American Vegetarianism How It Became a Subculture?

How it became a subculture? American vegetarianism has existed for more than 200 years and the American Vegan Society was founded February 1960, in Malaga New Jersey. Throughout recorded history there have been individuals and groups teaching the complete non-use of animal-source food and clothing. The practice of this lifestyle achieved varying degrees of success, and some failures. Veganism was defined and the first Vegan Society formed in 1944 in England. This society was to become the inspiration for others to follow. In the U. S. , Dr. Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz formed a Vegan Society in California (1948 to 1960). When H. Jay Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society (1960), it became a dynamic force spreading the vegan message at a propitious time in world history. Highlights of the American Vegan Society's early activities were: a Coast to Coast Crusade across the U. S. and into Canada 1961, North Atlantic Lecture Tour (Iceland, Britain, Europe) 1965, Round the World Lecture Tour 1967 and 1968. The society's magazine was published under the title Ahimsa 1960 to 2000. In 2001 the name was changed to American Vegan and is quarterly. American Vegan Society Annual Conventions have been held in New Jersey and other states, including New York, Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington. In 1995 American Vegan Society hosted the 8th International Vegan Festival in San Diego California. Local and regional vegetarian societies have shared responsibilities for some of these events. These conventions have provided a valuable forum. Since 1989 videos of convention proceedings have taken the vegan message into living rooms across the USA, and a few years later, around the world. Since 1969 American Vegan Society has held educational programs, including cooking classes, at its Malaga New Jersey headquarters. The present day vegan community in the U. S. involves many individuals and organizations. Besides the American Vegan Society, there are Gentle World, Vegan Outreach, Vegan Action, and vegan. com. A vegan diet is promoted by other organizations such as Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the National Health Association and Institute for Plant Based Nutrition. Increasingly, animal rights organizations, anti-vivisection societies, and farm animal reform and rescue groups have advocated the compassionate vegan lifestyle. Vegetarian Resource Group has provided an abundance of vegan information since the mid 1980s. Of strategic importance were health studies done on vegans in England, and in the U. S. on vegans within the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and at The Farm, Summertown Tennessee. They proved the adequacy and advantages of the diet that, combined with growth of nutritional knowledge, helped others to avoid potential pitfalls. Very helpful also were the experiences of U. S. followers of Dr. Herbert M. Shelton and others in their rediscovery of ancient truths about human health. A history of veganism would not be complete without commenting on the health food stores (many run by Seventh Day Adventists) that have sustained vegans with foods outside the mainstream through the years. There is also an increasing number of food products now available that have added the convenience factor needed to persuade increasing numbers of people to go vegan.

How the Digital World May Change Essay

The rapidly changing societies with constantly improving technology and occurrence of social digital technologies dramatically changed the way people communicate and interact with each other making them either â€Å"digital natives†, â€Å"digital residents†, â€Å"digital immigrants† or â€Å"digital visitors† based on their generation or familiarization with technology. More and more people today perceive the world as the complicated and mature network of computerized and online applications that help to communicate, search for, exchange and share information, make business with international partners, play games on distance, and many other purposes. Though, the question is whether digital natives and digital residents are the same in their perception of the world, behavior and life habits in the future? Behavior of Digital Residents Since personally I was born before 1994, I am related to the category of digital residents, who were born before the occurrence of social digital technologies. Such people like me learnt the computer and Internet-related skills either in schools or universities and have an opportunity to compare life and perception of the world before and after the digital world. Despite I am not a digital native, my behavior as a digital resident is already influenced by numerous technologies I am using daily like cell phone, computer, DVD player, iPod, etc. With occurrence of cell phones, for example, people became more flexible and mobile in their behavior, actions, plans and ability to communicate with their family members, friends and colleagues. Moreover, many people combine conversations by cell phone with other activities like cleaning the house, working on the computer, shopping or driving a car (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008). Recently more and more people, including me, prefer to make their personal or business calls while driving to the office, shop or gym. It might be a good way to use time efficiently, though at the same time might cause problems and distract a person from driving and being careful on the road. In one of his first video chapters Robert Schrag (2010) addressed exactly this issue when young people got used to talk by phone and type text messages while driving. Though, the main difference in such behavior between digital natives and digital residents is that the last ones are more careful, reasonable and less dependent on the technologies than digital natives are (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008). It might sound crazy, but computers, cell phones and other technology-related products became a mandatory and integral daily part of their lives. While as a digital resident I am less dependent, or better to say, obsessed with technology, the changing world of education and business requires being constantly aware and familiar with the latest technologies, either to learn the updated and useful information for my personal and professional development or to keep pace with younger people whose knowledge of languages, computers and technology-related applications make them more competitive at the labor market. Conclusion  As for the future behavior as a digital resident, it is rather hard to predict since more and more innovations enter our lives. For example, nowadays a debate exists concerning two main issues: human cloning and brain chips. Personally, I do not support either of these ideas since with their occurrence and legacy people will be controlled by those who created such innovations while the human being is independent self-thinker who is responsible for his/her own actions, has personal wishes and dreams and is unpredictable in his/her behavior. While digital world gives me more and more opportunity to learn the world and communicate with other people, at the same time it controls me more and more shaping my behavior in the way innovators and digital world creators want. I personally think that technology should be wisely and within certain limits without suppressing and eliminating the natural things and personal communication between people.

