The study on Human resources in a digital age Dissertation

The study on Human resources in a digital age - Dissertation Example Primary research is conducted for the study. This is done using the questionnaire method on a sample of 100 HR professionals across different sectors. They are primarily HR executives and HR managers in organizations. The analysis is done based on the responses collected from candidates and presented in the form of graphs and pie charts. The drawbacks and loopholes in the system are identified and suitable recommends are provided to eliminate them. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 5 Background 6 Research aims and objectives 7 Problem Statement 8 Literature Review 8 Impact of Information technology in human resources in organizations, changing trends 8 Human Resource Management using information technology and competitive edge of firms 13 Strategic constraints on human resource management in the digital age 17 Technology and training for human resource professionals 20 Research Methodology 24 Primary Research Study 24 Scope of Research 25 Data Collection methods and technique s 26 Research Limitations 27 Questionnaire design 28 Research Findings and Analysis 29 Quantitative Analysis 29 Qualitative Analysis 38 Recommendations 42 Conclusion 44 Reference 46 Bibliography 49 Appendix 51 Questionnaire 51 Introduction Globalization and global competition has been imposing great pressure on managers in organizations to make better and faster business decisions. Investments in information and technology have also been creeping up along with this pressure. Investments in the area of information and technology in considered being one of the critical means of improving and fastening up of management decision making. Even then, organizations have faced the great difficulty in realising the potential of investments in the areas of information and technology in businesses. This has been particularly visible in the business area of human resource management, despite the fact that longer lead times associated with changes in human resource management systems necessarily means HR accounts for a major candidate to derive benefits from information and technology. In order to emerge successful amidst the increasingly and global competition managers are constantly faced with the pressure of controlling labour costs, motivating employees and subordinates to provide high quality services, enhancing customer oriented performances and constantly searching for better and new ways of doing the jobs successfully. Circumstances make it mandatory for organizations to meeting these objectives against all odds in the face of a shrinking workforce and the global environment in which employees hail from diverse and multicultural backgrounds located across different parts of the globe. Even the routine and conventional tasks maintaining records of employees and regulatory and legal compliance have become increasingly geometrically intensified. In other words systems and operations in organizations have become more complicated and this consequently demands more sophis ticated technology applications which go much further beyond the conventional tasks of improving the routine task activities. Managers have their own stake in exploiting information technology for furthering and bettering human resource management. However, various managers have different views regarding the effectiveness of use of IT in human resource

Time stuffs Essay Example for Free

Time stuffs Essay As a Non Commisioned Officer it is extremely important to uphold the standards of exolelnce. It is not enough to just say that you can, you have to actually do it: be it. My Sergeant Major Command Sergeant Mojor Duham told me when I first put on hard stripes, he said,† Corpral everybody is going to be watching you now.. All of your soldiers will see what you do. All of your leaders will be judging you. All eyes are on the Non Commissioned Officer,† I instantly understood what he meant by that. He pined me at the beginning of our deployment to Iraq, towards the end of that deployment I understood very intamately how true those words were. As a soldier it is inherently important to follow the simplest of rules. Be in the right place at ther right time, in the right uniform. How easy is that? To a soldier that is your entire world, and it really is just that easy. It seems like it would be just a s easy for a non comissioned officer to do the same, and by all rights it just be, especially for a veteran thats been doing this for years. Atached to every action of the non commissioned officer is that stigma of excellance. A non commissioned officer should be all means be great a t whot he/she does. There should be an upheld idiology that this person behind those stripes is above the pressure of societal norms, a person that rises above all challenges, a person not berdoned with fear, someone that will consistantly do the right thing no matter how much harder it is to do than the easy thing. The idea of a non commissioned officer should be something almost superhuman, a fucking Jedi. Thia ia thw image of tbhe non commissionaed officer that people actually have. When NCOs perform actions that are anything less than excellent it tants that image. People begin to see that these heros are just assholes that speak a good game. We absolutely need to be men and wemon of integraty , and courage. People dthat uphodlt he standards no matter what. I was late, I was late more thatn once. This councelling that I have agreed to and signed suggest that somebody actually asked my why. That didnt happen. I whould like tto argue that had I ever been talked to about tardyness the first time then there wouldnt have been a second time. There was no conversation that involved myself or any of my leadership implementing. Therer is no excuse my actions are as they were recorded; I was late. I know better, Ive known better, I dont need to have someone consistantly reminding me about soing the right thing. I know very well what the right thing is, what it looks like, and how it is to bwe implemente. Because I know right, I can fully understand why it is unexceptable to have a non commissioned officer consistantly performing bellow the standard. Just the samew it would have been nice to have had a conversation about poor or unsatisfactory performance with my leadership before jumping strait into a written councelling. Gee I hope this doesnt reflect poorly on my NCOER oh wait thats right my leasders have failed to provide my with sufficant councelling and evaluation of my perfaormeance duechbags, Time is said to be eternal. It is said that it has neither a beginning nor an end. Yet men are able to measure it as years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. They have also given meanings to the words – past, present and future. True, time has a meaning. It moves. What was yesterday is not today. What is today will not be tomorrow. Yesterday is gone. Today is and tomorrow is yet to come. Yet time is said to have no holiday. It exists always. The entire creation moves on according to a time pattern. There is birth, growth and death. There is time for everything. Plants flower and give fruits. Seasons come according to time. A child is born, grows into boyhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and old age according to age and time. Every movement of creation is linked with time. One cannot grow paddy in a month nor can a child become an adult in a year. Everything is fixed to a time-frame. Time is a free force. It does not wait for any one. It is commonly said that time and tide waits for no man. Time is money. A minute not usefully spent is an eternal loss. You can never get back the lost minute. One has to strike the iron when it is hot. The time flies and never returns. If you waste time it wastes you. ‘Time is the best medicine’, says Ovid. It is said that time heals all wounds and it even heals what reason cannot. All human beings are emotional. When negative emotions like fear, anger, envy and jealousy overtake them, they lose reason and act in haste leading to serious consequences. They may repent later, as emotions cool down. But the damage done is done and remains forever. Even that damage can heal with the passage of time. People involved may forget and forgive. That is the importance of time and its healing touch. Time is said to be a wise counselor. Passage of time allows an individual to grow. This growth gives experience. Experience helps decision making. Time reminds you to act and to act wisely. The wisest make use of the time fruitfully. It is said that the wisest grieve the most at the loss of time. Those who do not know the importance of time, waste it or rather they spend it doing nothing. There is a proverb which says that killing time is not a murder; it is a suicide. It means, by wasting time one is not harming others. On the other hand one is harming himself. Ordinary people merely go on thinking how to spend their time. The wise and talented make use of it fruitfully. Some people always complain that there is no time for them to do anything. That is not correct. If one wisely plans his activities, there will be time for everything happening according to time. A man who is a part of nature cannot complain against time. Time is powerful. It conquers all. Men are only to obey it. Man cannot say that he has nothing of his own. Time which is valuable is all his own. If you are not on time and miss the train, you miss it fore-ever. So also the time, once you miss it, it flies off. You can never catch it. Hence it is called fleeting time. Let us learn to use our time fruitfully. This is the key to success. Allow me to begin by stating the Dictionarys definition of Punctual: punctual adj. Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompt. Scheduling the work day is one of the most important duties any leader in the Army or the Armed Forces for that matter, tackle each and every day. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the Armed forces is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Its because of this that being on time is remarkably important. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. Furthermore, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier aims high and has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can without a doubt cost unnecessary loss of life. It is important to realize that it is necessary for those in the Armed Forces are held to a higher standard. While punctuality remains and always will, an extremely vital aspect of military bearing and discipline. It has direct correlation to soldierly appearance, combat readiness, mission effectiveness, and essentially every facet of Military life and responsibility. I cannot place enough emphasis on how important being on time constantly is. For instance; a soldier is late or perhaps does not report at all to a place at the time ordered. That effectively compromises and diminishes the efficiency of which the task is to be completed. In an extreme case a soldier not being on time to relieve the current guards post would cause the combat effectiveness and readiness of the unrelieved guard to be greatly reduced. This would be caused by fatigue, or lack of supplies, etc. Consequently the guard post could be compromised and the security of the area or Forward Operating Base [continues] THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME First off, scheduling work is a very important duty of any leader in the Army or the Armed Forces to tackle every day. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the army is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. In addition, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can cost unnecessary death. It is important to see that it is necessary for those in the Army to be held to a higher standard. While being on time remains and always will be an extremely vital aspect of military bearing and discipline. I cannot say enough on how important being on time constantly is and always will be. For instance; a soldier is late or perhaps does not report at all to a place at the time ordered. That effectively compromises and diminishes the efficiency of which the task is to be completed. It is always important to be where you are supposed to be. In the Army, every leader stresses the fact on being on time or being at the right place or being in the right uniform. So if you have to ask yourself is it important to be where you are told to be? Then you should always answer yes. I think most Soldiers and Leaders will tell you that it is very important. It is my responsibility to be where I am supposed to. It is all about accountability. You have to keep track of your Soldiers. It is your responsibility and your leaders responsibility. They are responsible for your actions as well you. If you fail to take responsibility for your actions or do as you please you can and most likely will be punished [continues] Time management is very important in order to be successful in life. As a leader of soldiers time management is extremely important in order to get work to get done but also to make time for leisure activities. The most common motivational cold is the lack of interest in certain subjects. The heart of effective time management is a weekly and daily schedule. Also long term goals must be determined in order for short term goals to be established. Be proactive means taking initiative, not waiting for others to act first, and being responsible for what you do. The opposite of proactive is reactive. Reactive people tend to react to what goes on around them. Proactive people act based on principles and purpose. So think with the end in mind when establishing your schedule. Gathering necessary information is an important factor in time management. Planning ahead is another key factor in managing your time. Consult your things to do with a monthly schedule and hang it up in your room. Be sure while you are making a schedule of â€Å"things to do,† you take into consideration how long it takes you to complete certain task. Also figure out how much time you have to do certain assignments and break them up into several days if that works best for you. By dividing up your assignments it takes the stress off of you and gives you extra leisure time. When planning ahead use some type of calendar or monthly planner to keep track of your things and also to keep them Prioritizing work assignments is crucial to successful time management. Some people do not know how to prioritize and become procrastinators. Deciding which tasks are the [continues] Being late is becoming a more and more common trend among people of all walks of life, especially in the United States Army. This is completely unacceptable and it violates the Army Values, costs the military more money, and reflect very poorly on the soldier and his first line supervisor. There are many methods available to prevent being late as well as proper steps to take once you know you are going to be late and there is nothing else you can do about it. The Army Values, Leadership, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. When you are late to anything, whether it be a formation or appointment, it goes against nearly all of these values that are instilled in all soldiers. All soldiers are supposed to display the ability to be an effective leader at all time. This is impossible if you are late. For example, if you are a Specialist promotable and late to a few formations that is noticed by the privates around you. Once you make Sergeant they are going to remember those times you were late and question your ability as a leader. It is your duty to follow the orders of those appointed above you as long as they are lawful and moral. When you are told to be at a certain location at a certain time then you are expected to be there. If you cant preform the simple task of arriving on time to a formation or keeping an appointment, then responsibility. Respect is the key to a functioning Army all the way around. Respect must be shown from there is no way you can meet the requirements for duties that require more subordinate to leader, and vice versa from leader to subordinate. Not arriving to a formation at the appointed time is blatant disrespect toward your leaders, and if no respect is shown toward the leader it will never be returned to the subordinate. When you chose to be late it shows that you are more worried about yourself than your unit or your career. This is The importance of being on time in the military is probably one of the most stressed responsibilities in the services today. The definition of being on time or punctual is acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompts. Or in military terms being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there. It is the easiest thing to do when it comes to the military but yet many soldiers including myself struggle every day trying to make it to that early morning formation to conduct pt when the civilian world is not awakening for another hour or so. (102) The main reason punctuality is so important is for accountability. Aaccountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences. As a term related to governance, accountability has been difficult to define. It is frequently described as an account-giving relationship between individuals, e. g. A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct. Accountability cannot exist without proper accounting practices; in other words, an absence of accounting means an absence of accountability. (215) Without any form of accountability there would be no way of knowing where anyone is at any given point of time. Which in turn would lead to utter confusion all the time? No one would know what anyone was doing, who had appointments, who was on leave or tasking, and if someone just did not show up for duty that particular day. (276) In my opinion being punctual is one of the most important traits someone can have it not only shows a great deal of responsibility but it also shows What Is The Importance Of Time In Our Life? Time is extremely important in our life; it helps us structure our daily lives and activities, so that we can live more organized, productive lives. While there are always drawbacks to being too conscious of time (such as the feeling of being ruled by the clock), it is essential that we have this marker to use while we work, play, and grow older. Time may also be viewed in a more philosophical sense; time represents special milestones, including birthdays, anniversaries, and the births of children. This is one of the reasons why our own date of birth is special to us. Many people keep diaries and journals to mark the passing of time these records become rich treasure troves of vital information about every day doings and any special achievements, problems, or activities. The passing of time escapes no one; we are all subject to aging and the fear of mortality. For some, the idea of getting older is a stressful one; others will feel more amiable to changing and passing through the later decades of life. For women, loss of youth may be a concern as time passes; this is one of the reasons why the beauty industry makes billions of dollars. Women seek out special serums and creams touted to reverse the visible signs of aging; however, getting older is natural, and the physical and cosmetic changes that come about through the years cannot really be halted forever. Men may fear loss of virility or strength as they age. Often, people in their forties may experience a mid-life crisis, as they become suddenly aware that they are no longer young, and that half of their life is now over. The best defense against the worries associated with contemplating time is to use the time you have effectively. Living happily and with purpose can be simpler with proper time management. Getting the most out of each day, and enjoying life to the fullest, will help you understand the importance of every moment.

