Monday, September 30, 2019

All I really need to know I Learned in Kindergarten Essay

I can remember my mother telling me for a few weeks before the first day how wonderful school was going to be and how I would meet loads of new friends. She also told me that the other kids are going to be scared just like I was. Turning five years old, and knowing that it was time for me to begin school already, was really very scary. The thought of waking up early and going to school and not being with my mom all morning made me feel sick to my stomach, but I just had to suck it up and go. The first day of kindergarten I was sad but also excited at the same time because I was going to meet new friends and I was going to get to play with them during recess. I remember walking into school with my new back pack; they were the ones that had to two little wheels on it so you wouldn’t have to carry it. As I was getting dropped off and hearing my mom telling me bye I started to cry. Being really close to my mom I didn’t want her to leave me there all alone. So we walked in together and she told me that I was going to be all right. My mom and my new teacher, Mrs. Fossum were having a hard time getting me to stay there. After they saw that I wouldn’t stay, my mom had to stay there with me thru out that whole day. As the first day went on I was making a bunch of friends with my new classmates. When the second day came I wanted my mom to stay at school but I realized that she had to go to work. After she had left I saw a table that had some crayons and some paper on it, so I ventured over to it and stood by the seat watching to see if anyone was going to stop me from drawing. No one came so I took a seat, a piece of paper, and of course a blue coloring pencil just like the one I had at home and started to draw. When the other children saw that I was already hard at work with my drawing, which somewhat looked like a cow, they came and sat down with me. Even the child that didn’t want to leave his father noticed me and came over and started to draw. The little boy started to ask me questions and once he started then everyone started to include me into their group. I learned at a young age that I was not very comfortable meeting new people and doing thing on my own. My mother realized that Mitchell School system was too big of a school for my type of personality and that I do better when I don’t have to adapt to much change.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Connecting Superstition From Macbeth to Modern Day Society Essay

Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, it is one of his more dark and sinister pieces. Even so, the multiple themes that Shakespeare incorporated into his play can be found in modern day society. Superstition, one of his many themes, is present even in the twenty-first century. Many people now believe in UFO’s (unidentified flying objects) coming to overrun our planet, the illuminati a group of influential and powerful people trying to take over the United Nations and unesco, along with old wives tales of superstition. Many different people have sited UFO’s all around the world. Some even claim to have been abducted, like Clayton and Donna Lee. They are a married couple living in Houston, Texas, they say that they have been abducted more than once, including an incident where Donna was pregnant and her baby was taken from her. Not only are UFO’s abducting people but they are also leaving signs in cornfields. A man living in the United Kingdom claims that aliens came over night and left a crop circle in his field, that isn’t all. The following day he caught a glimpse of an alien. No one knows what is to come but the people who have witnessed UFO’s and aliens first hand suspect they are planning to take over the Earth. Furthermore the illuminati want a new world order, where there is one government. There are famous people that are known to have joined the illuminati like late Michael Jackson, Beyoncà © and Lady Gaga. Before Michael’s death he started to reveal information on the illuminati because he was trying to free himself from their grasp, but by defying his contract he was murdered. You can tell which famous star is apart of the group quite easily. Their music videos would contain symbols of a triangle with an eye in the middle, like most of Lady Gaga’s videos. Or even by playing some of Beyoncà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s music backwards, you can hear her saying bow down to the devil. To achieve their goal they have pawns that made a deal with the devil in return gained power and wealth. They make their move in the shadows, so they are unnoticed and a step closer to the civilization they want. Along with those two superstitious concepts are old wives tales. Few families have reported about â€Å"death knocks†, the family would here three loud knocks, and no one would be at the door. A few days later or even the next day someone in their family will be dead. Many people today believe in signs of what is to come like bad luck if they break a mirror or open an umbrella indoors. In conclusion all of these stories and events are relevant to Macbeth, to prove that a lot of modern day society is still relatable to old English literature.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Georgia State Troopers

The Georgia State Patrol Trooper is considered to be the premier uniformed law enforcement job in the State of Georgia. It should be noted that although the Georgia State Patrol is small, this state law enforcement organization is considered to be highly professional. Compared to most other states nationally the State Troopers are the lowest paid? Unfortunately this impacts retention, but moreover morale. Most Trooper Cadets are more status conscious than money conscious. The State of Georgia is experiencing one the nation’s highest unemployment rates.The State is virtually in a hiring freeze. Although the Department of Public Safety has made numerous request for additional State Troopers the state legislature has delayed the passage of a two percent pay increase for all state employees, including the Department of Public Safety. The state legislature has further denied the Department of Public Safety’s requests for two hundred additional Trooper Cadets; the State of Ge orgia is strapped for cash as tax revenues have decreased significantly in recent years.Even Colleges and Universities have consolidated their administrative functions. Two or three Universities within a hundred miles of one another will share admissions, registrar and finance operations. Perhaps on a cursory examination by either a trained professional or a serious criminal justice student, the Georgia Department of Public Safety organization hierarchy can provide a pedantic explanation about the significant recruiting and retention problem areas.The State of Georgia comingles resources and over relies on the Merit System for recruiting and hiring state employees. Every State Department has a Commissioner. For example the Department of Public Safety in the State of Georgia Commissioner is Colonel MarkW. McDonough. Commissoner Col. Mark W. McDonough is a political appointment as is Georgia State Patrol’s Division Head’s and Deputy Division Commissioner. Other examples include Departments of Juvenile Justice and Department of Corrections that have the same organizational profiles.Department and or Divisions have Deputy Commissioners. These higher levels of administrative personnel positions secured through appointments, not elected or necessarily merit based The most interesting employment capacity is Captain Ronnie Rhodes, the head of the Capitol Police. Within the Department of Public Safety the organizational flow chart on page four suggests Captain Rhodes is in field operations and serves and protects the legislature and Governor, the Lt. Governor, and visiting dignitaries.They also direct traffic near and around government buildings. Regardless, many of these State Troopers are assigned in the capitol area, and only in Atlanta, Georgia. Navigating the Department’s Web Site and examining outdated textbooks suggested an organizational structure woefully lacking in critical understanding for the casual observer. Further investigation into the organization hierarchy revealed that Field Operations, Major Ed Grier possesses the supervisory responsibility.Within his purview and field of operations are the State Troopers and Trooper Cadets, they number approximately eleven hundred men and women law enforcement officials. A majority, of eight hundred, and fifty officers patrol the counties, State, and federal roadways. Most female troopers reside and work in municipalities that have a Motor Vehicle Division. Clerical and administrative tasks include license issuance, renewals, and Administrative license renewal hearings for driving under the influence suspects.State of Georgia State of Georgia Department of Public Safety Department of Public Safety Organizational Chart Organizational Chart ( Georgia State Patrol ) ( Georgia State Patrol )Commissioner Col. Mark McDonnough Special Investigations Angie Holt Legal Services Melissa Rogers Deputy Commissioner Lt. Col. Russell Powell Aviation Billy Smith Comptroller Peter Ad ams Field Ops Maj Ed Grier Motor Ops Lt Gene DavisCapitol Police Lt Ron RhodesHeadquarters Maj Hank FieldHuman Resource Lisa Maier A crucial section of the Department of Public Safety is Human Resources. Lisa Maier is the Supervising individual that reviews applicants who apply via State of Georgia Merit Systems.The State of Georgia funnels from the pool of applicants specifying in their respective generic State form the State Trooper or Trooper Cadet Job position. The Trooper candidate must pass a Georgia Merit System written examination before Lisa Maier reviews the application. The State of Georgia does not have an Assessment/Training Center, consequently other than thorough background and credit history, polygraph examinations, and psychological examinations may be contracted to an outside agency. These assessments are not required.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Social Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Marketing - Essay Example The selling of social issues has become a business that is in the same league as selling soap or automobiles. The concept got its beginnings when Phillip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman pursued the application of marketing technologies to the realm of social issues and coined the term 'social marketing' (Andreasen 2006, p.89). Social marketing is used by organizations to promote a cause, advocate on a political issue, or change the behavior of the public. Because the technique is designed to change peoples' minds and behavior through the use of advertising, it is met with several obstacles. Social marketing faces the task of fulfilling their objective without the transgression of an ethical approach. Social marketing can be used to modify behavior such as the antismoking campaigns that have been launched on behalf of various health organizations. The National Cancer Institute, a government agency, publishes numerous fact sheets on the methods and benefits of smoking cessation (Fact sheets: Tobacco/Smoking cessation). This information is designed to de-market a product by modifying behavior with the goal of decreasing consumption. Social marketing may also be used to change a corporate image by associating the brand with a social issue or cause. This may be seen when a company donates a share of their profits to a social or philanthropic endeavor. In 1999 Mattel partnered with Girls Inc. through an agreement to promote the girls' organization by including brochures in the Barbie packaging. Though the goals of Girls Inc., which promoted feminist empowerment, were contrary to the long standing image of the Barbie doll, Girls Inc. was anxious to reach millions of potential new members. For their part, Mattel wanted to "...create an enhanced, more relevant Barbie brand through an association with a progressive, girl-focused organization" (Marconi 2002, p.187). As more and more products are sold through socially or culturally based advertising, social marketing has moved beyond the traditional arenas of politics and social activism and into commercialism. Trying to change a person's mind or behavior can be difficult at anytime. Trying to sway public opinion or motivate them to action can be extremely challenging. The organization must be open and willing to undergo intense public scrutiny. The public can be a very sophisticated audience and may tire of a message that is overstated or exaggerated. The Department of Homeland Security's terror threat level system was initially designed to maintain awareness among the public of an impending threat. However, its overuse and the public's suspicion about its validity soon rendered it to an irrelevant position. Nancy Reagan's anti-drug campaign that insisted 'Just Say No' was a failure due to oversimplification. Rose (2005, p.169) calls the Reagan marketing scheme an, "example of a strategic communications failure - not just with the wrong messenger for the intended audience, but with a naive, presumably unresearched, if memorable, message". These unrealistic expectations are the result of at tempting to reach a widely diverse audience with a single concise message. Trying to deal with the challenges facing a social marketing campaign requires that ethical issues be thoroughly addressed. The issue of full disclosure can be difficult to define or to measure what information needs to be revealed. Various stakeholders may have different objectives and standards. American Express has been criticized for their participation in the 'Charge for Hunger' campaign and the campaign to raise money for the restoration of the statue of liberty. Critics contended that American Express spent far more money on their own self-promotion about the campaigns than they spent on the actual issue (Andreasen & Drumwright 2000). Though it can also be said that American Express would have spent the money on advertising anyway, the perceived conflict of interest and motivation are ethical issues that must be addressed when social marketing.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Leadership and Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and Motivation - Essay Example There are many barriers that must be overcome in order to implement meaningful revolutionary cultural change and new ways of thinking and doing business. As managers most of the obstacles that must be dealt with a have to do with employees and the inherent fear and apprehension to change humans have in general. There are a lot of factors that affect how the employees will react to organizational change, as managers we must learn to positively help ease employee concerns, doubts, or questions. Many managers fail to communicate with their employees clearly and effectively. As a result, employee perception errors are quite common when dealing with organizational change. Since the employees are left to their own devices and their doubts, questions or concerns are not adequately addressed, employees will come up with their own conclusions. The perceptual process is complex and there are many cultural, personal, and physiological factors that affect how a person perceives, processes and in terpret any given information (Hodges). In order to manage organizational change successfully managers must learn to understand the perceptual process, the stages involved, and the impact of employee perceptions. By understanding the perception process managers are better able to implement the necessary operational and cultural changes while minimizing barriers to change. An important concept for management to understand is the concept of attribution theory and how it impacts employee’s perceptions.