Cardiovascular control in exercise, the contribution of central command and muscle afferents

Cardiovascular control in exercise, the contribution of central command and muscle afferents Cardiovascular Control in Exercise, the contribution of Central Command and Muscle Afferents The human body has the ability to easily adapt when exercise begins with many of these adaptations occurring in the cardiovascular system. It is well documented that at the onset of exercise heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity progressively increase to higher levels (Lind et al, 1964). These cardiovascular adaptations are controlled by either central (Central Command) or peripheral (exercise pressor reflex) mechanisms (McCloskey results from a study by Williamson et al (2002) have shown this through hypnosis. Originally an individual’s perceived exertion during exercise was thought to be independent of any force being produced, allowing the magnitude of CC to be seen (Gandevia et al, 1993). Williamson et al (2002) obtained results related to this idea; they found that the level of CC activated was related to an individual’s sense of effo rt independently of any force being produced. Increases in HR were found during hypnosis despite no exercise being performed and increases were therefore independent of feedback from afferents within the active limb.

Advanced Management Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Advanced Management Accounting - Assignment Example Company has various hierarchy levels and compensation to each has been linked with the financial performance only. I have been assigned with the task to suggest some comprehensive measurement technique to the firm. This report, herein, provides complete analysis of alternative available to the firm. Also this report has provided in-depth analysis of Balance Score Card being as among widely used techniques and its prospective suitability to the firm. Performance measurements techniques are used to evaluate the position of any company on the road that leads to the destination it has defined in vision. These performance measurement techniques vary from industry to industry and include both financial and non-financial measures. Every performance measure is required to meet the following aspects to be eligible for the application (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2006): There is large number of performance measures available and making choice regarding as the key performance indicator (KPI) is the critical decision. PWC developed model for the comprehensive Communication of KPI which is as follows: Measures that already are part of Allulite Windows and Joinery shall be aligned and hence, updated as required for meeting the standards set in model above. For instance, the production performance measurement can be upgraded to meet the quality, delivery, service and total cost. Furthermore, quality measurement shall be assigned some rating criteria with benchmark of acceptance, rejection or customer feedback etc. Moreover, analysis of various cost components, their percentage contribution in total cost overall positive and negative impact of variability in cost components etc. On the external front, comparison from industry benchmark; declaration of positive or negative position against mentioned benchmark; customer retention; company

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AGGINMENT(short answer questions) Essay

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AGGINMENT(short answer questions) - Essay Example Another important external factor is globalization which has created new business opportunities. HR departments have to analyze the benefits and costs of outsourcing business processes (Richardson & Thompson, 1999: Pg 67). The HR department is also influenced by the internal factors. Technology, innovation, and creativity might be implemented at the workplace. The HR department can seek to hire and recruit workers who have adequate skills in installing and configuring technological applications. Innovation and creativity is also required in order to enhance productivity and output. HR departments need to take into account the individual factors. Employees must have high levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction in order to function at optimum levels. The HR department plans a system of incentives and rewards for performing employees. It can use assessment instruments in order to create satisfactory work environment. The HR department is at the forefront of an organization’s corporate strategy. The work force should be selected on the basis of certain competencies. Workers should exhibit high levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Their ability to work as teams and under pressure improves the corporate strategy of the organization. Further the work force should demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness. The goal of the HR department should be develop specific competencies like leadership, management, organization, planning, and coordination amongst the work force. Workers should be trained to collaborate and cooperate with each other (Beaumont, 1993: Pg 123). A dual HR strategy refers to the creation of appropriate business rules and regulations. It seeks to regulate and monitor employee actions and performance. The advantages of this approach are that it enables the department to create accurate and reliable job descriptions. Further employee concerns and aspirations are addressed in a s mart and reliable manner. A

Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Medicine - Essay Example The practice of medicine has been shaped through the years by advancement and refinement of existing techniques of that era. As per N.D Jewson the concept of sick man was found to disappear from medical cosmology in two related sense of period ,1770 to 1870. Medical cosmology is basically meta physical and attempts to circumscribe and define the universal nature of medical disease ( Althruser and Bailbar, 1970 ). Three distinct period in history of medicine are associated with three different places and three different thoughts of diagnosis. From middle age- 18th century BED SIDE Medicine ( BM ) was widely prevalent, then by 1794 to 1848 came the era of HOSPTIAL MEDICINE ( HM ). And from the time forward it was Laboratory Medicine ( LM ) that ruled the medical world. The Laboratories contribution to the medicine has been recently recognized by the historians as something more than addition of knowledge, but as an seat of medicine which helps clinicians to account what they observe in patient. The first medical diagnosis made by human race was based on observations made with eyes and ears by ancient physicians. The Greek attribute all diverse reactions and diseases to bodily fluid called humor. Ancient Egypt's and Mesopotamian clinicians made diagnosis and treatment based primarily on observation of clinical symptoms as palpitations, acultation, etc. Other less scientific diagnosis that was widely prevalent in that time was spiritual sacrifice of animal and examination of those animals organs, being correlating to the patient's stage. Aptly described as the father of medicine ,Hippocrates in 300 BC attributed all diseases to body fluids. Later Gallen ( AD 131 to 101 ) who is called as the founder of experimental physiology combines Hippocrates and Pythogras theorem, holding four elements earth, fire, water and air contributing to four elements blood, bile, phlegm and black bile. In the middle age, in Europe early Christians considered diseases sin or punishment and diagnosis were based on symptoms, pulse, excreta ( especially urine). The concept of uroscopy was introduced and testing of urine for all diseases was made mandatory. The 17th century saw the descriptive work of medicine, as the medical journals started evolving and there was more ground work done for diagnosis and therapy of diseases. Many inventions as blood circulation, microscope, uroscopy, gravimeter analysis, experiments on blood transfusion, and attempt to use pulse rate and temperature as health indicator were followed. 18th century was considered to be the golden age of medicine as text book of medicines and laboratory medicines evolved. Blood pressure measurement and heart beat measurement and coagulation concepts were established in this century. The 19th century saw the growth of sophistication in technology in labs, transformation of society, introduction of the concept of bacteriolo gy, stethoscope, opthalmoscope, layrngoscope, x-ray, microscope, etc.( Starr, 1982). The three concepts in medicine At the beginning of medical cosmology, Bedside Medicine was widely predominant, mainly in the last 3rd of 18th century. The ideology was centered around University of Edinburg and in certain parts of England (Jewson, 1974). The BM treats patients as the patrons and physicians as

Millstream Hotel and Restaurant Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Millstream Hotel and Restaurant - Article Example The elegant sitting room, with its comfortable and luxurious, grand piano, sprinkled with freshly cut flowers and peaceful ambiance, is the ideal place to chat up with friends over afternoon tea or an aperitif. Bosham is an ideal center from which to discover this area of spectacular natural beauty and historical interest.   This beautiful hotel has 35 rooms out of which three are suites and each room is decorated in a uniquely elegant fashion with all the necessary amenities for a luxurious and comfortable stay. The hotel is located close to some good recreational facilities like golf, sailing, squash, riding and water sports which can be easily accessed. The popular restaurant is open all through the year and serves some of the most excellent delicacies in that part of town. There are a few famous historical attractions for the holidaymakers like Chichester Festival Theatre, Fishbourne Roman Palace, and West Dean Gardens. On a sunny day, the lawns can be inviting where you can relax under the shade and enjoy the ducks in the nearby lake. You can enjoy a pleasant evening in the beautiful and well-kept gardens along with your friends and family over a cup of tea and delicious snacks. A well maintained and luxurious spa can add a lot of value to the residents who can relax and enjoy a good massage or get pampered in style. The spa is the latest trend in the hotel industry around the world. You can add on a spa facility or take on a branded spa on the franchise which can boost your hotels' facility outlook to a great extent. Most of the clients now expect a spa in the hotel as they look for a complete relaxation package when checking into a hotel. The wellness tourism has caught on in a big way where health and wellness spas are frequented by tourists who are becoming health and beauty conscious. A well-equipped spa can provide guests with Jacuzzi, steam, sauna, exotic massages and various other treatments that would add on to the luxury of the hotel.  