The Significance of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s The Joy

The Significance of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club In her novel The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan tells of the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers, their hopes, their dreams and the way each of their daughters feel about their mother's lives.   Mother-daughter relationships are the basis for the entire story.   Tan shows the hardships each mother experiences as a child and young adult, and how they all want better lives for their daughters.   She shows the struggles between the mothers and the daughters;   these struggles result from many different things, from the cultural gap, to dreams and goals that may have been set too high.   Each daughter knows her mother means well, but this does not make the battles any easier.   Through careful details Amy Tan shows readers the significance of each of the four mother-daughter relationships in the novel, how each daughter is slowly but surely becoming her mother. Even though Suyuan Woo is not alive her story is told through her daughter, Jing-mei â€Å"June† Woo.   In the beginning of the novel readers witness June realizing how little she really knows about her mother and her heritage when she joins the other members of the club her mother founded called Joy Luck.   Jing-mei struggles with the division between who she is and who her mother wants her to be.   ""Only two kinds of daughters."   She shouted in Chinese.   "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!"   Only one kind of daughter can live in this house.   Obedient daughter."" (153) Suyuan yells this when Jing-mei refuses to practice the piano after her embarrassing performance in the talent show.   She wants her mother to realize that she doesn't have to be a genius to be special, but Suyuan do... ...y knew that in the U.S. children would be able to choose whom they married and which career they wanted to pursue. Each mother had wanted to tell her children the events she had endured but did not feel the children would appreciate the stories for their full value.  Ã‚   For many years, the mothers did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their wayward offspring would listen, and by then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mothers left behind, long ago, when they left China.   The mothers knew their children must be old enough to understand what the meaning of their travels to the United States meant to them.   They came to this country with many hopes and dreams, not only for themselves but for the children they would soon raise. Works Cited Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Random House, 1989.

Effective Leadership Essay

Effective leadership is a leader with exceptional oratorical skills who can persuade people to follow him or her to reaching their goal by asserting encouragement or fear. Throughout history we have had a number of leaders, effective and ineffective. Of the effective leaders all had a goal he or she were striving to obtain. They also shared similar characteristics such as oratorical skills, and most importantly the effective leaders were aware that people are moved by pathos, emotional appeal. So therefore by asserting either encouragement or fear they were able to persuade others. All these characteristics must come together to be an effective leader. Strong speaking skills are one of the characteristics that an effective leader must have. Strong speaking skills are characterized by a controlled and firm voice. A breathy or wavering voice can be taken as a sign of weakness, and an effective leader is not one who is believed to be weak. Strong speaking skills also mean that the speaker uses purposeful and direct body movements. Distracting and unnecessary movements take away from the effectiveness because they distract the audience from giving their full attention whoever is speaking and receiving the message they are trying to relay. Most importantly for the effectiveness of a leader they must command attention with their oratorical skills. There are a numerous amount of effective leaders in history, and one thing in common was that they all had strong oratorical skills. Take Martin Luther King of example; he was a man of confidence and empowerment. He was active during the Civil Rights period when African American’s needed someone to lead them to justice and serve as a beacon of light. It was said that when he spoke to crowds nothing except the sound of his voice could be heard for miles. He commanded attention with his voice and his words of encouragement gave African Americans hope throughout the nation. His oratorical skills were one of the reasons why he became a martyr and an effective leader. Another example of an effective leader is Adolph Hitler. He spoke to thousands of people. And despite the immorality of his actions, when he spoke to people, he possessed a firm voice with even firmer body movements. In Hitler’s leadership style the strength he showed was intended to instill fear in the people; the strength he showed also made him an effective leader. `Not only does an effective leader possess strong speaking skills but they must also have the ability to be in touch with the emotional appeal of human beings. Martin Luther King instilled encouragement in the African American in their quest to overcome racial injustice. Adolf Hitler instilled fear into the German people, so therefore they felt as though there was no other option but than to obey him. Although Hitler’s ethics and actions may have been morally wrong, his means to going about having people obey him was an example of effective leadership. Both Martin Luther King and Hitler are effective leaders in the sense that they both had strong oratorical skills and that they moved people to follow them by asserting encouragement or fear.

