Develop Marketing Streategies Essay

The company is named Houzit Pty Ltd, it is a retailer for home wares. Houzit is a chain of homewares stores in Brisbane that specializes in bathroom fittings, bedroom fittings, mirrors and decorative items.. It is a growing business. It has 15 stores in Brisbane area, with all stores being managed and coordinated from their head office in Milton. It has 150 staff members. The analysis of each of the aspect of the company overview is provided under the following heads. Strategic direction and Organizational objectives STRATEGIC DIRECTION The strategic directions of Houzit can be ascertained from the company’s vision and mission. Houzit is a national retail brand that is satisfying the home makers’ needs by providing them unique, wide variety of quality homeware products with an easy payment procedure. The mission of the company asserts that the organization is planning to move towards enlargement of its business by ensuring its presence in all the major cities of Australian market by the year 2020. The basic focus of the company is on three parameters: Quality, Unique items and Selection In this post modern era every organization should direct their marketing strategies in way that the strategic goals could be achieved smoothly and efficiently. Strategic direction is a course of action that leads to the attainment of the set goals of a company. It is also the vision of the company that is necessary for success in giving direction for employees to follow in order to achieve set goals. Setting strategic direction involves finding a target direction and committing to get there.  It begins with developing a clear vision for a company thereby increasing its competitive advantage. Mission and vision of a firm Mission is what the firm is, whereas vision is a forward-looking view of what the organization wants to become. Mission statement may include a vision, business definition and values and/or statements about an organization’s purpose. >By 2020,Houzit will have a significant retail presence in home wares in every Australian capital city >Starting with 15 stores in the Great Brisbane area and growing to 100 Australia wide. >Houzit will be a national retail brand, catering to the needs of home makers with a range of unique, high quality home wares made accessible to all through our easy to manage payment plan. Therefore some marketing opportunities have to be analyzed in reaching its goals, so the manager has to provide brief summary evaluating two alternatives, including the benefits and risks associated with each option and finally recommending for the opportunity most likely to produce results. ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES Here I outline the following marketing objectives: >To bring an annual sales increase of $ 5 million by moving the sales figures from $15 million per year to %20 million per year during the next three years period. >To enhance the list of loyal customers from 10,000 to 15,000 >Considering Brisbane as a potential market, brand recognition need to be established so that one out of every 3 people will recognise the Houzit brand in a random survey that is conducted in 18 months’ time. Current size, capabilities and resources of the organization ORGANATIONAL SIZE The size of the organization occupies 1,000-1,500m2. CAPABILITIES Capabilities: Each of the Houzit store has a capacity to generate the following sales breakup Bathroom fittings: 30% Bedrooms furnishings: 35% Mirrors and decorative items: 20% Lighting fixtures: 15% The organization is able to manage a high customer loyalty among repeat customers as it is a valuable assets for any organization. Moreover they can exceed competitors by offering in quality, range and accessibility. RESOURCES OF THE ORGANIZATION HUMAN RESOURSES Houzit has the valuable assest ,that is human resources ,15-20 fulltime employees along with number of casual workers .Staffs works are excellent with highly skilled and knowledgeable about home wares. PHYSICAL RESOURSES Especially for a commercial urban district Houzit possesses a great retail space that is bright, functional and efficient. Gaps between the objectives and the current capabilities and resources Gap analysis serves as the tool that will help to decide between multiple marketing options (Precision Group, 2009). The objectives that are set by Houzit are difficult to be achieved with the current capabilities and resources. It is because company has limited number of employees. In addition to it, the focus with which company operates to have its stores as bright and comfortable for shopping is not in alignment with the legislations that are put forth by the government. In this manner Houzit will have a gap between the objectives set for the company and the current strategies, capabilities and resources of the company. Opportunities With the help of external environment analysis, a company will be able to develop a list of opportunities and threats that are provided by the environmental factors (David, 2006). This section of task 1 highlights the two major opportunities for Houzit along with their analysis. Two marketing opportunities that meet the objectives and the evaluation of risk and benefits of each opportunity are: * A growing market in high growth area with a significant percentage of the target market still not aware of Houzit’s offer. * Increase sales opportunities outside of our target area-greater Brisbane. Marketing mix Houzit’s marketing mix is comprised of these following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.