Sales management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sales management - Case Study Example We have invested heavily in the sales force training by partitioning the program into two sections i.e. the individual training via the podcasts and the group training at regional level. However, this motivation program has failed terribly when it comes to establishing the effectiveness of the podcasts and the staff in general. Also, in line with failing to establish the effectiveness, the podcasts are extremely high hence paralyzing our dreams of profit making. I’m humbly submitting that the budget to this current motivation program be revised to ensure maximization of our productivity lines. Our staff ought to be motivated in order to increase on their productivity. The costs of funding the program as indicated above will be generated from the returns that will accrue from our service delivery which we as a company are guaranteed. For effectiveness and efficiency, the proposed motivation program will be subjected to a series of evaluation schemes that will work on the motivation program’s productivity. Any constraints will be fixed on the early stages to avoid failure. This new proposed motivation program does not in any way intend to change the previous program but its main aim is to improve on the productivity of our service men. I would like to inform you that Sales Action Software will soon be making history through our new proposed motivation program that will generally work on the productivity of our workers and the company as a

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

NIKE Co Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

NIKE Co - Research Paper Example They gain a better work-related understanding of their own behavior and that of others hence, motivate, influence, and to succeed. Nike Company is dynamic in that it obtains raw materials from the environment and processes them into finished goods or services that are returned as outputs to the environment. From finished goods and services, Customers create a continuing demand of Nike Company products resulting to a circle known as a value chain (Nelson, Debra & James 25). How Nike Company Functions Organizational structure of Nike Company is centered in managers and their team leaders who foresee efficient running of the company. Their nature of managerial work revolves around planning, organizing, leading and controlling. They execute informational, interpersonal and decisional roles. Informational roles is whereby a manager exchanges and processes information through team leaders and also liaise with the employees in decision making for the betterment of the company. Effective man agers must integrate technical, human and conceptual skills. As well they must be sensitive to workforce dynamics while consistently adapting to their environment and understand broad applications of technology, focus on quality and customer service. In Nike Company, emphasis on managing emotions both personally and in relationships with others, is considered an important leadership competency since a manager’s emotional intelligence contributes significantly to their leadership effectiveness (Nelson et al. 30-5). Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and deal with emotions such as self-regulation, relationship management and self-awareness. Positive organizational cultures in this Company tap the talents, ideas of employees, and their potential creativity. Therefore it makes the organization a better employer and helps it to effectively compete more in the job market. Diversity programs in Nike Company includes; emphasis on recruitment, selection, and retention of potential employees who provide a basis for more effective job satisfaction and productivity. In order to accomplish the diversity management in Nike Company, all levels of management in the company must be committed across all functions of the organization in order to get the best from the company. Diversity therefore, promotes creativity and innovation, social responsibility, reduced legal noncompliance costs and appreciating differences /value of inclusion. The mission statement of Nike Company describes and helps focus on the attention on the company’s core purpose, vision and future aspiration in a way that inspires commitment, innovation, emotion, and courage (Nelson et al. 45-6). Attitudes and Job Satisfaction in Nike Company Attitudes play an important role in employees work output in Nike Company. Managers should therefore be interested in their employees’ attitudes since attitudes give warnings of potential problems and influence behavior. If managers in Nike Company can improve employee attitudes, it will likely result in heightened growth of the company’s effectiveness. The key managerial goal in Nike Company is the employee’s job satisfaction. This is assessed through managerial observation and interpretation of employee’s attitudes and behavior by use of job satisfaction interviews and administering of

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Womens Attitudes towards Online Shopping Dissertation

Womens Attitudes towards Online Shopping - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that women are traditionally responsible for household shopping. And according to several studies, shopping is a task more preferred by women and they express more favourable attitudes towards catalogue shopping and ‘brick-and-mortar’ store than men. Nevertheless, the innovative shopping medium presented by the Internet has been discovered to lead to an unusual, if not reverse, buying behaviour between women and men. Even though some studies have discovered that there is no significant disparity between non-shoppers and online shoppers as regards to gender, males were discovered to buy more online than females. According to Alreck and Settle, the attitudes of men towards online shopping were roughly similar to or even more positive than females’ perceptions. The Internet was previously designed mostly for men and for a purposeful assessment intended for the product information and price comparison. In the recent decades online shopping has tur ned out to be more pleasant, with customer evaluations and testimonials and a richer array of products/services and online experience. This development has encouraged women, as well. Furthermore, it appears that most people no longer find any considerable shortcomings of online shopping. A decade ago people were in the habit of worrying about the safety or trustworthiness of making payments online and the guarantee of delivery. These issues are no longer a problem today, with innovative means like secure online money transfers and a record of encouraging experiences (Park & Stoel 2002). As stated by Khosrowpour (2004), the progress of online shopping is distinguished by the finding that people have been allotting much more time for online activities since 1998. In general, there are dissimilarities between the buying behaviour of men and women. Women would prefer, more than men, to look for relevant information on products/services and to be encouraged; this is the same behaviour ob served in traditional shopping. Men would prefer to decide quickly. It is the shopping

