Expansion difficulties with IKEA

Expansion difficulties with IKEA Cross Cultural Management Individual paper work Question: Although IKEA is a highly successful global player it has recently experienced problem in its expansion in Russia (Vasilyeva, 2009). Based on the material in Jackson (2002) discuss critically how IKEA has succeeded in instilling its Swedish ways of managing into its international subsidiaries, considering also whether cultural factors have any relevance to its current difficulties in Russia. Introduction: Before going in the question i.e. the problems IKEA is facing in Russia, we will discuss about IKEA, Sweden and IKEA in France, Germany, Spain and United States of America. Discussing about IKEA, we will know the history first, IKEA, as we all know is a Swedish company. It was started by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, and since has grown to become worlds largest retailers of furnishing. IKEA got its name from the initials of four words, the first two from the name of the founder, Ingvar Kamprad. Making I and K, and the second two from the letters of Emltaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and the village he grew up in. IKEA started by selling pens, wallets watches etc, but out of all the furniture it sold got the greatest response, so, it opened its first store in Sweden in 1958. And in Norway and in Denmark in 1963 and 1969 respectively. Culture: We will define the IKEAs and the Swedish culture based on Hofstedes four dimensions. The four dimensions are; Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Individualism and collectivism Masculinity and femininity. More or less the IKEA and the Swedish cultures and same, the simple reason being that IKEA is a Swedish company. Now according to the Hofstedes dimensions we can compare and tell about the cultures. We will start from the Power distance dimension, this dimension is about the distance between the employees and the managers of the company, in short, equal relations are also seen as normal in some cultures and even inequality is seen as normal in some. In Sweden, the managers and the organizational employees scored very low, i.e. there power distance is very low, they all are considered more or less equal. They scored 31 making it a follower of low power distance; where 104 is the maximum and 11 being the minimum. The second dimension we will talk about is Uncertainty avoidance, by Hofstedes definition and from the given case study (Jackson, 2002), it says that, this refers to a preference for structured situations versus unstructured situations. This dimension runs from being comfortable with flexibility and ambiguity to a need for extreme rigidity and situations with a high degree of certainty. Here again Sweden scored 29, which is low, compared to other countries like Spain and France scoring 86. 8 being minimum here and 112 being the maximum. Third in the list is Individualism and Collectivism, this factor or dimension is about the mentality or way of working of employees, that is, are they used to work as a individuals or as a group. This is again a important factor, which differentiates between the cultures. In this dimension Sweden scored 71, and here 6 being minimum and 91 being maximum. This means the Swedish culture is more individualistic. The fourth one is Masculinity and femininity, now again, according to the given case study, Hofstede (1980a) distinguishes ‘hard value‘ such as assertiveness and competition, and the ‘soft or ‘feminine values of personal relations, quality of life and caring about others, where in masculine society gender role differentiation is emphasized. So in this dimension, Sweden scored 5, which is the lowest and 95being the highest. This implies us that Swedish culture is a very feminine culture, that is they are very soft and caring kind of people. So to sum up all, we can say that Swedish culture is a low power distance, again low on uncertainty avoidance, high on individualism and a feminine culture. IKEA being a Swedish company fallows the similar culture, but, being a global player and having its existence in other different counties; it faced a lot of cultural differences. IKEA had an organizational culture similar to Swedish culture, but when it went to France or Spain or United States of America, it faced little problems there and a lot in Russia. Cultural Differences: A global player is a company which works worldwide; likewise, IKEA is a global player. It is a Swedish company and as talked about, its organizational culture is similar to the Swedish national culture. IKEA always wanted to maintain its unique ‘Swedishness. This was essential to maintain because it was there competitive advantage over other competitors and along with this, it wanted to adapt to the other different national cultures it was working in. Well that is the sign of the global player. IKEA fitted perfect in this. Over the years, IKEA spread its market mainly in Europe, North America, Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Russia. Germany, France and Sweden were its single biggest markets. It has also recently taken over