Cyber education Essay

Examinations are a means of measuring the students’ learning in school and their capacity for further education. In this regard, the manner of teaching and the students’ learning methods are important. A student, while in primary and secondary schools, greatly relies on the teachers for knowledge, except for a few who do personal researches to further their understanding. More often than not, a student accepts what the teachers offer in school. With this set up, a student has to be abreast and attentive with classroom discussion. He should take down notes and submit in a timely manner the projects and assignments given in school. Participation in classroom discussion and school activities must be encouraged. Interest in school must be inculcated in the mind of every student to support the knowledge and understanding obtained from the classroom. This is to enable the student to have a more enjoyable stay in school. The more enjoyable the learning process is, the more retention of knowledge there. Cyber education is not at all detestable. Students’ learning is more enhanced if the mode of teaching is something which interests him. Cyber education is one that interests me and I think, is equally true with others. Where there is not much interaction with the teachers, the concept that it is more enjoyable makes the information stick into our minds. However, the concern of many that this might lead to no interaction at all with teachers, thus prevents the control of teachers on the students disregarding their personal differences and characteristics, should not be disregarded. Their concern is equally important. Thus, it is humbly proposed that learning be not limited to the traditional type of teaching, but must be combined with cyber school on some selected subjects suitable to it. A student must be exposed to both the traditional type of teaching and cyber school. It is of utmost importance that he is able to retain the information and apply what have been learned in school.

buy custom buy custom Variance Analysis essay paper

buy custom buy custom Variance Analysis essay paper Variance Analysis Variable hospital departments are important for hospitals in a variety of ways. When addressing issues of budgets, variance reports come in as essential tools that help hospitals in the management of their budgets and funds. A budget acts as a strategic financial planning tool for an organization that helps it to organize and balance their finances and funds. A budget variance comes in when a difference arises between the plan and the outcome, for example when a hospital variance unit receives its monthly budget outcome, which states that the wages were higher and the funds were lower than planned in accordance with the budget. When thinking about a budget variance, a manager must differentiate between aspects that affect the budget, and can be controlled versus those that cannot be controlled. A budget variance can occur because of several reasons, one of which could be the fact that the budget was poorly and inadequately planned. It is an example of the factor that can be controlle d. A variance report is a good way for managers to measure the company performance by putting sets of figures against others; for instance, a planned amount versus an actual amount, and seeing the difference between them. Several factors are considered when writing a budget variance. A well-organized variance report addresses such factors as trends, overspending, and under spending. The world changes as time goes by, and health care organizations also change with respect to the factors in the environment, and expectations of the patients and people, who work in those organizations. One of the most important aspects of trends to be captured in a variance report is the changing economic times that may force an organization to overspend or under spend. Thus, a variance report must put into consideration the trends in spending. If there is a trend towards overspending or under spending, then the budget must be revised. Trends are best depicted in graphic terms, and they help to reveal to an analyst whether there is a minor or a major budget lapse (Finkler McHugh, 2008). Another factor that must be put into consideration when writing a variance report is an aspect of overspending. Overspending can cause serious problems to the project that is ongoing, or the one that is under planning, as well as to other projects, just in case the organization runs out of resources. Thus, the vice president must know whether there is an aspect of overspending, and by what margin. A variance report is important for this purpose because it should communicate such information, so that the appropriate action can be taken. Another facet that a variance report must consider, is under spending. Under spending indicates problems in issues of quality control, if the budget was planned correctly. If the budget was not planned well, then the variance report will indicate an issue of over allocation. Thus, a variance report must consider this aspect to show whether the budget was done as required, and that everything was planned adequately. The mentioned factors are very import ant when writing a variance report, and if left out, it may cause a serious problem in terms of managing the organizations funds (Berger, 2008). The abovementioned three factors cover changes in input prices, changes in input productivity, and changes in departmental volume. Trends can influence the increase or decrease in input prices, input productivity, and departmental volume that could in turn influence spending towards overspending, or towards under spending. There is an important relationship between variance reporting, interpreting variance report results, and actual results of performance. Variance reporting is done when the results are available. Every month, a variance report must be provided to the vice president, meaning that there are results that are realized every month. If a variance is reported and not interpreted, then it has no importance to the organization, and will not communicate anything to the enterprise. For example, as a manager of the variable hospital unit, I received the monthly budget results for the department, and they show that the funds were lower than budgeted, while the wages were higher. The information will be meaningless if it is not interpreted; thus, I have to compare the budget results with the budget plan, and interpret the meaning of the difference to make sense of what went wrong. When reporting to the vice president, interpretation is important because a variance report has a purpose of revealing the issues that caused the differences between the budget plan and actual results. Hence, a variance report must communicate the budget plan and the monthly budget results. It means that variance reporting has a core function of communicating actual results performance that has been realized in that month (Allen, 2011). The function of variance reporting is not just reporting the variations that occurred between the budget and budget results. Interpreting does not just serve the purpose of defining the figures contained in a variance report. Variance reporting and interpretation of the variance report results have a relationship in the sense that interpretation of variance report results cannot happen without variance reporting, and actual results of performance cannot be found without variance reporting and interpretation of the variance report results. Each of these helps the other to occur. Variance reporting leads to interpretation, which in turn leads to finding the actual performance results. Likewise, actual performance results depend on the undertaking of interpretation of the variance report results, and this depends on the availability of variance reporting. The given relationship helps in variance analysis, and aids to formulate a variance analysis model, which separates cost variations a nd factors that suggest cause, and lead to corrective actions (Berger, 2008). References Allen, J. E. (2011). Nursing Home Administration. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Berger, S. (2008). Fundamentals of Health Care Financial Management: A Practical Guide to Fiscal Issues and Activities. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Finkler, S. A., McHugh, M. L. (2008). Budgeting Concepts for Nurse Managers. New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Disney Video Case Transcript Essays