Racism In America

Racism is everywhere in many different forms. I remember in 8th grade, I went to Walgreen to get some make-up products. As was just searching through the products kept see, a lady behind me. So I walked away and she kept following me, so decided to leave and as I was leaving she asked me if she could see my backpack. So I gave it to her, she thought I was stealing because I was black. And from that day on still realized that there was still racism in America. Even though racism was bad back then it is still very prevalent and one of the world's major issues.Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else social lives are occurring. Between the years 1 450 though 1850 about 14 million African Americans were shipped to colonies in North America, South America and North Indies. About 90% Of these African Americans were kidnapped. And about 20-30% of them died on the route to these countries. These African American were know as inden tured servants, which were a form of debt bondage that occurred in the early years of American colonies. And in 1 628 they started to sell these African Americans like a piece of object.African men were sold for about $27 ND would serve as a slave for their entire life. Women and children would be sold for about $60. In the late 1660 the trans-Atlantic slave trade begins. And from the early 1 6th to the mid-19th century about 12 million to 13 million African Americans were taken away and sold. And in 1 787, slavery is made illegal by the Northwest Territory. A few years later in 1808 Congress bans the kidnapping of slaves in Africa. And the Missouri Compromise bans slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri.During the slavery era which was from (1787-1863), many laws, acts, and amendments were created, some that helped slavery but many that banned it. In 1860 the Missouri Compromise was passed which prohibited the holding and ownerships Of slaves in the territory of the Unit ed States north Of the line. Also the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed which abolished slavery, made all African Americans free, and lastly allowed African American man to vote. And then in 1964, this biggest law that helped segregation in America was the Civil Rights Act of 1964.This law abolished segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. This acts helped crease the amount of segregation and racism in America. Even though there is still racism in America today. Jumping to present day, racism is still very active today because of the media. As we grow up the media becomes part of our everyday life whether we like it or not. The media is a major part of how racism is still very active in today's society. Since the early days the media has given racial labels. For example, in crime shows such as â€Å"Law and Order†, and â€Å"CSS. When you think of crime, African Americans are the ones reflected as the bad guys. And the whites are oft en reflected at the â€Å"good guy'. The directors and writers use racial stereotypes to make a more interesting story with more suspects or people to target. Most types they target blacks because it's easy to point the finger at an easy target. America sees blacks as not capable or as important as whites. Racial discriminations is a big treat in workplace in America. Though is is not as noticeable as it was in the sass's it is still very prevalent today. Studies even show people of color are the last hired, and the first fired.Even though we have Affirmative action which is used for diversity in the workplace, so hat discrimination can not be apart of the work environment. But that's not really the case owners of companies can always find away around the system. If we look at the bigger picture, in many big companies you barely see people of color as the top guy like the CEO. You always see a white man in those positions. My mom once today me that one of her friends was applying f or a job and her name was really ghetto, so you could tell that she was black. So she applied and didn't get the job.A few months later she decided to apply for the job again, with a name that you could tell was white, and she ended p getting the job. Discrimination in the workplace is still very prevalent, and although the awareness of discrimination has been increasing, some companies still face this problem. Racism has been so rampant in schools, and is expressed in many different forms. Some of the forms of racism in schools include name-calling, teasing, verbal abuse, and even bullying. Racism is experienced by all kinds of people in school. Racism in schools has a big effect on individuals, and the learning environment.Racism in schools is enhanced by discriminatory policies and practices that exist in the school system. Some of these instances are ignoring incidents of racism, being bib in disciplinary acts against students based on their race. If we look at it most teachers are middle class white women, which can cause schools to be run by their values and beliefs of their classroom. Even today, I have noticed that most private schools are prominently white. Use to attend a private school when was in middle school, and I was the only black girl in class. And many times would get ignorant remarks from the students. Member one day, I was sitting down and this girl came up to me ND asked â€Å"do you live on trees and ride elephants†. I was taken aback. Even though there is still racism in schools we have come a long one since the first desegregated school in Alabama. The â€Å"Little Rock Nine† where one first African American students to attend an all white school. Racism and unequal treatment had always been prevalent in the criminal justice system. African Americans have always been under control of the whites. The most effective way for the whites to keep that control would be though the criminal justice system.For example, in â€Å"Ho w to Kill a Mockingbird† a African American boy named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white girl named Male Lowell. In the end the verdict, Tom was found guilty of charged. Similarly, around 1 940 a little boy names Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi by two white man for â€Å"flirting† with one of the man ‘s wife. After Till's body was found and the two white men, Were linked to Till's body they Went on trial. The two men Were acquitted Of Emmett Till's murder. This shows the power the criminal justice system has over African Americans. This is still prevalent today.In early 2012 Traction Martin was fatally shot and killed my George Zimmerman. And in July 201 3 Silverman was found not guilty of all the charges against him. After this America was stunned many were upset and sadden. This shows that racism is very much in the criminal justice system. Lastly, racism is not only toward African Americans. Many races has experienced some type of racism. On Sept ember 1 1, 2001 four planes were hijacked by terrorist. And after that day many Middle Easterners experienced racism especially in airports. Many airports where strict on who that allowed in and out of the Lignite States.Anyone who looked Middle Eastern was examined even more than anyone else. Also on December 7. 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Thus making the Unites States skeptical of every Japanese American. So they gathered all the Japanese people and put them in concentration camp. This act of racism toward Japanese was very viscous and made them feel like they didn't belong. In the end, they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, yet everyday single day someone is being judged based on their skin color. Even though racism is bad, it is still being practiced in schools, workplaces, media, and the rimming justice system. Racism in America Robert Kim May 2011 Sociological Imagination Racism in America Is America in a Post Racial Era? What sort of impact does racism have in our society? In America, it's quite well known that we finally have the first black president in, it is also generally agreed upon that racism is unacceptable in society, and most of us would consider ourselves equal to one another regardless of race. Obviously, we still have people who are racist and the idea that these people will go away completely is almost unbelievable.Racism is the belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiority over others. And it can also mean abusive or aggressive behavior towards members of another race on the basis of such a belief. Racism means that people have negative and condescending thoughts about others based on their race. Some of the most infamous acts of racism in the United States occurred in the 1800s and 1900s which involved the discrimination against Indians and African Americans.In the 1800s, Americans believed that the Native Americans should be removed off their land or forced to assimilate into American society. The many Native Americans who chose not to assimilate were forced off their land into â€Å"reserves† so they would remain separate from society. â€Å"The concept became policy in 1825, with the creation of an Indian Country between the Red and Missouri Rivers†¦ followed by the Removal Act of 1830, leading to the relocation of many eastern tribes.Continuing non-Indian expansion, however, caused the so-called â€Å"permanent† Indian Territory to dwindle in size† (Waldman, Carl). The removal act attempted to remove Indians off their land and segregate them from each other and then, â€Å"The difference was that instead of one large Indian Country, lands were divided up piecemeal, with tribes confined to separate parcels with specific boundaries † (Waldman, Carl). And because of these acts, American Indians started to fight back for their land and their rights, which led to several American Indian wars.Eventually, American Indians were pushed so far away from society that they appear today as almost non-existent. It's very rare nowadays to meet a legitimate Native American because of these acts of discrimination against their race. The other well known historical event involved the African Americans in America who were discriminated against harshly, considered as property, and used primarily as slaves. Slavery was based on racist beliefs and thoughts that African Americans were inferior to white Americans. The three-fifths clause is the most infamous part of the Constitution in so far as black Americans are concerned. This is because it formalizes racism and white supremacy in the document, reflecting the debased, dehumanized status of African peoples in the minds of the Constitution's framers† (Smith, Robert). This act was used for political reasons in order to account for how many African people are living in the United States so that they could be taxed and represented in congress.This just shows that even the government believed that racism was acceptable and they were barely considered people. Southern states believed that these slaves were considered property and didn’t want to include them as part of the population, but for political purposes, congress wanted to add them into the count in population for political power. Racism has probably impacted African Americans the most because of how much they had to suffer during the time of slavery. Even still today, African Americans suffer from some forms of racism.After African Americans were freed from slavery and considered as â€Å"equal† citizens, no one would accept them as equal and they were still being discriminated against. African Americans were still being mistreated, terrorized against, and unable to participate in the same schooling or education as white Americans. African Americans weren’t considered equal and because of racism, people still thought of them as inferior and unequal just because they believed that they were born and meant to be servants.Even the government refused to accept African Americans as equals and the government created laws to restrict the rights of African Americans so that they wouldn’t be able to interact in society equally. After segregation had finally ended, African Americans were considered equal in society and are able to live without as much discrimination against them. We are not yet in a Post Racial Era because racism and race are still playing a role in our judgment and categorization of how we interact with other people.Barrack Obama is the first and only African American President to sit in office, even with America accepting and voting in the first non-white President, there are still many issues with racism in the United States. We are not in a Post Racial Era because people still have hatred against other people solely based on race and although they may not be able to express their ideas publicly, it still exists in people’s minds and their actions may even reflect those thoughts. Bibliography Smith, Robert C. â€Å"three-fifths clause in the U. S. Constitution. Encyclopedia of African-American Politics. New York: Facts On File, Inc. , 2003. African-American History Online. Facts on File, Inc. http://www. fofweb. com/activelink2. asp ItemID=WE01&iPin=EAAP0399&SingleRecord=True  (accessed April  25,  2011). Waldman, Carl. â€Å"U. S. Indian policy: Removal and reservations. † Atlas of the North American Indian, Third Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc. , 2009. American Indian History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www. fofweb. com/activelink2. asp ItemID=WE43&iPin=ind5509&SingleRecord=True  (accessed April  25,  2011). Racism In America Racism is everywhere in many different forms. I remember in 8th grade, I went to Walgreen to get some make-up products. As was just searching through the products kept see, a lady behind me. So I walked away and she kept following me, so decided to leave and as I was leaving she asked me if she could see my backpack. So I gave it to her, she thought I was stealing because I was black. And from that day on still realized that there was still racism in America. Even though racism was bad back then it is still very prevalent and one of the world's major issues.Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else social lives are occurring. Between the years 1 450 though 1850 about 14 million African Americans were shipped to colonies in North America, South America and North Indies. About 90% Of these African Americans were kidnapped. And about 20-30% of them died on the route to these countries. These African American were know as inden tured servants, which were a form of debt bondage that occurred in the early years of American colonies. And in 1 628 they started to sell these African Americans like a piece of object.African men were sold for about $27 ND would serve as a slave for their entire life. Women and children would be sold for about $60. In the late 1660 the trans-Atlantic slave trade begins. And from the early 1 6th to the mid-19th century about 12 million to 13 million African Americans were taken away and sold. And in 1 787, slavery is made illegal by the Northwest Territory. A few years later in 1808 Congress bans the kidnapping of slaves in Africa. And the Missouri Compromise bans slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri.During the slavery era which was from (1787-1863), many laws, acts, and amendments were created, some that helped slavery but many that banned it. In 1860 the Missouri Compromise was passed which prohibited the holding and ownerships Of slaves in the territory of the Unit ed States north Of the line. Also the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed which abolished slavery, made all African Americans free, and lastly allowed African American man to vote. And then in 1964, this biggest law that helped segregation in America was the Civil Rights Act of 1964.This law abolished segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. This acts helped crease the amount of segregation and racism in America. Even though there is still racism in America today. Jumping to present day, racism is still very active today because of the media. As we grow up the media becomes part of our everyday life whether we like it or not. The media is a major part of how racism is still very active in today's society. Since the early days the media has given racial labels. For example, in crime shows such as â€Å"Law and Order†, and â€Å"CSS. When you think of crime, African Americans are the ones reflected as the bad guys. And the whites are oft en reflected at the â€Å"good guy'. The directors and writers use racial stereotypes to make a more interesting story with more suspects or people to target. Most types they target blacks because it's easy to point the finger at an easy target. America sees blacks as not capable or as important as whites. Racial discriminations is a big treat in workplace in America. Though is is not as noticeable as it was in the sass's it is still very prevalent today. Studies even show people of color are the last hired, and the first fired.Even though we have Affirmative action which is used for diversity in the workplace, so hat discrimination can not be apart of the work environment. But that's not really the case owners of companies can always find away around the system. If we look at the bigger picture, in many big companies you barely see people of color as the top guy like the CEO. You always see a white man in those positions. My mom once today me that one of her friends was applying f or a job and her name was really ghetto, so you could tell that she was black. So she applied and didn't get the job.A few months later she decided to apply for the job again, with a name that you could tell was white, and she ended p getting the job. Discrimination in the workplace is still very prevalent, and although the awareness of discrimination has been increasing, some companies still face this problem. Racism has been so rampant in schools, and is expressed in many different forms. Some of the forms of racism in schools include name-calling, teasing, verbal abuse, and even bullying. Racism is experienced by all kinds of people in school. Racism in schools has a big effect on individuals, and the learning environment.Racism in schools is enhanced by discriminatory policies and practices that exist in the school system. Some of these instances are ignoring incidents of racism, being bib in disciplinary acts against students based on their race. If we look at it most teachers are middle class white women, which can cause schools to be run by their values and beliefs of their classroom. Even today, I have noticed that most private schools are prominently white. Use to attend a private school when was in middle school, and I was the only black girl in class. And many times would get ignorant remarks from the students. Member one day, I was sitting down and this girl came up to me ND asked â€Å"do you live on trees and ride elephants†. I was taken aback. Even though there is still racism in schools we have come a long one since the first desegregated school in Alabama. The â€Å"Little Rock Nine† where one first African American students to attend an all white school. Racism and unequal treatment had always been prevalent in the criminal justice system. African Americans have always been under control of the whites. The most effective way for the whites to keep that control would be though the criminal justice system.For example, in â€Å"Ho w to Kill a Mockingbird† a African American boy named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white girl named Male Lowell. In the end the verdict, Tom was found guilty of charged. Similarly, around 1 940 a little boy names Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi by two white man for â€Å"flirting† with one of the man ‘s wife. After Till's body was found and the two white men, Were linked to Till's body they Went on trial. The two men Were acquitted Of Emmett Till's murder. This shows the power the criminal justice system has over African Americans. This is still prevalent today.In early 2012 Traction Martin was fatally shot and killed my George Zimmerman. And in July 201 3 Silverman was found not guilty of all the charges against him. After this America was stunned many were upset and sadden. This shows that racism is very much in the criminal justice system. Lastly, racism is not only toward African Americans. Many races has experienced some type of racism. On Sept ember 1 1, 2001 four planes were hijacked by terrorist. And after that day many Middle Easterners experienced racism especially in airports. Many airports where strict on who that allowed in and out of the Lignite States.Anyone who looked Middle Eastern was examined even more than anyone else. Also on December 7. 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Thus making the Unites States skeptical of every Japanese American. So they gathered all the Japanese people and put them in concentration camp. This act of racism toward Japanese was very viscous and made them feel like they didn't belong. In the end, they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, yet everyday single day someone is being judged based on their skin color. Even though racism is bad, it is still being practiced in schools, workplaces, media, and the rimming justice system.

