Macroeconomic Indicators

Walmart (officially Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ) is an American multinational company specialized in the large distribution. The company was founded by Sam Walton and today supervised by his oldest son, S. Robson Walton. Founded under this name in 1962, it was quickly developed in Arkansas, then after that in 1991 it started dominate all United States before he internationalized itself. Today, Walmart is much more like your vicinity store. We comprise a great choice of high-quality goods, friendly service and, naturally, low prices each and every day.One goal that Walmart is always pursuing is to bring the best experiment in customer’s everywhere purchasing from their stores to the Internet. The Walmart. com store which is a subsidiary Wal-Mart Stores, Inc was founded in January 2000. The headquarters is in San Francisco Peninsula near Silicon Valley. Walmart is operating in many continents and countries but under different name. In Europe, the stores are present in Great Britain u nder the name of ASDA. Walmart is operating from now on in the Asian market. Installed in China since 1996, the group employed about thirty thousands workers in this country in 2006.It is also present in Japan under the name of SEIYU. In 2005, an average of twenty million customers attended the Walmart stores each day (Walmart Corporate, 2011). Walmart marked a very important turn in their business life in 2005 by engaging into the introduction of a new environmental durability, under the control of the President (Leadership CEO) Lee Scott. The sustainability engagement was developed after that Walmart decided to assist and help with $18 million cash money in donations the U. S. hurricane relief efforts. As of 2005, Walmart employed more than 1. million associates in more than 6,200 facilities around the world including 3,800 stores in U. S. and 3,800 international units with $312. 4 billion in sales during this year. The company received 138 million customers each week in the U. S. , Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Then in 2006, the number of weekly customers rapid growth went from 138 to 176 million worldwide, with 6,779 places. Walmart has reached net sales record of $345 billion (Walmart Corporate, 2011).Walmart contributed in more than $415 million in cash and goods to 100,000 organizations worldwide through the Walmart Foundation, the charitable partners and the donations of the customers and associates to help better health care. In 2007, Walmart increased its successful $4 generic program, which in date of 2007 has saved customers more than $396 million on prescription drug costs. 2007 In February 2007 Walmart helped launch Better Health Care Together, has single partnership off organizations dedicated to has set off judicious furnace common principles for achieving has new American health care system by 2012.Later in the year, Walmart expanded its successful $4 generic program, which aces off 2007 had saved customers more than $396 million one regulation drug costs (Walmart Corporate, 2011). The four (4) Economic Indicators Wal-Mart is indeed a very big and retailing sales empire with 3550 outlets in the United States and plans for much more. It also has stores in at least ten countries and plans to open 120 auxiliary stores on the international markets. In hardly ten years it gained almost 15 percent of the retail grocery sales in all the United States.According to Walmart CEO Lee Scott, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , seeks a share of 30% of the grocery sales and any other product line that it carries (United for a Fair Economy, 2011). Wal-Mart found out that there is an increase in the taxable retail sales everywhere in the city of one year after the opening of Walmart Supercenter which averagered over $79 million compared to the year before the opening for all the communities (21 supercenters). The taxab le increases in retail sales made the average of 15 percent for all the cities (Wal-Mart Press Room, 2011).As the report Wal-Mart Press Room (2011) also mentionned: â€Å"In every city where Walmart has opened a supercenter in California, the city-wide taxable retail sales (including apparel stores, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, home furnishing and appliance stores, and other retail stores) have increased in the year following the opening of the supercenter as compared to the taxable retail sales of the year prior to the opening. Moreover, the city-wide taxable retail sales have continued to increase in each subsequent year in all communities that have had a Walmart Supercenter for multiple years†.It will be important to know that Wal-mart has a big impact in the U. S. consumer price index (CPI). Indeed, advantages and costs of Wal-Mart’s expansion through the United States is a very heating discussion. A lot of people that support Wal-Mart because they t hink that the lower price offered by the company is doing more than compensating U. S consumers; the less expensive the price, the more customers you get. However, a study of Global Insight (GI) which is a consulting company, concluded that Wal-Mart’s expansion as made the consumers of the United States saved an average of $263 billion, which is indeed really flawed.Here, the GI announces that total prices lowered by Wal-Mart (which was measured by the overall consumer price index (CPI)) by a total of 3. 1% from 1985 to 2004. Then they mentionned that Wal-Mart prices of the products (goods) went down by 4. 2% above this period (Bernstein & Bivens; 2006). The economy created only 57. 000 jobs in the month of November. Moreover, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that the unemployment rate did stayed primarily unchanged with 5. 9 percent, representing 8. 7 million formally unemployment workers looking out for stable jobs.Consequently, for the fortieth consecuti ve month, the United States has a lost of 17. 000 manufacturing workers jobbs in November for a total of 2. 6 million manufacturing jobs lost since the Ex President George W. Bush took over the office. But, this unemployment rate issue remains essentially unchanged in the Wal-Mart economy. Indeed, which ws explained by Mrs. Sweeney was the fact that the industrial center lost 17,000 manufacturing jobs in november, the fact is that the middle-class jobs are too often replaced by low-paying job which is an indication of the new Wal-Mart economy.Several jobs are being lost will not come back, and of the nation’s middle-class is being notched away (AFL-CIO, 2003). Wal-Mart is a symbol of the US economy of the 21st century, which is held in radical contrast to the symbol of the old economy. Indeed, It is one of the giants of the † service sector† of the United States economy. To add, its $244. 6 billion in the sales in 2002 composed more than 2% of all the gross domest ic product of the United States (GDP). Let us also mention that this has made Wal-Mart the world's largest company (based on incomes).That is the 19th greater economy in the world. Consequently, it is our nation's biggest employer, with 1. 3 million employees in the whole wide world, with plans of hiring maybe more than 800. 000 during the five years to come. Strategies that can be used by the firm based on the current economic indicators Wal-Mart dominates already many sales sectors, selling for example all the sports products, office supplies to clothing apparel and the groceries. It claims all my itself at least 20 percent of the country's retail toy business.Now it has more groceries than any other United States supermarkets chain and it even has overtaken Kroger. Wal-Mart has already a good strategy market even though most of their works has been giving to foreign countries such china and such the fact is that maybe it is the reason why the price is so low and affordable to eve ry low or middle-class citizens. Wal-Mart’s rapid Unique Growth Strategy has made itself being talked about to a point that many retails companies such as Kmart Corp. are trying to compete with Wal-Mart’s distribution system and telecommunications structure. Wal-Mart Stores are widely being spread like mushrooms from its Arkansas base by building new stores strategically placed close to the hubs and small towns, rather than leapfrogging through the nation like the other retailers stores (Harper, 2004). Wal-Mart, Stores Inc. ‘s growth has completely accrued. Unlike a lot of other companies, Wal-Mart did not buy existing chains of retail sale in order to preserve the control of company culture.This what the experts explained; because this strategy helped Wal-Mart stayed in the competition and still being one of the best. Wal-Mart’s market predominance gives him the extraordinary power to make pressure on suppliers in order to reduce their costs. This dominat ed Retail Industry has made Target, Kmart Corp. and Home Depot, and other companies, to oblige manufacturers and suppliers to lower their prices (Harper, 2004).References:AFL-CIO. (2003). Good Jobs Still Disappearing. News Archive Article. Retrieved from http://www. aflcio. org/issues/jobseconomy/jobs/ns12052003. cfm Bernstein, J and Bivens, J. (2006). The Wal-Mart debate: A false choice between prices and wages. The Economic Politicy Institute Article. Retrieved from http://www. epi. org/publications/entry/ib223/ Harper, L. (2004). Wal-Mart: Impact of a Retail Giant. Just Wal-Mart? Article. Retrieved from http://www. pbs. org/newshour/bb/business/wal-mart/unique. tml United for a Fair Economy. (2011). The Wal-Mart Revolution. Why Wal-Mart? Article. Retrieved from http://www. dsausa. org/lowwage/walmart/why_walmart. html Walmart Corporate. (2011). History Timeline. Wal-Mart Article. Retrieved from http://walmartstores. com/AboutUs/7603. aspx Wal-Mart Press Room. (2011). New Research Reveals Strong Local Economic Benefit of Walmart Supercenters. Press Room News Article. Retrieved from http://walmartstores. com/pressroom/news/8836. aspx

