Sensory Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Sensory Discrimination - Essay Example e has no sensory discrimination H1; Steve has sensory discrimination Method In this experiment, we utilize simple counts such as how many pieces of pizza were classified by the subject. The results were summarized in a 2 by 2 contingency table as shown below. The four numbers are a, b, c, and d, which are entered in the cells of the table according to the four categories. The total number of pieces of pizza which the subject can classify as Dominos Meatzza Feast or Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza is: n= a + b + c + d From the table below we see that a total of a + c pieces of pizza were guessed correctly while b + d pieces of pizza were guessed incorrectly. If the subject cannot distinguish between Dominos Meatzza Feast and Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza then a and c should be small. Conversely, if the subject can tell the difference between the two pizzas, we expect a and c to be about the same. (Weaver, 2008) Â   Guessed correctly Guessed incorrectly Total Dominos Meatzza Feast a b a + b Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza c d c + d Totals a + c b + d a + b + c + d (=n) According to Fisher the probability of obtaining the values base above is given by the hyper geometric distribution below: (Deborah, 2000) The p-value is calculated in such a way that the margins of the table are fixed and, therefore, the respondant will give guesses with correct numbers in each category of the table. This leads to a null hypothesis of independence to a hyper geometric distribution of the entries in the cells of the contingency table. When using the chi square in the analysis, the approximation is not enough when sample sizes are small or if the data is very unequally distributed in the cells of the table. Therefore the cell counts have been predicted to be low. (Agresti, 2001) In this... The p-value is calculated in such a way that the margins of the table are fixed and, therefore, the respondent will give guesses with correct numbers in each category of the table. This leads to a null hypothesis of independence to a hypergeometric distribution of the entries in the cells of the contingency table. When using the chi-square in the analysis, the approximation is not enough when sample sizes are small or if the data is very unequally distributed in the cells of the table. Therefore the cell counts have been predicted to be low.18 pieces of pizza were prepared--9 pieces of Dominos Meatzza Feast and 9 pieces of Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza. The pieces of pizza were presented to the respondent in a random order. The respondent’s task is to identify the 9 pieces of Dominos Meatzza Feast and the 9 pieces of Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza, and he is informed of the design.ParticipantsThe participant in this study was Steve David. He claims to be able to tel l the difference between Dominos Meatzza Feast and Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza since he runs a pizza store, and thus qualifies as an expert on the subject.The Fisher test is used with respect to the contingency table results. In this case, the test assesses what the expected frequencies will be if the null hypothesis is true. If there is no difference between Dominos Meatzza Feast and Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza guesses, one would expect that Dominos Meatzza Feast would have been guessed correctly six times.

The World History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The World History - Essay Example The chapter also discusses the formation of the fresh empires of Eurasia such as the Ottoman and the Russian Empires. This was the basis for the fall of the new world as manifested in chapter 18. It was also a basis for the microbial changes that Eurasia experienced especially with the advent of plagues and diseases that were previously unknown. Chapter 16 describes the new empires that came into being in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These empires were divided into both maritime such as Portugal, Asia and Dutch and land empires such as China, Ottomans, and India. America also experienced novel land empires and they worked towards ensuring their success. These efforts by the Americans had a big impact on the world at large and specifically on matters of trade. This set a framework for the ecological revolution that took place in these centuries. For instance, people were able to move labor across the globe as analyzed in chapter 17. Others migrated to new places where they settled. People were also able to reclaim new lands and discover new sources of energy. Culturally, people were able to interact and exchange with one another various plants and animals that were not existent in the other cultures. Some of these were coffee, tea, maize, and livestock. The formation of the new world also gave rise to a change in the religious views of the people. Christianity was introduced in the delicate empires of Africa as indicated in chapter 18. Buddhism and Islam also spread to other nations such as Japan and China.