Week 7 Conference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 7 Conference - Essay Example Hemoglobin is the blood protein that transports oxygen (Cohen, 2013). Blood identification process gets referred to as ABO typing. The type of blood one has depends on the presence of blood proteins known as antigens in the red blood cells. The first step involves blood getting drawn from an individual and gets mixed with antibodies to determine the blood type (Cohen, 2013). The blood type gets determined on whether the blood agglutinates with the antibodies. The second step is called back typing where the liquid part of the blood gets mixed with blood that is either type A or B. Blood typing also gets carried out to determine the presence of rhesus factor on red blood cell surface. Jim got triaged in the resuscitation area. The staff present was a physician and two nurses. The physician who can be an M.D or D.O oversees the patient’s condition by conducting tests on the patient. The nurses administer the drugs to Jim as indicated by the physician. Aspirin got provided to Jim to act as an anticoagulant to prevent further clotting if possible. Morphine got provided to relieve pain or discomfort experienced by Jim. Nitroglycerine also gets provided to decrease blood pressure and increase blood flow by opening up blood vessels around the heart (Cohen, 2013). tPA gets provided to break down clots in the bloodstream around the heart. Principles of coronary bypass surgery: bring blood and oxygen to the heart muscle by creating a ‘bridge’ through a healthy artery. The blood passes over the blocked artery to ensure a normal blood flow down the blocked area. A heart attack refers to a situation where there is the occurrence of a sudden blockage in the coronary artery. This causes a stoppage of blood flow towards the heart muscle. This condition damages the heart muscle causing improper function of the heart. Heart failure implies that the heart’s pumping power is lower than normal (Cohen, 2013).

The Managed Service Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Managed Service Business - Essay Example On the other hand, it would be very cost effective, efficient and convenient if food services will be outsourced because all it takes is doing business with a catering company where the business requirements for food services are specified for the catering/outsourced company to provide. All they have to do is pay the outsource company and they will be freed from the inconvenience and complexity of sourcing raw materials, cooking them, presenting them, maintaining personnel and equipment among others. Basically, outsourcing the food service to a third party will allow the business to focus its energy, resources and expertise on its core business for it to become more competitive in the business it is engaged in. The most obvious advantage of outsourcing food services to a management contractor is convenience and cost efficiency. The function of a management contractor is already very demanding which takes a lot of time, energy and resources and the company would be better off if they will focus on their core business. If they will add the food service to their function, this will take away time, energy and resources from them which could have been used in other things such as focusing on their business. In addition, it would be more efficient if a caterer or a business company would handle the food service since this is their core business and therefore has the competency to do it better. A food caterer will require less time, effort and resources to provide the food service than if the management contractor will do it themselves. Food service operations are laborious, time bound and risky. It is another business competency that is better left to be done by another business that has the expertise to do it. It involves acquisition of raw materials, preparation to serving the foods to maintenance of equipment to managing people. It is aggravated by the fact that foods cannot last long in inventory and therefore,

Courtroom Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Courtroom Technology - Essay Example The result was a massive media spectacle. Some judges disapprove of cameras in the courtroom, suggesting that judges may end up playing up to the camera. It is generally considered a negative thing to have a great deal of media attention surrounding a trial as it may prejudice those involved. Different jurisdictions have different rules relating to this issue. Indeed, even some Supreme Court Justices have been somewhat schizophrenic on this issue. A few years ago, Justice Antonin Scalia, who has always taken a hard line against technology in the courtroom, expanded the notion of where technology was acceptable during a public speech he gave: During an April 7 speech by Scalia at a high school in Hattiesburg, a deputy federal marshal, Melanie Rube, demanded that AP reporter Denise Grones and Hattiesburg American reporter Antoinette Konz erase recordings of the justice's remarks. The reporters had not been told before the speech that they could not use tape recorders. When Grones resis ted, the marshal took the digital recorder out of her hands. The reporter then showed Rube how to erase the recording (AP). This issue caused a great deal of controversy at the time, and eventually led to an apology. Nevertheless, it has been reported that Justice Scalia is fond of the Ipad and uses it regularly. Clearly, the position of courts have everywhere have been evolving over the years. A timeline would suggest they have moved from conservative restriction to a more permissive, liberal approach. Standards vary from one jurisdiction and one judge to another. Indeed, other supreme court judges have been equally happy about the result of technology in the courtroom. One of the court's recent appointees, Justice Kagan, has the following to say about the huge amount of legal pleadings that justices have to work their way through: â€Å"At times there are as many as 50 friend-of-the-court briefs for one case. That is on top of the motions submitted directly by the named parties. So there is a lot of reading . . . And you know that's a big part of the job and if a Kindle or an iPad can make it easier, that's terrific" (Beahm). We see that people intimately involved in the judicial system have embraced technology in some ways, while rejecting it in others. We need to find ways to effectively implement technology across the board so long as it is helpful. There are a number of other ways that technology can be useful to those involved in the legal profession. For example, electronic discovery has made life very difficult for many lawyers. The sheer quantity of electronic documents involved in some cases makes it impossible to physically go through every document or email by hand. Special software is required to deal with these large quantities. This software can search through keywords to find important phrases or names. It can dramatically shorten the amount of time required to find what a lawyer is looking for. Both courts and lawyers can work together as pa rtners to develop and implement technologies in the courtroom. One system currently being used is called Digital Evidence Presentation System and allows for electronic, integrated presentation in the courtroom. As one expert says: â€Å"Although attorneys have significant control over the systems in the courtroom, the court has instantaneous override capability. With the touch of a button, a judge can turn off every screen in the courtroom, including the screens in the jury box and the large screen displaying

Argument for God using the Design argument Essay

Argument for God using the Design argument - Essay Example The world was created in a way that human beings have no control or clue of the occurrence or existence of different phenomena. This essay is going to explore and affirm that God exists through the argument for design. Thesis Statement: The coordination and the intricate way in which human beings live by purpose suggest the existence of an intelligent designer. Overview Our lives in the world are inspired by the events and activities that we, human beings, undertake. However, in the process we have questions on our existence and, most importantly, on whether God exists. An argument by design explains the existence of God through the use of facts, theories and examples of how God created life. The world is meant for human inhabitation because there is a pattern in which life occurs and exists. It is true to argue that the world and life were designed by someone or a spirit that is unexplainable due to the following facts: Teleological orders: This is used to explain how order in the w orld occurs since everything in the world seems to follow a certain pattern. Teleological order can exist as spatial and temporal order whereby spatial order explains the co-presence while the latter explains succession. It is easy to look at the world and wonder at the facts of co-presence and succession. For instance, the human body is made up of millions of parts which interact with one another to come up with a complex living creature. William Paley who was an advocate of natural teleology argued that as a watch is a timepiece that is made up of millions of parts, then also the world and human life is designed that way. Another advocate of the teleological argument was Thomas Aquinas who argued that we see the world as being made up of many things some of which lack knowledge. He elucidates that these beings act for an end and this is evident by the small animals of living things (Sweet 95). As a result, a thing that does not have knowledge cannot move towards and end but only i f it is directed by an intelligent being. Apart from humans who possess knowledge, natural things cannot move towards an end and therefore, what drives their move towards end is an intelligent being who in this sense is God. Paley’s argument is that the world is created in a perfect manner different from a watch due to several reasons. For instance, in his natural teleological argument he says that â€Å"as a watch is perfectly crafted and a well oiled machine,† then the world is also perfect. For instance, in the world there is enough oxygen for everybody. It is not less because it would not support life and again, it is not a lot because it could lead to easy combustion. Apart from William Paley’s theory, other scientists have supported the analogy of design through the positioning of the earth. For instance, if we look at the way earth is positioned, it not so close to the sun because it would cause problems to people and life would not be supported. Furtherm ore, if the sun was in a far position from the earth, then life would not be supported in the world (Sweet 102). The look of the universe from this view presents us with conclusion that God was involved in the creation of the world. This is summed by Isaac Newton who said that the most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets can only proceed through the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. Criticisms: The William Paley analogy created a lot of criticism from a lot of quarters, especially from David Hume. The first