Poem of Harlem Renaissance

In the poem Song of the Son, Toomey is turning to the origins of slavery, saying slavery alone has made him a son of this Earth. Song of the Son† is a five stanza, rhyming poem. Each stanza has five lines. The poem in the first stanza talks about the correlation between nature and song. The second stanza talks about the son and his correlation with nature. Both the first and second stanza collaborates to make the title of the poem Song of the Son.The last two stanza talk about the how the society during that time depicts slaves, â€Å"O Negro slaves, dark and purple ripened plums. † The narrator also talks of the sun setting on he slaves who frequently used songs as a form of expression. The narrator expresses an interest in remembering and figuratively staying connected with the slaves who had worked the land in previous generations. It seems to me that a poem which effectively expresses the spirit of Harlem Renaissance poetry is â€Å"From the Dark Tower,† by Co unter Culled.The first stanza open up the poem with the idea of struggle. Culled states in these first lines, we see a man planting, yet not reaping, his own rewards. Instead, the fruits of that labor will simply be plucked away by others, resalable by white men who take what the black men sow. Culled is also saying that the oppressed black people of his day will not always Just sit and watch their people and heritage be enslaved. Culled uses the image of a â€Å"sable†, (meaning black), night sky that relieves the harsh, grim, barren day (stark) as a metaphor.Culled is referring to young African Americans as â€Å"buds† ( lines 13 Even though they are alive, they are so limited by being a black person in America that they will never come close to realizing their full potential A Black Ban Talks of Reaping is a poem that focuses on the oppression and racism in America. This poem describes the trial and hardships of the African American people. The poem also talks about the little children that weren't around for the planting, but still have to taste the bitter fruit.This could mean that future generations still have to face the discrimination between the races. Stanza 1, he has been plating for many years against fear of losing the harvest and the extenuate that he wont. Stanza 2, He has plated a lot of seeds, but has only harvested very little of what he sowed. Stanza 3, The speaker is saying that no matter how hard he works, his son will have the same fate he does. The author's tone is harsh and sad: harsh for having to work and sad for his son. The mood of the poem is disappointing for the feeling of failure for his sons.This poem is important because it sends out a message to all blacks and speaks about how every black was treated. In conclusion, the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance has opened doors for today's African- American writers. The Harlem Renaissance was the internal spring for African-Americans branching out into the world on their own desire. The renaissance opened a new dimension for African-Americans and brought about the legalization of â€Å"l can do it, and do it with dignity, grace, and style. This time period in history was not Just a national movement, but an impact creating a revolution of sorts. Harlem saw a never-seen-before work per excellence, in various fields, which gave African-Americans a renewed image and a fresh outlook. Harlem Renaissance has been the breeding ground for creative endeavors by authors, poets, and artists. Harlem, in itself, was an idea of cultural excitement that progressed throughout the twentieth century. Black visual artists experienced an explosion in ideas and energy during Harlem Renaissance.The Harlem Renaissance produced novelists, poets, artists and musicians who are today considered some of the finest that America ever produced, regardless of race. In conclusion, the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance has opened doors for today's African- American writers. The Har lem Renaissance was the internal spring for African-Americans branching out into the world on their own desire. This time period in history was not Just a national movement, but an impact creating a revolution of sorts. Harlem Renaissance has been the breeding ground for creative endeavors by authors, poets, and artists.

A Story from the Childhood That Is Reenacting My Life Today Essay

Years ago when I was a small kid, there was a point in time when I thought I was going to die or was going to live in a way other than other normal people. I accidentally cut my finger with a scissors by mistake while I was at my father’s work place for a visit. As a little child, I was very frightened by the look of blood and thought I was going to lose my finger or hand back then. My father used to be a banker working in one of the leading banks in Kuwait. I recall my father told me that he was going to be away for some time from his desk to do some important work and once he comes back he will get me chocolates and candy. While I was playing around at my father’s office I picked up a scissors and starting cutting papers and then I screamed as I have cut myself by mistake in my finger. Moments after, a colleague of my father ran into his office and helped me. His name was Ali. He helped me clear the blood quickly and was very supportive. I recall Ali’s response was exactly what a kid in such situation would hope for. He cared over me in delicate and nurturing manner. My whole world changed since that day, as a child I have developed love and respect to Ali and used to ask my father to take me to his office every school holiday to see Ali. I recall I used to prefer sitting in his office than staying at my father’s. I grew up having the same thoughts till the day I have graduated from high school as I have then decided to study Accounting and Finance in order to allow me to work in a bank and be a good caring person like the people I used to see when I was a child at my father’s work.

Social discrimination Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social discrimination - Article Example It is one way of alienating individuals and groups to make them appear different from the majority group. Social discrimination is a major problem in international relations today since it affects communication among individuals from different backgrounds therefore acting as a barrier to globalization. International Relations as a discipline is concerned with cooperation with different countries as well as the roles of the various international organizations such as the United Nations, Intergovernmental agencies as well as Non-Governmental organizations. Social discrimination acts as a barrier to mutual coexistence of individuals from different backgrounds and creates social insecurity among the minority groups who feel discriminated against (Charlotte, 1999). Various factors seem to promote social discrimination on the international scene today. These include stereotypes, extreme religious views, negative politics and unfair laws (Rubin, & Hewstone, 2004). Stereotypes refer to preconceived, exaggerated or oversimplified assumptions about individuals or minority groups that aim at demeaning them (Martin, 2010). Stereotypes make the cultures, traditions and religious views of other individuals look outdated and irrelevant and in some cases as the origins of conflicts. Extreme religious views and beliefs on the other hand also foster social discrimination in the sense that they completely disregard association with other individuals who hold different religious views (Gorman, 2008). Politics also has a role in promoting social discrimination in cases where politicians seem to favor the majority groups at the expense of the minority groups through allocation or resources. Unfair or unjust laws that disregard human rights act as bases for pro moting social discrimination in many countries across the world. Laws such as anti-gay laws aim at promoting discrimination (Oluwafemi, 2012). Social discrimination has a huge impact on international relations. First,

Housing Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Housing Law - Essay Example At some stage when the social housing was on the verge of collapsing, the Right to Buy made great contributions to the improvement of social change in council housing. However, only the high-income tenants were able to purchase the finest council estates. Those belonging to the small-earning tenants who are mainly dependent on welfare assistance were deprived of the privilege of better housing. The Right to Buy rather became discriminatory when only the rich tenants were favoured (Wilson, 1999). Whilst there were advantages from the elevated Scottish home ownership, the Right to Buy had its shortcomings too. This paper will show how the rights of tenants in the public sector in Scotland have gradually improved and how these tenancy rights have deteriorated in the private sector due to issues on repair and eviction. Some tenant associations crusaded for a constitutional ‘tenants charter’ with rights such as occupancy protection, reasonable rental fees, discussions, and membership. Through this campaign, the Tenants Rights (Scotland) Act 1980 established protected occupancies and other rights for tenants. The rights of the 1980 Act included the Occupancy protection; Right to a rent in print; Right to defy unfair rental provisions; Right to sublet, or occupancy transfer; Right to modify the house; Right to information about relocation and swap rules; Right to succession; and Right to purchase (â€Å"A New Single Social Housing Tenancy for Scotland: Rights, Obligations and Opportunities,† n.d.). The introduction of the Tenant’s Charter for Scotland in 1991 established protected occupancy existing rights and made an assurance to further develop these rights by lawful ways, leading to the introduction of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act in 1993. This 1993 Act consisted of the right to repair; right to reimbursement for improvements; changes to the right to buy; rent to mortgage; and right to

Personeal Development Planning (PDP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Personeal Development Planning (PDP) - Essay Example Moreover I have also observed how they analyse a candidate during the interpersonal process and at the same time make them feel comfortable. Although the feedback that I received from my peers was largely positive, my supervisors have clearly pointed out certain inherent drawbacks that I have. However, through extensive reading I have learnt a lot about effective interviewing and I have also applied the knowledge so gathered during mock-interviews that I had arranged with the cooperation of my colleagues. During the process I have realised that my technical acumen has to be honed and currently I am working on this area. On a whole the feedback from my peers has been good and they have encouraged my efforts. I have come to a decision that I will continue to read more in order to analyse the behavioral aspects of the interviewing process so that I can get rid of the personal biases that my supervisors have pointed out in me. I am hopeful that the successful manifestation of my short-te rm as well as long-term objectives will help me perform even better as an interviewer. 3. Mail from the peers – (2.3) – They appreciated my ability of active participation, multitasking & managing mails from co-workers – (2.4) – Congratulated me after the team won the lawn tennis match. One needs to have good time management skill in order to be successful in life. Hence I decided to improve my time management skill as far as possible. I feel all my efforts assisted me to overcome the habit of mealtime management. Now I can plan my schedule as per the priority order which I feel has helped me to implement my plan effectively. My on-job trainings taught me how to finish ones work in a more organised manner. With time I realised that time management is a combination of both art and science. One need to be logical while segregating the time into different activities. From my early college days my study pressure made me forego cultural programs of any kind;