Habitat, another competitor in the UK and France. IKEAs international headquarters are in Almhult, a remote location in Sweden where only Swedish is spoken, this is the place where products are designed and all the important decisions are made. Well now before we speak of Cultural differences, we will discuss about the key IKEAN cultures. They believe that a person learns by doing mistakes, it is seen as a way of learning. They encourage practically solving the problems. The managers from IKEA generally expected to share the information they have, their knowledge and skills with the employees. Hence it states employees are also considered very important in the organization and are encouraged the work and are made feel responsible. The management style is seen very casual, informal, open and caring. Hierarchy system is almost flat, with three levels of responsibilities at the store level store managers and co-workers. Co- workers may be employees or associates. The managers do not give titles on their business cards. The bureaucratic approach and status barriers are disparaged and the managers are expected to be friendly, understanding and close with the employees. The employees are also provided with a small formal training. In this culture humbleness is not seen as weakness and learning from experiences, though it takes a lot of time and patience but is a condition for moving up the ladder. â€Å"Testaments of a Furniture Dealer† a book by the founder, which sets out his philosophy is distributed throughout the organization. The managers are seen as and encouraged to act as ‘missionaries. And even one week seminar or training is provided for the managers who have not been directly exposed to the founders philosophy. Whenever IKEA opens a new store in any other country than Sweden, the store is first run by a tight knit group of managers or even called as missionaries who are in position to make of the decisions and are able to solve problems in typical IKEAN way. They are in charge of the store until the store is handed over to the local managers. Overall IKEA offers good and pleasant working environment, job security and a caring attitude to its employees. Overseas, all this has proved relatively easy in Netherlands, but didnt work in some countries, say for example in Germany, France, United States of America and Spain. Like in Germany, managers are not used to be called by first names and undermining managers authority. They are used to do what managers say, they usually take all the orders from the managers, they are not used to do work by taking owns initiative. In Germany managers suggestion are generally taken as orders. And IKEAs methods were considered as distinct or not clear. In France, unlike Sweden, informality is seen as a weakness. Being informal is considered as being indecisive. And even no formal job titles meant loss of identity; it was creating problems because they felt like they were lost in the crowd. But in United States of America, the older workers had a bit of problem working with the young American managers because of their ways of doing things. The young American managers showed a lack of elegance with the employees, but they went off with ease with the Swedish managers. But again, on the other side, there was a difference in the perception, Sweden did not believe in individual awards to maintain equality and avoid discrimination between the workers and the employees. American managers thought that it was slowing their progress in the company; they had second thoughts about their future in the company, and as the result they lost their key American managers. To overcome these problems IKEA had to work on some stuff, like in France to attract and retain the employees, they had to provide clear communication with the facts and figures, just to highlight the benefits of IKEA over its competitors. And had to create some formal training programmes for the new employees, instead of the traditional learning by doing and experience methodology. And even did some changes for the other countries as well. IKEA also gave more autonomy to the local management. In the case study, by Jackson T (2002), he gave a bit more emphasis on IKEA in Spain. It is said that IKEA was a complete unknown when it entered Spain. And since then is has mixed the IKEA culture and its Swedish characters in its Spanish Subsidiaries. Firstly, a network of Swedish managers was sent to Spain to pass on their knowhow and IKEA culture to the local management. This turned out to be an extremely important stepping stone in IKEAs entry in Spain. Even the selection of the employees is important, selecting the ‘right people is perfect way of preserving the IKEA culture. To select the employees who have not been contaminated by the culture of other companies. Moreover awareness for IKEA culture is created through introductory programmes for the co-workers and the employees by ‘IKEA Way, during which, participants are given lectures on IKEAs history, human resources ideas, and many more and by official scriptures, handbooks and other IKEA documents. The IKEAs culture, i.e. the methods they