Examining Related-Party Transactions And Corporate Fraud

Examining Related-Party Transactions And Corporate Fraud Related parties represent a link where one party can exercise control (direct or indirect) or significant influence over the operating policies of the other party. According to FRS 8 and IAS 24, a related party includes an entitys subsidiaries, associates, joint venture interests, directors and family members of  directors. Related-party transactions are legitimate activities and serve practical purposes such as: They are recognised in corporate and taxation laws. They have their own standards for accounting treatment. Systems of checks and balances have been built around them to make sure they are conducted within these boundaries. The following parties are not considered as related parties in IAS 24: Parties which have normal dealing with an entity. Examples include providers of finance, trade unions, government agencies and public utilities. Parties such as customers, suppliers, distributors and franchisors on which the entity is economically dependent. Two venturers sharing joint control over a joint venture. Two entities having a common directors or other member of key management personnel are not considered as related parties. Related Party Transactions Related party transactions (RPTs) are defined in IAS 24 as any transactions made between the related parties irrespective of whether a price is charged or not. The transactions include transfer of resources, services or obligations. In other words, RPTs are transactions between a company and its management, board members, principal owners, or members of the immediate families of any of these groups. Examples of RPTs under IASB include rendering or receiving of services, purchase or sales of goods, leases, provisions of guarantees or collateral, purchase or sale of property and other assets, among others. Moreover, FASB (1982) states that RPTs include transactions between a company and its affiliates. Affiliates refer to entities which control the company, they are controlled by the company or they are controlled by another entity which also controls the company. Examples of RPTs under FASB include services received or furnished, borrowings and lendings, guarantees among others. Scenarios under related party transactions When an individual purchases a stock, bond, note or mutual fund from a family member or related party entity, he becomes entitled to the related party rules and under these rules, the individuals cost basis will actually depend on whether he ends up selling it at a gain or a loss. For example, the individuals sister owned stock of XYZ Corp which she bought for $20,000.   It had declined in value to $10,000 when he bought it from her.  Ã‚   Therefore, she is  not allowed to claim a  capital loss when she sells it to him because he is a related party. Gain scenario: If later the individual sells the stock to a  third, unrelated party  for $22,000, he will experience a true gain of $12,000 on his own acquisition cost of $10,000. However, he only have to declare  a capital gain of $2,000 for  income tax purposes because  he is allowed to use a carryover basis from his sister, since she was not able to claim the previous  disallowed loss.  Ã‚   Loss scenario: If the individual sells it later to a  third, unrelated party  for $8,000, he will have a true loss of $2,000 on his own acquisition cost of $10,000,  and he can only declare  a capital  loss of $2,000 for  income tax purposes.   However, he is not allowed to use a carryover basis from his sister, even though she was not able to claim the previous  disallowed loss. The tax savings from the previous disallowed capital loss are wasted and no one claimed them. Disclosure The objective of IAS 24 is to ensure that an entitys financial statements contain the disclosures necessary to draw attention to the possibility that its financial position and profit or loss may have been affected by the existence of related parties and by transactions and outstanding balances with such parties. The IAS 28 requires the following to be disclosed: Relationship between parents and subsidiaries: The entity should disclose the name of its parent company or of its ultimate controlling party irrespective of whether there have been any transactions occurred between them. In the case where neither the parent company nor the ultimate controlling company produces financial statement for public use, then the next most senior parent that does so must also be disclosed. Management Compensation: The compensation of the key management personnel must be disclosed in total and for each of the following categories: Short-term employment benefits Post-employment benefits Other longer benefits Termination benefits, and Equity Compensation benefits. Related Party Transaction: If transactions have been made between the related party, then for each categories of the related party, the following should be disclosed separately: The amount of the transactions The amount of the outstanding balances including terms and conditions and guarantees Provisions for doubtful debts related to the amount of outstanding balances Expenses recognised during the period in respect of bad or doubtful debts due from related parties. Types of RPT that lead to corporate frauds Many high profile companies have made an abuse use of related party transactions to succeed in involving in fraudulent activities. These include companies such as Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and others. Sales to ( or purchases from) related parties of goods and services According to Pesaru (2002), a related-party sales transaction represents the link between the company and the customer. In this particular transaction, it is usually difficult to identify the related parties. Thus, companies use this technique for boosting revenue. As such, the undisclosed related-party transactions may be used to fraudulently inflate earnings. Companies use accounting trick to mislead the users of financial statements. Presenting a series of sales, which are executed with an undisclosed related-party and which are insignificant is an example of accounting trick used by companies. Moreover, sales made to related party transactions can also lead to corporate frauds if the sales transactions are categorized under fictitious sales. Fictitious sales include round-trip sales. SEC 2003 defines round trip sales as simultaneous pre-arranged sales transactions often of the same product in order to create a false impression of justifying those fictitious sales transactions of falling under the normal ordinary course of the business. This type of transactions inflates sales figures and thus leads to overstatement of revenues. On the other hand, the purchase of goods or services from related parties is another type of RPT. This type of RPT may lead to fraud when the purchases are not disclosed or when they are considered as unauthorised transactions. Companies create fictitious purchases of services from related party to conceal a misappropriation. For instance, in the Tyco case, it was found that the company failed to disclose a finders fee paid to an outside director in connection with an acquisition. Besides, one of the principal owners of PNF Industries, Inc. created fictitious records to conceal a misappropriation by claiming that he was owed consultation fees. Since the payments were considered as unauthorised, he falsified a minutes of a directors meeting to authorize the fees. Non-reported purchases from a related party understate expenses and the effect of the understated figure of expenses is reflected in an overstated sales figure. On the contrary, non-reported revenues and fictitious purchases lead to understatement of income. This whole scenario is summarised in the following diagram. First scenario: Effect: FICTITIOUS SALES OVERSTATEMENT OF REVENUES SMOOTHING INCOME NON-REPORTED PURCHASES Second scenario: NON-REPORTED REVENUE FICTITIOUS PURCHASES UNDERSTATEMENT OF INCOME Genuine sales can be made to the related party in such a way that this transaction transfer wealth to the related party. This can be done if genuine sales are made below its market price to the related party. Another way of transferring wealth to the related party would be unnecessary purchases of goods and services or even purchases above its market price by the company. The other side of the coin will be transferring wealth from the related parties to the company. This is possible when actual sales are transacted to related party at above market prices or when purchases are made below market prices from the related party. The situation of genuine sales being transacted in a manipulating way can have two impacts: Firstly, if the company is already facing a crisis in terms of low profits for instance, then the latter can opt for transferring wealth from the related party to itself. And, if the company is transferring its wealth to the related party, this will lead to misappropriation of companys assets. Both of these impacts will lead to fraudulent financial reporting. To better understand the picture, a diagram is illustrated below: Scenario of sales: GENUINE SALES Made to related parties under market prices Made to the company over market prices LEADS TO TRANSFER OF WEALTH To the company To related parties Scenario of Purchases: PURHASES MADE TO Related parties over market prices The company from related parties under market prices LEADS TO TRANSFER OF WEALTH To the company An example of a company which uses this to involve in fraudulent activity is Livent Inc., Humatech Inc. and Enron. Livent Inc has mischaracterised certain receipts as revenue. In fact, the receipts were actually borrowings since there were side agreements obligating the company to repay the funds. The counterparty companies were related parties since the top executive of Livent Inc were a member of their boards. In the case of Humatech Inc, the CEO and the CFO secretly controlled the improper recognition of revenue which was actually sale to a foreign distributor. Indeed, the foreign distributor was a related party but however no disclosure has been made of the transactions. Furthermore, Enron has made a payment to one of its employees of around $ 10 million and the CFO took it as a SPE. The employee then via a payment to the CFOs family members, share a portion of its fees to the CFO. Loans to and from the related parties The provision of loan to and from the related parties is another major type of RPT. Lack of transparency involved in recording the following transactions outlined below of a company leads to understatement of its liabilities: Non- recognition of borrowings by the company to the related parties Non-disclosure of obligations incurred for the related parties in terms of guarantee Disclosure of loan transactions to related parties If loans are given to the related parties by the entity are reported accordingly in the financial records of that firm, the issue that arises is in terms of the collateral which is used as a medium to get the finance. In fact, what usually happens is that in case of related party transactions companies tend to overstate the value of these collaterals. Manipulating interest rates Wealth are transferred to related party by either borrowing from a related party at above-market interest rates, or lending to a related party at below-market interest rates. If the related parties borrow from the company at an interest rate which is above the market interest rate, this leads to a transfer of wealth to the company. Similarly, if the company is financed out by the related parties at below-market rates or off-market, this would again leads to a transfer of wealth from the related parties to the company. According to Freidman et al. (2003), this kind of practice is referred to as propping. On the other hand, if the company lends the related parties at an interest rate which is lower or even off the market interest rate, this will lead to a transfer of wealth from the company to the related parties. The scenario of manipulating interest rate can be easily understood through the diagram below: Scenario: transfer of wealth to the company: COMPANY Borrows from the related parties at a lower market interest rate Lends to related parties at a higher market interest rate Leads to transfer of wealth to the company If borrowings from a related party are not recognised, this will result in an understatement of liabilities. Moreover, over-estimating the collectability of loans to a related party leads to an overvaluation of assets. These situations are known as loan related misstatements and this may eventually leads to frauds. Several companies adopted this technique when preparing their financial statements. For example, Adelphia understated its liabilities by $1.6 billion. It failed to report its obligation under the credit facility by claiming that its obligation was merely a guarantee which did not require disclosure. In addition to this, Adelphia has netted $ 1.351 billion related party receivables with against related party payables, which has enable them to hide $ 1.348 billion of related party payables. The netting has also allowed them to hide the amount of transactions between the Adelphia and the company owned by Rigas family which was Adelphias controlling shareholders and management team. Indeed, the SEC has stated that the Rigas family has illegally excluded over $2.3 billion in bank debt by deliberately shifting those liabilities onto the books of Adelphias off balance sheet, unconsolidated affiliates and created sham transactions backed by fictitious documents to give the false appearance that Adelphia had actually repaid debts when, in truth, it had simply shifted them to unconsolidated Rigas-controlled entities. Moreover, PrintontheNet.com did not disclose that it had guaranteed $7.3 million in related parties loans. In the case of Tyco, Mr Kozlowski, who was the former Chief Executive Officer of Tyco International borrowed $ 242 Million from a Tyco program, with the intension to facilitate the executives to pay taxes on restricted-stock grants. However, instead of utilising the funds for that purpose, he spent the finances on yachts, fine art, estate jewelry and luxury apartments. In the same way, Mr Swartz, Tycos former Chief Financial Officer took a lo an of $72 Million from program and made personal investment and business ventures with that money. In the Enron case, Mahonia, a special purpose entity (SPE) which was controlled by a financial institution was employed to make some of the Enrons transactions disguised a borrowing of $ 2.6 billion from the financial institution as forwards contract. Hence, as a result of the disguised loans, cash flowed from the financial institution to Mahonia and then from Mahonia to Enron. Investment in related parties It is crucial to disclose investments in related parties in order to prevent frauds from occurring. Managers tend to manipulate earnings via tunneling actions in order to maintain the companys stock performance. As a result, investment decisions would be expropriated if such decisions are determined based on the financial disclosure. If investment in the equity of a related party is not reported correctly, this will lead to an overstatement of assets and hence will mislead investors about insider activity. Several companies had inflated their assets with RPTs. For example, an investment of $2.5 million in a venture capital fund by Hollinger was not disclosed. Moreover, in the Enron case, using the special purpose entities (SPEs) the managers was able to hide unfavourable performance of their investment decisions. Tonka is another example of a company which involve in fraudulent activities. The CFO of the company secretly owned a company and he misappropriate assets of Tonka by making the corporate funds to be improperly been invested in his company. Hence, it can be seen that many companies has misused related party transaction to involve in fraudulent activities. However, the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 has prohibited only one type of related party transaction which was loans to related parties. Indeed, in a study by Henri et al. (2007) which examined 83 SEC enforcement actions involving in related party transaction and fraud, it was found that the most frequent type of related party transaction was loan to related party. RPT: A cause for concern Many accounting frauds such as Enron, Adelphia, Tyco, Refco, Hollinger, Rite Aid have occurred during the past years and have shown concern towards related party transactions. This is because in one way or the other, related party transactions were involved, creating concern among regulators and other market participants about the appropriate monitoring and auditing of these transactions. However it has been pointed out that research has provided a mixed picture of the role of related party transactions in fraudulent financial reporting. For example, research has shown that related party transaction disclosures are quite common (Gordon et al. 2004a; Wall Street Journal 2003). However, since fraudulent financial reporting is relatively uncommon (Lev 2003), and furthermore most frauds2 apparently do not involve related party transactions (Shapiro 1984; Bonner et al. 1988; SEC 2003), it is reasonable to assume that most disclosed related party transactions are not fraudulent. According to Gordon et al. (2004), RPTs play a fundamental role in a firms corporate governance environment. It is said that RPTs are an aspect of corporate governance because these transactions are complex issues between a company and its managers, directors, subsidiaries and major shareholders. RPT is considered as an issue to corporate governance because of the problems of asymmetric information between the firms manager and external capital markets. Additionally, RPTs result in higher agency costs. This is due to the alignment of decision-making and monitoring rights. Moreover, according to Johnstone and Bedard (2004), RPTs are difficult to audit and these transactions represent a potential audit risk. When examining the financial statements of companies, auditors do not have adequate information on related party. Is it fair to blame only bad corporate governance for corporate failures? Bad corporate governance is one of the reasons which account for the corporate failures. Corporate governance issues, like those with related party transactions, crop up because of the existence of asymmetric information between shareholders and the firms managers. Existing research has shown that certain board characteristics and CEO pay-performance sensitivity are useful governance mechanisms which help to improve managerial agency problems. For example, large board size, which is observable and disclosed in proxy statements, has been found to be negatively correlated with firm value and interpreted as indicative of weak corporate governance (Yermack, 1996). However, this does not conclude that corporate failures arise only because of bad corporate governance. There are multitude reasons behind the corporate scandal. For instance, it has been seen that a lack of regulations is one of the reasons. It is believed that the erosion of accounting practices begun in the 1980s as firms tried to balance strict standards with a desire to please clients and increase consulting business. Research has shown that a lack of government regulation was one of the major causes of the huge energy trading firm Enron. This firm reported profits of hundreds of millions of dollars ($979 million in 2000, alone) before collapsing in 2001. Other examples include poor management structures, lack of independence and objectivity by auditors as well as poor business ethics. Ethics can be defined as moral philosophy. It is basically the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles (Ethics, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2000). However, when this term is applied in the business context, it is said to be the study and evaluation of decision making by businesses according to moral concepts and judgments (Business Ethics, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2007). For instance, in the Enron case, the auditors applied reckless standards to do their audit because they were receiving significant consultation fees from the company.