The Islamic Center Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Islamic Center - Case Study Example onnecting facility and thus before establishing other facilities such as schools, the board must ensure that the community derives maximum utility from the gym. Therefore, in addition to the volunteers, the gym requires some permanent staff, to oversee its operations. This can be ensured by educating the community about their obligation to pay the required fees, and then using the fees to financially motivate the permanent employees. IC is advantaged to have a lot of professional in the board and thus with each member working on the new strategy (Cropf, Kohler, and Loutzenhiser 71), the community will be made to support its operation and thus avoid chaos in the long run without reducing the board members working hours in their other professions. The gym is a uniting factor in addition to being a recreational facility. For this reason, everyone needs to feel involved in its management, operation and maintenance. Notably, the vandalism was motivated by lack of proper and timely communication rather than change of events (Cropf, Kohler, and Loutzenhiser 70). Therefore, the ad hoc committee is obligated to advice the board on the importance of properly communicating to the community on any changes. Secondly, the community should also be encouraged to understand the main objectives of the gym. Holding several meetings to educate the gym members, especially Muslims on the importance of unity can adversely reduce chaos from the members. These meetings would also increase the member’s desire to volunteer as trainers. Moreover, the gym should remain well maintained, with staff that ensures that resources are well utilized to reduce costs. The gym was made to benefit the whole community, and members should be made aware of that. By using the Muslim teachings of brotherhood, members can be encouraged to help better the community they live and mostly for future generations. The most demotivating factor is lack of financial benefit in dedicating time

Affects of Supply and Demand on Business Term Paper

Affects of Supply and Demand on Business - Term Paper Example d making the management to take the necessary course of action.Analysis of the market forces helps departmental decision making in that each and every section of the business optimizes resource allocation to minimize costs and maximize productivity in a bid to meet the demand in the market.Table of Contents Introduction Basic Laws and Principles of Demand and Supply Demand Side Supply Side Equilibrium Discussion Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Demand can be viewed as the quantity of goods and services that the market, consumers,is willing to purchase and consume within a given period of time and at a certain price. Demand varies from time to time due to rationality of the consumers; changes of preference and tastes,changes of their economic levels and statuses,and other market conditions such as changes of cost of production that influence price fluctuations.Supply on the other hand refers to the resource and or the quantity availed to the market by the producers within a given p eriod of time dictated by the prevailing market conditions. ... d services; a factor of manufacturing costs, competition, market conditions and the quality of the product, and the buyers determine the quantity of the product/ service they are willing to purchase and consume at the price level presented by the suppliers/ producers (Brennan and Rowan 6-9; Nasrin 1-20). In monopolistic markets forces of demand and supply may not influence the price of the product/ service and vice versa thus in this paper we shall evaluate and analyze the effects of supply and demand on a business in a competitive market (Reuvid 2-6). Basic Laws and Principles of Demand and Supply To understand how demand and supply impacts on a business, we need to evaluate their market mechanisms in relation to price so as to understand how they influence actions of the business at given times within the production cycles, which can be analyzed by understanding the their interaction aspects. Whenever the demand increases but the supply remains the same or unchanged, there is short age of goods and services in the market leading to a higher equilibrium price. Whenever demand decreases and the supply remain unchanged, there is surplus supply of goods and services which lead to lower equilibrium price. Whenever supply increases and demand remain unchanged, there is a surplus leading to a lower equilibrium price Whenever supply decreases and the demand is unchanged, there is a shortage of supply leading to a higher in equilibrium price Demand Side To understand how the demand of goods impact on a business venture we shall evaluate the demand schedule and relate it to the immediate decisions that the management make and the course of adjustments. As discussed earlier the demand of a given commodity will vary with time depending on factors such as price; changes of income,

The role of tangible and intangible resources for competing in Essay - 3

The role of tangible and intangible resources for competing in fast-paced technology markets - Essay Example The success of a business in the fast-paced technology markets will be determined by the resources the business or company has. Resources can be either tangible or intangible. The latter is necessary as they play different roles in the fast-paced technology markets. Before looking at the roles of the tangible and intangible resources, there is the need to analyze in order to understand them. Tangible resources are the physical or material goods that can be perceived by senses. They are easy to evaluate as they can be converted to other forms through some financial transactions. Some of these resources are raw materials, stocks, machines, money, land, and furniture. Balance sheets are usually used to strategically provide relevant information, under or overvalue resources. Some roles are played by the resources that a business venturing into the fast-paced technology markets cannot do without. This will be discussed in the course of this paper. Intangible resources are resources that cannot be seen physically but are links to the physical resources. In any business, intangible resources are more valuable than the tangible resources. They are invisible. Intangible resources are made up of the differences which are usually indicated in balance sheets of different companies. They will account for the under and overvaluations. Examples of intangible resources are operative processes, capacities, abilities, innovations, technology, databases, science or technical expertise, and relations with the clients. Intangible resources are usually controlled through four perspectives. These include learning and growth, internal process, customer, and financial. When the latter four perspectives are keenly monitored, then the business will be able to survive in the competitive markets. In the fast-paced technology markets, tangible resources have some roles they play. Their role is, however, less compared to the role that is played by the intangible resources. The idea is that the two different types of resources are dependent on each other thus the success of one may result in the success of the other. The first role that tangible resources play is making of profits. The stock and other materials that are converted to cash form are essential in making profits. These are essential in making the business to stand. In the fast-paced technology markets, profits are not easily made. It is usually hard due to the changes and competition. When a company is left behind with a single step, it becomes hard to make profits. Profits will be made with the help of some internal activities like branding and pricing. There is a need to do marketing research occasionally in order to analyze the objectives and situations of competitors. This will help in pricing so that they can make maximum profits. The aim of any business is usually to make profits. The output is supposed to be high than the input so that profits are made. In these markets, this will be enhanced by some tangible resources like raw materials and stocks.

MGMT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

MGMT - Essay Example The company has a large workforce with manufacturing facilities spread across the US and EU, including Prague and Hong Kong. With 3200 workers in the US alone, coupled with close to 5000 around the world, talent management had to be a major element of their recovery strategy. This paper presents an analysis of the Candlelight case. Talent retention, especially for managers and leaders, is quite crucial for the company since the talent pool in senior management positions is quite diverse. The new CEO came in with a new Sales SVP and a CMO to drive innovation. The R&D VP reporting to the new CMO was a creative professional, who did much to hold his subordinates accountable. The administrative VP, who has been with the company from inception, has been cited for slow decision-making and has overseen a poor rate of turnover. The slack in coming up with union strategies has led to slow downs and work stoppages. It actually seems that this individual is responsible for some of the company’s malaise since he appears to have limited knowledge on employment practices and international operations. Finally, the COO can also be held culpable for the talent mismanagement given his command and control style that has resulted in employees preferring not to work for him. However, given his expertise is probably an ingre dient in the company being able to stay afloat this long, his input is crucial. Candlelight Inc. has several things going to its advantage, even in these precarious times. Although the company has been grappling with internal problems for years, it has managed remained financially viable and has maintained a sizeable chunk of its market share. Additionally, its global presence has helped the company remain relevant in the international market. Its products are still credible, which has seen its market share remain satisfied,

Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and 7 General Codes of Conduct Essay Example for Free

Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and 7 General Codes of Conduct Essay Since the adherence to international social standards has become a mandatory requirement in the international business arena, the local suppliers have to be compliant to these standards in order to remain in business. There have been some significant revisions to the Bangladesh Labor Law in 2006. This newly revised law already covers a lot of the common standards like employment conditions, occupational health and safety issues as well as the ILO core labor standards. Besides being complaint to the national labor law, the suppliers must also adhere to the international standards. These international standards may be defined through their individual buyers’ codes of conduct or general codes of the conduct. Compliance to the buyers’ codes of conduct is mandatory but compliance to the general codes of conduct is optional unless the buyer accepts a specific general code as a substitute for its own audits or requirements. These voluntary monitoring or verification initiatives have taken root since the 1990s to add legitimacy and credibility to companies’ social and environmental compliance programs. The comparative analysis shows that the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 significantly covers majority of the requirements of the different general codes of conduct. This indicates that if a factory is 100% compliant to the national law, it will cover approximately 85% of the requirements of the other general codes of conduct. Hence RMG factories should be encouraged to improve their compliance with the national law as a first step towards meeting the compliance demands of the brands and retailers who they supply to. The analysis does reveal that a few requirements are not fully or partially covered by the national labor law. It should be noted that the components which are not fully covered by the Bangladesh Labor Law are either covered by the Bangladesh Constitution or are not directly applicable in the Bangladesh context. This study clearly reveals that the revised Bangladesh Labor Law along with other supporting national legislations such as the Bangladesh Building Code and the Environmental Conservation Rules as well as the overall constitutional framework of Bangladesh, provides a comprehensive guideline for factories in the RMG sector to comply with majority of all international social compliance and environmental standards. By being 100% compliant with the national labor law, a supplier has significantly met majority of the international requirements. The Bangladesh Labor Law has gone through some majority revisions in 2006 which has made it into a strong piece of legislation. However, it is not still 100% perfect. There are still few gaps and lackings which need to be adjusted and amended in the future. As implementation of the revised law is ongoing, numerous other deficiencies might gradually be identified over time. Since recent revisions just took place, another series of revisions are not anticipated in the near future. This comparative analysis of the newly revised Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct clearly illustrates where the commonalities and differences are. Overall, the recent revisions to the Bangladesh Labor Law and other national legislations that are associated with the RMG sector such as the Bangladesh Building Code and the Environmental Conservation Rules jointly provide comprehensive guidelines for RMG suppliers to manufacture and export products under socially and environmentally responsible working conditions which also meet majority of all prevailing international standards. 2. 1 General Codes of Conduct Definition of Codes The interest in the social situation of workers in developing countries has increased constantly over the last years in particular under civil societies and consumers in the industrialized countries. Social criteria have become an important part of consumer and investment decisions of individuals and organizations and therefore also big brands and retailers become more aware of compliance to social standards. Since Bangladesh is part of 1 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct he global market social compliance is extremely relevant for the export-oriented industry of Bangladesh, especially for the RMG sector. For competitiveness in the global markets, the compliance with environmental and social standards is a key point. Through modern information and communication technologies the economic activity of companies becomes increasingly transparent and makes it easier for the civil society to uncover and communicate social and ecological failure of multinational companies. Companies know about the vulnerability of their brand names and messages concerning bad working conditions can easily damage their image as well as the market position. A social responsible management policy is therefore in the long-term interest of the enterprise. However companies can have a positive influence on the economic development in the target countries through the introduction of social standards and on the same time improve their image and market share through social and ecologically responsible behavior. To address these issues voluntary monitoring or verification initiatives have taken root since the 1990s to add legitimacy and credibility to companies’ labor compliance programs. They are all voluntary, meaning that companies opt to participate in them. Each requires member companies to adopt its respective workplace code of conduct and verifies that they have complied with organizational requirements. Today, some industries have developed or are developing codes for the entire industry. That can be best seen for the apparel and footwear sector. General Codes of Conduct as well as buyers’ codes are very common in this industry. These codes of conduct are rules, which companies impose upon themselves in order to embody social and ecological goals in the enterprise. Companies formulate these rules mostly for itself and partly also for the suppliers and orient themselves with the formulation at the international regulations and agreements already mentioned. Codes of conducts may also be recognized as useful instruments to build on the companies’ image. A lot of companies are participating in this initiatives to show their interests in improving the working conditions of their business partners/suppliers across the global. Fair trade and buying practices are a competitive advantage for many businesses. The codes show their commitment to this process. Codes of conduct may be developed through a multistakeholder approach such as ETI etc. or companies may have their own codes of conduct which are specific for their suppliers or codes could be sector specific such as for garments, food, electronics etc. 2. 2 Basis of codes Social compliance can be measured in relation to a certain standard. Concerning environmental and quality management a multiplicity of standards and certification systems already exist. The introduction of examinable social standards represents however a new challenge. Internationally recognized social standards exist, e. g. ? United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN Convention on Childrens Rights UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women ? ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work ? Rio Declaration on Environment and Development However these are guidelines and recommendations which can be converted voluntarily. Standards that can be certified only exist to a small extent. Most of the codes refer to these mentioned international standards, especially the ILO core labor standards. The ILO formulates international standards in the form of conventions and recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labor rights: Freedom of association The right to organize 2 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct Collective bargaining Abolition of forced labor Equality of opportunity and treatment Besides the above mentioned standards, there are other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of the work related issues. These principles are concretized in eight ILO conventions, in each case two for the four fundamental principles mentioned (see table 1). The ILO conventions are obligatory only if they are ratified by the member states. The entire number of the ratifications increased in the last years noticeably and varies depending upon convention in the order of magnitude between 148 and 172. Until July 2007, 128 countries had ratified all eight conventions. Bangladesh has ratified seven out of the eight core conventions. Table 1: ILO Core-Conventions and ratifications in Bangladesh1 Standard Freedom of association and bargaining Elimination of forced and compulsory labor Elimination of discrimination Abolition of child labor Convention Convention 87 (Freedom of association) Convention 98 (Right to organize; collective bargaining) Convention 29 (Forced labor) Convention 105 (Abolition of forced labor) Convention 100 (equal remuneration) Convention 111 (employment and occupation) Convention 138 (Minimum age) Convention 182 (worst forms of child labor) Ratification Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Codes of practice develop frequently from public pressure or are preventively developed. In addition to the mentioned core labor standards these codes include general working conditions like occupational health and safety, minimum wages, leave days and working hours. Other common aspects include women’s rights or environmental standards. Also the implementation of a management system can be a requirement. 2. 3 How codes evolved The overall aim of social standards is to protect the workers. During the industrialization in Europe they evolved as a reaction to bad working conditions in the newly emerging factories. The depletion of large parts of the workforce moved child labor, forced labor, freedom of association and collective bargaining as well as women’s rights in the centre of public attention. Socially responsible behavior this means also ecologically responsible behavior has its starting point predominantly in the developed industrialized countries. The observance of social standards must be further supervised also in these countries. The by far larger action needs lie however in developing and emerging countries. Through the increasing world-wide division of labor large parts of the production chain are located in developing countries which have deficits with the observance of social standards. While working abroad companies are supposed to be compliant to the legal regulations. In developing and emerging countries legal regulations do not always correspond to the domestic standards of the companies. So it can be difficult for companies to combine national legislation and generally recognized basic values. Even if the legislation in developing and emerging countries corresponds to the standards of the industrialized countries there are deficits in monitoring and implementation of the standards. 1 Refer to the ILO website: http://www. ilo. org/ilolex/english/docs/declworld. htm. 3 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct However an internationally defined and recognized social standard does not exist. Thus different stakeholder came up with the idea of codes of conduct to verify the compliance to international social standards. Social standards are extremely important in an industrialized world. Nowadays due to financial benefits, most companies outsource their production to developing countries where compliance to social standards is not as important. The problem is that consumers and respective governments ask for socially responsible behavior and working conditions and often the suppliers and governments of the developing countries cannot enforce or ensure compliance to these international standards. This issue has become a concern for the companies located in Europe and the USA and hence the companies came up with formulating codes of conduct which their suppliers have to adhere to if they want to do business with them. Companies started off by developing their own codes of conduct. Then gradually as the codes evolved, many companies teamed up with NGOs, trade unions, academia etc. to formulate common codes of conduct. Most general codes of conduct were developed with this multistakeholder approach. 2. 4 †¢ Classification of codes epending upon the standards they contain (all codes have similar requirements but differ in the definitions/design and some have also additional requirements e. g. waste management or anti-bribery policy); depending upon which organization or institution introduced the code and who controls the observance (companies, enterprise federations, trade unions, NGOs, management consultations or testing institutes); depending upon their members and their prevalence. Within these four categories subjects were identified as well as indicators to measure the implementation and coverage of the subjects. The indicators were selected according to the most common aspects of the general codes as well as the Bangladesh Labor Law. 2 Please refer to Annex I for a broad overview on the general codes of conduct. 4 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct Subjects of Codes of Conduct ILO Core Labor Standards Employment Conditions Occupational Health and safety