fallow, are very different from the normal style in Spain. IKEA is taking a more serious and conscious approach in developing the organization and adjusting it for the local needs. In this case, the first step was by recruiting a Spanish human resource manager. They even provided off-the-job training courses, this was done on the strong demand of the co-workers. Again the important point is they adapted a flexible salary approach is developed in order to attract and retain competent employees. Problems in Russia IKEA entered Russia almost after 5 decades of its international existence. Year 2000 was the entry year for IKEA in Russia. But unfortunately it had to face a lot of problems in Russia. IKEA has opened 12 stores in Russia till the date in all over the country. It has invested around $4 billion in the Russian market. IKEA saw Russia as a lucrative market; it was like a gold mine for IKEA. IKEA was on the verge of becoming the potent symbol of Russian consumer boom. It started attracting the young generation of the country. It was also building giant shopping malls in various cities of Russia. Overall the start was looking good. But the problems they faced were mainly the corruption in the country. Corruption was the biggest and the most disturbing problem that IKEA had to face. Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev also acknowledge on the fact that corruption is Russias national problem. On 23rd June 2009, IKEA announced that it is suspending its future investments in Russia for the time being. The official reason was given by IKEA country manage, Per Kaufmann, was the unpredictability of administrative processes in Russia. But some of the observers even believe that corruption within the country and demand for bribes was the other important reason for the decision made. The founder Ingvar Kamprad was firm on his decision that he was going to solve the problem without giving bribes. For example, in year 2004, when IKEA was about to open a outlet in Moscow, the officials there delayed the opening by giving reasons like, the parking of the store was near the gas pipe line, and because of the safety reason, they could not open it on the given date. The same thing happened with the outlet in Samara; it was delayed 8 times and still has not opened. It was about to open in November 2007, it has been 2 years and still it is at the same place. They gave a different reason every time, the recent reason was, and the store was not hurricane resistant. And was not safe, but there was data of so power hurricanes in that area. And even at the time of opening a first store in the out skirts of Moscow, they needed electricity, the officials increased the rate of the electricity, as a backup plan, they had generators, but the generator company, also increased their rates. IKEA tried to sue the company for this but unfortunately, it lost the case and in return had to pay a amount as compensation to them. IKEA also had to face accusation made by Russias anti-trust watchdog when it investigated and accused that IKEA urges the tenants at its mall outside Moscow to use services of selected companies. James Franker, head of Moscow based Red Star Asset Management also said a few things on the Russian economy like, â€Å"They need GDP growth to help them expand, and thats reversed† and he also commented about the informal taxation being very high in Russia. Conclusion: At last in the conclusion, we can say that, IKEA follows a totally different culture, it also had to face a lot of problems in other countries as well, but in Russia it had a lot more serious problems. The main problem being the corruption of the country. As given to us, Transparency International ranks Russia 147th out of 180, with countries like Kenya, Syria and Bangladesh. IKEA has stopped the investments in Russian furthermore due to such problems. In a situation where Ingvar Kamprad wants to be firm on his stand of not giving bribes, let us see what IKEA has in its future in Russia and around the world. Bibliography: Case study- Jackson T (2002), International HRM : A cross-cultural approach Rey French, cross cultural management: in work organization Ikea, http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/facts_and_figures/ikea_group_stores/russia.html. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resourses/global-etiquette/sweden.html Ikea upbeat Russia after 10 years of problem, Alex Anishyuk, Moscow times, http://www.cdi.org/russia/Johnson/2009-160-7.cfm. Why is Ikea fed up with Russia, Jason Bush, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_28/b4139033326721.htm. Ikea turns sour on Russia, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/europeinsight/archives/2009/06/ikea_turns_sour.html. Ikea plans to halt investment in Russia, Andrew E Kramer, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/business/global/24ruble.html. Ikea tries to build public case against Russian corruption, Andrew E Kramer, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/business/global/12ikea.html?_r=1pagewanted=2

What Impact did Social and Economic change have upon Germany, 1870 – 1914?