Marlow’s Metamorphosis in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Marlow’s Metamorphosis in Heart of Darkness Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, relies on the historical period of imperialism to illuminate its protagonist, Charlie Marlow, and his struggle with two opposite value systems. Marlow undergoes a catharsis during his trip to the Congo and learns of the effects of imperialism. I will analyze Marlow's change, which is caused by his exposure to the imperialistic nature of the historical period in which he lived. Marlow goes to the Congo River to report on Mr. Kurtz, a valuable officer, to their employer. When he sets sail, he does not know what to expect. When his journey is complete, his experiences have changed him forever. Heart of Darkness is a story of one man's journey through the African Congo and the enlightenment of his soul. Marlow begins his voyage as an ordinary English sailor who is traveling to the African Congo to work. He is an Englishmen through and through. He has never been exposed to any culture similar to the one he will encounter in Africa, and he has no idea about the drastically different culture that exists there. Throughout the book, Conrad, via Marlow's observations, reveals to the reader the naive mentality of Europeans. Marlow also shares this naivetà © in the beginning of his voyage. However, after his first few moments in the Congo, he realizes the ignorance he and all his comrades possess. We first recognize the general naivetà © of the Europeans when Marlow's aunt sees him for the last time before he embarks on his journey. She assumes that the voyage is a mission of "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways [. . .]" (line 16). In reality, however, the Euro peans are there in the name of imperialism and their sole objective is to earn... ... Johnson, Bruce. â€Å"Conrad’s Impressionism and Watt’s â€Å"Delayed Decoding.† Conrad Revisited: Essays for the Eighties: 51-70. By Ross C Murfin. University: The Univ. of Alabama, 1985. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988. McLauchlan, Juliet. â€Å"The Value and Significance of Heart of Darkness.† Conradia 15 (1983): 3-21. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988. Stewart, Garrett. â€Å"Lying as Dying in Heart of Darkness.† PMLA 95 (1980): 319-31. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Kimbrough, Robert. 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition, New York: Norton, 1988.