Monday, September 23, 2019

A Critique of Sir Anthony Hopkins's Oscar winning performance of Essay

A Critique of Sir Anthony Hopkins's Oscar winning performance of Hannibal Lecter in 'The Silence of The Lambs' - Essay Example 3 Hannibal was by all accounts an evil, savage, cannibal and serial killer and yet he became an enthralling, and often sympathetic character.4 The fact that a psychiatrist who murders and then eats his patients could become such a captivating character is puzzling.When Hopkins meets the FBI agent for the first time,I could not help thinking that he while he seemed to be toying with her,he had some degree of respect and suspicion in his interaction with her and Hopkins gave these impressions through body language and inflection.At one point he winked at her as if to share a private joke and at another point,he smiled at her,giving the impression that he had normal feelings.In my opinion, Hopkins brought a very complex character to life in a realistic and convincing way.Lecter was â€Å"psychopathic personality evidenced by his superficial charm,manipulativeness and lack of remorse of empathy for the victims†.For example, when the agent interviewing Lecter mentioned that serial killers usually kept a relic of their victims, Lecter interjected, â€Å"I didn’t† in a matter of fact way. ... After all, Lecter was previously portrayed by actor Brian Cross and introduced him to the screen, it was Hopkins’ Lecter that made the greatest impression and immortalized him.7 Hannibal Lecter was a brutal cannibal and there was nothing sympathetic about the character and it was not intended that Lecter was sympathetic. Lecter is â€Å"revoltingly evil, a characterization brought chillingly to life for millions by Anthony Hopkins† in Silence of the Lamb.8 For example when discussing the murder of a former patient, Lecter denies killing his patient but states without emotion that it was best for him â€Å"as his therapy was going nowhere anyway†. However, Barr explains that Hopkins was brilliant in how he chose to play Lecter.9 Hopkins portrayed an ordinary man who did extraordinary deeds and came across as a man you would not run away from if you happened to come across him on the streets. I observed this in his demeanour as he urged the FBI agent in training to show her credentials and when she did, he urged her to come closer, as if he did not think she should fear a man like him. In other words, Hopkins played Lecter as though, Lecter thought of himself as normal and this brought both sympathy to the character and made him likable and evil all at the same time. One acting technique that Hopkins brought to the character of Lecter was his refusal to judge the character. As Hopkins himself said: †¦As an actor, I can’t judge because moral judgement gets in the way of the characterization. If you start doing that, you end up playing the character like a zombie or a vauderville villain.10 In other words, Hopkins took and inside-out approach to his portrayal of Lecter. He portrayed the character by

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Concepts Of Equaltiy Diversity And Rights Essay Example for Free

Concepts Of Equaltiy Diversity And Rights Essay Equality: Equality has been established to ensure that everyone has the right to equal opportunities, equal rights in work environment or in general and therefore classed as important focused and organizations take it really seriously as they have to ensure that every individual employee are entitled to same choices, opportunities and are treated equally. There are various types of equality such as the racial equality act, gender equality act, women’s equality act, Marriage equality and many more however the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act. The equality of act in health and social care setting came into force on 1 October 2010. Whenever an individual need health care or medical treatment or when an elderly or an individual with mental problems who are being cared for in nursing homes, care in day Centre and such, they have the right not to be discriminated against because of their race, gender, gender identity, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation. Diversity: is to understand that every individual is unique and recognize individual’s difference, therefore respected and valued in community or in the workforce. We live in an increasingly diverse society and need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to this diversity. In the healthcare setting, workers will reflect this diversity around gender, race and ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, class and age. Rights Every individual is entitled to basic human rights and in turn they have to able to and if not learn to respect other’s human rights. Right to life nobody even the government can try to end an individual’s life. This also means that an individual has the right to be protected if their life is at risk. The human rights act also prohibits the death penalty in UK. The courts have held that the right of life however don’t include right to take your own life. The right to life is absolute however it does not always apply in certa in situation. A person’s right to life is not breached if they die when a public authority (such as the police) uses necessary force to: †¢stop them carrying out unlawful violence †¢make a lawful arrest †¢stop them escaping lawful detainment Of course, even in these circumstances, death would be avoided wherever possible, and the force used must be absolutely necessary and strictly  balanced. According to law, Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be disadvantaged of his/ her lives intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his/her conviction of a crime for which the penalty is provided by law. In health and social care setting career or anyone has to be able to respect other’s human rights. Right to liberty every individual has the right to their personal freedom. The government cannot take away an individual’s freedom by detaining them without any good reason even if it’s just for short period of time. Importantly, the Human Rights Act provides that if an individual is arrested, they have the right to: †¢Why an individual have been arrested and what charges they face, would be told in a language they would understand. †¢Be taken to court punctually. †¢Have a trial within a reasonable time. †¢If an individual is confident enough than Go to court to challenge their detention if they think it is unlawful. In health and social care setting worker/career, every patient is entitled to right of their personal freedom therefore they have the right to equal required health care services needed as everyone else within the care setting. Discrimination is unlawful within Britain. Law protects you from discrimination at situation like these †¢At work. †¢As a consumer †¢When using public services. However there are two types of discrimination overt discrimination and covert discrimination. Overt discrimination is when a colleague of an individual is paid more because of their gender even though they both are doing the same job with the same qualification, there should be no differences at all. Unfortunately sometimes it does still takes place and that individual have to be aware and make sure that it is sorted out. Covert discrimination is opposite to overt, this is more complicated to demonstrate as it is hidden. For example it is when an individual is applying for a job with the same qualifications and experience as other applicants, someone between those two might not get picked because of their skin color or their sexuality or their ethnicity. It still does take place but the only thing is hard to  demonstrate as it is hidden. An individual has to be aware of covert discrimination against people using health and social care services. Stereotyping is dangerous and common with the children, which they tend to pick up from the adults. The most common types of stereotypes are that All overweight people are too lazy to get anything done All homeless people do not want to work. The Williams and Best gender study from 1992 found that within 30 different countries, males were typically characterized as adventurous, powerful, domineering and independent. Females, on the other hand, were characterized as sentimental, submissive and superstitious, however slowly the society has been making transition away from the stereotyping. Prejudice is when someone makes and judgment about someone without really knowing the facts. Sub culture is a culture is a culture with its own distinctive norms and values for example chav, Emo, Goth etc. people might judge them and stereotype them without knowing, some people see Goth as dark inside, dark thoughts and heavy makeup, but who are they to know assume that, because in fact they are only seeing them visually, if they actually approach them and talk they might not be what they think they are at all. In the health and social care profession an individual may still have these thoughts not just health and social care settings but everywhere however they have to be careful of how they see and treats others which will make an impact in their work. If individual lets prejudices interfere them with their work in health and social care the person will not be treated fairly.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Strengths And The Weaknesses Of The Companys Approach Marketing Essay