The unification of Germany in 1871 acted as a catalyst for industry that enabled a period of rapid growth and change. This growth in industry changed Germany forever socially and economically and it was this change that was to make Germany a great nation, even rivalling Britain itself by 1890. As soon as the Reich was established in 1871, the German economy took off. Germany possessed huge mineral wealth and this was manipulated to build an incredibly strong economy. Germany possessed areas such as Alsace-Lorraine that contained Europe's largest source of iron ore that was essential to its growing steel industries. In fact Germany was totally independent due to the abundance of all resources that were necessary for an industry at the time. Germany was developing industrially at an incredibly rapid rate and this is shown through its outputs (fig. 1). However it was not until later that Germany began to found colonies that showed exactly how powerful it had become. Another resource Germany possessed was manpower and plenty of it (fig. 2). In 1870 Germany's total population was around forty one million, already nine million more than Britain. This total however increased yet further and by 1890 Germany had an even larger population of forty nine million. This huge population provided an incredibly large labour force that could be drawn from as industry continued to grow. The industrialists themselves became very wealthy as industrialisation took hold of Germany. Labour was cheap and so were the raw materials lending to ever increasing profits that rivalled the wealth of the Junkers. Unlike the Junkers however the industrialists did not have any political power and this was what caused future problems. In 1875 there were eight German cartels however as the industrial expansion began to slow and times became ever harder the numbers began to increase. In 1885 Germany boasted ninety such cartels and two hundred and ten just five years later! These cartels began to exercise enormous influence over the development of the Reich and they began to make demands for things such as protective tariffs and later for naval and colonial development. This is where the industrialists began to taste power and the cartels enabled politically minded individuals a chance to have an influence over Germany's ruling and development however minor. This was all the power someone from the middle class could possess due to Germany's static class system. Germany was a conservative state and so naturally change was frowned upon. What remained of Germany's past during the industrialisation was that of the Junkers political monopoly. Bismarck himself was a Junker and one of his main political aims was to maintain the superiority of this upper class. The Junkers also continued to obtain great wealth due to their hold over agriculture. Without the food stuffs that the Junkers provided, Germany would not have been able to grow in the manner that it had. As well as industrialisation, urbanisation was taking place at the same time as Germany's population was moving from rural areas to cities in search of employment. These people that came in search of work became known as the working class, an entirely new level of German society. It was the industrialists however who actively attempted to draw people from the countryside into the cities. Drawing such large numbers into the cities however created problems such as over crowding which in turn created even more problems such as chronic disease epidemics. As more and more people were drawn to the cities the working class itself grew and as it grew so did it's political influence. People within the class began to think of ways to improve their lives and began asking for better conditions such as better accommodation and wages. If managed badly the working class could easily revolt and cause untold problems for the government so the authorities began to pay ever more attention to the growing voice of the working class. Both regional and religious differences were perpetuated within the new German State meaning Germany at this time was not totally unified. Each region had its differences. These differences were normally minor in nature however some were greater than others were such as language or religion. The southern areas of Germany were Catholic and the Protestant members refused to totally collaborate with them. This led to political and social arguments that could not easily be resolved. The authorities had to watch how tensions rose and fell between both sides so as to avert any possible serious problems that may have arisen. At this time industrialists began to make demands for expansion within the navy and the founding of colonies. This would create even more trade because of a captive market that only German industry would be involved in. By obtaining naval contracts and supplying the colonies themselves a company could make a lot of profit. However at this time, countries such as Britain and France had taken all the colonies of worth. The only way Germany would gain such useful assets would be to take them by force from their custodians. This action could easily lead to war however and so called for a more aggressive foreign policy that in the future would contribute to Germany's involvement in world war one. In conclusion the social and economic changes had a massive effect on Germany. Germany began to change into a whole new place and towards the end of the period it also began to develop it's own identity. Although some problems arose none were too serious as to stop Germany becoming a great nation. The leadership Bismarck supplied enabled Germany to pass through troubled times with ease and differences began to become less of an issue as time went on. However it is ironic that while Bismarck suspected Catholics and Socialists of trying to destroy Germany, it was to be the demands of the industrialists and financiers that led to the downfall of his conservative system.