Managment Defination Comparison

Management is: 1. Administration of business: the organizing and controlling of the affairs of a business or a sector of a business 2. Managers as group: managers and employers considered collectively, especially the directors and executives of a business or organization 3. Handling of something successfully: the act of handling or controlling something successfully â€Å"Crisis management† 4. Skill in handling or using something: the skillful handling or use of something such as resources This definition stress on the following functions: organization, running, administration, supervision, managing, controlling. However these functions required different levels of structures like: Directors, managers, executives, employers, board, bosses This definition covers the whole function of management however it ignores to show the importance of human from inspiration side ———————————————————————————————————– Definition of Management by functions: Financial & Investment Dictionary: Management Combined fields of policy and administration and the people who provide the decisions and supervision necessary to implement the owners' business objectives and achieve stability and growth. The administration of policies is carried out by the Chief Executive Officer, his or her immediate staff, and everybody else who possesses authority delegated by people with supervisory responsibility. Thus the size of management can range from one person in a small organization to multilayered management hierarchies in large, complex organizations. The top members of management, called senior management, report to the owners of a firm; in large corporations, the Chairman of the Board the President. The application of scientific principles to decision-making is called management science. Marketing Dictionary: Management 1. Collective administrative heads of a company, institution, business, etc. , who are responsible for conducting the affairs of the company (institution, business, etc. ) for meeting its short-range and long-range objectives, and for maintaining it as a profit-making organization and/or an ongoing enterprise. 2. Leading or supervising of an organization, business operation, or the like. 3. Wise use of means to accomplish a purpose. Business Encyclopedia: Management The role of a manager is comprehensive and often very complex. Not everyone wants to be a manager, nor should everyone consider being a manager. A Definition of Management Some would define management as an art, while others would define it as a science. Whether management is an art or a science isn't what is most important. Management is a process that is used to accomplish organizational goals; that is, a process that is used to achieve what an organization wants to achieve. An organization could be a business, a school, a city, a group of volunteers, or any governmental entity. Managers are the people to whom this management task is assigned, and it is generally thought that they achieve the desired goals through the key functions of (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) directing, and (4) controlling. Some would include leading as a managing function, but for the purposes of this discussion, leading is included as a part of directing. Planning: Planning in any organization occurs in different ways and at all levels. The plant manager must be concerned with the overall operations of the plant, while the assembly-line manager or supervisor is only responsible for the line that he or she oversees. Planning could include setting organizational goals. This is usually done by higher-level managers in an organization. As a part of the planning process, the manager then develops strategies for achieving the goals of the organization. In order to implement the strategies, resources will be needed and must be acquired. The planners must also then determine the standards, or levels of quality, that need to be met in completing the tasks. In general, planning can be strategic planning, tactical planning, or contingency planning. Strategic planning is long-range planning that is normally completed by top-level managers in an organization. Examples of strategic decisions managers make are who the customer or clientele should be, what products or services should be sold, and where the products and services should be sold. Short-range or tactical planning is done for the benefit of lower-level managers, since it is the process of developing very detailed strategies about what needs to be done, who should do it, and how it should be done. Organizing: Organizing refers to the way the organization allocates resources, assigns tasks, and goes about accomplishing its goals, In the process of organizing, managers arrange a framework that links all workers, tasks, and resources together so the organizational goals can be achieved. Directing: Directing is the process that many people would most relate to managing, It is supervising, or leading workers to accomplish the goals of the organization. In many organizations, directing involves making assignments, assisting workers to carry out assignments, interpreting organizational policies, and informing workers of how well they are performing. To effectively carry out this function, managers must have leadership skills in order to get workers to perform effectively. Controlling The controlling function involves the evaluation activities that managers must perform. It is the process of determining if the company's goals and objectives are being met. This process also includes correcting situations in which the goals and objectives are not being met. There are several activities that are a part of the controlling function. ———————————————————————————————————— Managerial Skills To be an effective manager, it is necessary to possess many skills. Not all managers have all the skills that would make them the most effective manager. As technology advances and grows, the skills that are needed by managers are constantly changing. Different levels of management in the organizational structure also require different types of management skills. Generally, however, managers need to have communication skills, human skills, computer skills, time-management skills, and technical skills. Communication Skills Communication skills fall into the broad categories of oral and written skills, both of which managers use in many different ways. It is necessary for a manager to orally explain processes and give direction to workers. It is also necessary for managers to give verbal praise to workers. Managers are also expected to conduct meetings and give talks to groups of people. An important part of the oral communication process is listening. Managers are expected to listen to their supervisors and to their workers. A manager must hear recommendations and complaints on a regular basis and must be willing to follow through on what is heard. A manager who doesn't listen is not a good communicator. Human Skills Relating to other people is vital in order to be a good manager. Workers come in about every temperament that can be imagined. It takes a manager with the right human skills to manage this variety of workers effectively. Diversity in the workplace is commonplace. The manager must understand different personality types and cultures to be able to supervise these workers. Human skills cannot be learned in a classroom; they are best learned by working with people. Gaining an understanding of personality types can be learned from books, but practice in dealing with diverse groups is the most meaningful preparation. Computer Skills Technology changes so rapidly it is often difficult to keep up with the changes. It is necessary for managers to have computer skills in order to keep up with these rapid changes. Many of the processes that occur in offices, manufacturing plants, warehouses, and other work environments depend on computers and thus necessitate managers and workers who can skillfully use the technology. Although computers can cause headaches, at the same time they have simplified many of the tasks that are performed in the workplace. Time-Management Skills Because the typical manager is a very busy person, it is important that time be managed effectively. This requires an understanding of how to allocate time to different projects and activities. A manager's time is often interrupted by telephone calls, problems with workers, meetings, others who just want to visit, and other seemingly uncontrollable factors. It is up to the manager to learn how to manage time so that work can be completed most efficiently. Good time-management skills can be learned, but managers must be willing to prioritize activities, delegate, deal with interruptions, organize work, and perform other acts that will make them better managers. Technical Skills Different from computer skills, technical skills are more closely related to the tasks that are performed by workers. A manager must know what the workers who are being supervised are doing on their jobs or assistance cannot be provided to them. For example, a manager who is supervising accountants needs to know the accounting processes; a manager who is supervising a machinist must know how to operate the equipment; and a manager who supervises the construction of a home must know the sequence of operations and how to perform them. Management Thought There are many views of management, or schools of management thought, that have evolved over the years. What follows is a brief discussion of some of the theories of management that have greatly affected how managers manage today. Classical Thought The classical school of management thought emerged throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Since the beginning of time, managers have needed to know how to perform the functions discussed earlier. The Industrial Revolution emphasized the importance of better management as organizations grew larger and more complex. As industry developed, managers had to develop systems for controlling inventory, production, scheduling, and human resources. It was the managers who emerged during the Industrial Revolution, many who had backgrounds in engineering, who discovered that they needed organized methods in order to find solutions to problems in the workplace. Behavioral Management Thought It was because the classical management theorists were so machine-oriented that the behavior lists began to develop their thinking. The behavioral managers began to view management from a social and psychological perspective. These managers were concerned about the well-being of the workers and wanted them to be treated as people, not a part of the machines. Contemporary Management Thought In more recent years, new management thoughts have emerged and influenced organizations. One of these is the sociotechnical system. A system is a set of complementary elements that function as a unit for a specific purpose. Systems theorists believe that all parts of the organization must be related and that managers from each part must work together for the benefit of the organization. Because of this relationship, what happens in one part of the organization influences and affects other parts of the organization. Closed Management Systems Within the classical and behavioral approaches to management, the managers look only within the organization to improve productivity and efficiency. This is a closed system—the organization operates as though it is in its own environment. Outside influence and information are blocked out. Open Management Systems Another perspective is the open system. As one would expect, here the organization functions in conjunction with its external environment, acting with and relying upon other systems. Advocates of an open system believe that an organization cannot avoid the influence of outside forces. Summary Management is a very complex process to which this article is but a brief introduction. Many other articles in this encyclopedia provide extensive insight into the many aspects of management. Different aspects of analyzing management definition: If you look up the dictionary definition of management, among many examples you will find clues as to the real definition of management. This article simply takes an assortment of definitions and looks at what they say and what they imply about management. 1-â€Å"Management† (from Old French menagement â€Å"the art of conducting, directing†, from Latin manu agere â€Å"to lead by the hand†) characterizes the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization, often a business, through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). This definition of management is interesting because it traces the root meaning back to the Latin phrase meaning â€Å"to lead by the hand†. Leading by the hand implies giving direction that is stronger than just a passing suggestion yet still fairly gentle in approach. Leading by the hand also implies that the person doing the leading is first going where the follower is being lead. The leader is not asking the follower to do something he is not willing to do himself. 2-The guidance and control of action required to execute a program. Also, the individuals charged with the responsibility of conducting a program. This definition of management refers to a â€Å"program†. This implies that, for management to be effective there needs to be some type of defined approach or system in place. This system becomes the plan and management is guiding others in following that plan. This is often the downfall of managers. They have no plan or system. As a result their actions seem random to the people they are managing and this leads to confusion and disappointment. This is why it is so important for business managers to have an employee manual. Without the employee manual providing direction, managers will struggle to be fair and balanced in their dealings with employees. -Management: is the organizational process that includes strategic planning, setting; objectives, managing resources, deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve objectives, and measuring results. Management also includes recording and storing facts and information for later use or for others within the organization. Management functions are not limited to managers and superviso rs. Every member of the organization has some management and reporting functions as part of their job. This definition is more in depth and tailored toward business management. Notice that it consists of three primary activities. First, management establishes a plan. This plan becomes the road map for what work is going to be done. Second, management allocates resources to implement the plan. Third, management measures the results to see how the end product compares with what was originally envisioned. Most management failings can be attributed to insufficient effort occurring in one of these three areas. The definition goes on to talk about how management is responsible for measuring details that may not be required presently, but may be useful later on. These measurements often help determine the objectives in the planning stage. When management is following this type of sequence, it becomes a continuing cycle. Plan, execute, and measure. The measurements become the basis for the next planning stage and so on. 4-Management: is the activity of getting things done with the aid of people and other resources. This definition of management focuses on management as the process of accomplishing work through the efforts of others. Skilled managers can accomplish much more through others than they can through their own single efforts. -Management: Effective utilization and coordination of resources such as capital, plant, materials, And labor to achieve defined objectives with maximum efficiency. This definition of management looks at not only the people but the entire range of resources necessary to follow a plan. Notice how it focuses on efficiency. Management isn’t just getting from point A to point B. It is getting there by choosi ng the best possible path. Management: The process of getting activities completed efficiently with and through other people; 2. Management: The process of setting and achieving goals through the execution of five basic management functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling; that utilize human, financial, and material resources. The first definition looks at the fact that management is getting work done through other people. The second definition divides management up into five components. These components are all parts of the three components (plan, execute, measure) that we looked at above. However the more detailed definition helps show the activities that occur in each of the three phase definition. The process of planning, leading, organizing and controlling people within a group in order to achieve goals; also used to mean the group of people who do this. Once again, this definition of management addresses accomplishing work through other people. This definition stresses the activities that are necessary for reaching particular goals. Management: the process of achieving the objectives of the business organization by bringing together human, physical, and financial resources in an optimum combination and making the best decision for the organization while taking into consideration its operating environment. This definition talks about the different components that managers need to control in order to achieve objectives. One differentiator of this definition is the way it considers the operating environment as part of what a manager must understand. Management: The role of conducting and supervising a business This is a broad definition of management that doesn’t consider management as something that can take place outside of a business.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company For decades The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) had dominated the US food and grocery market. However, with its size had come increasing managerial inefficiencies and an inability to respond to demands of changing market. A very crucial error was made in the 1950’s when A&P failed to follow customers in their move to suburbs. The result, which plagued the supermarket chain into the 1980’s , was a large number of small and inefficient stores serving declining urban neighbourhoods.In 1971, William J Kane took over as chairman and CEO of A&P. This was a time when company sales had leveled off and profits were declining. In an effort to overcome this slide, Kane ordered the conversion of thousands of regular A&P units to â€Å"WEO† supermarkets, which were described as super –duper discount stores. The average WEO store looked much the same as an old A&P and was about the same size (which was rather small and cramped by industry standards).The big difference between WEO’s and company’s conventional units was lower prices on 90% of the merchandise and a reduction in the variety of production offered from an average of items (SKUs) to as few as 8000. Chairman Kane summed up the company’s philosophy regarding this move as a â€Å"Tonnage recovery Program†, which emphasized volume business. He hope to attract many former customers by employing low prices, unfortunately the food costs began to skyrocket about the same time as WEO was instituted . The pressure caused by the price cuts was too much for the company to bear during this period.Therefore, prices were increased and the resulting market response was influential in causing further deterioration of the food giant. In 1973, the retail chain lost its number one market position to Safeway. Jonathan Scott took over Kane’s position in 1975 recognizing that the retail chain had far too many deteriorating s tores in declining urban neighbourhoods. Scott embarked on an ambitious program to close more than 1200 unprofitable locations. Unfortunately, hindsight revealed that was also needed was an entire withdrawal from certain geographic areas to achieve fficiencies of operations. In an effort market position, Scott responded by introducing the ill-fated â€Å"Price & Pride† advertising program. This advertising campaign focused on telling A&P employees and customers that the company had made a rebound and was concentrating on delivering quality products in attractive stores at low prices. It was a spirit – building campaign. Modern Stores with pleasing wide aisles served as a backdrop to the ads. The Price & Pride Campaign was quite successful in luring customers back to A&P.Unfortunately , shoppers expectation were built on the attractive scenes shown in advertisements, and many were disappointed when they returned because most stores had not really been dramatically chang ed . As a consequence, customers again left in substantial numbers to shop at competing stores. During the mid 1970’s , an ambitious program was undertaken to build many new and modern A&P stores and to remodel others. Regrettably , action fell behind plans. For example, in 1977 when 70 new stores were planned only 46 were opened due to an inability to manage the program.Remodeling also fell far behind schedule. The Price and Pride program was finally abandoned in Jan 1978. Even before this occurred, Scott began to look in earnest for new ways to get the slow moving giant moving heading in the right direction again. Once result was that a new promotional theme was adopted: â€Å"You will do better at A&P†. Along with this , three major steps were taken. First , â€Å"action prices† were instituted to pass manufacturers specials directly on to customers in the form of lower prices. Second , Generic products were offered in many stores.These plainly labeled packag es were placed in â€Å"economy cases† . located in special parts of the store. The result was that for some products customers could choose between national brand, A&P private labels and generics. Third, trading stamps were instituted in many areas. Although some of these measures may have been helpful in slowing the retail chain’s decline , they certainly were not sufficient as a long run turnaround solution. In 1979, the diminishing giant fell to the 3rd position in the supermarket industry and showed signs of serious problems .During that year , the Tengelman group , which owns a large supermarket chain in Germany at the time was able to acquire controlling interests in A&P for an attractive price. James Wood was brought in to replace Scott . One of the first moves of James Wood was to stop closing stores . Instead , a number of units were converted in to â€Å"Plus Store† which were â€Å"limited assortment† unit stocking thousands of essential produ cts far less than the 12000 products found in a general supermarket. The stores were also â€Å"no frill† in design.Goods were kept in their cartons , as opposed to being placed on attractive sheleves , and shoppers had to purchase their own paper bags. The emphasis was on offering bare bone services for low prices. However , perhaps because shoppers could not fulfill all of their shopping needs at Plus Stores, and because prices were not really drastically lower than their competitors , the Plus Stores proved unsuccessful as A&P entered the 1980’s. 1. Does it seem that A&P has tended to favour any particular model or models of buyer behavior? What appears to be the degree of success that has resulted? . Evaluate the relevance of understanding consumer behaviour knowledge to developing a marketing plan for A&P .. 3. What additional information about customers would you as a CEO like to have before designing such a plan ? How might such information be acquired ? 4. Trac e the development of A&P operations from 1979 to present – based on library research. 5. Discuss major concepts from Day 1 seminar discussions you see apparent in this case. 6. What is your personal opinion was the one major flaw in the way A&P went about its effort? Support your argument with reasons.