Disney Video Case Transcript Essays Disney Video Case Transcript Essay Disney Video Case Transcript Essay Walt Disney imagineering is the creative arm for the Walt Disney Company JOE It creates the theme parks all around the world â€Å"we dream it up, come up with the ideas and we design it and we build it† I felt there should be a place built where parents and children could have fun together In 1955, Walt Disney famed for creating timeless and memorable animated feature films as Cinderella and snow white and the 7 dwarfs opened what became to be known as the happiest place on earth. To help realize the Disneyland theme park, he created Walt Disney Imagineering a group of artists and craftspeople who design and create Disney themed venues â€Å"It all started with a daddy with 2 daughters wondering where he could take them where he could have a little fun with those two â€Å" Being the first of its kind, Disneyland, with its differently themed lands, live visits from animated characters and a host of remarkable innovations in animatronics was a smash hit The park faced its share of opening day troubles like malfunctioning water fountains n hot opening day but overall it was operating safely in California 16 years later, the one and only happiest place on earth began appearing in other places on earth. The first expansion to Walt Disney world in Florida created new opportunities for Imagineering to experiment and they created attractions like Epcot center – a taste of cultures from all over the world. The results drew fans from across the globe, but later iterations at the park in Europe and Asia are the first real experiments in bringing Disney entertainment directly and personally to a global audience right in their front yard. But how does a company like Disney preserve its fundamental message and still cater to the widely varying tastes of the different world cultures. Well it takes a good bit of Imagineering. â€Å"The Disney brand works so well because at its core the brand is about very human traits. Things that resonate across the human experience. There’s stories about families, humor, our fears and those kind of translate across all languages and cultures. Every time a child walks into a Disney resort, Europe or asia, they are participating In global trade. A company like Disney has a profound impact on a new market financially and culturally. With the us representing only 5% of the world population, there is good reason for Disney to seek to enter new markets. Jim Thomas The Walt Disney company has 3 companywide strategic priorities. Creativity and innovation, the application of technology, and global expansion. In return our guests get unique one of a kind and very memorable experiences that they will relive for the rest of their lives. But entering a new market like China for example, is not as simple as setting up a theme park and opening the gates. A company may experience barriers to trade like language and cultural differences, political challenges and the need to deal in foreign currencies. From a cultural standpoint, HongKongs Disneyland tomorrowland provided a particularly creative challenge for the imagineers. TOM MORRIS – But how are we going to do this? How are we going to present tomorrowland to the people who are living in it? It’s a city of glass and steel, beautiful lighting, moving sidewalks; air conditioned covered walkways and great public transportation system. And so we decided to really take the story of tomorrowland off planet earth and move it to a planet far away in the galaxy. The opening of a Disneyland in china is a win win situation. Disney brings family oriented entertainment to a new market and HongKong enjoys both the fresh experience and foreign appeal of Disney land as well as strong stimulation to the local economy in the form of tourism. In fact the Hongkong government played a major role in helping Hongkong Disneyland to become a reality. Obviously they are an investor in the park, but they also took the lead role in creating the landfill on which the park and resort are built, they also were responsible for all of the infrastructure to support the operation of the resort. – JIM To actually build a Disney theme park takes both imagination and engineering – Imagineering. But where do imagineers come from? Certainly, Disney has its own staff. Entering a local market, gives you both a challenge and an opportunity. TOM – While the design fundamentally takes place in Glendale, we hire additional people in Hongkong and I’m talking about architects, engineers, set designers, you don’t want to bring everyone from California, you want to use the local talent, you identify the best people you can while the project is being designed and then you keep the cream of the crop on staff and they become a part of the legacy moving forward for Imagineering based locally in that area. But building the park is only half the battle the imagineers have to be sensitive to the needs of each market and that sometimes means not assuming too much because a market’s expectations can be unexpected. TOM – While the park is coming up out on the ground, we begin to get kind of a sense of where we ought to be going with food or language. One might think that in France, we wouldn’t want to have American cuisine, that they’d want to have their own local indigenous cuisine, it is kind of the culinary capital of the world, but in fact we found out that they do want a little bit more than what we were offering, they do want the burgers and what we call â€Å"grazing food† – the food that people can have as they walk through the park. All in all every Disneyland is both a uniquely local experience and an entertainment very faithful to the Disney tradition. No matter where in the world Disney and the imagineers go, they have to achieve both goals. It’s a small world after all. JOE – Disney theme park experience is so loved because it allows our guests for at least a day to plan a world of their imagination and we create these great stages, these worlds that are filled with fantasy imagery and optimistic look at the future and you get to be a player in that world for a day When first seeking to do business in a foreign land, job one is learning the culture- you want to maintain your integrity as a company but you must also respect the sensitivities of your market. In Honkong for example, they were careful to honor the ancient Chinese practice of achieving harmony with the environment. TOM – We had a feng shui consultant who worked with us all the way through to help us with many of those key decisions, and orientations – the positioning of the hotels the positioning of the promenade, where the train comes in, where the park and the resort sits overall with respect to the south china sea and the hills in the background. JOE – Another thing in Japan, gift giving is really big part of their culture. So most of our shops are very popular and have a very high volume of guest traffic so we actually have to have more cash registers, we have to have more queuing to account for that. There are simpler traditions to honor as well. Such as the greater affinity the asian market has for taking photographs. We put so much attention into everything whether it’s a railing, a lamppost, a mailbox, a park bench, every one of those moments we create, it’s nice to know that people are caring and appreciative of what we do . Imagineering will continue to accept the challenge of bringing Disney to new places around the world, carrying the lessons that it’s learned elsewhere. But imagineers will also have to use the insight that they’ve gained to anticipate challenges that have not yet proven very difficult. JIM – Hongkong has a diverse history being a British protectoral. It has a free market economy, a great deal of western influence, and of course the predominant language was English. In other Asian markets however, there are many cultural differences that we must encounter and adapt to and probably one of the most significant difference is Language. But Imagineering is also open to ideas that it hasn’t thought of. The company collects a great deal of feedback after a park like Tokyo Disneyland opens for use in future projects or to improve current venues. And of course the internet is one way to collect such feedback. JOE- We do use the internet for feedback. Mostly listening to in Japan, our guests are giving us information about trends and things that are popular in the culture at the time. And we use that information more to adjust what we call the software which is our entertainment and our special events. But at the core of what we deliver, in our attractions, they have to be universal; events can be timely but our core attractions have to be timeless. TOM – And send a good message about what the world is about, that it is optimistic.

Asylum - Immigration Glossary - Definition of Asylum

Asylum - Immigration Glossary - Definition of Asylum Asylum is the protection granted by a nation to a person who cannot return to their home country for fear of prosecution. An asylee is a person who seeks asylum. You may request asylum from the U.S. when you arrive at a U.S. port of entry, or after you arrive in the United States regardless of whether you are in the U.S. legally or illegally. Since its founding, the United States has been a sanctuary for refugees seeking protection from persecution. The country has granted asylum to more than 2 million refugees in the last three decades alone. Who is a Refugee? U.S. law defines a refugee as someone who: Is located outside the United States.Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States.Demonstrates that they â€Å"were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.†Is not firmly resettled in another country.Is admissible to the United States. A refugee does not include anyone who â€Å"ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.† So-called economic refugees, those the U.S. government considers to be fleeing poverty in their homelands, are not admissible. For example, thousands of Haitian migrants who washed up on Florida shores have fallen into this category in recent decades, and the government has returned them to their homeland. How Can Someone Obtain Asylum? There are two routes through the legal system for obtaining asylum in the United States: the affirmative process and the defensive process. For asylum through the affirmative process, the refugee must be physically present in the United States. It does not matter how the refugee arrived. Refugees generally must apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within on year of the date of their last arrival in the United States, unless they can show extenuating circumstances that delayed filing. Applicants must file Form I-589, the Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, to USCIS. If the government rejects the application and the refugee does not have legal immigration status, then USCIS will issue a Form I-862, Notice to Appear, and refer the case to an immigration judge for resolution. According to USCIS, affirmative asylum applicants are rarely detained. Applicants may live in the United States while the government is processing their applications. Applicants can also remain in the country while waiting for a judge to hear their case but are seldom allowed to work here legally. Defensive Application for Asylum A defensive application for asylum is when a refugee requests asylum as protection against removal from the United States. Only refugees that are in removal proceedings in an immigration court can apply for defensive asylum. There generally are two ways refugees wind up in the defensive asylum process under the Executive Office for Immigration Review: USCIS has referred them to an immigration judge after the government has ruled them ineligible for asylum after going through the affirmative process.They were placed in removal proceedings because they were apprehended in the United States without proper legal documents or in violation of their immigration status. Or, they were caught trying to enter the United States without proper documents and designated for expedited removal. It’s important to note that defensive asylum hearings are court-like. They are conducted by immigration judges and are adversarial. The judge will hear arguments from the government and from the petitioner before making a ruling. The immigration judge has the power to grant the refugee a green card or decide whether the refugee may be eligible for other forms of relief. Either side can appeal the judge’s decision. In the affirmative process, the refugee appears before a USCIS asylum officer for a non-adversarial interview. The individual must provide a qualified interpreter for that interview. In the defensive process, the immigration court provides the interpreter. Finding a qualified lawyer is important for refugees trying to navigate the asylum process which can be long and complicated.

Managing change and innovation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing change and innovation - Research Paper Example Innovation is a new way of doing something. Innovation could be a result of incremental or evolutionary process or it could be result of some radical or revolutionary process. Change and innovation are closely related to each other and most of the times are coupled with each other during usage. Dubai has become a center of attraction for many reasons like businesses, tourism, shopping, luxurious hotels etc. There are many unique things about Dubai that are available very rarely in other parts of the worlds at one place. With so much going on in the city, the basic facilities provided by the Government of Dubai need to be matching with the other factors as well. Amongst the basic facilities that are government’s responsibility, health is probably the most important factor to take care of. Dubai has state-of-the-art facilities in health fields which are very fitting if compared with the advancements made in other fields. Different hospitals working under the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) like Al-Wasl hospital, Dubai Hospital, Rashid hospital etc. not only have very nice facilities available but they are also working to keep up with the pace of research and development in the field of medicine. New researches are applied to make sure the cure and prevention methods are applied to maximum use. Dubai is part of oil-rich country United Arab Emirates. Oil-richness is a good enough feature for the rest of the world to be renowned for but in a matter of few decades, Dubai has transformed itself. Now it has earned a distinction of a city which is a home to great international businesses and a tourism favorite. Dubai is a dynamic city with ever-growing net of tall buildings and facilities that attract many businesses towards it. Dubai is a modern cosmopolitan city and it has a mixture of multiple ethnicities that live in a very well-coordinated manner. Dubai is considered to

Advertisements to Compare Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advertisements to Compare - Assignment Example Advertisements of this brand aim at creating concern within present and future mothers about baby -care and shifting their opinion from other similar products, both in terms of new design and quality information. Social Media channels can be selected as a mode of communicating the brand message as a whole instead of promoting VO5 targeting the young male and female audiences. This method of promotion will further help the brand in building media more loyal and informed customer base rewarding it with better market positioning in comparison to its competitors (Havas Worldwide, 2013). However, when applying this technique, the brand should be attentive in conveying any message that can raise disputes within its stakeholders. In addition, as it is likely that the messages conveyed through this mode is likely to be channelized within the mass in no time, negative publicity can become an obstruction to the brand’s continuous growth (Nadaraja, 2012). Television advertisement channels can be termed as another mode of mass communication by this brand for communicating to a huge base of customer audiences at a particular time. This type of advertisement channels prove to be effective as customers can get a better understanding of the brand based on their unique selling propositions conveyed through television medium (Bauer Media Magazines, 2013). Television advertising also raises concerns toward the appropriate identification of customers’ motivation needs. Under such circumstances, developing appropriate appeal through the advertisement will be necessary to avoid failure of the brand to attract a larger base of customers (Heath & Feldwick, 2007). Magazines also prove to be a very effective way for promoting such cosmetic brands, especially in case of women, who search for adequate information prior than selecting a particular grooming product. As magazines offer