Child Abuse and Maltreatment

â€Å"Nearly five children die every day in America from abuse and neglect,† according to Every Child Matters Education Fund (as cited by The National Children's Alliance, 2009). This goes to show that child abuse is a major issue in today’s modern society. In fact, statistics show that there are over 3 million reports of child abuse each year in the United States alone (â€Å"National Child Abuse Statistics,† n. d. ).While the definition of child abuse and neglect changes from state to state, it is defined by The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) as, at minimum: Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm. (â€Å"What is Child Abuse and Neglect? † 2008) Most states have also recognized four major types of abuse in which children may experience. It is very common for serious problems to arise from child maltreatment, and tend to cause long-term traumatization. When it comes to dealing with children in court who have been exposed to abuse, special precautions and procedures must be taken into account. All of these topics help to lend some insight as to how serious the issue of child abuse truly is in today’s society. To begin with, the four major types of child maltreatment are: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.Neglect occurs when a parent, guardian, or other caregiver fails to provide for the basic needs of their child such as feeding them, offering shelter, getting them medical attention, providing the child with an education, or ignoring the child’s emotional needs. Physical abuse takes place when someone such as a parent, guardian, or other caretaker intentionally causes physical harm to a child in various ways such as punching, kicking, biting, beating, stabbing, shaking, throwing , hitting, or choking.Sexual abuse includes different activities such as rape, sodomy, incest, indecent exposure, exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials, or fondling a child’s genitals (â€Å"What is Child Abuse and Neglect? † 2008). While boys and girls do face fairly equal amounts of physical abuse and neglect, it is four times more likely for a girl to experience sexual abuse than a boy (Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 379). According to CAPTA, sexual abuse is defined as: the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or assist any other erson to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct; or the rape and in cases of caretaker or inter-familial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children or incest with children. (â€Å"What is Child Abuse and Neglect? † 2008) Lastly, emotional abuse is described as acts or behaviors which negatively affect a child’s sense of self-esteem or self-development.This can be caused from constant criticism, rejecting the child, threatening them, or withholding love, guidance, and emotional support. However, it is very difficult to prove that a child has been emotionally abused without evidence of harm or mental injury. (â€Å"What is Child Abuse and Neglect? † 2008). Out of all these different types of maltreatment, neglect is by far the most common. According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2010), â€Å"over two-thirds (70%) of maltreatment victims experience neglect. About 15% are physically abused, and 9% are sexually abused.Only 7% reportedly are emotionally abused, a figure that is probably greatly underestimated† (as cited in Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 378-379). While these four types of child maltreatment are the most common, ther e are several other well-known examples of child abuse as well. According to Emery and Laumann-Billings (1998), â€Å"an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 young children are murdered each year by a parent or other person,† (as cited in Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 380). This form of infant abuse is known as infanticide, or the killing of an infant up to two years of age (Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 80). According to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), children younger than 1 year accounted for 46. 2% of child fatalities in 2009 (as cited in the Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Infanticide can be broken down further into two terms, neonaticide and filicide, depending on how long after birth the child was killed. For example, if a new-born baby is killed within 24 hours after his birth, it would be neonaticide. If the child is killed after he reaches the age of one year, it would be filicide.These two terms exist because of the substantial difference s between mothers who commit neonaticide and those who commit filicide. Shaken baby syndrome is another form of child abuse in which the parent, guardian, or caretaker shakes the baby so hard that serious brain damage occurs (Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 383). Several common symptoms of shaken baby syndrome are seizures, inability to lift head, difficulty breathing, difficulty speaking, blindness, lethargy/decreased muscle tone, extreme irritability, or inability of eyes to focus or track movement (â€Å"The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome,† n. . ). In some cases, death may even occur. According to Russell (2010), â€Å"of those children diagnosed with SBS, about 30% die as a result of their injuries, and only 15% survive with no lasting effects (as cited in Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 383). Not only are children affected while the maltreatment is happening, but the memories of the abuse can have negative consequences for children, families, and society that last lifetime s, if not generations. First of all, a person’s physical and mental health could be negatively affected.For instance, adults who have been physically abused or neglected are more likely to be suffering from asthma, arthritis, high blood pressure, bronchitis, and many more. Some mental effects of abuse could be a mental disorder, depression, isolation, fear, an inability to trust, anxiety, and so on. Additionally, people who have been abused in the past have much higher chances of committing violent crimes and becoming juvenile offenders (â€Å"Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect†, n. d. ).According to English, Widom, ; Brandford (2004), â€Å"a National Institute of Justice study showed that abused and neglected children were 11 times more likely to be arrested for criminal behavior as a juvenile, 2. 