Coffee vs Tea Which is better for you [Infographic]

Coffee vs Tea Which is better for you [Infographic] Coffee and tea are perhaps two of the most popular beverages in the world. But how does one go about choosing which beverage they should drink in the morning? Here’s an infographic detailing the benefits and side effects of  coffee and tea. RELATED:  Are You Drinking Coffee the Right Way?Loading†¦(function(d){var js, id="pikto-embed-js", ref=d.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) { return;}js=d.createElement("script"); js.id=id; js.async=true;js.src="https://magic.piktochart.com/assets/embedding/embed.js";ref.parentNode.insertBefore(js, ref);}(document));Download this infographic.Embed Our Infographic On Your Site!Image Width%pxEmbedded from TheJobNetworkEmbedded from TheJobNetwork

Free sample - Nature of Frost. translation missing

Nature of Frost. Nature of FrostThis essay centers in one of the renowned poet of the twentieth century of the United States of America known as Robert Frost. I have chosen two of his popular poems of his career. Briefly i have looked at his private life and his career life for the purposes of this essay so as to understand the person Robert Frost was and his works. The biography in this essay is giving an account of the life of Robert Frost and how his career spanned during his lifetime. Frost was born in San Francisco, where he lived for the first eleven years of his life. Upon his father's death, a journalist, he moved with his mother and sister to Massachusetts near his paternal grandparents. His first poems he wrote as a student at Lawrence High School, he later was to marry, Elinor Miriam White in 1895. He entered Dartmouth College in 1892 but was there hardly a term; he retuned home to work at various jobs, such as factory-hand, newspaperman and teaching. In 1894 he sold the first poem, 'My Butterfly: An Elegy', to a New York magazine, The Independent. Both Frost and his wife taught school for some time, then in 1897 Frost joined Harvard College as a special student for a short period. He performed quite well at Harvard, but at the time his health became uncertain, he rejoined his wife in Lawrence. At the time his wife was expecting their second child. In October of 1900 his family settled on a farm in New Hampshire, bought for him by his grandfather. Over the next nine years, he wrote many poems that would constitute his first published volumes. Besides writing he tried his hand in poultry farming though not too successful. In 1906 he started teaching English at Pinkerton Academy, a high school in New Hampshire. During this time two of his most accomplished early poems, 'The Tuft of Flowers' and 'The Trial by Existence', were published. At the time he and Elinor had produced six children, two of whom died as infants. In 1912 he sold his farm and sailed with his family Glasgow, settling in Beaconsfield outside London. During his life he did spectacular works writing many books, poems and plays which were published both in England and in America. However Frost having been a polished writer he really believed in his capabilities to thrill his readers with captivating works and Frost's own formulation to an American friend in 1914 is helpful in thinking about his achievement: he told the friend, Sidney Cox, that the true poet's pleasure lay in making ‘his own words as he goes' rather than depending upon words whose meanings were fixed: 'We write of things we see and we write in accents we hear. Thus we gather both our material and our technique with the imagination from life; and our technique becomes as much material as material itself.' It was this principle that Pound saluted in Frost when, in his review of North of Boston, he remarked conclusively: 'I know more of farm life than I did before I had read his poems (Terry 52). This essay is focusing on the works of Robert Frost, picking part of his work to analyze literary and their application in the real life situations which gives reader a feel of someone who committed his whole educating people about the experiences of life and how to cope with challenge as we live.   One of the works of Robert Frost is his poem of 1916 known as 'The Road Not Taken'. In this particular work   can be interpreted in two perspectives. The first perspective is based on a personal interpretation of the works. This depicts how an individual can exercise his or her own independence and self reliance without necessarily involving other people in their decision making. Critically speaking in this work Robert Frost portrays and individual literary who is confronted by life situation to make a choice between two options which are a life challenge as well. The individual is seen first taking a look at the available options and evaluating the best available option though he does not know exactly what lies ahead in either of these options, the individual is convinced that whatever decision he is going to make will meet his desires and goals and therefore there is no need for any influence from third parties such as society and family members (Pritchard 15). In this work Frost also depicts the individual as having taken a decision and convinced that he had made the right decision soldiered on and true to his convictions that thy shall not regret about a decision once made it turns out that he had actually made a decision of his life time and in deed it was a good decision and that he has actually had great benefits. This work centers on encouraging individuals to face life boldly and never fear any challenges in life.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Always assess the situation within your self and do not shy away from taking decisions for it only you who can exercise your personal desires and goal while ignoring other influences. In political philosophy, individualism theory of government is such that they should protect individual liberty to act as they wish, so long as they do not infringe the liberties of others. There is what is termed as collectivist political theories, where, rather than having individuals to pursue their own ends, the governm ent ensures that the individual serves the whole society. This is a contrast to the individual liberties. The second perspective is mainly an ironic interpretation of the works. The ironic interpretation is that the poem is about making choices and rationalizing the decisions we hold with high esteem or regret .In this view, "The Road Not Taken" "is perhaps a famous example of the author's own claims to conscious irony. In the American poetry of a wolf in sheep's clothing, Frost warned â€Å"be careful of this one; it's a tricky poem – very tricky. According to this poem is made to a gentle jab at his friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas, with whom he used to take walks through the forest. Thomas always commented at the end-we should have taken different paths and seemed amused at the interpretation of the poem as inspirational. It also gives us the vigor to continually face life with an open mind so as to take up the consequences which may arise as a result of a decision or decisions we have made in life. In this interpretation it is in order to the view that the end justifies t he means (Finger 478). In this interpretation it is seen as inspirational in life and the works are taking life in another level where as one grows up they should know that they will face a life full of choices and these choices are about realizing ones desires and goals. Decision taking in life cannot be over emphasized in this piece of work and that whatever it whether an individual or the society as a whole they must face the choices available in life and take a decision which is in their best interests. However, if those decisions do not work in their favor they should face the repercussions with their heads high, for this is a show of taking responsibility in whatever actions one takes in life. It is the sociological element in this work which is of great interest since this may lead us to look at a political perspective because the society decision making may have to be shaped by a certain political leadership or dispensation. The society will depend largely on decisions made at position of leadership to look after the society's desires and goals and so their political, economic, social independence and self reliance as opposed to individualized decision taking which is informed by personal convictions. There are also situations whereby the society is segmented in groups in which case the decisions taken by a particular group will be informed by common goals of that particular group and decisions will always be taken in a unanimous agreement amongst the members of that particular group of people. The belief in the importance of the freedom of individuals also termed to as liberalism which is widely accepted in the United States of America and most western countries where i ndividuals are given the liberty to make personal decisions without the interference of the state is widely rejected by religious faiths such as Islam and many countries in Asia. The two interpretations are interrelated with the decisions we make in relationships. These decisions about relationships and family will largely be informed by individual pursuit for personal satisfaction or by societal affiliations. The same can also be affected by certain political aspects of groups and regulations of government. For example there are countries which permit gay relationships and others which are very strict that relationships should be purely between two adults of opposite sex. This political aspect will shape the kind of decisions one will make in relation with love and family. The society groupings will also shape these decisions since culturally they are bound to a certain way of life and that informs their daily life. Robert Frost in his poem 'Out, Out-''(1916) he is looking at death as speaks about a young man who dies as a result of injuries on body where his arm is severed off by a buzz saw. Death is the act of life ending. Naturally death is usually sudden and has devastating effects to the individual, family and the society at large which in ancient and modern society ist received with shock. In the United States of America a person is dead if a certificate is certified by a licensed medical practitioner. In literal interpretation of this work frost is depicting death as something which is investable and may occur at any time. It is also pointing out that death can occur to any person young and old alike. The young man dies minutes just before they could up their activities of the day. The way the death occurs is such that even the sister could not save him from being injured, and upon injuries even the presence of a professional doctor could not save the life of the young. The doctor tries to resuscitate the young man but all in vain (Parin 64). Death is also depicted as something which is individualistic and cannot be passed to someone else and cannot be shared to educe it severe effects on an individual. The young man dies in the presence of his dear sister who could not help out or even share the death effects. When death occurs different people receive the news with a lot of sorrow and tears and at times some waves of grief. The effects of death are adverse since when a family member dies and has been the bread winner of the family what it means is that the family will experience difficulties in terms of paying for their bills, it also causes emotional problems due to the loss of loved ones. Death has economic and social effects in the society when it occurs on persons who are on the productive age. It can also lead to low production as it affects labor as a factor of production when it occurs as a pandemic. However, in his work here Frost shows that death can be stopped if a little caution is exercised, had the elder and experienced operators of the buzz saw worked closely with the young man (Parin 64).   Coping with death in the modern society is varied and it entails a list of therapeutic measures which have been formulated to deal with the effects. These measures includes counseling, stress management and stress therapies to the affected persons so as to torn down the effects and help the affected persons deal with the loss. In his work Frost, he shows that once death occurs in as much as the affected have to deal with the loss, he points out that life has to continue for those who are living. Whether it occurs to loved ones life has to continue anyway and that once death occurs the next thin is to deal with the challenges ahead as a living person and the dead are dead no more. It also cites that death used to occur in the olden days and it occurrence did not mean that life will stop. In this poem it is cited that after the boy's heart is felt as it beats slowly dying and the doctor confirms the boy's life was no more and he informs the rest of the person present they are seen walking away in clear indication that life has to continue. In conclusion, Robert Frost works although some critics challenge his work based on literary perspective and criticism have helped people face life challenges will force and power and that as one continues to read his works you get the feeling that this is connecting you with real life situations. Finger, L. "Frost's "The Road Not Taken": A 1925 Letter Come to Light". American Literature 50 (3):   November 1978).   478–479'' Grant, R. Frost’s Destiny. New Hampshire: Time Books, 1924. Holt, D. Frost’s Poems. Chicago: Peterson Books, 1923. Parini, J. Robert Frost: A Life. London: Macmillan, 2000.   Pritchard, W.   "On "The Road Not Taken"". Illinois: University of Illinois, 2001. Pritchard, W.   Frost's Life and Career. New York: Routledge, 2000. Terry, D. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Oxford:   Oxford   University Press, 1994.