Mandatory Overtime for Registered Nurses Research Paper

Mandatory Overtime for Registered Nurses - Research Paper Example opular profession, such as during the early years of the second World War, there was a surplus of nurses and trained professionals were being turned down for jobs. National and statewide assessments of hospital nurse staffing frequently utilize a measure that averages counts of â€Å"the number of nurses or hours of nursing care given the number of patients or patient days of care per hospital (Aiken, Sochalski, and Anderson 1996; Anderson and Kohn 1996; Spetz 1998; Buerhaus and Staiger 1999; Kovner, Jones, and Gergen 2000; Unruh 2002). These calculations provide a rough measure of nursing staff resources given patient volume, but they do not consider the intensity of nursing care† (Unruh and Fottler, 2006). Assessment has various parameters in delivery. The basic assumption of the current research is that mandatory overtime may compromise the quality of the care the client receives from the healthcare professional, because if someone has been made to work 12-hour shifts, they may be more likely to make mistakes with clients. Therefore, the basic issues are of safety in the healthcare delivery environment, in terms of the quality of car e that is received at the bottom line of the client. of personal problems. . Nonetheless, studies like Day’s feature advocacy of the 12-hour shifts of the flex time schedule in terms of support of both patients and nurses. â€Å"12-hour shifts would have positive effects for patients and staff in a ward environment. The results showed that the new shift pattern offered benefits for patients through improved communication, increased continuity of care and more content staff. The study illustrated the potential a new nursing shift pattern involving 12-hour shifts has for patient care, we well as for staff job satisfaction (sic)† (Day, 2004). In terms of advocacy, Day points out that flex time schedules may be a positive devleopment. But the contrary view is also included in Day’s article as a counter-point. â€Å"The report

UK Education Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

UK Education Policy - Essay Example In the long run this is assumed to have a great impact over the larger proportion of the population which will lower down the economic development of the country. Overview of the Problem Initially there was a strong emphasis in the United Kingdom over the attainment of post compulsory qualification i.e. continuing education after 16. But the trends of 2009 have shown that only 80% of the overall population which is above 16 years of age is having full time education. It is not the case that UK has stopped its progress in the field of education however the much stronger efforts made by other countries have put United Kingdom in to a much competitive market. Apart from this the percentage of the younger generation who comes under NEET (not in education, employment or training) has significantly increased in the last few years which have a deep relationship of the skill development of students under 16. It is also noticed that students who have the opportunity of gaining basic education are not availing it to its fullest. Students at the age of 16 or below are having lower grades and poor performance over the examinations. It is a fact that the UK organizations give higher wages and salaries to their employees for very basic and essential skills as compared to the other countries in OEDC. This clearly reflects that UK does not have exceptionally skilled workers and that they do not have choice other than to appoint them. United Kingdom has a greater proportion of unqualified and unskilled individuals as compared to its significant competitors for instance, 60% population of Germany has the intermediate education whereas UK have only 48%. Similarly another major competitor of UK such as Canada has 49% of high... This paper approves that the Education Maintenance Allowance came up with an incentive plan in order to encourage the disadvantaged students from poor family backgrounds. The plan constituted of giving a substantial amount to the students who are willing to carry on with their studies beyond the age of 16. This has significantly increased the number of students applying for higher education. The social mobility is very closely affiliated with the development and upbringing of a child. The interferences made in child development are sometimes made to be more effective on the cognitive achievement or it becomes an unavoidable requirement in order to be successful in the later life. The early cognitive development is important for the future academics of a child but the study shows that there other interventions as well which encourages or discourages a student to enroll in full-time education after crossing the age of 16 though their abilities still have an effect over their social mob ility. This essay makes a conclusion that The socio economic differences among the population are mainly because of inequality at the school level and the educational attainment which further leads to noteworthy differences in choice of studying after 16. This can be controlled by establishing the same academic structure throughout the country with similar expenses and rewards so that the inequality on the basis of education can be eradicated. In addition to this the social mobility can also be improved by the individual participation at the school level for this the teachers would have to inspire students to some celebrity or social model in order to realize them the ultimate outcomes of good education

The management strategy of Blackberry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The management strategy of Blackberry - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is Blackberry as a major player in the smart phone and mobile email markets around the world. The brand was designed and developed by the Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM) and has been operational in the smart phone markets since 1999. The typical Blackberry device is created to function as a personal digital assistant, portable media player, internet browser, gaming device and many other similar functions. The largest competitive advantage available to Blackberry devices in comparison to other smart phones is their ability to send and receive push email and instant messaging while preserving a lot of security through patented encryption methods. Typical Blackberry devices support many instant messaging features including the Blackberry Messenger. For the fiscal year 2011, Blackberry sales accounted for 3% of all mobile device sales around the world. This makes RIM the sixth most popular device manufacturer in the world, as 25% of all mobile de vices manufactured in the world are smart phones. The trademark Blackberry Internet Service is offered in 91 countries through some 500 mobile service operators who provide differing mobile technologies. An estimate from October 2011 places the number of global Blackberry subscribers at 70 million. The greatest market penetration of Blackberry smart phones is in the Caribbean and Latin America with market penetration levels of up to 45% in the region. ... s that Android has the largest market share at 13% followed by Blackberry at 10% with Apple lagging behind at 9% while Windows Phone stands at a measly 1% only. The British market is also seeing a general increase in smart phones in the overall mobile phone market. Within this scope of expansion, the share of RIM increased by 4% while Apple expanded by 2% to their overall market share. However, these increases pale in comparison to strides by Android that grew to twice its previous market size. The increase from Android’s end can largely be attributed to mid-range headsets manufactured by HTC and Samsung that are also supporting Windows small market share (Brill, 2012). Blackberry’s and its competition’s overall market share reveals a lot given that Blackberry stands at 22.3% of the smart phone market while Android stands at 45.2% with Apple lagging behind at 18.3%. When these figures are compared to the market growth rates reported previously, it becomes clear t hat Blackberry’s greatest competition stems from Android. In order to find a better marketing scheme it is necessary to study why Blackberry is losing to Android in certain areas and gaining in others. While Blackberry is losing fast to competition from Android around the world, but consumers in Spain and the United Kingdom are holding strong to Blackberry. The youth market is supportive of Blackberry because of the large volumes of text messages and instant messaging services used by them. The primary usages of young consumers are messaging services that are harder to use in conventional handsets when compared to smart phones such as Blackberry. One major advantage available to Blackberry when compared to Android is the trademark QWERTY physical keyboard that is standard to all Blackberry devices but

Contemporary Issues in OB Paper-Based on the article Essay

Contemporary Issues in OB Paper-Based on the article - Essay Example Some of these changes that are meant to improve the performance and communication at work end up leading to negative effects. It is important for the managers and consultants to closely examine the changes being made and whether the intended effect is what is actually being provided (Nelson & Quick, 2006). If not, then further research is necessary in order to ensure the employees are not only comfortable in their workplace but they communicate frequently as well as this equates to increased performance in the long run. The article by Bernstein, (2015) is explaining how the transparency in the office space which is meant to encourage accountability, openness as well as facilitate sharing of knowledge and information may not be working. This transparency has led to productivity problems instead, such as reduced overall communication amongst employees as well as affects negatively creative team performance. People are much more distracted than they originally were which means less work is being carried out than before the openness and transparency in the office. The article is further discussing how employees’ performance is suffering as a result of the increase in evaluation of their performance. Evaluation of performance is a good thing but when there is too much evaluation, then it hinders the ability of the employees to concentrate on their work as they are constantly worried about the evaluation. The evaluation tendencies miss the whole point of just giving feedback and become much more intense eventually destroying the very performance they aim to examine and improve. Lastly, there is discussion about how transparency leads to less sharing of ideas and criticisms due to the open that has no restraints at all. When there is a little privacy amongst the employees, it means that whatever work the employees are carrying out will be theirs privately and hence they will work effectively on it without fear of

Discovering Management Thought Leaders - Andrew Kakabadse Essay

Discovering Management Thought Leaders - Andrew Kakabadse - Essay Example ict approach to governance practice, boardroom effectiveness and research work has contributed widely to his success, achievements and excellent reputation. According to Wall Street Journal, in support of the Harvard Business Review, Kakabadse features in the top fifty executive researchers and educators, who specializes in interpersonal skills, particularly on issues related to governance practices, international relations and leadership (Kakabadse, Bank & Vinnicombe 2004). According to Kakabadse, Bank & Vinnicombe (2004), what separate Kakabadse from other instructors, educators or professors are based on priority, interest and the mode with which he disseminate his services, which inherently include teaching, writing and proper research on top teams and boards. In addition, much as other instructors would be over emphasizing on payment before delivering their services to their clients, for instance charging the clients according to duration and amount of service they provide to the clients, Kakabadse would put his results before the payment (Kakabadse & Korac, 1998). This implies that he would not ask for payment if he has not registered a positive impact or result to his clients. Another feature, distinguishing Kakabades from other thinkers, is his peculiar understanding of the issues related to board research and the concept surrounding the international practices and the governance practices. Unlike other educators, Kakabadse view research and international relation not as a brief interaction but rather as a lasting obligation to generate exemplary results to the boards and their team, and to establish how the boards are viewed, including positive feedback, which can be assimilated into his more than 20 global databases. Moreover, Kakabadse, through out his working, has maintained hyperactive and relentlessly positive character, a trait which has made him outsmart other thinkers in the same line of activity (Kakabadse, Bank & Vinnicombe 2004). This