Strengths And The Weaknesses Of The Companys Approach Marketing Essay The emergence of environmental awareness has necessitated businesses to change their practices with regards to environmental issues. Businesses have adopted different strategies to comply with government policies and to maintain market share. Wm Morrison started life in 1899 as an egg and butter merchant and has grown to become the UKs fourth largest supermarket chain. Morrisons corporate responsibility reports identify improvements in Morrisons environmental strategy in terms of reducing their overall impact on the environment; however, several targets have not been met, leading us to question the companys efforts in implementing changes. Morrisons is influenced by stakeholders who influence the policies implemented by businesses. RECOMMENDATION. The United Kingdom was late to effect environmental legislation, only bringing in its Environmental Protection Act in 1990, thus suggesting why policies may not be completely implemented across businesses (BGM.) Corporate environmental management will increasingly be seen as an incentive of doing business (cem.) In recent years there has been a progressive change in the production and consumption of food products in terms of sourcing products from local sources or abroad. Approximately  £70 billion pounds is spent on the food market with roughly 80% going to supermarkets, Morrisons market share of this has fallen to 11.8% from 12.2% over the past year. Morrisons once an independent small high street shop expanded to become a national corporation and subsequently impacting the environment at local, national and global levels. Morrisons use the phrase Different and Better than Ever in order to signal to customers that they are offering something unique in the competitive market; therefore much competition is dependent upon price. The implementation of corporate social responsibility can be used not only to attract ethical customers but attempt to differentiate and develop a unique selling point. Morrisons is a Public Liability Company therefore aims is to maximize shareholder wealth however; the needs of other stakeholders, customers, suppliers and governments must also be considered. Integrating the companies vision to be the food specialist for everyone, Morrisons environmental goals include taking care of the planet mainly focusing upon climate change, waste and sustainability which address the growing interest in the environment (cem.) Morrisons have improved the energy efficiency of stores, limited carbon emissions in the distribution process, reduced packaging and sourced products locally from sustainable sources. The company has invested heavily in its distribution, IT and logistics and now owns its own supply chain, manufacturing site and Market Street. The in-house structure ensures processes have little impact upon the environment, by reducing transportation costs if ownership is in close geographic proximity. Negatively vertical integration can potentially lead to higher costs due to low efficiencies resulting from lack of supplier competition. Morrisons 2011 Corporate Responsibility review highlighted almost 35,000 tonnes of waste was sent to landfill in 2010/11 and their carbon footprint in 2010 was, 1,417,376 tonnes CO2e. In comparison to 2005, recycling increased by 72% and there was a 12% reduction in Morrisons carbon footprint. Cleaner fridge cooling systems in stores resulted in a 40% reduction in refrigeration gas emissions. Morrisons aim to reduce carbon used by stores, offices, food manufacturing, packing facilities and distribution centres. Morrisons are successfully reducing their environmental impact and aim to reduce operational emissions by 30% by 2020. All of these strategies will positively influence the environment. Morrisons 2007 Corporate Responsibility review stated by 2010 there would be a 10% increase in renewable usage, a 15% reduction in water and a 36% reduction in their carbon foot print. All of these targets have not being achieved by the supermarket and the achieve by date has been extended. This illustrates poor implementation of policies and targets across the company. Compared to other supermarket chains Morrisons is not highly rated for producing, implementing and achieving environmental targets. Although Morrisons say they are improving their environmental strategy by making more of a conscious effort into achieving goals, these results identify that plans and targets may not be taken as seriously as necessary. Although Morrisons state they are reducing the environmental impact on products produced through their own manufacturing sites, other suppliers and their impact upon the environment are not mentioned. Thus indicating little or no effort is being made in terms of reducing all manufacturing sites to improve their impact on the environment. The impact of unmonitored suppliers will negatively influence the environment. It can be questioned whether Morrisons practices are markedly different than other companies in regards to improving their impact upon the environment. The production, packaging and distribution of food products impacts negatively upon the environment increasing the atmospheric pollution and its direct costs on human health, damage to crops and causing deaths to animals. On average packaging makes up nearly a quarter of household waste and 70% of that is food related. As climate change becomes an increasing concern, major supermarkets have seen the opportunity to improve their reputations with high-profile green initiatives. Morrisons have used the reduce, reuse or recycle mantra to urge consumers to use alternatives to plastic bags. Government reports have encouraged the change in everyday habits so environmental concerns are at the forefront of consumers minds. Supermarkets have adopted this strategy by promoting the bag for life, Morrisons have invested in using recycled material and have increased the durability, allowing them to be reused. Policies are likely to be further integrated in the future (cem.) For example, the Welsh government imposed a ban on free carrier bags in supermarkets, thus positively implementing strategies for the better of the environment. Morrisons sends large amounts of waste to landfill, but now they have set their target to send zero waste to landfill by 2013. This would be a positive strategy to improving their impacts towards the environment. Landfills can affect human health with cancers and respiratory illnesses. Morrisons supply directs to its stored through twelve distributing facilities and using its own fleet which works around the clock to deliver fresh foods. Although Morrisons say they are improving their distribution facilities, it is questionable whether their management of collecting products from suppliers is in fact environmentally friendly. Morrisons target is to improve the customers experience and they achieve this by providing fresh produce daily however; this negatively impacts the environment as some air pollutants and particulate matter can be deposited in waters and soils where they enter the food chain; consequently impacting animals health. 35% of Britons live fifteen and more minutes away from the closest Morrisons shop, this therefore increases the amount of traffic on the road, resulting in harmful gases being emitted into the environment directly affecting human health, damage to buildings and crop production (BGM.) Morrisons state they provide local people with jobs however; recruiting staff from remote areas or from a large distance from stores will negatively influencing the environment as increased transport is needed. Morrisons business ethics have become a higher priority as peoples actions and opinions have changed with an increased concern for the environment. Implementing an environmental action plan strengthens Morrisons public relations enticing customers and investors. For example, Morrisons pride themselves on providing locally grown produce from sustainable resources alongside 100% British meat and milk. The ownership of production helps secure continuity in the supply chain. Research identified ethical spending and investment has increased dramatically as customers are more willing to pay higher prices for ethical produce. Ethical behaviour adds value, alongside giving the company a competitive advantage. Consumers also want retailers to provide them with environmentally friendly products that are convenient and affordable. The growing importance of environmentally friendly products allows retailers to exploit the opportunity to satisfy customer needs and positively impact the environment (Bgm.) Other strategies adopted by Morrisons were to alter the buying habits of consumers such as providing more information about the origin of products and promoting local food products (cem.) Shoppers like to purchase green food and as people are becoming more aware about waste and environmental matters, the ethically friendly image of companies is welcome by consumers (BGM.) As a result of consumer awareness, government policies and changing technologies Morrisons have adapted their environmental strategy to incorporate these factors. Morrisons has spent thousands of pounds enhancing their companies technology in order to decrease their environmental output. Positively technology can help develop and produce new materials and technologies that are sustainable and do not harm the environment. Retailers are proclaiming their commitment to, and achievements in, sustainability. The satisfaction of customer needs with regards to sustainability allows Morrisons to develop a good brand image and retain customers. Morrisons was the first supermarket to be awarded the Carbon Trust Standard highlighting there are successfully increasing their energy awareness through improving technology and their vertically integrated business model. Environmental management looks at the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. Morrisons have used energy monitoring equipment to identify consumption trends in its stores and factories, looking for ways both to save money and to improve their impact upon the environment. Several of the environmental strategies used have positively reduced the impact upon the environment, for example altering a new lighting control system in stores has reduced electricity consumption by approximately 66%. Also, replacing HCFs with HFCs has improved the refrigeration system, alongside answering to governmental policies. Discussions about environmental strategy have increased substantially over the last years, influencing business reactions. Alongside this, Morrisons is influenced by government policy and consumer pressure groups meaning they are likely to ensure that firms which do not take action on the environmental front will lose market share (cem.) Morrisons state they are committed to improving the environment and have reporting structures in place, such as the corporate responsibility review, to demonstrate their targets to improving their business in regards to the environment. Another reasons as to why environmental management is implemented within Morrisons is to provide assurance to stakeholders regarding compliance to environmental regulations. The use of environmental management strategies enables us to be reassured that resources and necessary amenities humans need to function are available for future generations. Environmental management increases the value of the company as investors are more likely to invest if the company is seen to be answering governmental policies. Also the company are a competitive advantage and is a potential source of productivity improvement. Environmental considerations are likely to form an integral part of commercial normality and indeed competitive in the future (cem.) Weakness in regards to Morrisons environmental management can include the extension of achieve by dates, this negatively reinforces a wrong image about the company, consequently leading to market shares depleting. The collection and distribution of goods, impacts the environment negatively in regards to inefficient strategies. Morrisons do not have an online market for groceries, this both decreases the convenience of shopping which other supermarkets offer but also the amount of pollution is not saved when people are traveling to the stores. Implementing in an online business would improve their environmental management. Delivery vans could deliver services with a decreased amount of environmental impact. Although Morrisons are seen to be heading in the right direction, regarding acting green, they stop at dramatically changing their business overall. Stopping the use of plastic bags or stocking only in season fruit and vegetables could impact upon the choice and convenience of consumers; however this would improve its environmental performance. Rather than producing environmental policy aims, it would be better to see whether Morrisons could act to save the environment rather than just pleasing the customer. Another recommendation regard how Morrisons could exploit additional opportunities to improve its environmental performance is to improve their policy on renewable sources of energy. Currently Morrisons have only produced a report how renewable energy can improve savings in regards to dairy farming.