Casual Layered Analysis

Casual Layered Analysis Casual Layered Analysis is an effective mechanism of developing a wide range of strategic alternatives to achieve a specific goal. A Pakistani researcher called Sohail Inayatullah developed the mechanism. The Casual Layered Analysis tool breaks down the issue under scrutiny into four different divisions in an effort to shed sufficient light on the possible outcomes that the issue might yield. Through this undertaking, the tool is able to facilitate the consideration of a larger amount of scenarios that might result when applying a specific strategy. The four levels utilized by Casual Layered Analysis are Litany, Social Causes, Discourse or worldview and metaphor or myth. Description of Casual Layered Analysis Layers The litany is the first layer in Casual Layered Analysis. As illustrated by Sohail Inayatullah, litany involves the description of a certain issue through the use of quantitative techniques. The projections of current societal problems through the use of figures are often unauthentic in the view of Sohail Inayatullah. Little problems are exaggerated to seem big to ordinary people so as to create an atmosphere of fear. This has been used to draw political influence and prompt members of society to conform to the current conditions. Problems can be anticipated more accurately working back and forth through the different levels of Casual Layered Analysis (Inayatullah, 2009). The second level of Casual Layered Analysis is the social causes. In this level, the various factors that influence the issue under scrutiny are evaluated. The forces that affect the issues can be political, cultural, economic or historical. The environmental conservation issue can be used as an example to clearly describe this level of Casual Layered Analysis. Environmental conservation activists who try to come up with strategies to counter its effects believe that the main causes of environmental pollution are indecent behavior from people in terms of careless dumping and excessive toxic waste from industries. The main purpose of this level is to evaluate the sources of the issue under scrutiny (Inayatullah, 2009). The third level of Casual Layered Analysis is the discourse or worldview. The main focus of this level is the universal perception about the issue at hand. By evaluating the universal perception about the issue, an individual can get a deeper understanding of the issue by looking at the various assumptions that people old about the issue. For instance, in the case of environmental pollution, there is a concurrence among most members of society that the root of the issue is increased industrial activity. The perceptions held by various people can differ based on a persons culture, religion or amount of knowledge about the issue. For instance, a person with rich information about environmental conservation can say that global warming has caused the recent extreme weather cases. Oppositely, a person who is extremely religious will say that the recent cases of extreme weather are signs of the end of the world (Inayatullah, 2009). The fourth level of Casual Layered Analysis is myth or metaphor. These are beliefs and perceptions about the issue under scrutiny that have been existence for a long time. The focus of this layer is to evaluate a persons beliefs about the issue at hand. This layer uncovers the emotional attachments and various aspects of the unconscious mind that have an effect the way a person views the problem. The Casual Layered Analysis enables people to clearly understand the issue from numerous viewpoints. It breaks down the problem into multiple facets so that people can have numerous alternatives when trying to come with strategies geared towards the achievement of objectives regarding the issue. By going back and forth through, the layers provided by this tool, individuals can be able to come up with innovative strategies to achieve their future goals (Inayatullah, 2009). The new layers in the Casual Layered analysis should be geared towards the achievement of a specific goal. The new metaphor will be an adjustment of the previous myths that contributed to the creation of the current situation. The new myth should be full of possibilities and hope in order to give the individual the energy to conceptualize the most effective strategy to achieve his or her future ambitions. The new worldview will then be derived from the new myth. The new worldview should be encompassed of new possible mechanisms that can be utilized to achieve the future goals. The new litany and social causes will have changed to coincide with the new myth (Inayatullah, 2009).

Supporting a difficult point Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supporting a difficult point - Essay Example Performance anxiety over fixed tests and graded assignments inhibits high level thinking among students. Grading system usually associated with lot of projects, assignments and seminars. Since student’s performance will be rated in all of the above while deciding the grades, students will much tensed and they will not get opportunities for mental relaxation. The mental fatigue will be crucial factor associated with such projects and assignments. I know certain students engaged in getting the assignments done by others in order to reduce their work load. This habit will actually against the principles of the grading system. Students will learn nothing from such assignments done by others. The anxiety over grades will prevent students from developing as intellectual abilities. Students will concentrate more on their grades rather than anything else. Grades will create discrimination feeling among the students. Those who have secured ‘A’ grade will treat the ‘B’ or ‘C’ grade people as fools. This will result in, students losing interest in their studies and the classes. This inferiority will create desperations and frustrations among them. I know two persons who are teaching in a college. Both of them are teaching the same subject, but students are interested in the lecture classes of one more than the other. Interestingly the lecturer, whose classes labeled as boring by the students, secured much higher grades than the other lecturer during his studies. It clearly showed that grading system is not at all a reflection of abilities or intellectual level. In most of the universities grading will be done in a biased manner. Professors will have likes and dislikes upon certain students and while doing the internal assessment they will consider all such things. I have twice victimized while studying for my Bachelor course and Post Graduation course. During my Post Graduation studies one

BIOTECHNOLOGY Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BIOTECHNOLOGY - Coursework Example Human cloning in its most basic form is the act of taking one individual and making an exact biological replica of that organism (Genetic Science Learning Center, 2013). Dolly the Sheep was conceived and born into the world; however she suffered from a few health conditions, including rapid aging, which ultimately claimed her life at half the life span of a normal sheep. This means that cloning does come with the some obvious and unavoidable side effects that cannot go unaddressed. At the same time, it, also, offers some amazing potential benefits that cannot be ignored. For this reason, the debate over cloning of any living thing will remain ever-present for some time to come. Cloning is at the top of the list of potential biotechnological advances. Given the provided definition of biotechnologies, cloning, ultimately, fits in nicely with that definition. Cloning could provide means to treat illness, eliminate the need for unrelated organ donors, and better the medical futures of generations of people. Some researchers believe that cloning of animal and plant life could be the solution to hunger; not only can the numbers be forcibly produced, but disease and weaknesses can be bred out. It is human beings stepping into the role of creator and providing themselves with what they â€Å"need.† In this case, it is the ability to develop clones of living people for whatever endeavors that they see fit. This may allow human beings, particularly, to breed for desired traits and eliminate those that are not; they may even be able to inbreed resistance to certain diseases. It could, also, be beneficial for people unable to produce offspring of their own; inf ertility could be completely overridden (Oak, 2011).The potential positive outcomes are inviting. However, there are side effects that are far less attractive. There is the possibility of misuse of the technology, of course. There are the concerns involving the limiting of genetic