Information Flow in an Organization Essay Example for Free

Information Flow in an Organization Essay Depending upon the organization information is used and disseminated accordingly. Information flow plays a very important role, and is a critical component among businesses who seek to be more successful than their competition. Companies cannot operate without a proper and concise information flow which is accessible through the company’s different departments. The IT department and information systems are mainly responsible for providing ways for the various departments within the company to have access to applications and systems that assist employees in accomplishing their jobs with more ease. Businesses today rely heavily on information technology, and software applications to assist the different departments through helping them complete their daily tasks and functions in a faster and better manner. Software applications help the information systems run in a way that allow employees to perform more tasks in less time and help everything run smoothly together similar. As I examine my current employer I can see how important information flow is to the success of our company. Information is used to work together with every department; however it is easy to point out how it flows by examining each department such as Sales, Engineering, Programming and Production. As orders are placed, our sales department is the first step in information flow in my organization. Customers have specific requirements for each machine they purchase which generally always differ from previous versions we have made. Once the sales orders and specifications are in order they are sent from the sales department to our Engineering department to be designed. There are several different draftsmen and each has their own area of expertise. The Production Manager assigns the frames and machines to be designed to the draftsmen based on the specifications given by the customer. Also, while in Engineering, the machines are given job numbers that will follow them throughout the shop so that it may be tracked as well as allow employees to clock into the proper job. Having a specific job number tied to a specific machine also allows management to review every individual that has worked on these machines at any time. After the machines have designed and approved they are then sent to the programming department. The programming department is responsible for tearing the machines apart in a CAD system known as SolidWorks and separating the frame from the sheet metal. After this has been completed the next step is to individually program each piece of tubing in the frame and apply the proper programming required for optimum cutting time on the laser. The next thing that is programmed is all the sheet metal parts. In order to program sheet metal, the part which is drawn in solidworks, must be saved and transformed into a DXF file. These files are put into a software called SigmaNest and programmed fairly easy. Once all elements of the machine has been programmed, the programming department takes the programs, the job related to the machine, the machine drawings and specifications, and the sales order and hands it off to the Floor Manager for Production. After the Floor manager has all this information, he decides which machines to cut and in what order to cut them in based on shipping dates. He then takes the machine programs, jobs, and drawing and pass them out to the proper departments which will work on cutting, assembling, painting, and testing each one of our machines before they are sealed and shipped off to any of our customers throughout the world. Information flow is essential in any business in maintain functionality as well as productivity. Without some sort of order, without some sort of standard operating procedures our company could not be one of the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world.