7 times more likely to be arrested for violent and criminal behavior as an adult, and 3. 1 times more likely to be arrested for one of many forms of violent crime (juvenile or adult),† (as cited in â€Å"Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect†, n. d. ). Additionally, adults who were abused by their parents when they were kids are very likely to abuse their own kids.A lot of people who faced abuse are also very likely to have problems with drug abuse in their future (â€Å"Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect†, n. d. ). Suicidal thoughts and attempts to commit suicide are also very common among victims of child abuse. Lastly, child maltreatment is very expensive for society. These costs include direct costs which are the costs associated with the immediate needs of the abused and neglected child, and indirect costs which are the costs associated with the longer term and the secondary effects of child maltreatment.Some examples of direct costs would be hospitalization, child welfare, law enforcement, chronic health problems, and is estimated annually to cost over 24 million dollars. Some exampl es of indirect costs would be special education, adult criminality, juvenile delinquency, mental health, health care, and the estimated annual cost is around or over 69 million dollars. Together, the total of the direct and indirect costs for people who have suffered from child abuse can be around 90 million to 100 million dollars yearly (â€Å"Chapter Six: What Are the Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect? n. p. ). Finally, special procedures and precautions must be taken when dealing with abused children in the courts. This is where the forensic psychologist may become involved. Some of the issues the forensic psychologist may be involved with is figuring out the most appropriate procedure for taking the child’s testimony, finding out under what conditions would a child’s out-of-court statement (hearsay) be admissible, figuring out if the child is competent enough to provide an accurate testimony in the court of law, and if abuse or neglect occurred, and if so, w ho is responsible.The first issue is very important because it is very common for the child to be under enormous duress in the presence of the defendant, or the child’s possible abuser. The child is under even more pressure if they have to testify against their own parent or guardian. According to Partlett and Nurcombe (1998), The child is notoriously vulnerable while giving evidence against abusers, especially parents, when proof of the charge will result in separation. Many children are highly susceptible and subject to recantation when faced with the reality of parental separation (as cited in Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 91-392). In order to solve this issue, many states have made and passed recent legal rules which limit the defender’s confrontation with the child by allowing the child’s testimony to be taken through closed-circuit TV, or another room. Another tricky part of abused children and courts is the child evaluation. When evaluating the children, the clinicians have to be very careful and have to be very sensitive and skillful to a wide range of factors. The evaluator should also try to avoid tating their personal opinions when with the child. K. S. Budd, Felix, Poindexter, Naik-Polan, and Sloss (2002), report that Clinicians may be asked to assess the child’s developmental or emotional functioning and needs, the effects of maltreatment on the child, the risk of harm should the child be united with his or her parents, the impact of separation from the biological family on the child’s functioning, or the advantages and disadvantages of potential visitation or placement options (as cited in Bartol ; Bartol, 2012, p. 80). Lastly, in some cases it may be necessary for the courts to appoint someone to represent the child such as a guardian ad litem (GAL), to represent the child’s best interests or if the child cannot do so by themself. Two responsibilities of the child’s GAL is to get a clear understanding of the situation and the needs of the child, and to make recommendations to the court concerning the needs of the child (â€Å"Representation of Children in Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings,† n. p. ).Overall, child abuse is a serious issue in today’s society. â€Å"In 2009, Children’s Advocacy Centers around the country served over 254,000 child victims of abuse, providing victim advocacy and support to these children and their families. In 2010, this number was over 266,000† (National Children’s Alliance, 2010). Everyday children are exposed to child abuse and everyday children die from it. Will there ever be a day when children don't have to be afraid of the abuse? Probably not; and that is the twisted society in which we live today.