Friday, September 20, 2019

External Macro Environment Factors

External Macro Environment Factors Human Resource Management (HRM) according to Boxall and Purcell (2003:1) are the actions which involve the management of employment relationships in the firm. The modern world of business is changing rapidly in its attempt to gain and maintain a competitive edge. Business is operating in an environment affected by macro environmental factors ranging from Technology to Legislation and Globalization. These factors and many others are causing business to re-evaluate itself, both internally as well as externally. Structures are becoming flatter and decentralization is taking place as organizations attempt to remain competitive, survive and grow. The macro environment which is the main concern in this essay, are factors like political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environment (PESTLE) that can influence an organisation but are out of the organisations control. It is very important for HR practitioners to monitor the external macro environment since it can great ly make or unmake their businesses. This can be seen on the social changes technological advancement on workforce and HR policies in the last 10 years. In this essay, an elaborated definition of the external macro environment is well explained. Also, explanations of why it is necessary for HR practitioners to monitor the external macro environment , with reference to relevant academic theory is done. Also an illustration of how technological advancement and social change has affected the workforce and HR policies in the last 10 years is detailed out. The essay is then Concluded and bibliography cited as well. The marketing environment surrounds and impact activities carried out in the organisation. There are three key perspective on the marketing environment which involves the internal environment, the micro environment and the macro environment as shown on the diagram below. There are three key perspective on the business environment which involves the internal environment, the micro environment and the macro environment according to Kotler et al (2009). The micro environment influence the organisation directly and it includes the consumers, customers, suppliers, new entrants and competitors. All factors like men, money, machines, materials and market that are internal to the organisation are known as the internal environment. The external macro environment involves all those factors ranging from the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environment also known as the (PESTLE factor) that affects the organisation uncontrollably, influences the organisations decisions and affects its performance and strategies. These macro factors are continually changing and the company has to be flexible enough to adapt to it. Looking at the political factors affecting a business, it involves factors like initiatives, grants and funding offered by the government, wars, government relationships with other countries, taxation policies, the goods and services the government produces, the health of the nation and the quality of the infrastructure of the economy such as the road and rail system. As such the degree of government intervention in the economy will affect companies operating in it. Thus the political atmosphere of a country should be checked before the establishment of a business. Economic factors includes interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation, loan access, unemployment, government spending consumer spending and exchange rates that affects the organisation. Using the economic factors to analyse a business scenario, a higher interest rates may deter investment because it costs more to borrow. Also, inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs. Also, a higher national income growth may boost demand for a firms products.   Social factors involves religious differences, ethics, lifestyle of the people, demographic changes, education and culture.  For example, changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firms products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff are living longer. Technological factors involves the amount of research funding in the country, consumer purchasing power, technological advancement/ innovation, intellectual property and copy right infringement. For example Bar coding, online shopping, and new computer designs are all new technological development in the way companies do business due to the advancement in technology. Environmental factors involves a countries weather and climate change, the level of pollution, recycling considerations, legislative changes both current and future. Climatic changes can affect companies in the country. With the changes of global climates experienced today due to global warming, firms make this external factor a significant issue of considerations when expanding their businesses internationally Legal factors are factors like  safety, competition, health, future legislation, trading policies and regulatory bodies which relates to the legal environment in which firms operate. In recent years in the UK for example, there has been many significant legal changes that have affected firms behaviour like in areas like age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation and wages. HR practitioners have to carry out a PESTLE scan of the macro environment where the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental aspects of the business would be scanned properly. This is done in order to caution the HR practitioners on how changes in their external macro environment will impact the organisations activities. The external analysis of the macro environment has both micro and macro focus. At the level of the micro trend, HR practitioners should monitor suppliers, the strength of their competitors, labour supplies and the demographic population. At the level of the macro trend, HR practitioners should monitor the market forecast, technological trends, labour market forecast and trends in public sector employment and political atmosphere of the country. Also, the reason why HR practitioners scan the macro environment is to identify and analyse possible opportunities and threats of the industry as a whole that are outside the control of the industry using the opportunity and threat analysis (SWOT) analysis. The opportunities identifies the environmental characteristics that can help the organisation succeed and the threats identifies environmental characteristics that can prevents the organisation from being successful. As such, with the opportunity and threat analysis, HR practitioners are able to develop a corporate, business and functional level strategy. With the corporate level strategy, the organisation lays a plan action to manage the growth and development of the firm hence profit maximisation in the long run. With the business level strategy, the organisations find ways to counters its threats so as to compete effectively and with the functional level strategy, the HR practitioners establish a plan of action to improve its d epartments so as to create value. All these increases profits and the survival of the organisation. In addition, monitoring the external macro environment will assist the HR practitioner on how to recruit, retain, and develop the workforce they need. As such, HR practitioners are able to carry out their four main functions which are; the acquisition function, development function, motivation function and maintenance function. As such knowing the PESTLE environment will assist them to understand the policies, salaries, culture, educational levels of the potential employees in the country they operate. Once a sound external analysis is conducted, it can be reviewed and updated as part of the planning cycle to identify any significant changes in the environment. Also, looking at the social trends, HR practitioner monitor the external environment in order to know more about the culture of its employees. Trompenaars and Turner (1997) defines culture as the way in which a group of people live, solves problem and reconcile dilemmas. He also postulated seven dimension of culture that relates to relationships with people and their working environment. Also, Arnold et al cited in Handy (1986) pointing out that A strong culture makes a strong organisation and not all culture suits all purposes or people. As such it is necessary for HR practitioners to study their external environment so as to blend the organisations culture with that of its employees in order to create a good working atmosphere in the organisation. Thus resolving cultural differences will bring in team work and group cohesiveness. Furthermore, according to Devanna et al (1984), scanning the external environment assist HR practitioners to fit their HRM policies, practices and strategies in its competitive environment with the immediate business conditions that it faces as shown on the diagram below. The Matching model. As such, informations from the external environment assist HR practitioners to establish a proper mission and strategy, organisational structure and also enables human resource management policies to be used in their organisations based in different countries. The external environment has a major impact on the companies activities and decisions. More often than not, these forces are beyond the control of an organization and its managers. Though non-controllable, these forces require a response in order to keep positive actions with the targeted markets. Thus HR practitioners scan their external environment so that they can respond profitably to unmet needs and trends in the targeted markets. Linked to the above, accordingly, the factors of the environment will need to be considered as inputs in the planning and forecasting models developed by an organization.  Disturbances in the environment may spell profound threats or new opportunities thus the supervision helps HR practitioners to monitor and adapt to the environment if it is to survive and prosper. They thus identify, evaluate and react to the forces triggered by the external environment so as to make profits and survive in the long run. Furthermore, the knowledge gotten from the scanning of the external environment by HR practitioners assist them in gathering informations based on both government and private laws affecting the industry. Laws like rigid government laws in some countries that might affect their investments where by business may be doomed to be non starters due to business restrictions imposed by the government are determined before establishing a business. Also, cost of recruitment and standards in different from one country to another. More so, the availability of key inputs like trained managers, skilled labour, raw material are all impacted by the external environment. As such, monitoring the external environment enables HR practitioners to gather necessary informations which can affect their businesses. Until about twenty years ago, the world of work was an unfortunate place. Change of all kind was slow and non existence. Products had long life cycle, organisations were characterised by long control/ universally applied rule and technological innovations and inventions were pretty slow. In the last ten years technological advancement and social change has affected the workforce and HR policies. Looking at the way technological advancement has affected the workforce, in the past ten years, technological advancement has made globalisation possible amongst employees. Technological innovations in areas like learning and development, telecommunications, computers, satellite system have made it possible for information and innovation to rapidly cross national boundaries in between employees. More so, with technological advancement and the advent of new machines, there has been division of labour within employees hence creating higher quality products, just in time delivery and greater customization of products. In addition, Robinson (2006) pointed out that, within the past ten years in Britain for example, the amount of people employed in the manufacturing sector reduced by a half. Also there has been a decline in skilled and semi skilled manual jobs due to the rise in the creation of machines. The workforce nowadays is highly segmented and job length vary between the skilled and semi skilled jobs. Technological advancement has also affected HR policies in that Decades ago, HR management was autocratic in nature, employee made no decisions in the organisation. Organisational culture was hostile and employees didnt care about career advancement/ promotion opportunities since they were satisfied with their jobs. But in the past ten years, technological advancement has caused the establishment of new policies in order to work hand in hand with the growth. There has been a radical organisational restructuring programmes evidenced in de-layering, downsizing and decentralized. Also, with the advent of technology, HR practitioners keep restructuring new policies in terms of employing on a permanent basis and also offering career advancements in the form of training, development and promotion to employees as pointed out by Robinson (2006). Social change has affected workforce in that, in the past, men were employed most in organisation due to the increasing use of manual labour and physical power. But within the last ten years, there has been a steady increase in the participation of women in the labour force. Robinson (2006) analysed that there has been a rising level of divorce and single parents has lead to the provision of social welfare, health and educational services by HR practitioners. Social change has also affected HR policies in that, organisation in the past faced difficulties of dealing with cultural differences. Going international was very difficult due to the cultural barriers and differences. Within the past ten years, cultural policies have been instituted in order to deal with cultural conflicts in organisations. Organisations find it very easy to go international due to laid down policies, training and care giving to their expatriate employees. Also, HR policies have been adapted to satisfy consumers as customers have greater choice and power to influence purchase Boxall and Purcell (2003). As such, employees receive training in aspects like offering better customer care and services to consumers. All these has lead to increase profitability and survival of organisations. The external Macro environment also Known as the PESTLE environment consists of trends and forces which might not instantly influence the relations that a company has with its clients, suppliers and mediators, but afterward, macro-environmental changes will modify the nature of these relations. As explained above, it is very necessary for HR practitioners to monitor these macro external factors so as to foresee and manage any future impact it might have on the companies activities. Also, looking at the changes in technology and social change on workforce and HR policies in the past ten years, HR practitioners have adapted themselves to this changes by implementing new policies, strategies, rule and regulations to adapt their businesses to these uncontrollable factors.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Anna Quindlen Essay -- essays research papers