Models of Change Tasks at Tata Motors

Models of Change Tasks at Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is Indias largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of US$20.5 billion in 2009-10. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the worlds fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the worlds second largest bus manufacturer. The companys 25,000 employees are guided by the vision to be Best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. Established in 1945, Tata Motors presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over 5.9 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. Following a strategic alliance with Fiat in 2005, it has set up an industrial joint venture with Fiat Group Automobiles to produce both Fiat and Tata cars and Fiat powertrains. The companys dealership, sales, services and spare parts network comprises over 3500 touch points; Tata Motors also distributes and markets Fiat branded cars in India. Tata Motors, the first company from Indias engineering sector to be listed in the NewYork Stock Exchange (September 2004), has also emerged as an international automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, a business comprising the two iconic British brands that was acquired in 2008. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, South Koreas second largest truck maker. Task 1: a) Kurt Lewins change management model The concept of change management is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process. One of the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin, a physicist as well as social scientist, Back in the 1950s, and still holds true today. His model is known as Unfreeze Change Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes. Unfreeze This first stage of change involves preparing the organization to accept that change is necessary, which involves break down the existing status quo before you can build up new way of operating. To prepare the organization successfully, you need to start at its core you need to challenge the beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours that currently define it. Using the analogy of a building, you must examine and be prepared to change the existing foundations as they might not support add-on storeys; unless this is done, the whole building may risk collapse. This first part of the change process is usually the most difficult and stressful. When you start cutting down the way things are done, you put everyone and everything off balance. You may evoke strong reactions in people, and thats exactly what needs to done. By forcing the organization to re-examine its core, you effectively create a (controlled) crisis, which in turn can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium. Without this motivation, you wont get the buy-in and participation necessary to effect any meaningful change. Change After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where people begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People start to believe and act in ways that support the new direction. The transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight: People take time to embrace the new direction and participate proactively in the change. A related change model, the Change Curve, focuses on the specific issue of personal transitions in a changing environment and is useful for understanding this specific aspect in more detail. In order to accept the change and contribute to making the change successful, people need to understand how the changes will benefit them. Not everyone will fall in line just because the change is necessary and will benefit the company. This is a common assumption and pitfall that should be avoided. Time and communication are the two keys to success for the changes to occur. People need time to understand the changes and they also need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. When you are managing change, this can require a great deal of time and effort and hands-on management is usually the best approach. Unfortunately, some people will genuinely be harmed by change, particularly those who benefit strongly from the status quo. Others may take a long time to recognize the benefits that change brings. You need to foresee and manage these situations. Refreeze When the changes are taking shape and people have embraced the new ways of working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The outward signs of the refreeze are a stable organization chart, consistent job descriptions, and so on. The refreeze stage also needs to help people and the organization internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure that the changes are used all the time; and that they are incorporated into everyday business. With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of working. The rationale for creating a new sense of stability in our every changing world is often questioned. Even though change is a constant in many organizations, this refreezing stage is still important. Without it, employees get caught in a transition trap where they arent sure how things should be done, so nothing ever gets done to full capacity. In the absence of a new frozen state, it is very difficult to tackle the next change initiative effectively. How do you go about convincing people that something needs changing if you havent allowed the most recent changes to sink in? Change will be perceived as change for changes sake, and the motivation required to implement new changes simply wont be there. As part of the Refreezing process, make sure that you celebrate the success of the change this helps people to find closure, thanks them for enduring a painful time, and helps them believe that future change will be successful. McKinsey 7S framework The McKinsey 7S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard Elements Soft Elements Strategy Structure Systems Shared Values Skills Style Staff Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: These are strategy statements; organization charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture. However, these soft elements are as important as the hard elements if the organization is going to be successful. The way the model is presented in Figure 1 below depicts the interdependency of the elements and indicates how a change in one affects all the others. http://www.mindtools.com/media/Diagrams/mckinsey.jpg Lets look at each of the elements specifically: Strategy: the plan devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition. Structure: the way the organization is structured and who reports to whom. Systems: the daily activities and procedures that staff members engage in to get the job done. Shared Values: called superordinate goals when the model was first developed, these are the core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic. Style: the style of leadership adopted. Staff: the employees and their general capabilities. Skills: the actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company. Placing Shared Values in the middle of the model emphasizes that these values are central to the development of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, systems, style, staff and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created, and what it stands for. The original vision of the company was formed from the values of the creators. As the values change, so do all the other elements. The model is based on the theory that, for an organization to perform well, these seven elements need to be aligned and mutually reinforcing. So, the model can be used to help identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance, or to maintain alignment (and performance) during other types of change. Whatever the type of change restructuring, new processes, organizational merger, new systems, change of leadership, and so on the model can be used to understand how the organizational elements are interrelated, and so ensure that the wider impact of changes made in one area is taken into consideration. You can use the 7S model to help analyze the current situation (Point A), a proposed future situation (Point B) and to identify gaps and inconsistencies between them. Its then a question of adjusting and tuning the elements of the 7S model to ensure that your organization works effectively and well once you reach the desired endpoint. John P Kotters eight steps to successful change American John P Kotter (b 1947) is a Harvard Business School professor and leading thinker and author on organizational change management. Kotters highly regarded books Leading Change (1995) and the follow-up The Heart Of Change (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to peoples response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change. Kotters eight step change model can be summarised as: Increase urgency inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant. Build the guiding team get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels. Get the vision right get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency. Communicate for buy-in Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to peoples needs. De-clutter communications make technology work for you rather than against. Empower action Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders reward and recognise progress and achievements. Create short-term wins Set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. Dont let up Foster and encourage determination and persistence ongoing change encourage ongoing progress reporting highlight achieved and future milestones. Make change stick Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture. Task 1: b) Change should not be done for the sake of change its a strategy to accomplish someoverall goal. Usually organizational change is provoked by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc. Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. Transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization. Tata Motors was predominantly a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and that is a very cyclical business. The commercial-vehicle market in India shrank by more than 40 percent, with massive consequences for both the top and, more particularly, the bottom lines of the company. The 110 million US$ loss was the first time something on this scale had happened in the companys history, and it really shook everybody within the organization. They tried to understand what had gone wrong and wanted to create a path for the future to ensure that they never got into such a situation again. So they decided on a recovery strategy that had three distinct phases, each of which was intended to last for around one and half years and 5 years in all. Phase one was intended to stem the bleeding. Costs had to be reduced in a big way, and that was going to be a huge challenge for a company that was not only the market leader but had been used to operating in a sellers market and employing a cost-plus approach to pricing. Phase two was to be about consolidating their position in India, and phase three was to involve going outside India and expanding operations internationally. Task 1: c) To be an effective leader of an organization requires you to do five things: Understand and interpret the environment in which he operate Develop winning strategies Execute them brilliantly; Measure the impact of your strategies followers. If you get results, people will support you, systematically, adjusting strategies as often without caring too much about how you got indicated. Develop organizational, departmental; the world wont retain the support of your followers team and personal capabilities. Team building is an application of various techniques of Sensitivity training to the actual work groups in various departments. These work groups consist of peers and a supervisor. Task 2: a) In recent times Tata Motors have faced a lot of challenge especially from the growing competition and globalization. To fight back these external evils, Tata Motors came out with plans of expansion to fight back competition via mergers and acquisitions and to fight back globalization it decided to cut costs and thereby introduced the worlds cheapest car. But all these activities had severe implications on its internal organizational change. Change was seen both on the management and at the employee level. At the management level change was seen for cutting costs and providing the cheapest car to the world market and at the employee level change was seen because of the much needed Tata Motors to merge with Daewoo, which caused a lot of change in its employees. Task 2: b) Enterprise-wide change is undertaken as a matter of survival. It is not an option and it is not a whim. Change carries high costs in terms of human and physical resources, share prices, stakeholder insecurity, customer dissatisfaction, receivables and cash flow. The reality is often a painful period of change, during which resistance is high, morale is low, productivity is falling, and confusion is rampant. (Calvello Seamon, 1995) No organization undertakes this lightly. So, the question is, if the cause is just, the need is clear, the alternatives evaluated, and the path to success communicated so that anyone in the organization can see that the change is not optional but essential, why does the change fail? The answer, Just being right isnt enough: you have to win the hearts and minds of the people who will make the change happen. (Marsh, 2001) There is no disembodied organization that can be changed. Only the people within an organization can make planned change a reality by changing their behaviours and the ways they relate to one another. Implementing change in an organization forces people to alter how they relate to one another. Not only do their goals, processes, equipment, and reality change but the very way they deal with others in the organization changes. This causes anxiety and anxiety causes resistance. only people who instigate change enjoy it; other have to suffer it. (Marsh, 2001) Faced with forced change many employees feel threatened believing that they will lose power, prestige, competence, and security. They feel that what is happening is beyond their control, outside their sphere of influence, and they fear it. Depending on how the particular organization has managed past change, the fears may be well grounded in experience. Task 3: a) The changes that have happen within organizations around the world over the last five years, have revolutionized how organizations will continue to operate for the next five years.    Businesses have realized that people are more important, whether that be the customer or the employees.    Employees must be happy, self assured, educated, trained, motivated, and leaders in order to be able to create the type of business that produces quality product.    The customer must be happy, and if the employees are not happy, they have a hard time making the customers happy.    Task 3: b) Stakeholder Analysis is the process that: Is intended for group stakeholders and Understands what stakeholders expect from the project and what they need in relation to potential risks Identifies actions to minimize project risks and maximize benefits by working with the stakeholders. This covers organisational stakeholder analysis but you might ask What do I do about directly involving people? There are two basic approaches to this which can be summed up as Representation v Delegation. Both have advantages and drawbacks. Representation: Attempts to take in the full range of views, interest groups and organisational units as part of the full decision making process. Characterised by democratic, committee-type decision-making. Advantages Disadvantages Covers full range of views An obvious route to gain widespread acceptance of decisions Involves people who may have limited knowledge of the subject area Slows decision-making Can result in compromises which dont really represent best fit in any particular area Delegation: Delegates responsibility to those identified as being best suited to the job. Advantages Disadvantages Work carried out by those with appropriate skills and knowledge Permits project to move forward more rapidly Acceptance relies on trust in those delegated may be an alien approach in the education culture Needs care to ensure that all relevant issues are properly understood and covered Task 3: c) A change management strategy identify, prioritise, engage and assess stakeholders. Explicit areas of spotlight include: Ensure that all key stakeholders have an adequate understanding of the objectives, timeline and process. Ensure that stakeholders who will be significantly impacted by the initiative or the change resulting from it have a clear understanding of how and when they will be affected. Influence stakeholder attitudes to become more positive (or at least less negative) towards the initiative and/or the change that it will bring about. Establish an effective feedback loop between the stakeholder group and the project team. Task 3: d) The three greatest barriers to organizational change are most often the following. Inadequate Culture-shift Planning. Most companies are good at planning changes in reporting structure, work area placement, job responsibilities, and administrative structure. Organizational charts are commonly revised again and again. Timelines are established, benchmarks are set, transition teams are appointed, etc. Failure to foresee and plan for resultant cultural change, however, is also common. When the planning team is too narrowly defined or too focused on objective analysis and critical thinking, it becomes too easy to lose sight of the fact that the planned change will affect people. Even at work, people make many decisions on the basis of feelings and intuition. When the feelings of employees are overlooked, the result is often deep resentment because some unrecognized taboo or tradition has not been duly respected. Lack of Employee Involvement. People have an inherent fear of change. In most strategic organizational change, at least some employees will be asked to assume different responsibilities or focus on different aspects of their knowledge or skill. The greater the change a person is asked to make, the more pervasive that persons fear will be. There will be fear of change. More important, however, there will be fear of failure in the new role. Involving employees as soon as possible in the change effort, letting them create as much of the change as is possible and practical is key to a successful change effort. As employees understand the reasons for the change and have an opportunity to try the change on for size they more readily accept and support the change. Flawed Communication Strategies. Ideal communication strategies in situations of significant organizational change must attend to the message, the method of delivery, the timing, and the importance of information shared with various parts of the organization. Many leaders believe that if they tell people what they (the leaders) feel they need to know about the change, then everyone will be on board and ready to move forward. In reality, people need to understand why the change is being made, but more importantly, how the change is likely to affect them. A big picture announcement from the CEO does little to help people understand and accept change. People want to hear about change from their direct supervisor. A strategy of engaging direct supervision and allowing them to manage the communication process is the key to a successful change communication plan. Task 4: a) RELEVANCE OF THE MODELS OF CHANGE Kurt Lewin theorized that there are three stages to change: Unfreezing: Old ideals and processes must be tossed aside so that new ones may be learned. often, getting rid of the old processes is just as difficult as learning new ones due to the power of habits. Just as a teacher erases the old lessons off the chalkboard before beginning a new lesson, so must a leader help to clear out the old practices before beginning the new. During this part of the process you need to provide just a little bit of coaching as they are unlearning not learning and a lot of cheerleading (emotional support) to break the old habits. Changing: The steps to the new ideals are learned by practicing: W h a t I h e a r , I f o r g e t . W h a t I s e e , I r e m e m b e r . W h a t I d o , I u n d e r s t a n d . Although there will be confusion, overload and despair, there will also be hope, discovery, and excitement. This period requires a lot of coaching as they are learning and just a little bit of cheerleading due to the affect of Arousal Overloading. Refreezing: The new processes are now intellectually and emotionally accepted. What has been learned is now actually being practiced on the job. Just a little bit of coaching is required and a lot of cheerleading is used to set up the next change process. . . remember it is c o n t i n u o u s process improvement! Task 4: b) 1. Formulation of a clear strategic vision: In order to make a cultural change effective a clear vision of the firms new strategy, shared values and behaviours is needed. This vision provides the intention and direction for the culture change. 2. Display Top-management commitment: It is very important to keep in mind that culture change must be managed from the top of the organization, as willingness to change of the senior management is an important indicator (Cummings Worley, 2005, page 490). The top of the organization should be very much in favour of the change in order to actually implement the change in the rest of the organization. De Caluwà © Vermaak (2004, p 9) provide a framework with five different ways of thinking about change. 3. Model culture change at the highest level: In order to show that the management team is in favour of the change, the change has to be notable at first at this level. The behaviour of the management needs to symbolize the kinds of values and behaviours that should be realized in the rest of the company. It is important that the management shows the strengths of the current culture as well, it must be made clear that the current organizational does not need radical changes, but just a few adjustments. 4. Modify the organization to support organizational change: The fourth step is to modify the organization to support organizational change. 5. Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants: A way to implement a culture is to connect it to organizational membership, people can be selected and terminate in terms of their fit with the new culture. 6. Develop ethical and legal sensitivity: Changes in culture can lead to tensions between organizational and individual interests, which can result in ethical and legal problems for practitioners. This is particularly relevant for changes in employee integrity, control, equitable treatment and job security. Change of culture in the organizations is very important and inevitable. Culture innovations is bound to be because it entails introducing something new and substantially different from what prevails in existing cultures. Cultural innovation is bound to be more difficult than cultural maintenance. People often resist changes hence it is the duty of the management to convince people that likely gain will outweigh the losses. Besides institutionalization, deification is another process that tends to occur in strongly developed organizational cultures. The organization itself may come to be regarded as precious in itself, as a source of pride, and in some sense unique. Organizational members begin to feel a strong bond with it that transcends material returns given by the organization, and they begin to identify with in. The organization turns into a sort of clan. Marsh, Christine. (2001, March). Degrees of Change Resistance or Resilience. Performance Improvement, v40 n3 pp 29-33.