Developing and Managing Performance (Organisation Essay

Developing and Managing Performance (Organisation - Essay Example In order to enhance performance, it will be essential to develop a reward system whereby the best performing individuals will be rewarding, thus promoting competency in their undertakings. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2012, p.1). The senior management team will also undergo extensive training on various management perspectives, which will ensure that they will guide their juniors appropriately. This will be implanted in line with the current technological developments to ensure that efficiency is enhanced, which would consequently improve the overall performance of the company. 6 Strategies to Implement 6 Reward System 8 Challenges and How to Overcome Them 8 Conclusion and Recommendations 10 Developing and Managing Performance in an Organisation Executive Summary This report contains a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the different challenges faced when implementing and developing performance management and reward strategy. It puts forward the Bath model e laborating on how it can be used for performance management; moreover, a reward strategy has also been put in place with its significance being indicated. Significantly, the report starts by evaluating the challenges that are known to initiate from implementation, since this is known to be the basis of all the other problems, and proposed a number of ways that they can be countered so as to ensure that the strategic plan goes through to the end without any difficulties altogether. Introduction Over the years, there has been a lot of attention given to performance management and development with the demand for thorough information being actually intensified with the economic downfall. Human resources specialists have toiled to make sure that they keenly evaluate performance between relevant and fair measures putting most of their focus and efforts on essential aspects of any business. Essentially, the different efforts have circled around making sure that the processes are similar in nature with the requirements of a changing breed of line manager, and stream line the systems that are paper based and facilitate admittance through media. Nonetheless, most of the human resource strategies that have been implemented in the past are also focused on ensuring that managing the performance delivers in an environment where the evolution of numbers and effect on organisational brand and innovation is based on the ways of the business success. Concurrently, the report focuses on evaluating the challenges an organisation may incur when putting into place a performance and reward strategy using knowledge from the results of past case studies and theories from different specialists on the field, but mostly on human resources. Currently, the nature of work is altering with diverse organisations and corporations operating in more of a specialized network that is also flexible and natural; basically, the frequency of strategic partnering arrangements between organisations incr easing the need for management relationships to be managed beyond the organisation and hence further work is required. On the other hand, reward systems are also a critical part of any organisations design and how well they are compatible with the rest of the systems has an equal effect on to what extent they will be

Kristen Swansons Theory of Caring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kristen Swansons Theory of Caring - Essay Example Kristen Swanson is the Dean of the school of nursing and a distinguished professor at the University of North Carolina at the Chapel Hill. Swanson got famous for her theory of caring. She developed the theory with intent of helping pregnant women who lose their pregnancy. The theory suggested that, in a situation where a nurse demonstrates that they care about a patient, the effect is as necessary to the patient as it could be had the nurse provided clinical activities to the patient (Grove et al, 2013). The clinical activities include preventing infections and administering medications. In the theory, Swanson referred to four phenomena that entail the field of nursing. These according to the theory are nursing, patient, health and an environment. The theory defined nursing as the informed caring of the well being of other people. It further defined patients as individuals who are in the process of becoming. The theory entailed five processes that should be followed when providing care to the patient. The five processes included knowing, being with, doing for, enabling and maintaining belief. The theory highlighted that each woman gets valued and treated as an individual while each midwife gets wholly committed to woman-centered care. Swanson described ‘knowing’ as the process of trying to understand a situation as it is in another person’s life. According to the process of knowing, one should not try to assume or conclude how another person feels without the evidence (Gottlieb, 2013). It should be evidence-based. The process involves getting inf ormation from the patient through personal experiences narrated by the patient as well as thorough testing done on the patient. The process of ‘being with’ according to the theory involves being there for or with the woman. The nurse should be in a position to be there for the woman. They should be able to provide the physical, psychological and emotional support to the woman. In order to achieve this, there should be effective communication between the woman and the nurse. The nurse should listen to the woman’s needs. Being with, according to the theory does not only entail being by the woman’s side physically. It also includes protecting and valuing her ideas. This can be achieved through accounting for every action taken in midwifery with evidence (Gottlieb, 2013). The third process according to the theory entails ‘doing for’. Doing for involves doing what the woman could have done to herself if she was in a position to do so. It involves identifying those activities that the woman cannot currently do for herself because of the situation that she is currently (Peter son & Bredow, 2009). This process can be viewed as the art of midwifery. It, therefore, comprises of all those activities undertaken by the nurse or midwife with an intention of making sure the woman has a successful delivery. The fourth process is enabling. This process can be described as the acts of trying to facilitate other people achieve what they wish in their life. It entails giving people power to do what they wish. In midwifery, the process involves making it

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements Essay

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements - Essay Example Strategy is formed at both corporate level (what industries/markets should we operate in) and business unit level (in what segments should we compete - and how). In their research, Strategic Management: Awareness, Analysis and Change, they focus on corporate level strategic considerations. The pace of change has significantly increased in recent years and the competitive arena has enlarged, driven by, for example, larger international corporates with an appetite for new markets, reduced barriers to international trade, and technology. It is possible to say that it will be difficult to apply these strategies because they focus on the process of strategy and analysis of the environment but do not involve recommendations and clear structure of strategy development. Thompson & Martin (2005) summarize some of the key shifts' in strategic management. Both researches state that the structure of the industry will significantly effect the profit potential of the business operating in that industry. The strategy and actions of a business operating in the industry may improve or destroy the industry structure. Each business (and the relevant decision takers) must recognize and evaluate the impact, short term and long term, of actions taken on the overall industry structure and attractiveness. The resource based view of the firm is currently the dominant conceptual paradigm in strategic management, and as such would appear to offer great potential to the study of the modern organization (Dobson & Starkey 2004; Gardiner, 2005). It argues that under certain conditions a firm's unique bundle of resources and capabilities can generate competitive advantage (Cole, 1998). There are also related schools of thought that focus on the development of dynamic capabilities and knowledge as drivers of competitive advantage. Curiously, there has been little explicit attention given to the resource based view of the firm in the literature, though Pittengrew et al (2000) are recent exceptions. "The multi-business firm has the potential to create the efficient sharing and transfer of core competences across divisions so that the divisions can accommodate new strategic management tools" (Pittengrew et al 2000, p. 21t of the reason for this is again the level of analysis. The resource based v iew implicitly assumes that resources and capabilities are developed and held in a monolithic firm, whereas the reality in the organization is that some are likely to be held at a firm level while others are held at a corporate level. Thus, rather than simply analyzing corporate-level resources in terms of their potential for competitive advantage, the issue is more one of combining or leveraging them on a global basis. Strategic thinking is defined as the positioning of the firm vis--vis its competitors and its customers, and with regard to its underlying resources and capabilities. For Whittington (2000), strategy is about how those two components are brought together. The organization is a value-adding unit. Thus, it is important to realize that many of the customers and even competitors will be other units within the

Developing and Managing Performance (Organisation Essay

Developing and Managing Performance (Organisation - Essay Example In order to enhance performance, it will be essential to develop a reward system whereby the best performing individuals will be rewarding, thus promoting competency in their undertakings. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2012, p.1). The senior management team will also undergo extensive training on various management perspectives, which will ensure that they will guide their juniors appropriately. This will be implanted in line with the current technological developments to ensure that efficiency is enhanced, which would consequently improve the overall performance of the company. 6 Strategies to Implement 6 Reward System 8 Challenges and How to Overcome Them 8 Conclusion and Recommendations 10 Developing and Managing Performance in an Organisation Executive Summary This report contains a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the different challenges faced when implementing and developing performance management and reward strategy. It puts forward the Bath model e laborating on how it can be used for performance management; moreover, a reward strategy has also been put in place with its significance being indicated. Significantly, the report starts by evaluating the challenges that are known to initiate from implementation, since this is known to be the basis of all the other problems, and proposed a number of ways that they can be countered so as to ensure that the strategic plan goes through to the end without any difficulties altogether. Introduction Over the years, there has been a lot of attention given to performance management and development with the demand for thorough information being actually intensified with the economic downfall. Human resources specialists have toiled to make sure that they keenly evaluate performance between relevant and fair measures putting most of their focus and efforts on essential aspects of any business. Essentially, the different efforts have circled around making sure that the processes are similar in nature with the requirements of a changing breed of line manager, and stream line the systems that are paper based and facilitate admittance through media. Nonetheless, most of the human resource strategies that have been implemented in the past are also focused on ensuring that managing the performance delivers in an environment where the evolution of numbers and effect on organisational brand and innovation is based on the ways of the business success. Concurrently, the report focuses on evaluating the challenges an organisation may incur when putting into place a performance and reward strategy using knowledge from the results of past case studies and theories from different specialists on the field, but mostly on human resources. Currently, the nature of work is altering with diverse organisations and corporations operating in more of a specialized network that is also flexible and natural; basically, the frequency of strategic partnering arrangements between organisations incr easing the need for management relationships to be managed beyond the organisation and hence further work is required. On the other hand, reward systems are also a critical part of any organisations design and how well they are compatible with the rest of the systems has an equal effect on to what extent they will be