Brain Development Essay Example for Free

Brain Development Essay At birth there are about 100 billion brain cells produced and they are beginning to connect with each other. At the first week of age, brain development starts with conception. It is important to reach the age of an infant and practice the ten principals. In the early years, young brains produce almost twice as many synapses as they will need. By age two, the number of synapses a toddler has is similar to that of an adult. By three the child has twice as many synapses as an adult. The infant brain develops through the interaction with the world around, especially the interaction with adults. At the first few months, an infant cannot response to praise or punishment. Emerging research on brain development indicates that the degree for responsive care giving that children receive as infants and toddlers positively affects the connections between neurons in the brain (Brain Cells), and the architecture of the brain itself. The first three years of life are the period of growth in all areas of a baby’s development. Consistent, responsive relationships enable infants and toddlers to develop secure attachments. Infants and Toddlers develop knowing and understanding by perceiving experiences directly with the senses. For infants to acquire the ability to comprehend this sensory information they must b able to distinguish between the familiar and the unknown; later they will begin to consider, to formulate, and to form mental images in this process of experiencing and clarifying the environment. Infants begin by exploring the world with their bodies. They internalize what they take in through their senses and display it in their physical movements. Infants gather vital information through such simple acts as mouthing, grasping, and reaching. The knowing process also involves language abilities. As young children use their senses to experience the world, they need labels to categorize and remember these experiences. By creating these labels, children increase their ability to communicate and begin to control their own behavior. These expanded abilities give young children additional opportunities to understand the world (Infant, Toddlers, and Caregiver Ninth Edition). Recent brain research supports the goal of building a total person instead of concentrating on cognitive development alone. Providing a rich environment with interesting things to do is desirable and stimulates cognitive development. But that does not work without working on physical, social, and emotional development at the same time. What make differences are the day-to-day living, the relationships, the experiences, the diapering, the feedings, the toilet training, and the free play and exploration that contribute to intellectual development. Early experiences matter, and shape brain architecture. Advances in brain research have provided great insight into how young children’s experiences have profound impact on genetic predispositions and thereby share the processes that determine whether their brains will have adaptations or maladaptations for later learning, memory, reasoning, executive functioning, expressing a full range of positive and negative emotions, socialization, behavior control and lifelong health. The thrust of this element is to close the gap between what we have learned and what we do with infants and toddlers. Experiences that prepare the developing brain to function optimally include having warm, nurturing, attentive social interactions and conscientiously buffering young children from the adverse impact of toxic stress. Lack of these kinds of experiences can have devastating, long-term effects on brain development including cognitive functioning and social-emotional competencies. For example, unpredictable or chaotic routines or lack of consistent caregivers may jeopardize children’s foundation for identity development or self regulation, or few language experiences, toys, and opportunities to explore impede the development of neural connections and pathways that facilitate learning (Essential elements of Quality-Infant-toddler Program). To deliver high quality care giving, adults need to understand and recognize key developmental processes that help them understand and support infants and toddlers. Since this essential element explicitly identifies knowledge about key developmental processes threats to them as a factor in quality infant-toddler program, three terms are defined as important pieces of a wider knowledge base about brain development that informs practice: serve and return, executive functioning and toxic stress. Serve and return is the interaction between young children and their parents and caregiver is a key to healthy brain development. It helps to create neural connections that build later cognitive and emotional skills. Executive functioning represents the cognitive skills that enable a child to focus on, hold, and think about information, filter distractions; and divert their attention to something new. The foundation for executive functioning is laid in infancy and is facilitated through early experiences. Acquiring the early building blocks of (executive functioning) skills is one of the most important and challenging tasks of the early childhood years. Toxic stress is defined as strong, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support. Toxic stress disrupts brain development. While some experience with manageable stress is important for healthy development, prolonged, uninterrupted, overwhelming stress; toxic stress without the buffering relationships a child needs, can result in damaged, weakened systems and brain architecture that can have negative long-term effect (Essential Elements of Quality-Infant-Toddler Program). Environments make a difference in brain development. Environments that provide proper nutrition and regularly scheduled periods of sleep and physical activity consistently promote warm, nurturing, attentive social interaction; and conscientiously buffer young children from the adverse impacts of toxic stress. Lack of adequate nutrition, physical activity, appropriate sensory stimulation or social-emotional developmental experiences disrupt brain architecture and can have a decisively negative Impact on future development (Essential Elements of Quality-Infant-Toddler Program). Finding about the impact of early experiences on brain development highlight the importance of intervening early with highly stressed infants and toddlers and their families. Infants and children who are rarely spoken to, who are exposed to few toys, and who have little opportunity to explore and experiment with their environment may fail to fully develop the neural connections and path ways that facilitate later learning. Despite their normal genetic endowment, these children are at a significant intellectual disadvantage and are likely to require costly special education or other remedial services when they enter school. Fortunately, intervention programs that start working with children and their families at birth or even prenatally can help prevent this tragic loss of potential. While high-quality infant and toddler programs are not necessarily intervention programs. When caregiver and parenting practices are grounded in knowledge of early brain development, caregivers and parents are much more effective in providing experiences that facilitate optimal development including strong brain architecture (Essential element of Quality-Infant-Toddler Program).