Analysis of the Psalm of Life Poem

Analysis of the Psalm of Life Poem This poem dramatizes the conflict between the truth of life lived in the moment and the neglect of the soul when a person focuses on things beyond his control: namely the past and the future. There are many themes expressed by the poet within this work: freedom, happiness, perseverance, truth, futility, spirituality and success. From the title one might say that the theme is simply to seize the day: Carpe Diem (Harmon, 2009, 87). The poems form is that of the lyric (324)and the poet encourages the reader to use their imagination. The word choices and placement within its stanza evoke both a melody and emotion. There are nine stanzas that make up the composition and each contain the qualities of the quatrain [consist of four lines in which lines two and four must rhyme while having the same number of syllables (452)]. Psalm of Life also carries the traits of the dramatic monologue in that the narrator of the work is the poet himself (177). In stanza one, line one the poet assigns the description of mournful to the idea of numbers. This word was chosen to identify the audience: those who apparently go through life as though it is a chore. The word mournful frames the feeling as though something was lost and captures the grief generated by that loss. Life is but an empty dream! states why there are so many sorrowful within the audience: if there is no aim higher than what one can gather on the earth then life itself has no purpose. The poet reveals his motivation in lines three through four of the first stanza: For the soul is dead that slumbers/And things are not what they seem. Living life in a rut or for material reasons is the killer of the soul. The soul found unawares, which is what is implied by the word use of slumbers, is most vulnerable to eternal death. Line four tells the audience that they must look beyond the surface of the world as well as beyond themselves. Life is real! Life is earnest! conveys an earnes tness and a bit of desperation. An emphatic proclamation made in a way of a Southern Baptist preacher pleading with those on the path to destruction to turn to the life of the soul. And the grave is not its goal underlines the idea that life is something to be actively engaged in and not merely a journey to death. Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest, is referencing Genesis 3:19 and seems to throw this plea for life into a light that may speak to the religious up-bringing of his audience. The poet makes a very important distinction in the following line, Was not spoken of the soul. The creation of man is entirely unique from the rest of life on the earth because the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul(Genesis 3:19). These two lines bring into the poets supplication the backing of scripture. Stanza four brings forward the thought of futility: Art is long, and Time is fleeting,/And our hearts, though stout and brave,/ Still, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the grave. It is as though the poet wants to remind his audience that every moment, every heartbeat is bringing them closer to the inevitable end ones life-time. This further underlines the idea of seizing the day. In using the word fleeting the poet attempts to get across that time will just continue on without regard for the individual- no matter how brave and firm ones heart might be. The poet is again underlining that life today is all one really has when faced with the flow of time. Stanza five, line 18 introduces a word that is unfamiliar in todays way of life: bivouac. This word defined in Merriam-Webster as a temporary or casual shelter or lodging and by itself holds the idea of the entire poem which is that this life is temporary. This stanza evokes urgency through the use of the exclamation point. The poet is telling his audience to be the hero of their own battles rather than a pawn in the battle of another with the words Be not like the dumb, driven cattle!/ Be a hero in the strife!. Stanza six addresses the two possible positions of the audience and bring to them some very specific supplications: for those who are living for tomorrow the poet says, Trust no Future, howeer pleasant! and for those who would lament the past, Let the dead Past bury its dead!. The poet does not leave the audience wondering what their response should be but plainly states, Act, act in the living present! Heart within, and God oerhead! People can make what they will of their own lives and can follow the example of the great men that came before them, Lives of great men all remind us/We can make our lives sublime,. There is no secret that separates those who are great from those that pass through life without leaving an impression. It seems as though the poet is saying that those who are considered great took advantage of the opportunities of their present. It is those people who departing, leave behind us/Footprints on the sand of time who provide encouragement not only to their generation, but for those in the generations to come Footprints, that perhaps another,/Sailing oer lifes solemn main,/A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,/Seeing shall take heart again. The final stanza brings a soft point to the compelling argument of the previous eight. It is as though the poet it taking the hand of the audience: to pull them gently from the bed of their complacency. The hand held out shows that walking along the road of today does not mean a journey travelled alone, Let us then be up and doing,/With a heart for any fate;/Still achieving, still pursuing,/ Learn to labor and wait. The poet takes the hand of the reader now as he did during his own time and seems to say to each individual: Let us move forward together.

Free Hamlet Essays: Deception in Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Deception in Hamlet Deceit, misleading information, and spying on others can lead to their demise, intentionally or accidentally. The misleading and deceitful instances in the play are indirectly responsible for Hamlets’ death. Claudius misleads Hamlet when he shipped him off to England under the guise of a restful retreat and when he realizes that the new king has lied to not only him, but the people of Denmark about the death of the former king. Hamlets’ deceit comes from his mother, believing that she has betrayed his father’s love by not mourning for long enough after his death, and by marrying Claudius. Spying also causes problems for Hamlet down the line since it leads to the killing of Polonius, and the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Misleading instances in the play occur frequently.The moment when the Ghost tells Hamlet that his death was not accidental and that he was poisoned by Claudius is what starts the trail of lies and murder in the play, ( I;v;74-77 ) "Thus I was sleeping by a brother’s hand†¦/†¦/ cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, unhouseled, disappointed, unaveled." Until the night of the "Mouse trap", Hamlet still has some doubt in his mind about the Ghosts words. As soon as the king reacts negatively to the plot, Hamlet is one hundred percent sure that Clauduis was deceiving the whole country about Old Hamlet’s death; (III ;ii ;267) "O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s words for a thousand pound. Didst perceive?" Hamlet witnesses the king storming out of the play, showing he was affected by the death of the player king, seeing as how the he died the same way as his brother. It is also apparent that Hamlet is out to mislead the general public by putting on a false face. His "antic disposition" allowes him to act without consequence. He is able to appear mad when it is convenient for him, and this allowes him not to raise any suspicion about his actions, ( I; v; 171-172 ) "As I perchase hereafter shall think meet to put on an antic disposition on." After the killing of Polonius, his antic disposition allows Hamlet not to be held responsible. This leads to him being sent away to England under the guise of a trip for rest. Claudius once again deceives Hamlet and his mother by having an alternate agenda.

empiricism Essay -- essays research papers

Empiricism Empiricism by nature is the belief that there is no knowledge without experience. How can one know what something tastes like if they have never tasted it? For example, would someone know that an apple is red if they have never actually have seen one. Someone can tell you an apple is red, but, if you never have seen one, can you really be sure? Empiricists use three anchor points in which they derive their opinions from. The first of these points is; the only source of genuine knowledge is sense experience. An easier way to understand this is to compare the mind to a clean sponge. As the sponge touches things, it takes with it, a piece of everything it touches. Without this, the sponge would remain clean and be void of anything other than its own material. With this conclusion, empiricist believes we must be content with the knowledge we have at hand, rather than things we have not yet been privy to. The second anchor point is; Reason is an unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge unless it is grounded in the solid bedrock of sense experience. Empiricists believe that all of our words meanings are derived from our experiences. Everything can be traced back to a single moment in our lives. Empiricists understand that reason is necessary in helping us make our experience intelligible, but reason alone cannot provide knowledge. The third anchor point is; there is no evidence of innate Ideas within the mind that are known apart from experience. What this means is the mind does not possess ideas that are not backed by experience. In no case are there a priori truths that can both tell about the world and are known apart from experience. When asked the three epistemological questions the three empiricists all have different answers. The first of these questions is; is knowledge possible? John Locke (1632-1704) states â€Å"Knowledge, however, is not something lying out there in the grass; it is located in our minds. So to understand knowledge we have to analyze the contents of our minds and see what they tell us about the world† (pg. 93). Locke believes that all of our known truths are made up of simple ideas. Simple ideas are what make up the rudimental elements of everything else we know to be true to us today. For example, they consist of ideas such, hot and cold, soft and hard, bitter and sweet. They also give us experience through are own mental o... ...s not possible for our knowledge to truly represent what reality really is. He believes that â€Å"the only certainty that we can have concerns the relationships of our own ideas. Since these judgments only concern the realm of ideas, they do not tell us about the external world† (p. 108). This means that any knowledge about reality must be based on a posteriori judgments. These judgments are made by Hume because he believes there is no way to have a true reality through knowledge because you only gain knowledge through experience. In conclusion, Hume states that many empiricists discovered that reality is an impossible goal to understand. Overall, Empiricists believe that there is no knowledge without experience. While their individual views may differ, their fundamental ideas are used to make conclusions about theories in the world. Each of these men have ideas about how knowledge is used and what it creates for each person. Through each of these theories it is apparent that knowledge and reality are difficult to access in such a complicated world. References Lawhead, William F., The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003.