Implications of Globalization and Technology on Negotiation Essay

Implications of Globalization and Technology on Negotiation - Essay Example Our world is dynamic in nature and it has become more advanced with the boom in technology and rapid globalization. The basic aim behind globalization is to promote and increase the trading exercises among different countries. This leads to the equal distribution of material wealth, goods and services which enhances the remarkable growth in overall structure of the economy in any country. Furthermore, it also helps in building sound international relations as well as competition at different levels among different countries. Globalization has left its deep effects on regional economies, trading activities, policies, societies and cultures. It has given a new definition to terms such as communication, trade and transportation. It has been commonly thought that factors like technology, economy, politics and other socio-cultural have played an important role in coining the term known to the world now as â€Å"globalization†. We cannot underestimate the importance of technology in today’s world of extreme modernization and advancement. Technology has played a vital role on the horizons of business and more specifically it has left its deeper impacts on international business. But how globalization and technology have their impact on negotiations and what changes are brought about by both of them? It is worth mentioning that globalization has given rise to tough international competition and in today’s world of advancement it has become a game of the survival for many growing economies and more specifically economies of the third-world countries are already considered as under-threat by such tough competition with technology as a second most important element collaborating directly in this game of survival . (Stroper, 1992). The implication of globalization and technology on negotiations can be explained by a very

Disobedience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disobedience - Essay Example It was during this time that the Western Tradition Law was formed and begun to develop. Sometimes, citizens felt that some laws are unjust hence result to resisting them. Most often, the resistance is non-violent and the citizens seek to disobey certain laws, commands of the government as well as new rules introduced by those occupying power intended to benefit themselves at the expense of the citizens. It is a respectful disagreement for the sake of what is fair and true. Edward Joseph Snowden is an American Computer specialist. He is a former agent of the Central Intelligence Agency as well as a former contractor of National Security Agency. Edward decided to leak some classified documents to the media outlets, these documents contained some information of global surveillance. The surveillance systems collected and analysed information on foreigners and Americans. Snowden did this because he felt that it was interfering with the privacy of the citizens. His action received varied o pinions besides tagged a patriot, traitor, whistle-blower as well as a spy. Thomas More was born at a time when school emphasized the value of authority, hierarchy, and social disciplines. He grew up with the belief that law went hand in hand with morality and morality corresponded with religion (Watson 8-10). According to More, morality was superior compared to law and that creation of laws had to base on the moral ethics. However, More believed in obedience of law and authority. According to him, law was uniform and there would be social disorder the leaders used their moral beliefs to rule. He calmed that it was a moral duty for individuals to obey the law. One of the famous quotes from him was that â€Å"I will give the devil the benefit of law, for my own safety.† (Watson 8-10) More served under King Henry VIII, he considered his way of ruling to be unjust and not wise. As much as he was not happy with the ways of the king, he still served the king and followed some

Reasons for Undertaking Foreign Direct Investment by the Multinational Essay

Reasons for Undertaking Foreign Direct Investment by the Multinational Enterprise - Essay Example Unlike the small and medium sized enterprises that only seek to access foreign markets, the major concern of the multinational enterprises is to develop a global manufacturing capacity and improve their proximity to the major world markets (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). The foreign direct investments provide a measure of ownership of domestic productive assets in a given economy by foreign organizations (Economy Watch, 2010a). Classically, foreign direct investment is a situation where ‘a company from one country makes a foreign physical investment by building a factory in another country’ (Graham and Spaulding, 2005). It is an investment in the form of buildings, machinery, and equipment and it is opposed to portfolio investments that are considered indirect investments. Several factors drive firms to expand their operations to cut across different national and regional boundaries. MNEs establish foreign direct investments in response to the changing global and regional co mpetition (Bartels & Crombrugghe, 2009, p.1). Foreign direct investments can be a means of accessing new markets and marketing channels, reduction in costs of production, providing the organization with access to new skills, technologies and other resources, and sources of financing (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). To go global, the firms can decide to make foreign direct investment, and this decision is in turn guided by a number of factors that are considered the potential benefits of the approach. This paper provides a critical evaluation and discussion of some of the major factors that can drive a multinational enterprise to decide to undertake foreign direct investment in efforts to expand its operations and go global. The paper highlights on the benefits of foreign direct investments to the multinational enterprises. Reasons for establishing FDIs to MNEs Foreign Direct Investment has been associated greatly with the current trend that is observed towards globalization and internati onalization of business operations. High growths of the economy and better economic performances in different parts of the world in the recent past can be attributed to the foreign direct investments by the multinational enterprises (Vardar, 2012). Significant growth has been seen in the flows of foreign direct investment especially into the developing countries in the last few decades (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). It becomes one of the drivers of globalization. With the developments that have been seen in the global business operations and global investment patterns, the concept of foreign direct investment has been expanded to include alliances with local companies, foreign mergers and acquisition, or establishment of joint ventures in the foreign markets (a Watch, 2010). The foreign direct investor will seek to have a controlling stake in these investments (ILIKEINVESTING, 2011). Cross-border investments have been in existence as early as the 1950s and different theories have been advanced to explain why the firms decided, and continue to make decisions, to internationalize their operations. In the recent pasts, countries have entered a habit of competition to attract more foreign direct i

Nietzsche's Preface (no.7) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nietzsche's Preface (no.7) - Essay Example d beginning of various social and philosophical beliefs through an attempt to account for the scope, totality or breadth of ideology in the time period provided as opposed to being focused on a singular dominant ideology (Ransom 62). Additionally, a genealogy attempts to see beyond the ideology that is in question, for conditions the genealogy possibility. Genealogy developed as a continued works of Nietzsche. Fredrick Nietzsche on the genealogy of morals criticized the "the genealogists" and proposed a historic philosophy to be used in order to effectively critique the modern mortality through supposing that the genealogy of morals did develop into the current form through the power relations. The philosophy of Nietzsche is characterized as genealogy because of his use of genealogy in the genealogy of morals (Ransom 56). This paper explores the main characteristics of the genealogical method and how helpful this method is in evaluating and reevaluating peoples moral prejudices and i n finding their origins. The essential characteristics of the Nietzsches genealogical method includes identification of the area of designated study, drawing up of the dispositif that shows the relationship to area of designated study for the many phenomena that constitutes it, the exposures through effective history of the destabilising along with discontinuous discursive and other elements that are involved in the production given problem with its associated truths, consequent rejection of searching for the fixed hidden meaning relevant to the problem or for the conscious authorial intension, and a combination of meticulous scrutiny and detachment in the analysis of the given textual and non-textual discursive and manifestation of the problem (Ransom 82). The main project for Nietzsches in the Genealogy is questioning the value of morality. Nietzsche argues that peoples current morality is born out of hatred, and resentment felt towards anything that was healthy, powerful, or

Reasons for Undertaking Foreign Direct Investment by the Multinational Essay

Reasons for Undertaking Foreign Direct Investment by the Multinational Enterprise - Essay Example Unlike the small and medium sized enterprises that only seek to access foreign markets, the major concern of the multinational enterprises is to develop a global manufacturing capacity and improve their proximity to the major world markets (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). The foreign direct investments provide a measure of ownership of domestic productive assets in a given economy by foreign organizations (Economy Watch, 2010a). Classically, foreign direct investment is a situation where ‘a company from one country makes a foreign physical investment by building a factory in another country’ (Graham and Spaulding, 2005). It is an investment in the form of buildings, machinery, and equipment and it is opposed to portfolio investments that are considered indirect investments. Several factors drive firms to expand their operations to cut across different national and regional boundaries. MNEs establish foreign direct investments in response to the changing global and regional co mpetition (Bartels & Crombrugghe, 2009, p.1). Foreign direct investments can be a means of accessing new markets and marketing channels, reduction in costs of production, providing the organization with access to new skills, technologies and other resources, and sources of financing (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). To go global, the firms can decide to make foreign direct investment, and this decision is in turn guided by a number of factors that are considered the potential benefits of the approach. This paper provides a critical evaluation and discussion of some of the major factors that can drive a multinational enterprise to decide to undertake foreign direct investment in efforts to expand its operations and go global. The paper highlights on the benefits of foreign direct investments to the multinational enterprises. Reasons for establishing FDIs to MNEs Foreign Direct Investment has been associated greatly with the current trend that is observed towards globalization and internati onalization of business operations. High growths of the economy and better economic performances in different parts of the world in the recent past can be attributed to the foreign direct investments by the multinational enterprises (Vardar, 2012). Significant growth has been seen in the flows of foreign direct investment especially into the developing countries in the last few decades (Graham & Spaulding, 2005). It becomes one of the drivers of globalization. With the developments that have been seen in the global business operations and global investment patterns, the concept of foreign direct investment has been expanded to include alliances with local companies, foreign mergers and acquisition, or establishment of joint ventures in the foreign markets (a Watch, 2010). The foreign direct investor will seek to have a controlling stake in these investments (ILIKEINVESTING, 2011). Cross-border investments have been in existence as early as the 1950s and different theories have been advanced to explain why the firms decided, and continue to make decisions, to internationalize their operations. In the recent pasts, countries have entered a habit of competition to attract more foreign direct i