Management of Organizational Performance: Literature Review

Management of Organizational Performance: Literature Review Many broad descriptions of management of performance can be found when one goes through the bulk of management materials available in books, journals and internet. Michael Armstrong 2000 plainly describes management of performance as a means of getting better results from a whole organization, or teams and individuals within ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦within an agreed framework of planned goals. Whereas Armstrongs description does not exactly introduce a novel definition in management literature, it captures the extensiveness of the field of appraisal. This field is full of complexities in regards to elucidating the exact scale of practices and mechanisms involved in performance appraisal. Armstrongs definition sets us on an excellent path when it comes to understanding these complexities. Donna Mitchell in her book Performance Management is more forthcoming in her definition and attempts to cover more ground in the management literature. She adds another dimension to the definition by first i ncluding performance measurement in her attempts to exhaustively describe management of performance. She describes performance measurement as the process of assessing progress towards achieving predetermined goals (Mitchell, 2007). She goes ahead to describe management of performance as, building on that process adding, the relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined goals (Mitchell, 2007). On top of incorporating the aspect of measurement of performance in management, it is notable to appreciate that management of performance is fundamentally about management of people. It is basically an attempt to comprehend the manner in which people in an organization work, both individually and with others. Aspects like supervision, decision making, inclusive employee involvement, motivation and promotion of technological innovations among workers are equally crucial in the development of the organization. Mitchells definition is an improvement from Armstrongs description and more elaborative. It can be observed from the two writers that the field of management is unmistakably composed of several disciplines. Diverse modalities for organizational evaluation are existent and thus various operational methods have been formulated to independently appraise an organizations development. Financial department policies that specifically deal with accounting are mostly employed in evaluati ng and controlling the fiscal robustness of organizations. The technical operations department evaluation policies are inherently concerned with enhancing the logistical fluidity of activities and functions in the various departments. The human resource department on its part is largely specialized in enhancing output of personnel. These three offer an insight into the compound realm of management of organizational performance. The discipline of management that is closely related with the appraisal of organizational performance is the human resources. Nevertheless, other departments have evaluation score cards that respective managers use to review in assessing employee outputs and efficiency. Elaine Pulakos, in Performance Management: A New Approach for Driving Business Results, underscores the significance of management of organization performance being tactical, united, geared towards enhancement of performance and enforced enactment of positive development concepts. But this wide and ambiguous definition of management of organizational performance makes it an increasingly intricate undertaking. The specific appraisal component that is clearly implicit of the progression of performance evaluation is definitely the performance scorecard Rampersad posits that the Balanced Scorecard, as a tool of measurement has evolved into the ultimate unit pointer of progression or regression. He divides the measurement tool into two components; the Personal Balanced Scorecard or PBSC and the Organizational Balanced Scorecard (OBSC) (Rampersad, 2003). The former is for individual employees to evaluate themselves, while the latter is for entire organization to gauge its collective progression. Whereas different literatures on management will present divergentthough synonymousdescriptions of management of organizational performance, most of them are homogeneous in their acknowledgement of the importance of the practice. To formulate a strategy, a business or organization needs sufficient data that indicate its current status. The current status of the organization will be determined only by a review of the organizations performance. The performance management similarly aids in management of the process of implementing the conceptualized strategies. In the process of managing the formulated strategies, the scorecard data will caution against making assumptions. In the absence of a scorecard, an organization can easily make assumptions about its position and use the hypothetical data to make skewed and erratic projections about the future. Balanced Scorecards for the individuals and the organization are the only sure means of checking the development or degeneration direction of firm (Thorpe Holloway, 2008). The management of organizational performance can help a company ascertain that it is realizing minimum allowable standards that are necessary for continued existence. These could be standards pertaining to environmental safety or legal provisions. Management of appraisals of the company also communicates a clear message of expectation to the employees. As such, employees are conscious of not only their duties and responsibilities, but of performance standards the employers expect them to deliver. Stakeholders are also informed of the companys sense of direction; such stakeholders include current and prospective shareholders, concerned government authorities and clients or customers. Management of organization performance can be a system for the acknowledgement and appreciation of the hard work and outstanding behavior of excellent employees. Appreciating and rewarding excellent employee behavior can be an incentive or a source of motivation for other employees to improve on their del ivery and output. Clear as the benefits of management are, there exist two performance management precepts. The first is the tactical management of performance and the other is conservative management system. The tactical system which is purely strategic is also intrinsically reactionary and depends on market or environment settings and conditions. The tactical management system is triggered whenever there are drastic changes in the organizational surroundings and the business needs to readjust its activities in the wake of environmental changes. The conservative performance management system on the contrary is a continuous system that is carried out at predetermined regular intervals to self-regulate the firm. The regulation could be a quarterly, bi-annual or yearly process, planned to coincide with specific but organization-wide release of statements, for example production output statements, fiscal position reports or profit announcements (Carton Hofer, 2006). Other than communicating the position of the firm to stakeholders, the regular management of organizational performance is critical in inspiring and rewarding exceptional employee behaviors. While in the conventional logic the evaluation of employee performance and the reward schemes have been associated with release of firms fiscal reports, some organizations are using the Personal Balanced Scorecard to negotiate salary, wages and compensation for their employees. Niven, 2006 is a big critic of the system that seeks to use appraisal reports in assigning compensation packages for its employees. Niven argues that appraisal results are efficient only if the rewards for good behavior are gifts that supplement an employees pay, not if the result is used to calculate and determine the compensation package. Mohan Nair disputes Nivens argument in his book, Essentials of balanced scorecard. Mohan is of the view that a scorecard is the surest means of keeping employees in check all year round . He, Mohan, posits that an organization has no business providing attractive compensation packages to non-performing employees as the main goal of an organization is to generate profits. Niven is critical of using scorecards to determine compensation packages because they create rivalries among employees within departments and they are also unsustainable. Niven wants us to imagine a scenario where the performance of an employee keeps fluctuating on monthly basis. If an employee is outstanding on the first month, average on the second and grossly underproductive on the third, does the management keep on updating the compensation package for every of those months and for every single employee in the organization? Matthew Kammerer explores deeper into the pros and cons of balanced scorecards as were developed by the pair of Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. He notes that while Kaplan and Norton were innovative in formulating a system for evaluating performances, he hypothesizes that anomalous employee behavior is most likely to be observed in the long haul. This system will eventually water down on the worth of tactical performance management as it will not be entirely impartial to all employees. Research done by Michael Hammer on the same issue backs up Kammerers hypothesis, and points out to the prejudicial nature of scorecards on junior employees. The reward scheme is done by senior organization employees and these superiors will assign themselves favorable points and pocket the bulk of the rewards. Many departmental managers have raised complaints regarding the partiality of performance rewards scheme, and particularly criticized the criteria employed to settle on rewards. The human resource department is at the centre of this reward scheme and is equally burdened by the tenets to be used in rationally allocating rewards (Hammer, 2007). The big question therefore is, what aspects need to be managed when evaluating the performance of the organization? The quandary of assessing organizational performance is such a demanding undertaking that management experts and observers can only speculate on the best ways forward. Fiscal strategies are conventionally regarded as the easily usable schemes in many firms. With the turn of the millennia however, organizations have become more complex with multifaceted dimensions that need cannot be evaluated by fiscal analysis alone. Paolo Taticchi reckons in the International journal of Productivity and Performance Management that fiscal analysis, by use of management accounting, is an incomplete tool as a comprehensive organizational performance indicator. Taticchi notes that the use of management bookkeeping information is only enough when reviewing inflows and outflows. The inadequacies of purely financial appraisal systems in performance review have spawned a shift from cost analysis to encompass a wide range of issues such as a review of the firms goals. Observers in the appraisal of performance have debated and proposed ways in which organizations can formulate proper assessment systems. From the bulk of management literature available on performance measurement, comprehensive review outlines have the aim of delineating performance in a manner that echoes strategic organization goals (Taticchi, 2010). These outlines possess fundamental attributes that assist in pinpointing the apposite series of standards against which performance is sustainably assessed and managed. The literature covered in Thorpe and Holloway (2008), and Taticchi (2009) highlight the reality that a series of review measures employed by a firm must depict a crystal representation of the firm. These measures ought to echo the fiscal as well as the non-fiscal strategies; the internal and environmental attributes; and the competence and efficiency measures. The generated outline of quantifiable measures must also generate a clear indication of the firms performance. Case in point, the minimalism and perceptive basis of the Organizational Balanced Scorecard is regarded as its most resourceful feature, as it is simple and readily grasped (Fakhri, Menacere Pegum, 2011). Outlines need to show the necessity for a firm to employ a series of measures that are multifaceted in dimensions. All areas of organizational performance must be measurable to reflect development or regression in the outline. The sight of a chief executive officer handling a mass of data that has not been filtered into meaningful information is not so uncommon. Such heaps of data does not present any meaning and insightful account of the performance of individual and departmental units in the organization. To eliminate the occurrence of a scenario where an executive reads heaps of data that bears no informative insight, the department of quality management has to come into action. Some reputable methodologies can be used by the quality management department to cover the apparent inadequacies of balanced scoreboards for example the Demming Cycle (Balanced Scoreboard Institute). Developed by Edward Deming in the mid last century, he held that business processes ought to be scrutinized and gauged to make out the sources of discrepancies which result in manufactured goods digressing from clients specifications. The Demming Cycle represents just one of the many assessment tools that are not only geared towards fiscal analysis but cover other crucial organizational issues. The Demming Cycle is simple; place the undertakings and activities of the firm in an incessant feedback loop so that supervisors can make out and alter the activities that need upgrading. To demonstrate the cycle, he used the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle to keep performance management in continuous check (Averson, 1998). Under the Plan, the management or whoever is concerned with the review of performance management-devises and revises the organization processes and the associated components (activities) to guarantee continuous development or improvement in results. The Do part of the cycle is concerned with the carrying out of the Plan, and the gauging of processes performance. The Check section is meant for assessment of products measurements, and the identification of faults. The results obtained from the Check section are forwarded to the organs of decision making. Finally, the Act part is mainly an action phase. Changes are made at this stage in case faults have been detected in the system. Tools for quality assessment managers are not few. There is the OODA loop which is an acronym for Observe, Orient Decide and Act that is used as a precept for strategic operations in the organization. The OODA loop appreciates the reality that the process of decision making is continuous cycle that needs regulated periods of observing and acting indefinitely. Similar to the Demming cycle, it is a deterrence mechanism that requires communication in the organizational structure. The six sigma is another management strategy, initially a project of Motorola, which is geared to identifying defects and eliminating them before they impact on the performance of the firm. It incorporates statistical quality management systems. Six sigma has its own share of debatable controversies and has been likened to the balanced scorecard for its lack of creativity by a host of management literatures. Research into the sigma six effects on business quality has revealed that an excess of 90 percent of fir ms that implemented the quality assessment programs recorded a loss in fortune (Morris, 2006). Others quality assessment tools include COBIT or Control Objectives for Information and related Technology that is specifically used in the information technology organizations and is a creation of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association. AIDA an abbreviation for Attention Interest Desire Action is another tool used in the marketing department to appraise marketing performances (Morris, 2006). All the management literature reviewed in this paper provides resourceful information in managing the performances of an organization. The literatures clearly indicate that for an organization to unlock its potential it must deal with right quality management tools and they should be applied appropriately to realize their potential. Performance management ought to be cross-sectional and not only target a particular section of the workforce. The exact performances that are being appraised ought to be reflected against expectations, the requisite requirements for outstanding performance and the qualities the clients are looking for. Performance must also be managed and appraised against feasible strategies and goals. A cross-sectional link between the performances of employees in hierarchical organizations should be explicitly assessed, so that the elimination of any possible conflicts in evaluation of employees is carried out. Conflicts are clear stumbling blocks in organizational eva luation. Such conflicts in the form of organizational politics need to be deracinated to ensure that departments with functional dependencies correlate with each other harmoniously. Organizations must center their performance appraisals systems towards communicating insight to employees, and not just generating raw data on employee productivity. If quality assessment tools are effective and the organization is realizing its objectives without subjecting employees to data about their performance, a positive culture of self drive is calculated amongst employees. On the contrary, if an organization is performing well and the company keeps on generating data for the purpose of rating employees, it creates a rivalry among departments and employees. This consequently results in some employees developing dysfunctional behaviors, either due to paranoia or insecurity over their jobs (Falcone Sachs, 2007). Considerable collective organizational effort must be spared to ensure the gradual development of apposite traditions in the firm that promote engagement of the firms employees in the processes and objectives of the company. Such a tradition should cultivate the feeling of appreciation among the employees so that employees enjoy their work. In brief, organization performance management will first encompass aspects such as planning of employee roles and demarcation of specific expextations from employees. Second, it involves an incessant process of performance supervision by use of quality assessment tools. Third, it encompasses the development of employees aptitude and competence to execute their roles. Fourth, it involves the intermittent positive appraisal of performance of individuals and departments. Finally, it covers the sensitive issue of rewarding employees who are exhibiting excellent organizational behavior and performance. Why i decided to go to college? Why i decided to go to college? When I think about college I think about a lot of studying and not enough time for myself. But I know that when I graduate college I will have many opportunities available. Going to college has affected my life in many ways, but in the end it will all pay off. I then decided that I wanted to go to college because I want a better future. After I graduated high school, I never thought about college. The reason I never thought about college was because, my parents didnt have that much money to support me through college. My parents wanted a better future for me, so that I can take care of myself. I then decided to go to Hennepin Technical College because they offered me financial aid. If it wasnt for financial aid, I wouldnt even think about going to college. I have a total to five in my family, and my father is the only one working. Financial aid helped me out a lot because, I didnt have to pay for anything. They helped me out with my tuition and my books. But sometimes my tuition don t always cover all of my cost in college. That made me happy because, I know that my parents didnt have to worry about paying for my tuition. Another reason I decided to go to college is because, it is closer to home. I wouldnt want to be making a long drive home from college. I also decide to go to Hennepin Tech because, of the time. They have morning, afternoon, and evening classes. I am a evening person. I concentrate better in the evening than 7:00AM. When I wake up that early, I feel like I cant concentrate. So for my classes, I have mostly all evening classes and one morning class. I try my very best to stay focused, but that was the only time they have available for morning class. When I started college, I thought that it wouldnt be so hard, but I was wrong. Not only do I have to study hard, but I dont have enough time for myself. I am going to college to become a dental assistant. In my dental class I have an exam every time I go to that class. I also have papers due for my other class the same time I have to study for my dental exam. It is so frustrating, because I dont know which one to do first, and I also become stressed out. But I end up doing well on my papers and on my exams. With all that studying and exams I have, I cant get a job, because I have so much work to do at college, I dont think that I can keep up with a job. My parents are great, they never tell me to get a job, because they know that I have to much papers and exams at the top of my head. They always tell me to focus on my studies and dont worry about a job, that they will support me. That made it less stressful knowing that I dont have to worry about getting a job. College has affect my life in many ways. I am the first one in my family to attend college, which means my parents are very proud that I decided to go. Since I am the first to attend college, I want to show my two brothers that they can do it, if I can. College has change my way of thinking. I know that when I graduate college, I will have a brighter future with many job opportunities available.