African American and Ebonics Essay

What if all of America spoke in Ebonics? â€Å"What up cuz† or â€Å"Holla at me. † That would be crazy right? Sharice, Travis, Rickia, and I did a report on the evidence for the critical element of the Oakland school board proposal and the convention that temporary African American Vernacular Forms (AAV) of speaking show strong influence from West-African languages. The Oakland school board proposed to the state that the kids learning will be improved with the recognition and understanding of Ebonics. My article came from the internet, and it is titled â€Å"A Case of Ebonics. † Ebonics is a critical language, with powerful elements of a distinct language, spoken by many Americans of African descent, a language marked by a long and rich history. While most other languages are restricted to specific geographical regions, Ebonics is a way of speaking shared by a large percentage of African-Americans living everywhere in the United States. Ebonics has been branded as a poor form of Standard English. Some think of it as lazy lips and lazy thinking. Because Ebonics held on to many leftover characteristics from West African languages, there has been debate as to whether it is a language of American English or another language altogether. Ebonics has a long history that began in Africa. It started when people from many different African villages were brought to American slave markets. The slave owners often purposely mixed the slaves by tribe so that they could not communicate directly in the language of a single tribe. For them to communicate with each other, the slaves developed a pidgin language, a mixture of various African languages. Over the centuries, this early pidgin blended with aspects of â€Å"Standard English† to form â€Å"Black English† but it still has many of the features of its ancestor. That is, many of the unique forms of Ebonics can be identified as leftovers of West African languages. For example some researchers say that the word for cat in several African languages also means â€Å"man. † For this reason our expression â€Å"cool cat† is derived from Ebonics. Despite these differences, Ebonics is a language that fully serves the needs of its users. Its grammar is just as complicated as Standard English. It’s just a different grammar. The meaning of â€Å"He didn’t do nothing† is perfectly understood by all Ebonics speakers, and by standard English speakers as well. A man by the name of Ishmael Reed makes clear the use of Ebonics indicates neither a lack of education nor an inability to speak in other tongues: â€Å"You not gone make me give up Black English. When you ask me to give up Black English you askin me to give up my soul. But for reasons of commerce, transportation, and hassle less mobility in everyday life, I will talk to 411 in the language both the operator and I can understand† (Lederer 4). I agree with Reed that everyone needs to learn and master Standard English to have the best chance to succeed in America. In certain contexts, someone (like a manager) might make a judgment about the way we black people talk. If we want to become successful we must learn Standard English. I hope that the movement of correction for Ebonics movement will work against the widespread disrespect of the way most African-American youth talk. People should be less defensive about the language in which we live and move and maybe we can better position to employ both the Ebonics and the standard codes and to reap the full fruits of our American civilization. If people were less defensive about Ebonics maybe then we as people could associate Standard English with Ebonics. And with all of this we could reap the full fruits of our American civilization.

Computers: Server and Social Media Sites

Nowadays, computer may seem to be very useful because of its various advantages. But as Louis Gerstner quoted, â€Å"Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding. † Many people prefer computer because it is much easier and is more aesthetic to writing something and print it rather than using a pen. It also allows people to communicate; no matter what time it is because of the differing social media sites on the internet. Some of the people use it for research instead of reading books page by page.In offices, it lessens all the paper works and the mess so that their work will be more efficient and organized. In schools, students usually refer to the internet about some research projects because it has a wide range of sources and information that can be gathered in the differing websites. Some of the students also access the internet for some topics in their lessons th at they can barely understand. They also access the internet for encyclopedic references that certainly makes them ponder on efficiency of the use of computer for their research papers that the use of some textbooks.Introducing computers to the new generation is a better way to prepare them for the more advance technologies in the near future. Computers are also in much use in the medical industry, it is very useful in radical diagnosis, patient monitoring, and general hospital administration. Computers have really made our life totally different, progressive and better nowadays than the life of the world on the past years. Computers may be very helpful because of its advancement; however, using computer has several disadvantages.For example, students nowadays are hooked up in internet cafes because of the differing online games that can be access only through the internet. This becomes the major cause why most of the students obtain low scores on exams and the worst result is to be failed in a subject. Being addicted to the computer and facing its monitor several hours a day can also result to some visual defects due to the radiation that is being released by the monitor as it is being used. Computers also are very prone to electronic generated viruses that can affect its performance and the viruses also can spread from on unit to another unit.

Smart Metrobus Stops

Reduce the traffic The metrobus system, which IETT has effectuated in order to reduce the traffic density at the main arteries of traffic in Istanbul and to provide quick and comfortable transportation, primarily started to serve at Topkapi-Avcilar route. * To encourage more use of public transport The metrobus system, which reduced the Access time of Topkapi-Avcilar to 22 minutes, it  was 67 minutes previously, will be extended to Beylikduzu at the European side of Istanbul and to Kozyatagi the Anatolian side of Istanbul.One bus can carry   600. 000/day. The number of people that  typically travel in a car –  making bus travel greener and reducing congestion on our roads. Metrobus  improves reliability and more people will be encouraged to leave the car at home and use the bus more often. The metrobus system, which displays further development potential than other express lines; whose investment and operation costs are absolutely lower than other railways; whose est ablishment is completed in a shorter time relatively, has primarily reduced the traveling period, providing time saving.Since the vehicles move on their specific road, the accident rate and risk reduces. High-tech devices within the system provide a safer and more comfortable travel. By means of its environment-friendly engines, the emission rates reduce drastically and the hybrid engine provides approximately 40% fuel savings Its drawing near alongside the stop facilitates the disabled travelers to get on the metrobus. Operational Capabilities * Intelligent Metrobus Signs provide; * Real time travel information at high-use bus stops Timetables, route maps and local area maps * Need minimum maintenance and have a long service life * No need excavation, easy fitting * Promoting more people to use public transit * Audiable signange fort he visually impaired * Save %75 energy more than traditional stops * Solar-powered system, friendly to environment * Can be used as a lighting and 220 Volt AC power supply in case of emergency or natural disaster * Can call emergency with the emergency/panic button Intelligent metrobus sign system should be designed to withstand malicious use (A push button also triggers an audible message of the same information to help passengers with a visual impairment) . User Classes * Public: people who are using metrobuses searching which line they will use, arrival time of the metrobus or looking at the city map. * Maintenance personnel: people who service, adjust, maintain and repair equipment STAGE 2: OPERATIONAL CONCEPT FORMULATION * Existing metrobus stops  are being  upgraded and some new metrobus stops  built along for future metobus routes.This ensures that passengers have reduced waiting times and easier  access to buses. * LCD displays on metrobus stops show arrival, departure and estimated time of arrival calculation information based on the vehicle tracking data. This tracking information is provided using satellite sig nals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) . The data is transferred to the control centre by GPRS communication. * Positions of all metrobuses are tracked so that predictions of arrival times on  information displays at metrobus stops are continually updated. The metrobus stop acts as an active environmental sensing node, powering itself through sunlight and collecting real-time information about the surrounding environment STAGE 3: OPERATIONAL CONCEPT FORMULATION * Main task The system would provide real-time information on LCD display screens at these stops. The information indicate the fixed route of the metrobuses on graphic maps, the number of stops and the estimated time before arrival. * Human Task The user will be able to check his current location, closest metrobus stop's location and name and all metrobus lines and their routes.And there will be a panic buton to be used just in case of an emergency ( will be located to a certain level of height in order to be kept aw ay children’ reach). Different views of system * Physical view * The size of the Metrobus Stop is modular and adjustable depending on the number of people using the bus stop at the specific site. * Schedules and timetables for each route are visible on LCD screens and there will be 2 LCD screens located the midpoint of the distance between 3 doors. The navigation positioning device (GPS) retrieving current vehicle geographic longitude and latitude coordinates from the received satellite signal * The position data transfers to Metrobus Stop Control Center * Compute a distance from the current position to a next target position value and the current geographic longitude and latitude coordinates * Analyzes the current vehicle speed based on a basic vehicle speed, and sends the analyzed speed data and the computed distance data to ETA (estimated time of arrival) unit. Compute parameters for adjusting a remaining distance and the remaining distance based on the received data * And determine the remaining time to the next stop according to the remaining distance to the next target position value and vehicle speed. * The data is transferred to the Metrobus Stop by GPRS communication Using the Metrobus stop, public transit operators can provide passengers reliable estimated time of arrival predictions, achieving greater passenger satisfaction and significantly improving their public image.A Global Positioning System unit would be installed on every metrobus to send real time information to the metrobus stop display via satellite. STAGE 4:CONCEPT DEMONSTRATION AND VALIDATION * The concept of design which is chosen during concept exploration is now modeled, simulated and model tests are performed. * Making sure that the proposed design encourages more people to use public transport is the major phase of this stage. Questions should be answered are; * Does the desing concept meet requirements for operating, maintaining and supporting the system? * Does it meet saf ety and personal training requirements?Personnel Requirements The stuff who are responsible with servicing ans maintaining are required to have necessarry technical knowledge and go through training programmes that may be necessary to bring their skills up to required levels STAGE 5: FULL-SCALE ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT Products are not only tested by consumers, but also will be tested during the process of design and manufacture. Usabbility Testing and Reference of Testing Results * Intelligent metrobus stop provides timely passenger information based on fast and effective communications. In average, the connection is established in less than 0. seconds, instantly providing accurate information on metrobus status. * When the metrobus passes through a tunnel, the global positioning device  Ã‚  is not able to transmit and receive signal to and from the satellite  . and therefore, could not retrieve the current vehicle geographic longitude and latitude coordinates and the current ve hicle speed to result in incorrect announcement of arrival at a next stop by the metrobus stop announcing system * Pressure and strength test are applied on the intelligent metrobus stops. * The metrobus stop shelter material is made from 99. 9% uv protection policarbonate. serlite Polycarbonate Selter prevents the transmission  of more than 99. 9% of harmful UV radiation, measured to   standard ISO 9050:2003. Its co-extruded UV barrier protects the   sheet from UV degradation and discolouration. It remains stable  under extreme climatic conditions (-20 ° to +120 °C). Shelters also stop the rain. * Laserlite Polycarbonate  Roofing is self extinguishing, stops the spread of flame   and also has excellent fire resistant properties. Therefore, this   product complies with many fire related tests, including Heat and   Smoke Release   Rates   (AS/NZS   3837:1998) STAGE 6: PRODUCTION AND DEPLOYMENTUsers don’t need any training period. Training is only for technical service and operator workers. A timetable is available for convenience, and there is a slot for advertisement in order to create a surplus in cash flow, allowing more metrobus stops to be built. The technology would enable people to leave their cars and encourage more people to use public transport. Changes that should be made for later versions will allowed you to check your e-mail, share community information on a digital message board or monitor the local air quality. STAGE 7 : OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE The system require minimum maintenence and have a long service life.