How to Search and Find the Lines From Poems Online

Whether a lover of poetry cant get a specific line out of their head or simply can’t remember the whole poem theyre thinking of, finding the text of a poem can be easy and quick. Sometimes, finding the right line or words is especially important, like when preparing for sentimental or milestone events, like a memorial service or wedding. Dont know where to start to find your favorite poems? 10 Steps to Find the Words From Poems Online In less than 20 minutes, poetry seekers can likely locate the text of any poem they are thinking of. Gather information. First, it is important for seekers to gather everything specific they know about the poem by either taking a mental note or writing it on paper. This information may include bits and pieces, like the poet’s name, exact title (or words they are sure are in the title), phrases or entire lines from the poem, and unique or unusual words contained in the poem.Find a reputable website. Chances are, just putting the line fragment that you remember into a search engine will come up with several possibilities, but if you want to be able to identify the right words, you should seek a reputable source. The Poetry Foundation is a good place to start; if you know the poets name look for websites that are dedicated to them.Use the websites search bar. If the site you found that contains the poet’s works has a search function, poetry seekers can try using it to find the title, title words, phrase or line they remember by simply typing in this information.Visit the website. When the search bar fails, poetry seekers may go to the site’s page, which is most likely to contain what they remember about the poem. For example, if you only remember phrases or lines from the body of the poem, visiting the table of contents might be of great assistance.Activate the browser search function. If you find a page with poems on it, Use â€Å"Control-F† to activate the browser’s search function. Typing in the exact word or phrase will allow seekers to see if the poem is contained on that page. Repeat this step on other likely pages for best results.Go to a text archive. When youve forgotten the name of the poet, but remember that the poem is a classic, a text archive can help. Specifically, seekers can  go to major poetry text archives, which have internal search capabilities. Searches like â€Å"Classic Poetry Text Archives† will bring this up quickly. It is important for seekers to  follow search instructions in this step, asà ‚  each archive site will have specific steps to take when using the search bar.Google it. If all else fails, poetry seekers can choose a search engine that will allow them to search for web pages containing an entire phrase in order. Search engines like  Google, Yahoo, and Bing! can be of assistance. This is a particularly good option when poetry seekers have  no idea who the poet  is but are sure of the title or a specific phrase. Even just a few unique words from the poem can help: and if you find it on a site you dont trust, you may find more to inform your search, like the name of the poet.Put phrases in quotation marks. In the search box, seekers can type the specifics they remember by enclosing whole phrases in quotation marks. For instance, â€Å"fog comes† â€Å"cat feet† will locate Carl Sandburg’s poem containing the line, â€Å"The fog comes / on little cat feet.†Modify the search. Depending on the results, varying the search could be he lpful. This may include adding specific words or phrases when the search generates too many pages and eliminating the words or phrases that do not result in enough pages.Reach out to fans. Ask well-read poets and poetry fans from various communities and forums about the poem. For example, seekers can post a description of the poem they are looking for. Even if specific lines are forgotten, the experts may be able to help find it. Tips for Online Poetry Searches If search engine results include  topical pages about keywords, for instance, cats or weather  in the case of the Sandburg poem above but no poems, seekers can try adding words like  Ã¢â‚¬Å"poem† or â€Å"poetry† to search words. When seekers have searched for the whole line in quotes and get nothing back, they may have misremembered the line. For instance, â€Å"fog comes in on little cat’s feet† locates two pages in which Sandburg’s poem is misquoted, but not the poem itself. Seekers can try different forms of the words they remember when they are uncertain. For instance, â€Å"cat feet† â€Å"cat’s feet† â€Å"cats’ feet† can be tried in successive searches.