What Causes an Economic Downturn Literature review

What Causes an Economic Downturn - Literature review Example Growth of the Housing Bubble: The year 2006 has seen a number of people refinancing their properties to be able to pay lower interest rates. The customers have also been noted to have taken out a second mortgage as well. These were steps taken by the house owners to extract as much money as possible. This however has lead to the increasing the housing bubble and leading the house prices to decrease. Once this hit the country, the borrowers were not able to pay for the interest rates and neither were they able to refinance the homes. This lead the borrowers to default and lead to foreclosures from the banks due to delinquency (Smith, 2009). Sub – Prime Lending: Subprime lending basically refers to lending to people with higher risks, i.e. with low credit ratings. Post the IT bubble burst in 2000 the fed had reduced the interest rates, and also agreed to provide loans to people with low credit ratings (even below 620). Post the borrowers receiving the loan amounts, and with the lowered interest rates, there was a sudden hike in the prices of the real estates of the company. This lead to the borrowers to be able to borrow even more. This extra borrowing became a burden for the subprime borrowers and the number of defaulters had grown to a great extent (Waring, 2007). Banking Sector Issues: Shadow Banking systems is referred to when non – bank financial institutes provide for loans to businesses to operate. With the increasing ‘Shadow Banking System’ in the country, the NY Federal Reserve Bank placed a freeze on the funds. This led to major companies needing to sell off the long-term assets at much lower prices to be able to meet up to the short-term loan payments. This left the system completely shaken up and also left a huge damage on the regular banking systems and the credit cycles. A combined effect of all the above factors together has led the country to move into complete recession. As far as even in 2008 various  articles, the writer had refused to use the term recession for the US economy (Khan, 2008).  

Aquinas - Wealth and Power Essay Example for Free

Aquinas Wealth and Power Essay In Question II, Thomas Aquinas breaks down the complex question of where or in what man’s happiness consists, mainly by emphasizing wealth and power. While people dream of obtaining both wealth and power in their life, Aquinas emphasizes that both are neither good nor bad, and both make up a means to an end. Aquinas argues that happiness does not consist in â€Å"wealth† or â€Å"power†, yet presents another argument where he states that happiness can, indeed, be associated with wealth and power. Aquinas begins his second question and first article by pondering the question of whether happiness consists in wealth. He breaks down the two types of wealth into artificial and natural. He describes natural wealth as something that â€Å"relieves man’s natural needs, such as food, drink, clothing, travel, shelter and so on.† In other words, natural wealth fulfills the needs of humans to live and â€Å"cannot be man’s ultimate end.† On the other hand, artificial wealth is â€Å"sought only for the sake of natural wealth.† Augustine argues that a man would have no artificial wealth unless he had natural wealth to begin with. With natural wealth, there is a finite amount of objects one needs in order to survive. For example, a person doesn’t not need to buy several large pizzas to satisfy their hunger, just a few slices to get some food in their stomach and go on with their day. On the other hand, artificial wealth revolves around objects for which people have endless desires for, such as money. There are some people in society who feel that the only thing that matters in life is the amount of money you can earn before you die, just a dollar sign. However, money cannot buy happiness, wisdom, strong relationships, or virtue. Augustine backs up this point by quoting Proverbs 17:16 â€Å"What does it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy wisdom?† Aquinas takes into account the arguments that say that happiness can, in fact, consist of riches by offering examples such as â€Å"all things obey money† (Ecclesiastes 10:19). Although he covers both possible sides, he offers his own stance on the question in his response where he covers the differences between artificial and natural wealth. In Aquinas’ fourth article, he discusses the question of whether happiness consists in power. He argues that it is impossible to have happiness in power for two reasons. The first is that â€Å"power has the nature of a principle, whereas happiness has the nature of an ultimate end,† emphasizing that power is a means to an end. Second, he states that power is both good and evil and â€Å"happiness is the proper and perfect good of man.† Although the hook for a popular song, the quote â€Å"no one man should have all that power† uniquely resonates in Aquinas’ argument against happiness consisting of power. People may believe that if they have a greater sense of power, then they feel more important and â€Å"happier.† The more powerful someone grows, the greater their fear grows of losing the very power they obsess over. A classic example from history is Joseph Stalin’s command over Russia. He was given so much power on behalf of the communist USSR that he let his sense of power overcome him. When he had caught word that there was someone planning a revolution in his cabinet, he had every single one of his high commanding officers killed. Very simply, power makes people do very abnormal things to remain in their high position. However, Aquinas argues that power can’t solve every problem in a person’s life. To quote Og Mandino, â€Å"All the gold in the world cannot buy a dying man one more breath so what does that make today worth?† This quote accurately depicts that no matter how much power and wealth someone has, it all means nothing when you are facing death. Although one may seem highly satisfied with the power he possess, it is easily revocable and those with power fear they will lose it. Aquinas presents that questions of whether happiness consists of â€Å"wealth† and â€Å"power† and presents firm arguments against each. Although he may find faults with each idea, especially the warnings of the abundant use of wealth and power, his idea still remains that both â€Å"wealth† and â€Å"power† are neither good nor bad things. For example, if a man is making enough money to feed his family and make a living for himself, that is a fine example of using wealth for good. However, Aquinas reminds us of the arguments against having â€Å"wealth† and â€Å"power† makes up a person’s overall happiness. Using both of these values for happiness is simply a means to an end, Thomas Aquinas emphasizes that these things do not lead to everlasting happiness, an argument that I agree with.

Spanish Conquistador Essay -- Christopher Columbus, New World

1492 was the year that Christopher Columbus, the Spanish conquistador, came to the â€Å"New World† and explored it which to be later colonized by Spain, France, and mostly England to establish the soon to be, colonial America. In time, when colonists arrived in the New England region ruled by Britain their lives were being controlled by many factors consisting of religion, wealth, social status, race, conflicts with other colonists/Indians and gender. In the book, Everyday Life in Early America, written by David Freeman Hawke, it is argued that these immigrants were colonists that were forced to adapt to a new way of life. The author, Hawke, believed these colonists living in the New England region or the Chesapeake region could not really survive in this â€Å"New World† with what they learned about their culture in Europe such as customs and traditions back from Europe but had to get used to the new territory and new society or face the hardships that the â€Å"New World† had to offer. Overall, the book shows who came and how they settled, farming and housing, health and manners, and morals and witchcraft, and even difference in race and conflicts with Indians. As colonial America started to settle in, towns and counties were developing and causing conflict. The early colonial American settlers that â€Å"the bulk of the emigrants came voluntarily, and more often than not they were the most â€Å"vivid people† of England, those with energy and courage to make a new start in life† (Hawke, 1). To Hawke’s point that the early colonist faced hardships, was when they encountered the Native Americans. This was one of the reasons why colonial Americans were encountering new ways of life, that what they were taught and knew about Europe had to be disregard... .... The historical events of the everyday life of the settlers are very true no matter about what topic he talks about. His accuracy then compared to present could have been lowered as the book was written 23 years ago, so anything new could have been discovered about the colonists. This book is easily one of the most informative book on United States history as it not dull but fascinates. One can easily learn the hardships of the early settlers on their way to the â€Å"New World† and see what they faced there when they arrived. One can show great enjoyment for this book as at least one part/topic must interest one as it goes from a wide variety of interesting topics such as recreation, war, housing, settlement, and crime. Taken as a whole, the book can be read by many no matter how busy one is, as this could possibly be the most interesting non-fiction book out there.

The Death of an Idol Essay -- Personal Narrative

When I was young, my mom took me along everywhere. At least once a month, we would travel to Oregon to visit my Aunt Kathy. I would go to the dark and creepy basement to play with my cousins, Carly and Marni. Together, we usually played with little Carebear figurines. I started to grow close to my cousins, especially Carly, even though she was seven years older than me. Her kindness made me feel warm and welcome. Though she got older, it seemed that I never grew. I always looked up to her and her dedication to everything. My mom used to take me to all of Carly's sporting events in high school. I just loved cheering her on. Whenever she was on the basketball court, she always found time to wink at me in the crowd. I even made big posters to take with me when she made it all the way to state for the three-point contest. After high school, Carly decided that she didn't want to stay around anymore. She wanted to go to college away from home. Since she was such a great student, she figured she'd be fine. Carly decided to attend Hofstra University in New York. We promised to be pen pals. Well, that lasted about a year. I was finally growing up, getting busy, and we were losing touch. When we did write, all that I heard of were the boys she dated, and that her A's were dropping to C's. Every once in a while, I would ask my aunt how Carly was doing. The only answer I ever got was "She's fine." A couple of years later, we ... ...at was the day a letter came in the mail for Carly. She had passed her CPA exam. My Uncle Don was the fire chief of the town, so the funeral was full of firemen and police officers. The procession was even led by a fire truck. I look back now and wish that I could have spent more time with Carly. What exactly was so important that the two of us didn't have time for each other? Even though we had some bad times, I'll always remember the good. I think that we all live a life that is already planned. She skipped her time to go, and got another chance. I'm grateful that in that period I got to reunite with her. I hope that I can live her dreams through my life. After all, she is my idol.