Future Trends in Health Care Essay

Personal face-to-face communication is and will continue to be the foundation of the patient- physician relationship. Electronic communication between caregivers and patient through telephones web-sites and e-mail are forcing medical staff and physicians to rethink the way they provide care to the patients, the accessibility to on-line health and wellness information. Home monitoring systems, personal health records, and on-line support groups is making it possible for society to take charge of their health (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation, 2008). This paper will look at electronic forms of communication; new and old be used externally as a delivery source of conveying patient specific information, the impact of distance delivery on health care, the use of electronic systems to transfer records, and the impact of said systems today and a projected five years in the future. Physician practices, for nearly a century, have relied on the telephone to communicate to communi cate with patients. The telephone have been used to relay lab results, handle consumers renewing prescriptions, scheduling patients for their appointments, and reminding patients of future appointments. In addition to medical personnel use, the telephone is used to communicate to other departments or facilities, unit to unit communication, and insurance companies. The telephone can be also used as a clinical tool. With patient who are chronically ill and have established a relation ship with the physician, the telephone can serve as a office visit (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation, 2008). With advancement in technology, as the number of patients and physicians acquiring the means to electronically communicate increases, the willingness and desire to apply the provisions to ambulatory care ahs gathered momentum. Caring for patients electronically increases productivity, practice efficiency, and lowers operating costs. On-line communication can produce these results through reduced administrative costs, fewer telephone calls, and growth by attraction of new clients. Compared to phone calls, e-mail transcripts are less distractive and can be performed relatively  inexpe nsive; they are self documenting and can be done at the leisure of the physician. On-line communication allows the patient to read and reread to gain a better understanding of directives. The use of internet communication results in patient retention and patient satisfaction (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation, 2008). The safest way to communicate on-line is by using a secured messaging system. HIPAA regulates that all health care organizations protect all patient health information, especially health information being transcribed electronically. A secured site for medical information is to protect unauthorized users from access. The most common protection for electronic information is installing an encryption system (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation, 2008). The Impact of Delivery on Health Care Information technology tools incorporated in medical practice results not only in service availability and improved quality but also in transformation of the care delivery model. Health care systems in the modern sense, relies on the concepts of patient continuity of services, shared care, and empowerment. These fulfillments can be made possible by establishing safe electronic contact between patients and physician. The use of telemedicine applications improves the process of exchanging information between medical professionals representing different areas of medicine and referential levels. Telecommunication progress and computer science leads to transformation in other domains. Information technology opens the window for assuring appropriate healthcare quality within reasonable cost (Duplaga, 2004). The Use of Information Technology As consumers demand more opportunities to use the internet. The internet is transforming the consumers as they interact with the health care system. Telemedicine for remote patient monitoring of patient health is increasing in use by doctors and health care providers. The internet is also transforming health care through electronic medical records. Records stored electronically boosts survival rates ad improves coordination by allowing facilities and medical providers access to share medical information with ease. An electronic medical record is the heart of any computerized information system in health care. In absence of this, modern technologies such as decision support systems cannot be integrated into the clinical  workflow. Current Electronic medical records systems are delivering safe, high quality health care. Medical vision and need for use is why telemedicine was created. Telemedicine cover a wide range of capabilities. Telemedicine can be defined as the delivery of image s, data and sound enabling medical practitioners that diagnose and provide options in medical care at a distance. The transmission of this medical data can be accomplished through other technology systems such as the telephone, web using interactive video, computer or fax. Real time applications and store and forward are two types of telemedicine systems delivery. With real time systems, participants are using the system at the time of care delivery. Such as two doctors discussing methods of treatment or delivering treatment. Specialized software such as exam cameras and other imaging devices can make the atmosphere of both participants being in the same room. A store and forward system does not require that. Using this system allows medical personal to gather needs resources such as, Patient medical history, images, and other pertinent data. One can then recommend treatment at a later date or time. Physicians may use these systems to train and learn as they can provide real life, real time experiences (Masys, 2010). Information technologies have the ability to affect distribution and the types of jobs in the health care Industry. In a background of a growing body of knowledge in the realm of health sciences, recent models of decision making by clinical practitioners, relying mainly upon their memory and personal experience, will be inadequate for effective health care delivery in the twenty-first-century. In the health care industry, information activity is intense. From the point of view in business, two kinds of action are performed: medical procedures to support therapy, disease prevention, diagnosis, and the communication, acquisition and storage of information. Information technologies have launched a social trend and will continue to have a huge impact on the health care industry. The ring bearer of this trend is the internet. The internet brings access to interpersonal communication and information on a large scale to millions of people world wide. In 2001 roughly 54 % of Americans were using the internet and the adoption rate from new comers with this technology is about two million per month (Masys, 2010). Most American children are both using a computer and accessing the internet in their homes or at school. E-mail lists,  disease-related chat rooms, offshore pharmacies, internet telemedicine services, and hundreds of alternative and conventional medical websites are the panicle of a world with personal choices. Evidence suggests that for internet users with acute illness, making doctor appointments has changed from first to last resort, a trend that is strengthened by the decision of services in environment of manage care (Masys, 2010). In conclusion, it can be very difficult to predict how medical practices will use electronic communication in the years to come. Just implementing a system is not going to have a great impact on the quality of care delivered. The systems have to be exceptional design and can be used effectively for it to impact the quality of care. However, one can rest assure that the role of communication will grow significantly More patients are demanding that physicians communicate with them electronically and physicians are recognizing that this media can be a key tool in managing the demands facing their practices, thus adding fuel to the trend. Reference:. Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation. (2008). Communicating with Patients Electronically. Retrieved November 27, 2010 from http://www.acponline.org/running_practice/technology/comm_electronic.pdf Duplaga, M. (2004). The Impact of Information Technology on Quality of Healthcare Services .Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Retrieved November 28, 2010 from http://www.springerlink.com/content/mlc0atymr41lllq3/ Masys, D. (2010). Effects Of Current And Future Information Technologies On The Health Care Workforce. Health Affairs. Retrieved November 25, 2010 from http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/21/5/33