Rhetorical Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anna Quindlen describes in the essay â€Å"Abortion is too Complex to Feel one Way About† the different situation that we as a human race are put in everyday. She talks about the topic of abortion in a way that one feels they have had to make the decision of whether or not a person is pro-choice or pro-life. She uses references that are of different personal experiences in the essay that are vital to the audience. Quindlen is writing to state her point that one should never put their self in this situation because one should take the proper responsibility. In this paper you will read about the conflict with abortion and what Quindlen thinks about this issue. The author presents an interesting outlook on a volatile issue that has plagued or country for years. She appears to be voicing her opinion in an effort to bring reason and clarity to a confusing and emotional topic. To do this Quindlen uses personal experiences along with practical real life experiences. By using these different types of strategies Quindlen is able to achieve a greater influence over her audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The primary purpose portrayed through Quindlen’s writing is the complete and all-encompassing celebration of life. Quindlen is not supporting or denying a women’s right to choose whether or not she should have an abortion. Here we find a sole voice crying out to the masses. Those who have not been placed in such a predicament and are confronted with someone who has seen or experienced both sides of the issue and is seemingly trying to encourage these young people to think wisely about the main issue that is being confronted. Her primary purpose is proven to be true because of the strategies that she uses. Quindlen uses different strategies in her essay to try and persuade her audience. She uses her voice indirectly rather than directly when talking about the personal experience of abortion. At the beginning of the essay she talks about how she was a counselor in a college dormitory. And she says â€Å"it was always the look on their faces that told me first†(627). She has had so many girls come talk to her about the decision that they do not even have to say anything to her any more. With Quindlen being a freshman guidance counselor and witnessing what these girls are experiencing says this causes her to become pro-choic... ...e essay she says â€Å"but I don’t feel all one way about abortion anymore, and I don’t think it serves a just cause to pretend that many of us do†(629). This quote lets the reader identify with it being okay to feel conflicted about abortion. It seems that often people feel they have to choose sides in the abortion debate. However, Quindlen allows her audience to find comfort and acceptance and not really knowing what they would do if ever faced with this decision. She uses a balance of real life examples that she has experienced and witnessed. Most of her examples touch the reader deep down inside so that they are left feeling as if they were a fly on the wall when these things were going on. At the end of the day where has Quindlen left the issue? She leaves it seemingly where it should stay†¦in the heart of those affected by it. This is a personal issue that needs to be taken seriously according to Quindlen. After having lived through many different sides of this issue she appears to still have no one side that she is partial to. She is celebrating life however she shows great empathy and compassion for all who may make a decision to not go ahead with bringing a life into the world.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Rise of Reggae and the influence of Toots and the Maytals. :: Essays Papers

The Rise of Reggae and the influence of Toots and the Maytals. Reggae music is one of the world’s few living folk music’s. It has remained incredibly popular and spontaneously generated by people’s experiences, emotions and traditions. Since it’s birth reggae music has been Jamaica’s emotional outlet, to express thoughts and feelings about life, love and religion. These popular sounds have been created without the interference of outside multinational markets, press agents and spin doctors. Reggae music is created with incredible amounts of soul and pride. It is more than just music, it is a way of life for those who live in Jamaica and many others around the world. Reggae music is soulful entertainment in Jamaica today, it’s a powerful social force that represents the pressures of everyday life putting them into words that describe, reveal and persuade the people that listen to its powerful messages. The music originated from confrontation and struggle, it’s based on freedom and never giving up. Politicians have been know to use reggae music as the central part of their campaigns. Prime Ministers have had songwriters create songs for their political campaigns, knowing full well that this music can easily bring crowds of people together, while uniting a country, and political party at the same time. The music of Jamaica began five centuries ago, when Columbus colonized the land of the Arawak Indians. This dates the start of oppression by first the Spanish and then the English in this area of the Caribbean. Blacks were brought in as slaves by the English, and although Jamaica has had it's independence since 1963, the tension of authority and control still reigns. Jamaica is a story of injustice, international influence, ineffective governing, and unequal distribution of wealth; all of these elements provide a solid base for the theme of oppression and the need for a revolution and redemption in Jamaican music. Reggae in particular reflects these injustices, and the feelings, needs and desires to change the lifestyle that Jamaicans have historically lived. Reggae music has two meanings. It’s generic name for all Jamaican popular music since 1960 (West Indian style of music with a strongly accented subsidiary beat, according to the Oxford dictionary) Reggae can also refer to the particular beat that was extremely popular in Jamaica from around 1969 to 1983. Jamaican music can be divided into four areas that carry their own distinctive beat.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Gender Stereotypes in Films Essay

Erwin Goffman (1959) in â€Å"The Presentation of Self,† asserts that â€Å"when an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before him. † That is, individuals tend to behave according to the accepted norms and behaviors of the culture or society they are a part of, and in turn reinforce and reproduce these set of norms and behavior by acting according to them. Accordingly, each individual actually â€Å"believe that the character he or she sees in him/herself or in another person actually posses the attributes that he or she appears to posses† (Goffman 1959) which is how individual and collective identities are formed. Likewise, symbolic interactionism, espoused by Herbert Blumer(1969), asserts that â€Å"human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things,† wherein â€Å"the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society. † Thus, society is able to create, enforce, and reinforce gender segregation through the construction of a set of standards that define what femininity or masculinity is within a particular culture which is propagated and learned through social interaction of individuals. Unfortunately, the norms and codes for accepted behavior are mediated upon not only by the individual and the society he or she is a part of, but also by issues of power and control over the instruments of cultural production and reproduction such as the mass media. The mass media as a powerful vehicle of prevailing attitudes and norms therefore plays a tremendous role not only in the propagation of value systems but also in the creation and maintenance of oppressive and disempowering standards. An examination of gender stereotyping in the mass media, particularly in film, would reveal that the media perpetuates and continues to reinforce sexist beliefs on men and women’s experiences of romantic love and sexual desire. This is shown in the portrayal of women in music videos, where the identities of women are portrayed either as damsels in distress or sex kittens—in both ways pining and waiting for the male’s sexual desire. Some songs even carry outright masochistic tendencies, such as Shaggy’s â€Å"Hey, Sexy Lady† video which portray women as deserving of, or even asking for, undue sexual attention or violence from the male by objectifying their bodies for men’s sexual purposes. Even in songs that purportedly carry empowering messages for women, the female is still rendered subject to the loneliness and despair of looking for Mr. Right despite the illusion of giving the character the freedom to choose her partner, as illustrated in Leann Rime’s video â€Å"Something’s Gotta Give† or â€Å"Can’t Fight the Moonlight. † In the latter video, women’s hapiness is shown to be largely dependent not on herself but on the attention of the male population. On the other hand, men continue to be depicted in the media as the stronger sex, often shown as the virile and aggressive sexual animal, the predator on the prowl for his prey in contrast to the more subdued dating expectations of women. This is shown in Shaggy’s video, â€Å"It Wasn’t Me† which show graphic sexual scenes of the male character cheating on his girlfriend, which insinuates that infidelity is alright for men if they don’t get caught and perpetuates the notion that men are made macho by their promiscuity. Thus, it comes without surprise that despite the rise of feminist and gender theory, gender stereotyping remains pervasive as ever. This is due in part to the fact that stereotypical gender roles have become deeply ingrained within and to a large extent, have been established as a norm, in today’s modern culture and in part to the continuing enforcement and reinforcement of these stereotypes by the mass media, which clearly validate Goffman’s theory on identity formation as well as Blumer’s theory of how individuals only interpret things and actions from the perpective of the culture they are in . As Goffman observes, individuals are shaped not only by the impressions they create for others but also by the impressions and meanings that others create and at the same time prescribe for them. Through the images of women portrayed by the media, young girls are led to believe that they should learn to present themselves in exactly the same way as the socially contructed image of women: beautifully made-up, submissive, and often desperate for the attention of men. On the other hand, the media also mirrors and at the same time prescribes its ideas and concepts of what should constitute maleness: dominance, power, virility, and aggressive sexual desire . Music Video Links: Rimes, Leann. â€Å"Can’t Fight the Moonlight. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=YO_7XLdtaI8 Rimes, Leann. â€Å"Something’s Gotta Give. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=_tgf7MpQ0c4 Shaggy. â€Å"It Wasn’t Me. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=cQ4axo9rmJY Shaggy. â€Å"Sexy Lady. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=PG2h0NgJN9s&feature=related

