deal of time together O’Brien dreams imaginary meetings with Linda in his sleep that rekindle and keep his feelings alive. The real moments shared with Linda and her memories are kept alive by his subconscious mind as it creates the imaginative dreams about her, which alleviate the pain of her death and the fact that she is no more around him. This idea is well conveyed in the last chapter when O’Brien says, I'm forty-three years old, and a writer now, still dreaming Linda alive in exactly the same way. She's not the embodied Linda; she's mostly made up, with a new identity and a new name, like the man who never was. Her real name doesn't matter. She was nine years old. I loved her and then she died. And yet right here, in the spell of memory and imagination, I can still see her as if through ice, as if I'm gazing into some other world, a place where there are no brain tumors and no funeral homes, where there are no bodies at all (O’Brien 245). Tim O’Brien writes about his experiences in Vietnam in order to keep those memories alive and preserve them in his stories. He discovers that storytelling has a healing effect on him, when he mentions, â€Å"Yet when I received Norman Bowker's letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse† (O’Brien 158). He ends the book with an exemplifying statement about storytelling, by saying, â€Å"I realize it as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story† (O’Brien 246). The different and distinct roles of women in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried portray the conflict of expectations, individualism, and freedom between men and women. It is difficult to label The Things They Carried as a work on Vietnam War or plainly a collection of love stories. But it is certain that the book captures the changes and conflicts in the nature of relationship between men and women in terms of boundaries, space, independence and individualism. I can relate to the male characters of The Things they Carried, as like them I too have experienced my feelings of love transform into jealousy, possessiveness, and insecurity, leading to similar changes and conflicts. Being left desolate and in despair helped me to transform the failure into strength to carry on and become a better person. This strength has instilled in me empathy, which has enabled me to understand my female counterparts better and respect them even more. Work Cited O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: a Work of Fiction. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print. Shelly, Percy B. One Word Is Too Often Profaned by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays ; Summaries. Web. 13 May 2011. ;http://www. online-literature. com/shelley_percy/671/;.

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