War of 1812 :: American America History

War of 1812 War of 1812, conflict between the United States and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815. Fought over the maritime rights of neutrals, it ended inconclusively. Background Over the course of the French revolutionary and the Napoleonic wars between France and Great Britain (1793-1815), both belligerents violated the maritime rights of neutral powers. The United States, endeavoring to market its own produce, was especially affected. To preserve Britain's naval strength, Royal Navy officers impressed thousands of seamen from U.S. vessels, including naturalized Americans of British origin, claiming that they were either deserters or British subjects. The United States defended its right to naturalize foreigners and challenged the British practice of impressment on the high seas. Relations between the two nations reached a breaking point in 1807 when the British frigate Leopard fired on the USS Chesapeake in American territorial waters and removed, and later executed, four crewmen. In addition, Britain issued executive orders in council to blockade the coastlines of the Napoleonic empire and then seized vessels bound for Europe that did not first call at a British port. Napoleon retaliated with a similar system of blockades under the Berlin and Milan decrees, confiscating vessels and cargoes in European ports if they had first stopped in Britain. Collectively, the belligerents seized nearly 1500 American vessels between 1803 and 1812, thus posing the problem of whether the United States should go to war to defend its neutral rights. Americans at first prepared to respond with economic coercion rather than war. At the urging of President Thomas Jefferson, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, prohibiting virtually all U.S. ships from putting to sea. Subsequent enforcement measures in 1808-1809 also banned overland trade with British and Spanish possessions in Canada and Florida. Because the legislation seriously harmed the U.S. economy and failed to alter belligerent policies, it was replaced in 1809 by the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade with France and Britain. In 1810 Macon's Bill No. 2 reopened American trade with all nations, but stipulated that if one belligerent repealed its antineutral measures, the United States would then impose an embargo against the other. In August Napoleon announced the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees on the understanding that the United States would also force Britain to respect its neutral rights. Although Napoleon continued to seize American vessels in French ports, President James Madison accepted his statements as proof that French antineutral decrees had been lifted.

They Flee From Me by Thomas Wyatt :: sixteenth-century lyric poem poetry

Thomas Wyatt, "They Flee From Me" Set of Multiple-choice Questions Analyzing a Poem Sir Thomas Wyatt's sixteenth-century lyric "They flee from me" is an enigmatic poem that pleases at least partly because it provides no final certainty about the situation it describes. Yet the poem, while in some respects indefinite and puzzling, is nevertheless quite specific in its presentation of a situation, particularly in the second stanza, and it treats a recognizable human experience--that of having been forsaken by a lover--in an original and intriguing fashion. They flee from me, that sometime did me seek with naked foot stalking in jay chamber. I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek That now are wild, and do not remember (5) That sometime they put themself in danger To take bread at my hand: and now they range, Busily seeking with a continual change. Thanked be fortune it bath been otherwise Twenty times better, but once in special, (10) In thin array after a pleasant guise * When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall, And she me caught in her arms long and small, * Therewithal sweetly did me kiss, And softly said, 'Dear heart, how like you this?' (15) It was no dream: I lay broad waking. But all is turned thorough my gentleness Into a strange fashion of forsaking, And I have leave to go of her goodness, And she also to use newfangleness. (20) But since that I so kindly am served, I would fain know what she hath deserved. *manner or style * slender The image developed in the first stanza is especially striking, with its suggestion of once tame and friendly animals who have reverted to wildness and will no longer risk the seemingly innocent taking of bread from the speaker's hand. This stanza establishes at once the theme of change, a change from a special, privileged condition to one of apparent mistrust or fear, and the sense of strangeness (no explanation is given for the change) that will continue to trouble the speaker in the third stanza. Strangeness is inherent in the image itself -- "with naked foot stalking in my chamber" - -- and the stanza is filled with pairs of words that reinforce the idea of contrast: "flee"/"seek," "tame"/"wild," "sometime"/"now," "take break"/"range." Most interestingly, we are never told who "they" are. Moving from this somewhat disconcerting description of the speaker's present situation, the second stanza abruptly shifts the reader to an earlier moment in the speaker's life when "Thanked be fortune, it hath been otherwise/Twenty times better.

The Distinguished Works of the Preeminent Black Author, Ralph Ellison E

The Distinguished Works of the Preeminent Black Author, Ralph Ellison Ralph Ellison is one of the most lauded yet misunderstood writers of the twentieth century. Ellison is considered a short-story writer and an essayist at heart, but his most distinguished work is the novel, Invisible Man. Ellison has been called everything from "the greatest black American author" (Brennan) to unnecessarily "excessive" in his writing style ("Ralph Ellison: 1914-1994"). For the most part, Ellison is held in high regard in the literary community. The critical consensus on Ralph Ellison is that he is one of the most influential and passionate authors of his generation. Ralph Waldo Ellison was born on March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Lewis Alfred Ellison and Ida Ellison (Kennedy and Gioia). From his birth, it seems Ellison was destined to become a writer; his father named him after the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Early in life, Ellison was influenced by his mother who was an ardent social activist (Kennedy and Gioia). Ellison was raised in a middle-class white neighborhood. After graduating from high school in Oklahoma, Ellison was awarded a scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Ellison left school early and moved to Harlem ("Ralph Ellison: 1914-1994"). It was here that he met two of his greatest early influences: the poet Langston Hughes and the novelist Richard Wright (Kennedy and Gioia). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ellison was primarily an essayist who was published in several American periodicals. It was in these early years that he wrote "King of the Bingo Game" and the Buster and Riley trilogy. In 1952, Ellison's In visible Man was published in what became his most notable work. Invisible Man won Ellison nume... ...riticism. Galen Group. 16 Apr. 2001 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC/. Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. "Ralph Ellison: Biography." Literature Online 24 Apr. 2001 http://longman.awl.com/kennedy/ellison/biography.htm. Langman, F. H. "Reconsidering Invisible Man." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Group. 17 April 2001 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC/. Mitgang, Herbert. "Invisible Man, As Vivid Today as in 1952." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Group. 16 Apr. 2001 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC/. "Ralph Ellison: 1914-1994." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Group. 16 April 2001 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC/. Schor, Edith. "Ralph, Ellison, Journeyman: Three Early Stories." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Group. 17 April 2001 http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC/.