Monday, September 16, 2019

Assignment Mulally Essay

Assignment # 3 – ‘’ Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor company â€Å" Leadership and organizational behavior- BUS 520 Abstract Leadership is guiding people towards productive results to achieve the goals of the organization. An effective leader has the ability to motivate and influence others. The following sources of power represent the engine of influence that they use effectively and ethically to achieve their goals, however, true leaders are supposed to make the employees work hard by giving their efforts and making sure that the goals and the mission of the organization are achieved. To be effective every leader should have the following competencies: Vision, Integrity, Honesty and Values Releasing Potential and Energy. The content of this paper is to outline the roles of leadership and how it affects organizational performance. It then discusses the role of Allan Mulally’s, CEO of Ford Motor Company, and leadership style. The paper also presents how mulally decision to set a goal has increased the company’s performance and mentioning how Allan Mulally’s openness has gained him trust and helped him to reach his goal. Alan Mulally moved to Ford in 2006. He had worked at Boeing since 1969. He had been chief engineer for development of the 777, and was later Vice President of Engineering for commercial aircraft. Mulally had no sales experience, and he wasn’t a â€Å"Detroit car man, â€Å"Much less a car man at all. He sold his Lexus after moving to Dearborn. What’s most impressive is Mulally’s â€Å"results oriented† leadership style. His management is crisp and authoritative, although he defers to the firm’s design experts on the minutiae of the product lines. But on the big questions of the company’s past mistakes and where it’s headed, Mulalley made key decisions that placed Ford in good stead. When mulally testified before Congress in December 2008, along with GM’s Rick Wagoner and Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli, he announced that Ford would be able to survive the recession without a bailout. In 2006, Alan Mulally became the CEO of Ford. At the time, the company was relying heavily on their truck revenue and had several other lines that were not properly supported to earn the best revenue. Some of Mulally’s first decisions were to sell off some of their sub brands, namely Jaguar and Land Rover, and focus more on the small car lines that are becoming more popular with consumers. With a focus on the small cars, this would allow for the company to benefit from economies of scale and increase the profits from selling those cars. He also took out a $23 billion loan to help avoid needing the bailouts that would come 2 years later. Mulally threw away the politics involved in the vice president structure, forcing the weekly leadership meeting to be more about the success of the company than the squabbles of those leading it. He insisted that the vice presidents actually admit to their problems so they can be handled; having operations be labeled either green for going well, yellow for caution, and red for problems. The vice presidents were apprehensive of this at first, afraid to admit their problems and failures, but Mulally made it apparent he wanted to know these issues to resolve them, instead of to sweep them under the rug or assign blame. Finally, Mulally put forth a new mind set for the company; One Ford, involving a One Team, One Plan, One Goal setup. One Team focused on uniting the individual group in Ford into one cohesive team, each member helping out other members, no matter what project they are on or division they are in. One Plan was about restructuring to operate profitably, accelerate development to get new products that customers would want to buy out sooner, finance the plan, and work together as a team. Finally, One Goal was all about developing an exciting viable Ford with profitable growth. Mulally have a more hands on approach to leadership. He wants to know exactly where the company is and how they were going to get someplace better. This is shown with his color coded operations technique with the vice president meetings. His answers to problems weren’t just to shrug them off and go back to the status but rather how to proceed from where those problems brought them. Alan Mulally demonstrated organizational innovation; he used different methods of production and administration. Conveying his ideas and leadership, mulally exhibited his innovation that comprised the ideas from outside Ford in conjunction with those ideas from within Ford Motor Company. The message he portrays involves  planning initiation, execution, selection, and implementation of the objectives to achieve the goals set forth by his administration The success of an innovation is connected to a market forecast of customer needs and wants as well as effective management of the innovation  process. Concentrating on a fewer products to produce with a lot of improvement and service innovation involving the introduction of a new service that meet the customers’ expectations. He has high regard for executive management and maintains open communication. Mulally has an agenda to serve and satisfy not only customers, but employees as well, increase market share, increase profits, and communication is at the top. Alan Mulally has a proven effective leadership style. He is persistent with innovative  processes that address issues within the organization to ensure successful development. His management responsibilities include reducing the risk; managing the customer interface; training and managing staff performance; and engaging Ford’s executive team. Highlighting how successful his tactic can be Mulally has insured his reputation as one of industry’s great leaders; it is well worth paying attention to what he says and learn from his leadership skills. Any successful leader has to know the plan, and areas that need special attention. There are challenging times to be a leader whether it is a cultural crisis, financial crisis, or environmental crisis, but, if one can learn from the experience of a leader such as Alan Mulally, an organization will do just fine and be one of the respected models to follow and learn from.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Costing Methods Essay

Polk Company is in the business of selling custom fishing lures. Recently they decided to introduce a new product. Before they introduce the product they would like to know if variable or absorption costing is the best method for the company. Variable and Absorption Costing Method Absorption costing is when all manufacturing costs are absorbed by the product and shows a higher net income (Kieso, Kimmel, & Weygandt, 2011). Based on the 80,500 lures Polk Company sold in 2012, absorption costing is the preferred method to use because they have a higher net income compared to the variable method. Benefits The benefit of absorption costing for Polk Company is they will show a higher net income of the products in inventory that are not sold immediately. On the contrary, if Polk Company uses variable costing they see any profit or loss almost immediately because all expenses are paid during the current accounting period, even if all the products are not sold. Competition and Bidding Absorption costing is the better costing method for Polk Company to use against a competitor who has submitted a lower bid. As stated previously, absorption costing does not require Polk Company to show any expenses on the products they are offering in the bid because they do not have to show expenses until after the products are sold. Conclusion In conclusion, Polk Company should introduce the new fishing lures by using the absorption costing method, and for submitting product bids. References Kieso, D., Kimmel, P., & Weygandt, J. (2011). Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making, 4e (4th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Learning Objective Essay