Community Psychology and Public Health Essay

This essay discusses the similarities and differences between two approaches – community psychology and public health that are related to social problems. Each method approaches social problems differently; however there are certain overlapping features. Each method also has its specific strengths and weaknesses. All of these factors will be discussed in this essay. Community psychology and public health  The foundation of public health rests on the practical implementation of attempts to protect and improve a community’s health by applying preventative medicine, sanitary methods, and social science. The goal of public health is to prevent disease and distress from occurring. And here is the first difference between public health and community psychology. Where public health focuses on specific problems, community psychology focuses on the overall quality of life of the individuals within a community. The goal of community psychology is to understand the relationships of the individual with his or her community and society through research and to improve the individual’s life through certain actions. The ideas that drive community psychology are inspiring and motivational, but the ideas have proven to be difficult to put into action items in order to implement them. This is one of the weaknesses of community psychology and one of the causes of the many failed attempts at transforming a community. However, there are also cases of political factors obstructing the implementation of solutions to social problems, as described by Professor Albee in Guernina (1995, p. 85), â€Å"and when Reagan was elected the message went out to the National Institute of Mental Health from the White House saying, ‘We will no longer support any research into the social causes of mental illness we will only support research into the biological, genetic organic causes’. Thus it seems like community psychology is deemed the impractical, unnecessary approach that is too concerned with sociology to make a practical impact on a community. In contrast, the public health approach, that highlights biological and engineering methods, has proven to effectively prevent various diseases and socially abusive behaviours from spreading widely. For example, under the public health regulations in South Africa, the management of human waste in public places was determined and implemented during the 19th century. However, this approach isn’t perfect either, because although the human waste was effectively managed in public places, the problem arose when human waste occurred in terms of intimate actions, such as bathing and toilet hygiene. Neither of the approaches is perfect and both approaches have qualities that can potentially transform a community. In this sense, the merging of the best qualities of both approaches is best described by Gilbert, â€Å"The close affinity between sociology and public health is in terms of unit of study, theory, and method. They share a common concern with populations of individuals, a theoretical orientation toward abstract generalisations and a similar methodological approach. They also share a ‘problem’ focus. To a large extent public health problems are social problems. The social forces that determine whether a health condition will be viewed as a public health problem, are similar to those that define a social problem. † (1995, p. 81) Conclusion Public health can do for a little more of the human touch as experienced in community psychology. And community psychology can benefit from the practical methods as seen in public health solutions. Fortunately this is happening in the socio-ecological approach, which is based on a holistic understanding of the individual, the community, diseases, and health as the outcome of the intricate behaviour patterns that are instilled in individuals and groups through socialization, and who then understand the ways as being normal.

Ceo Cant Afford to Panic Essay

Joan Kaczmarek suggest that is important to help, he starts by coordinating a census of the people missing within the organization in order to find out whether some of the employees can be in danger. †¢Mr. Smarten is told by the security chief Mr. Paul Schlesinger that the police department are going to call soon to ask if they can use their lobby facilities as a triage centre and temporary morgue. †¢The market has fallen due to the news, the chief investment officer Ms. Dana Rosi advises Smarten to move as much activity to the New York and Chicago offices due to the fact that the investments need to be followed up and she is also worried that lending the facilities might bring negative impact on the company and shareholder’s value. †¢The Marketing VP Mr. Sal Persano is worried about the negative implications that the image and logo of the company appearing in pictures where the victims of the bombing are being kept might bring. †¢The general council mentions that lending the facilities might bring liability issues for the company. The opinions of the different members of the board differ. Some are concerned that lending the facilities in order to aid the police could generate bad association for the firm in the future, other are concerned that the company would fail to act ethically just in order to maintain its image, and others are concerned that the trading operations might be affected and that the firm will be unable to fulfil its obligations towards the clients and maintain shareholder’s value. Problem Identification 1. With little time and limited information, Mr. Smarten faces the dilemma of making a decision that could affect the image of the company for better or for worse. The decision that has to be made needs to take into consideration both the business’s shareholders’ interests while at the same time being an ethical and humane decision that looks for the employee’s, bombing victims and community wellbeing. 2. The team’s point of views regarding what needs to be done differ, as they all look after the interests of the particular area they work for. Issue Analysis Mr. Smarten needs to choose an option that portrays his personal values as well as business professionalism. Should he lend the facilities for morgue use or shouldn’t he? Can he come up with another solution for the request? Should he make the decision by himself, or would a consensus decision making be appropriate? This situation calls for a leader that has self-confidence, trustworthiness and courage as personality traits. Du Brin (2013) describes a self-confident leader as one that can maintain composure and calm when dealing when a crisis, Mr. Smarten firstly needs to communicate this self-confidence to the rest of his team even if he isn’t quite feeling this way. Whatever decision Mr. Smarten take will reflect on how trustworthy he is, his colleagues will conclude based on his actions weather he is a trustworthy leader, especially when they put themselves in the situation where one of them could be present at the bombings. Courage is the leadership attribute that Mr. Smarten will need the most in this type of situation, Du Brin (2013) describes courage as the attribute of a person that takes responsibility for his actions. Organization now a days have complex environments with everyday ethical challenges that must be faced (Hunter, 2003), and therefore require that managers with the appropriate character to deal with them. Du Brin (2013) also mentions the importance of cognitive intelligence as an attribute of effective leadership. Mr. Smarten need to have good problem solving skills that arise from being cognitively intelligent, as in this scenario the time to make a decision is limited; he must also act with creativity. Mr. Smarten needs to have farsightedness in order to understand the long term consequence his decision might bring for his coworkers, the firm and the community itself. In a short term, he needs to have as much insight into the situation as possible, Du Brin (2013) notes that effective problem solving also requires intuition and common sense. The problem Mr. Smarten faces is that he needs to make the most ethically decision possible trying to protect the interests of different groups of people, and most probably some of the decision taken will negatively affect one or the other parties. Mr. Smarten need to act with moral courage, which has been described by Kidder (2005) as â€Å"a commitment to moral principles, an awareness of the danger involved in supporting those principles and a willing endurance of that danger†. In a short period of time, and with the team’s members opinion’s differing from one another, Mr. Smarten could try to apply the six questions to evaluate the ethics of a specific decision (Bentley College, 2013): 1. Is the decision right? 2. Is it fair? 3. Who gets hurt? 4. Would Mr. Smarten be comfortable if the details of his decision were made public in the media? 5. What would Mr. Smarten tell his child or relative to do? 6. How does the decision feel? Hannah et all (2011) introduce the concept of pro-social behavior which describe behavior in leaders that go beyond his specific role requirements, a behavior in which the leader takes action to protect both the organization, coworkers and community. In this particular situation which was triggered by an external event (bombings) protecting everyone’s interest might not be possible by taking one single decision. Potential solutions (Analysis, Advantages, Disadvantages) The following lines explore the potential solutions and why to approve the potential request from the city †¢Inspiring a positive atmosphere in order outbreak the panic if any, with in the group members. Mr. Smarten should have self-confidence, trustworthiness and courage personality traits in order to be able to transfer his commitment to the group and the organization. He should be a charismatic leader, and have a relationship between the group members and the Stakeholders, in order to guide his personality traits to demonstrate self-sacrifice and the high performance, by expressing positive emotions and thoughts to enhance their positive affect. For instance he may mention the positives for his group members and the company; as it is good that no one from the group members is on sight, and fortunately the company is a few blocks away and did not have any damages (DuBrin, P107, 2013). He can also articulate a high emotional message for instance saying; â€Å"that we are encountering a serious situation and if we well behaved, we may save someone’s’ life† (DuBrin, P109, 2013). He can also bring some other successful examples, from another firm’s behaviours as metaphors and analogies to motivate the group and inspire his positive message (DuBrin, P117, 2013). By being enthusiastic, optimistic and energetic, he can create a Vision for others in order to change the room’s total environment from a turmoil horror to a productive positive atmosphere suitable to take decisive decisions. †¢Taking ethical and moral decisions In this part, it is recommended that Mr. Gerald Smarten to emphasize on mentioning the probability of him scarifying his career, if his decisions did not meet with the stockholder’s expectations, in order to help the city. It was already demonstrated that Mr. Smarten was honest and trustworthy in putting out his concerns about the stakeholder’s reactions, in front of everybody, as Mr. Kaczmarek said. Ethically, Mr. smarten should not pay any attention for the Italian marble in these kinds of events, especially when they have 23 employees on absence, while from the other side, he should not ignore the proposition from Mr. Kaczmarek on the same time, as leaders should respect the individual’s opinions. The advantages from this point of view, beside self-satisfaction of taking moral and ethical decision, the benefits that may occur from the media publishing this behavior, in which will have a positive impact on the company’s goodwill and reputation. †¢Turn the crises upside-down into an opportunity. Now, after the recommended decision, which is to accept the city demand, Mr Smarten should lead the group and coach it, trying to make the most benefit out of it. Inspirited from the case of the tragic accident in Chile when 33 mine workers were trapped in a gold mine, the leader Andre Sougarett was able to turn it into an opportunity, when he succeeded with his team, pulling out all the 33 workers alive after 69 days (DuBrin, P2, 2013). This could be implemented when group members start to have the positive mood, high valences as well as instrumentalities. After putting all fears a part and removing horror from all of the team, Mr Smarten should start to motivate all members in explaining his vision and motivate them to have the appeal to perform and produce immediately. As long as he have No alternatives decisions, it is either â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no†, leaders should get out of the box and be creative to bring alternatives to approach decisions (Hmamond, Keeney & Raiffa, 1999). These kind of reactions, like saving lives, can turn the catastrophic events in to a successful story like the one happened with Sougarett (Illiano & Wade, 2010). Nerveless, it can be a lesson for other firms and other industries; an airplane crash can be a lesson in another side of the world for anther industry (Fortune & Peters, 1995, P02). This will conclude that Mr. Smarten should be more autocratic than democratic to take fast decisive decisions in the meeting and send everyone to work to help using the company’s lobby facilities as a triage centre and temporary morgue. †¢Leading by example: Mr Smarten being in such a fix, with everything on the line and with the clock ticking, needs to make a decision quickly. And as the title of the case ready â€Å"The CEO Can’t afford to panic† is true in itself as it is in times like these that people need to step up, keep calm, and make sure that panic does not seep through the entire organization. This is exactly the time where-in CEO Gerald Smarten needs to lead by example. He should have reason and judgement while making decisions. Gerald Smarten should answer the call of the community and provide Kaspa’s lobby as a triage center. The only negative would be the short-term liability issues, but on the other hand this ethical decision would help create and root seed of morale within the organizations, and it will set a good example, and would be good press for the company. This decision is not only the ethical and right thing to do but it will also create goodwill and greater loyalty towards the organization over the long run. Coming towards this decision Mr Smarten has to answer only one question. Would I be able to look at myself into the mirror, knowing that I could have aided and saved innocent people? missing staff ? Best solution Since limited of time and information were provided, Mr. Smarten should make a quick and precise decision whether he should allow lending the company facilities for a triage center and temporary morgue as requested or not. According to this scenario, Mr. Smarten should respond to the request as soon as possible by gathering information inside Kaspa and balancing the benefit of the company, employee and community’s wellbeing. There was no any alternative decisions be provided, he could say either â€Å"Yes† or â€Å"No† so that answering with â€Å"Yes, and†¦. † could be the best solution that balance the benefit for every single side. A good leader should be able convey precise answer while he could raise up any concerns regarding to the issue by adding up the conjunction like â€Å"and†, not â€Å"but† after concrete response, in order to create goodwill and make the respondents open minded to what the leader are concerning. The best solution Mr. Smarten should decide is to say â€Å"Yes, we will help community saving injured victims, but we have to clarify the truth and build trustworthiness toward the firm on media. † The first thing Mr. Smarten could do is to keep clam, not express panic or frustration in order to build self-assured among team member. By doing this, Mr. Smarten could respond to the request by convey such a message to encourage staff to support his decision such as â€Å"We understand that using our company’s facilities to be served as a triage center may reflect negative images to the company and shareholder’s value, but I know we can rebuild trust back to the company. Using positive wording to back up self-confidence of the leader may result to leadership effectiveness Du Brin (2013). In addition, being self-confident could help Mr. Smarten maintain calmness when dealing with a crisis. After keeping himself and others calm during turmoil, he could ask for consensus decision by gather ing all departments to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each decision that would be made. Ultimately, saying â€Å"yes† to allow lending the company facilities for a triage center and temporary morgue would be the best solution which reflect ethical and humane character of leader as well as create company’s reputation. Mr. Smarten should be aware that there is no decision that would not affect one another so that choosing to help community may result to liability issue afterward which is a short-term effect. However, using the company’s facility to serve injured victims during the crisis can reflect ethical and humane reputation toward Kaspa which is considered as long-term result. This reflects farsightedness traits of leadership; to concern more on long-term result rather than immediate result Du Blin (2013). Meanwhile, Mr. Smarten should show up his leadership skill to get through the crisis by bring out his leadership traits. He could assign one responsible person to be present at the bombing site to enhance trustworthiness and responsibility of himself as well as the company which benefit the whole image of Kaspa and employees (Kalshoven K. , Hartog D. N. , 2009). Whatever the result would be, he should have courage to take responsibility for the decision he made. Even the media spread the news of using the company serving bomb victims; Mr. Smarten could turn crisis to the opportunity build up company’s goodwill and reputation. To be effective leadership, Mr. Smarten should sacrifices the immediate interest of the firm but not an amount of unselfish concern (Ciulla J. B. , 2003) Conclusion Thus as mentioned in the case the troubles caused due to the bombing has impacted the neighbouring community and has put CEO of Kaspa Mr Smarten in a difficult spot. However with certain traits such as farsightedness, reason & judgement, ethical and moral approach and courage are among a few traits that helps him make the tough decisions and be able to successfully lead his team through this tough time.