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements Essay

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements - Essay Example Strategy is formed at both corporate level (what industries/markets should we operate in) and business unit level (in what segments should we compete - and how). In their research, Strategic Management: Awareness, Analysis and Change, they focus on corporate level strategic considerations. The pace of change has significantly increased in recent years and the competitive arena has enlarged, driven by, for example, larger international corporates with an appetite for new markets, reduced barriers to international trade, and technology. It is possible to say that it will be difficult to apply these strategies because they focus on the process of strategy and analysis of the environment but do not involve recommendations and clear structure of strategy development. Thompson & Martin (2005) summarize some of the key shifts' in strategic management. Both researches state that the structure of the industry will significantly effect the profit potential of the business operating in that industry. The strategy and actions of a business operating in the industry may improve or destroy the industry structure. Each business (and the relevant decision takers) must recognize and evaluate the impact, short term and long term, of actions taken on the overall industry structure and attractiveness. The resource based view of the firm is currently the dominant conceptual paradigm in strategic management, and as such would appear to offer great potential to the study of the modern organization (Dobson & Starkey 2004; Gardiner, 2005). It argues that under certain conditions a firm's unique bundle of resources and capabilities can generate competitive advantage (Cole, 1998). There are also related schools of thought that focus on the development of dynamic capabilities and knowledge as drivers of competitive advantage. Curiously, there has been little explicit attention given to the resource based view of the firm in the literature, though Pittengrew et al (2000) are recent exceptions. "The multi-business firm has the potential to create the efficient sharing and transfer of core competences across divisions so that the divisions can accommodate new strategic management tools" (Pittengrew et al 2000, p. 21t of the reason for this is again the level of analysis. The resource based v iew implicitly assumes that resources and capabilities are developed and held in a monolithic firm, whereas the reality in the organization is that some are likely to be held at a firm level while others are held at a corporate level. Thus, rather than simply analyzing corporate-level resources in terms of their potential for competitive advantage, the issue is more one of combining or leveraging them on a global basis. Strategic thinking is defined as the positioning of the firm vis--vis its competitors and its customers, and with regard to its underlying resources and capabilities. For Whittington (2000), strategy is about how those two components are brought together. The organization is a value-adding unit. Thus, it is important to realize that many of the customers and even competitors will be other units within the

Plato - Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Plato Philosophy Essay The Republic is one of Plato’s longer works (more than 450 pages in length). It is written in dialogue form (as are most of Plato’s books), it addresses major issues in almost all of the branches of philosophy. The central theme in the book seems to be the nature of justice, a topic in political philosophy, but Plato also has his characters explore issues in ? philosophical cosmology, ? philosophical theology, ? philosophical anthropology, ? ethics, ? aesthetics, and ? epistemology. The parts of the Republic that are contained in our text (pp. 107-123) focus on Plato’s idea (ideal?) of the Philosopher Ruler. According to Plato, ? the best possible political system (state) ? will be ruled (governed) ? by PHILOSOPHERS! (Is he kidding? ) Our reading selection contains the following themes/sections: ? ? Introduction on the unifying of philosophy politics (107) Why true philosophers would make the best rulers (108-12) †¢ What is true philosophy? (108-11) †¢ Love of wisdom (108) †¢ Knowledge of true reality (108-9) †¢ The distinctions between knowledge, ignorance and opinion (109-11) †¢ How is a true philosopher different from a lover of opinion? (111-12) †¢ Who is best suited to rule the state – lovers of opinion or true philosophers? (112) ? ? Political leadership and knowledge of the Good (112-13) The ascent of the mind to knowledge of the Good (113-123) †¢ The analogy between the Good and the sun (113-15) †¢ The image of the divided line (115-18) †¢ The allegory of the cave (118-123) The selection in the text begins at a point in the Republic after Socrates, Glaucon, other characters have been discussing the nature of justice and the marks of a just political system for some time. So we are coming into the middle of the conversation where Glaucon is pressing Socrates to state whether it is possible for a really just political system to come into existence. Before answering Glaucon’s question, Socrates wonders whether it is worthwhile to What does he say construct a theoretical model of a good political system even if such a system could about this? Do you agree? Why not actually exist. or why not? Back to Glaucon’s original question: Can a really just (or at least approximately just) political system exist? What would make it possible? (It is the separation of philosophy political power. ) And this leads to . . . . unless political power philosophy are brought together those who now pursue either the one or the other exclusively are prevented from doing so -neither our political problems nor our human troubles in general can be ended . . . . † (Text, pp. 108-111) True Philosophy True Philosophers What are the characteristics of a person who is naturally suited to practice philosophy? According to Socrates (Plato), a true philosopher ? loves the whole of wisdom and is satisfied with nothing less; ? recognizes the difference between particular things and the essences (or forms) of which particular things are likenesses (e.g. , beautiful things vs. Beauty itself); and ? knows the differences between knowledge, ignorance, and opinion. Plato argues that someone who really loves something must love that thing as a whole and not just some aspects of it. On that basis, he concludes that a true philosopher (lover of wisdom) must desire wisdom as a whole and not be content with having just some wisdom. Do you agree with this? Do wine-lovers really love all wines? A true philosopher recognizes the difference between particular things and the essences (or forms) of which particular things are likenesses (e. g. , beautiful things vs.Beauty itself). One of Plato’s major metaphysical theories is known as the â€Å"Theory of Forms. † According to that theory, ultimate reality is a realm of forms (essences) not accessible to the senses but only to the mind (intellect). He calls that level of reality the â€Å"intelligible realm† (because it is accessible only to the intellect). The perceptible world (i. e. , the world we perceive through our senses) is a reflection or copy of that higher intelligible world. (The Greek word for â€Å"form† or â€Å"essence† is eidos. ) Do you think it is possible for one thing to be really more beautiful than another thing? Well, how is that possible if Absolute Beauty does not exist? How can â€Å"A† be more beautiful than â€Å"B†? Doesn’t â€Å"A† have to be closer to Absolute Beauty than â€Å"B† is? But how can â€Å"A† be closer to (or â€Å"B† be further away from) Absolute Beauty if Absolute Beauty does not exist? A true philosopher knows the differences between ? Knowledge, ? ignorance, ? opinion. Plato’s view of knowledge, ignorance, and opinion (Text, pp. 109-111) State of Mind Knowledge Opinion Ignorance Object What is (Being, Reality) What is is not (Becoming) What is not (Nothingness, Unreality) Access Intellect Perception ? (Do you agree with this setup/theory?) Is Plato right about knowledge, ignorance, and opinion? Here’s a different view†¦. What about knowledge? The three basic questions in epistemology ? ? What is knowledge? How does it differ from opinion? How do we acquire knowledge? What are its sources? Rationalism vs. Empiricism. (What about Intuitionism and Revelationism? ) ? What are the extent and limits of knowledge? What can be known, and what cannot be known? A (fairly) standard definition of knowledge (and opinion) ? Knowledge is justified (i. e. , verified) true belief. †¢ To know is to believe. †¢ The belief must, in fact, be true. †¢ The belief must be justified (i.e. , verified, proved) by some standard and generally recognized means. ? Opinion is belief that may be true or may be false but that has not been or cannot be justified (i. e. , verified, proved) by any standard and generally recognized means. Of course, some opinions that are rationally defensible in the weak sense are â€Å"justified† in a limited way. And what about ignorance? Isn’t ignorance basically an absence of knowledge? Of course, opinion is also an absence of knowledge. So perhaps ignorance is a certain or special kind of opinion that is in some sense groundless (in a way based on nothing, as Plato says). ? There seem to be various types of ignorance, including unintelligent ignorance, as when someone asserts dogmatically that a false proposition is true or that a true proposition is false. There is also intelligent ignorance, as when someone does not know X and acknowledges forthrightly that he does not know it, etc. More thought is needed on this matter†¦. ? However, Plato’s view of ignorance as having non-being (nothingness) as its object does not seem correct (or at least not completely correct). ? ? ? Lovers of wisdom (philosophers) they recognize the existence of absolute, transcendental essences such as Beauty Justice in themselves, and they seek knowledge of such absolutes. ? Lovers of opinion -they recognize only particular perceptible things do not believe in the existence of absolute essences such as Beauty itself. So what is the nature of the Absolute Good? (Text, p. 112-113) In approaching the problem of defining the nature of the Absolute Good, Socrates (Plato) sets forth three very famous illustrations of his overall perspective on knowledge reality. These are I The Good the Sun The Good is to the mind as the sun is to the eye, i.e. , just as the sun’s light enables the eye to see in the perceptible realm, so the Good illuminates the mind and enables it to â€Å"see† in the intelligible realm. (See text, pp. 113-115) 2 The divided line (Text, pp. 115-118) States of Consciousness Philosophical Wisdom E Objects of Consciousness The Good Other Forms Knowledge D Intelligible Realm Scientific Knowledge Informed Opinion Delusion C B Mathematical Scientific Objects Opinion Perceptible Objects Images Perceptible Realm A (Text, pp. 118-123) Can you link the images on the following slide to Plato’s depiction of the cave world on pp. 118-121 in the text? Now that the prisoner has â€Å"seen the light,† ? What might happen to him if he were to go back down into the cave-world? (pp. 119-121) ? How does he feel when he looks back down into the cave-world? (pp. 119) ? How does the allegory of the cave illustrate Plato’s overall view of knowledge and reality? (p. 121) More questions: ? What’s the philosophical difference between coming into the darkness from the light coming into the light from the darkness? (p. 121) ? What, according to Plato, does the allegory of the cave tell us about what the process of education should be? (pp. 121-122) there are the big questions: Why should we want philosophers to rule? How are we going to get them to rule? Since we are asking them to come back down into the cave-world, won’t we be doing them harm by making their lives worse rather than better? (Text, pp. 122-123) What do you think of the following statements by Plato (Socrates)? â€Å"The best rulers of the state are those who know the Good, who don’t look to politics for their happiness, who live a higher life than the political life. † â€Å"Political power should be held by those who do not want it. † The End (for now).