* A learning objective answers the question: What is it that your students should be able to do at the end of the class session and course that they could not do before? * A learning objective makes clear the intended learning outcome rather than what form the instruction will take. * Learning objectives focus on student performance. Action verbs that are specific, such as list, describes, report, compare, demonstrate, and analyze, should state the behaviors students will be expected to perform. Well-written learning objectives can give students precise statements of what is expected of them and provide guidelines for assessing student progress. Our goal for students is learning and if students don’t know what they should be able to do at the end of class then it will be difficult for them to reach that goal. Clearly defined objectives form the foundation for selecting appropriate content, learning activities, and assessment measures. If objectives of the course are not clearl y understood by both instructor and students, if the learning activities do not relate to the objectives and the content that you think is important, then your methods of assessment, which are supposed to indicate to both learner and instructor how effective the learning and teaching process has been, will be at best misleading, and, at worst, irrelevant or unfair. Learning objectives Specific statements describing what you and your students intend to achieve as a result of learning that occurs both in class and outside of class. They can be categorized in the following way: 1. Cognitive objectives emphasize knowing, conceptualizing, comprehending, applying, synthesizing, and evaluating. These objectives deal with students’ knowledge of the subject matter, and how students demonstrate this knowledge. 2. Psychomotor objectives involve the physical skills and dexterity related to the instruction. Successful instruction involves teaching new skills or coordination of old ones Attitudinal objectives Specific statements about attitudes, values and emotions, which students will have as a result of taking part in class activities. What learning objectives emphasize Learning objectives emphasize observed activity, student activity and student outcomes. Advantages of using learning objectives Writing and using learning objectives has numerous advantages. Writing learning objectives using Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive domain, or thinking skills, can be helpful in constructing course learning objectives. Bloom and colleagues found that over 95% of exam questions required students to activate low-level thinking skills such as recall (1956). In addition, research has shown that students remember more content when they have learned a topic through higher thinking skills such as application or evaluation. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide, you can create learning objectives and exam questions that activate and assess different, as well as higher, levels of student thinking. Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchy of six cognitive skills arranged from less to more complex. Knowledge Recognizes students’ ability to use rote memorization and recall certain facts. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: cite, define, identify, label, list, match, name, recognize, reproduce, select, state. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will recall the four major food groups without error.| Name the four major food groups.| The students will list at least three characteristics peculiar to the Cubist movement.| List three characteristics that are unique to the Cubist movement.| The students will be able to define gram-positive bacteria.| Define gram-positive bacteria.| Comprehension Involves students’ ability to read course content, understand and interpret important information and put other’s ideas into their own words. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: classify, convert, describe, distinguish between, explain, extend, give examples, illustrate, interpret, paraphrase, summarize, translate. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will summarize the main events of a story in grammatically correct English.| Using grammatically correct English, please summarize the main events – in three or four sentences – from the news story given below.| The students will describe in prose what is shown in graph form.| Given a graph of production trends in automobiles, describe what the graph represents in a memo to your boss.| From a â€Å"story-problem† description, students will convert the story to a mathematical manipulation needed to solve the problem.| A researcher wonders whether attending a private high school leads to higher or lower performance on an exam of social skills. A random sample of 100 students from a private school produces a mean score of 71.30 on the exam, and the national mean score for students from public schools is 75.62 (s x = 29.0). Convert the information in this word problem into a mathematical representation that will enable you to solve the problem.| Application Students take new concepts and apply them to another situation. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: apply, arrange, compute, construct, demonstrate, discover, modify, operate,predict, prepare, produce, relate, show, solve, use. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will multiply ractions in class with 90 percent accuracy.| Solve for the ten following fraction multiplication problems. Please make sure to show all your work.| The students will apply previously learned information about socialism to reach an answer.| According to our definition of socialism, which of the following nations would be considered to be socialist?| The students will demonstrate the principle of reinforcement to classroom interactions.| In a teaching simulation with your peers role-playing 6th grade students, demonstrate the principle of reinforcement in classroom interactions and prepare a  ½ page description of what happened during the simulation that validated the principle.| Analysis Students have the ability to take new information and break it down into parts to differentiate between them. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: analyze, associate, determine, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, estimate, infer, order, outline, point out, separate, subdivide. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will read a presidential debate and point out the passages that attack a political opponent personally rather than the opponent’s political programs.| From the short presidential debate transcribed below: Differentiate the passages that attacked a political opponent personally, and those that attacked an opponent’s political programs.| The students will point out the positive and negative points presented in an argument for the abolition of guns.| From the argument given below, analyze the positive and negative points presented concerning the abolition of guns and write a brief (2-3 page) narrative of your analysis.| Students will discriminate among a list of possible steps to determine which one(s) would lead to increased reliability for a test.| Determine which of the following steps would most likely lead to an increase in the reliability estimate for a test: * Increasing the number of persons tested from 500 to 1,000. * Selecting items so that half were very difficult and half very easy * Increasing the length of the test with more of the same kinds of items * Increasing the homogeneity of the group of subjects tested.| Synthesis Students are able to take various pieces of information and form a whole creating a pattern where one did not previously exist. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: combine, compile, compose, construct, create, design, develop, devise, formulate, integrate, modify, organize, plan, propose, rearrange, reorganize, revise, rewrite, tell, write. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will write a different but plausible ending to a short story.| Develop one plausible ending for all three short stories below.| After studying the current economic policies of the United States, student groups will design their own goals for fiscal and monetary policies.| Working in your groups and considering the current economic policies of the US that we have been studying, develop your goals for employment, price levels, and rate of real economic growth for the next three years. Write these goals on the newsprint and be ready to discuss why your goals are feasible.| The students will design a series of chemical operations to separate quantitatively the elements in a solution.| In the lab, you will be given a solution to analyze to see what elements make up the solution. Then design a series of chemical operations to separate quantitatively the elements in the solution.| Evaluation Involves students’ ability to look at someone else’s ideas or principles and see the worth of the work and the value of the conclusions. Action verbs to help write objectives or exam questions for this domain: appraise, assess, compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, discriminate, evaluate, judge, justify, support, weigh. Example Learning objectives| Exam questions| The students will use the principles of socialism to evaluate the US economic system.| Using the basic principles of socialism discussed in this course, evaluate the US economic system by providing key arguments to support your judgment.| Given any research study, evaluate the appropriateness of the conclusions reached based on the data presented.| For years, misinformation about negative effects of aspartame has proliferated on the internet. The committee evaluated peer-reviewed research from the scientific literature on this topic and concluded: â€Å"Aspartame consumption is not associated with adverse effects in the general population†. — Given the data we’ve looked at on this topic, evaluate how appropriate this conclusion is and defend your answer.| The students will compare two pieces of sculpture, giving reasons for their positive evaluation of one over the other.| Two pieces of sculpture from different eras and artists are displayed. Study these two pieces, use the compare-contrast method to determine which piece you prefer and write a 2-3 page report that describes your thinking process as you studied these pieces. Utilize the skills you have learned as we have studied various pieces of sculpture over the past two weeks.| Advantages of using learning objectives The writing of learning objectives focuses attention away from content and onto the students. This re-focusing often produces revisions in teaching methods. 1. Managing instruction: Objectives may be used by instructors and students to sort and direct learners and learning activities. They may be used for systematic pre-testing, allowing into the course students who demonstrate the required pre-requisite behaviors, redirecting to remedial work those who lack the pre-requisites, skipping ahead those who already have acquired the behaviors that the unit is designed to teach. 2. 3. Managing learning: Whereas management of instruction implies that the control rests with the instructor, management of learning suggests a more active role by the student. Students can use objectives to guide their learning efforts — choosing appropriate materials, reading selectively, etc. Objectives can also be used for self-evaluation which may direct the student’s efforts (e.g., skipping ahead or reviewing). When students are involved in determining objectives they develop an awareness of the difficulties in defining what it is they want to learn and of choosing from among equally attractive options. 4. Planning instruction: Once you have developed learning objectives for a course you can more rationally sequence instruction, allot time to topics, assemble materials, prepare outlines and booklists, etc. Learning objectives can also be used as a guide to teaching, as when you plan different instructional methods for presenting various types of content based on the desired learning outcomes (e.g., small-group editing of reports to give students experience in evaluating content logic and correct usage). A re-examination of course content may result from a look at the learning objectives for the course. After comparing previous examinations with your newly developed learning objectives, you may discover that you have been testing materials which are illustrative, but which are not really essential to the students’ mastery of the content/concepts. 5. Enhancing learning: If the student has a set of learning objectives which provide information about the content to be learned and the way in which he/she will have to demonstrate adequate knowledge, that student can make more appropriate choices about study methods and content emphasis. 6. Facilitating evaluation: Learning objectives can facilitate various evaluation activities, evaluating students, evaluating instruction, evaluating the curriculum. They can form the basis for grading or for determining levels of competence in a mastery learning system. They can also be used to demonstrate effective teaching by matching student learning, as measured by exams, etc., to the desired outcomes. 7. Aiding in communication with others: There is a need to communicate learning objectives to others: between instructor and student, with TAs, with other instructors. For example, exchanging learning objectives within departments is the most specific way to communicate to one’s colleagues what you really cover in your course. An objectives exchange might reduce redundancy in the curriculum. 8. Designing or redesigning curriculum: If you intend to improve instruction in a particular course, you usually begin with the learning objectives for that course and program outcomes for the program and work backwards. * Sets of learning objectives for one course may be compared with the expected entry behaviors for the next course in the sequence. The two should interlock; where they do not, curriculum adjustments can be made. * Study of the existing curriculum can draw attention to redundancy and omissions that can lead to curriculum revision. 9. Producing new insights: The process of clarifying objectives may produce major changes in those who engage in the effort. For example, instructors who spend time developing learning objectives are said to acquire increased understanding about what is a feasible goal. When more general goals are explicitly identified, many specific sub-goals emerge. Since it may not be possible to reach all the sub-goals, a hierarchy or â€Å"trade-off system† of goals must be produced.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Chinese Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Religion - Essay Example Islam is another religion that combines beliefs from various religions. With this characteristic, there would be no question that Islam could easily be syncreticized with Confucianism. Christianity might be difficult to syncretize because like Islam, it is also a monotheistic religion but unlike the other, Christianity evolved from only one major religion, Judaism. However, probably, when placed in juxtaposition with Confucianism, Christianity would be questioned as to the belief in Jesus, who was like Confucius, was a man considered to have a higher level of understanding than the common people. This places both men to the same level as to the question of their deity. Considering syncretizing Christianity with Confucianism, such argument might crack some space in the former for the latter to penetrate it and might just allow a small possibility. One religion that might have remained unadulterated by other religions is Judaism. So far, even Christianity which came from Judaism is greatly sneered and questioned by Judaism because they cannot comprehend how one man, Jesus, would be considered equal to God. Judaism started from the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, being chosen by God to become the father of a people He would call his own and live in accordance to His commandments. The Jews do not just trace their lineage to Abraham but also trace the model of faith to his life especially when it comes to the sacrifice of his son to God as a test of his faith. His life became a testimony of what God could do for the Israelites, providing for their needs as He provided for Abraham, making him rich during his time; protecting them from their enemies as He did to their forefather who won wars and was spared of diseases. However, in exchange for the favors, God asks the Jews to obey His commandments like not worshipping other gods, making images of

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Analysis of Social Software Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis of Social Software - Literature review Example Normally, social software entails unrestricted and deliberate members, who also receive reputations and confidence among themselves. Additionally, it is worthwhile noting that, commonly, members with common interests, goals, mindsets, tendencies, factions or associations create continual and lasting relationships. However, it is significant noting that, businesses did not merely adapt their online strategies to take account of the web’s ‘social’ aspects. Significantly, the stiff competition in businesses necessitated the adoption of online strategies in order to promote their brand online. Consequently, any business, whether little or huge, desires to initiate developing a strategy for Internet marketing just to withstand the stiff competition.   Considerably, it is hard, sufficient to advertise solely in the print media like newspapers, as well as yellow pages since quite forthrightly; the above two are turning into an â€Å"old-school† because myriad pe ople utilize the Internet to examine businesses prior to purchasing their respective products or commodities. Concisely, if a small business fails to embrace any form of an online strategy, it really misses out.   Significantly, small business proprietors may depend rigorously on the neighborhood or regional populace as its objective market and therefore question how a worldwide Internet marketplace can be of assistance to the business. Considerably, the reply is easy, overall the neighborhood internet searches conducted, eight over 10 projections will enquire or tour a store and six over 10 will make purchases.   This is significant because of the geo-targeting potentials of Internet hunt engines like Google.   It is worthwhile noting that social software entails online payments. Research by scholars such as Breslin has indicated that accepting online payments is never a simple matter for numerous businesses (Breslin 76). Considerably, before a business  person decides whet her to adopt online payments, he must examine several considerations. For instance, he must consider his location. If the business’s locations are in the USA, the proprietor has several options. However, if the business locations are in Canada, the proprietor has limited options. Nonetheless, in the other parts in of the world, it is sadly noting that a business proprietor has very limited options. Additionally, if the business is outside the USA or Canada, it is not recommendable for businesses to use online payments such as PayPal. Secondly, before adopting an online payment a business must consider whether it has a merchant account.  Ã‚