Police on the Dark Side Essay

One can say that corruption, misconduct, and brutality are issues that exist in police agencies across the country. With power comes responsibility, which is a trait that he or she would assume that every officer would have, but with an undisciplined mind power and authority can be terribly abused. Police corruption can be defined as â€Å"acts† involving the misuse of authority by a police officer in a manner designed to produce personal gain for him or for others(Walker & Katz, Chapter 13: Police Corruption, 2011). Though a police officer is paid fairly decent, there is much temptation to entice an officer in becoming corrupt. With a given scenario, hands full of officers have a warrant to enter a house suspected of possessing drugs. During search and seizure over a half million dollars is discovered along with 10 kilos of Cocaine. A responsible officer turns in every last dollar and ounce of drugs, Where in when the in the mind of a corrupted officer he or she see it fit to partially to submit evidence, looking at his or her own person gain in the situation. At this point it is an inordinate matter of misconduct at hand where the officer is behaving in an improper or unprofessional manner. As I stated before an officer is paid fairly decent, I can also argue that in some agencies officers are underpaid and overworked. This sometimes causes the officer to be more reluctant in conforming into a corrupt individual. In 2009 four officers of the Chicago police were charged in what was believed a Special Operations Section scandal. When you think about the authority of the police, they are very powerful individuals who are respected by all and are feared by most on the other side of the law. Within operation the group was accused of making false arrests, committing robberies, and home invasions for several years, acting under the guise of busting street gangs and rounding up guns (Heinzmann, 2009). This was a high sophisticated outfit, which involved over a dozen officers with the scandal. Police Corruption and Misconduct are not the only issues that plague agencies across the county. Here, and there are of Police brutality emerge. New Year’s Day of 2009, BART police respond to a call of disorderly conduct that was taking place on an inbound train pulling into West Oakland. The call was in response to a brawl that had taken place among a 12 intoxicated individuals on the train. Officers remove several young men from the train and instructed them to all take a seat. Of the passengers, Oscar Grant looks to me in a struggle with officers but from the video’s standpoint Oscar seem to be subdued. During the struggle one officer kneels down on top of Oscar’s neck although another officer is attempting to handcuff him. In a blink of an eye the officer the who was trying to handcuff Oscar takes a half step back draws his service weapon and fires a single shot into Oscar’s back. Oscar would later die at the hospital from his wound. This would be seen as an unscrupulous act of police brutality that had taken place in the city of Oakland. The outcome in the Special Operations Scandal was the and ring leader at the center of the scandal former Chicago police Officer Jerome Finnigan what handed down a twelve year sentence in a federal prison. Needless to say I agree whole heartedly with the verdict based on the fact he was a highly decorated officer who led the department’s elite Special Operations Section. This unit amassed a furry that took guns and millions of dollars in drugs out off the streets of Chicago. I believe that Finnigan became a product of the environment he worked in and was consumed with the power bestowed in him. It was also said that he suffered from stress and alcohol abuse. Though was he did was wrong he still severed the people of Chicago well and deserve to see his golden years outside prison. In the case of Oscar Grant, I totally disagree with the decision of that case. Johannes Mehserle, the officer shot Grant was sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced on Nov. 5, 2010, and after receiving double credit for time already served, was released on June 13, 2011 (Stern, 2013, para. 9). This was a definite of example of failure to critically think under pressure, which result in a loss of life. Those can say it was motivated by hate and racism but on will truly know what went on in the mind of this officer that day, but from judging from the videos he did not have the green light to use lethal force. If were to you take examine the† The Force Continuum† (Grant & Terry, Chapter 9, 2012). Oscar was only at the Active Resistance stage that only should have been met with compliance techniques, such as come along holds, pressure points and chemical sprays to disorient him from resisting further. Finnigan should have received no less than a ten sentence because his actions were reckless, irresponsible, and ultimately ended a human life: where in most agencies is to preserve it.