Networking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Networking - Essay Example Moreover, the concept of networking might appear simple if seen from a diagrammatic perspective but from the technical perspective, it might rather appear as highly complex. From a generalised point of view, it can be understood that the networking process is the development of a connection between the nodes within the network that might be involved in the data sharing process. The concept explains all the aspects that all together form the communication process (Microsoft, 2014). The essay describes the concepts and the aspects related to networking. The discussion emphasizes the principles and the operations of the layered communication protocols. It also briefs about protocol stack, its working and packet headers In computer networking, there are two important protocols that include Internet Protocol (IP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Contextually, computer networking is also recognized as TCP/IP. The layered communication protocols of networking are discussed hereunder. The concept of protocol stack can be explained with reference to the Ethernet technology and data transmission techniques. Data transmission in an online fashion generally takes place in the form of packets. Therefore, in a general sense, it can be understood that the packets that are needed to be transmitted must have a sending as well as a receiving address. In this context, the concept of protocol slack plays an important role in the data transmission process (The Linux Information Project, 2005). The diagrammatic representation provided below will help in understanding the concept of protocol slack. From the above diagram, it can be clearly understood that each packet transmitted must have a sender and a receiver address, so that the data reach the desired address appropriately (The Linux Information Project, 2005). The technique is known as wrapping up of the data packets. The transmission process has been explained through the elaboration of the seven layers of the

Operation Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operation Management - Case Study Example "During briefings, executives were forced to concede that more than a quarter of a million customers have defected in the past three months alone." (http://www.cwu.org/uploads/documents/RD0410208%20%20BT%20Price%20Regualtion.doc). Not only are they losing customers, the regulator OFCOM has announced that it wishes BT to lower its wholesale rates by another 9%. OFCOM rules and directives such as the one requesting BT to lower its rates by an additional 9%, is part of the evidence showing that BT must operate in a strict regulatory environment. This environment affects BT's residential as well as the WRL scenario. The way the WRL works is that BT owns the communications infrastructure. OFCOM rules have forced BT to open this communications infrastructure to low-cost rivals by renting them access at wholesale prices. These rivals such as Carphone Warehouse (Talktalk) and Onetel then supply their customers with rates that allow the companies to take advantage, and to profit, from the wholesale rates. The way that BT is combating these regulatory constraints, and an environment that helps their competitors, is by offering a wider variety of services that include broadband and mobile communications. Despite the public's voracious appetite for both of these services, BT still has some huge challenges to overcome. "We're managing a transition from the old world to the new," said Karen Witts, CFO of BT Wholesale. "Traditional revenues are declining and we have to match that with new wave revenues, but these revenues have lower margins" (http://www.financialdirector.co.uk/accountancyage/features/2147006). The wholesale division of BT then will become even more important to BT's financial success throughout the next decade. Other challenges the division will have to overcome include complying with the regulations (that may differ significantly) set in other countries that they wish to do business in. BT must also be very careful of not becoming overly dominant in the marketplace. If they do, OFCOM may step in and say "you are too big." OFCOM has already ensured that BT must give their competitors equality of price and the same access to BT's fixed lines as BT's own retail business has.The telecom industry is also very competitive and highly complex. BT has met some of these challenges and continues to do so, on a daily basis. In 2005 BT set up a new access division that is called Openreach. This separate entity will report all its results as a stand alone company and will provide wholesalers with 30 million access lines. The division is comprised of 30,000 people, 8 billion in assets and is projected to show 4 billion a year in revenues. OpManage/ pg 3 BT is known as the supplier's supplier of non-cable broadband in the UK. Of the 631,000 new homes connected to its broadband lines during the past three months, only 27% of those chose an actual broadband service from BT Retail, leading to the conclusion that although BT is concentrating (and seemingly doing a good job) on its wholesale division, its more profitable retail division may need the concentration as well. (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/statement_tsr/statement.pdf). Unlike BT, a local soft drink bottler has different problems to face. The soft drink bottler must consider the possible production methods that are available for use, and then choose the one that is most

International trade, economic integration and international marketing Essay

International trade, economic integration and international marketing - Essay Example Today a large number of organizations carry out international marketing campaigns. This saves considerable costs as well as drives a global message. This has been supported by the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for marketing which absolutely remove the international communication barriers. However, there are also several cultural impacts of international marketing. Either a firm has to adapt itself to the culture of the various international markets or it has to make sure that the consumers worldwide are able to connect to its marketing tools. When Chevrolet launched Chevy Nova in Mexico, it was rejected because of a negative meaning in the Spanish language. The same was the case with American Motors’ Matador. Therefore, it is important to respect the culture and language of the target countries in order to make a cultural impact on them. 3. Political and Financial risks in international marketing There are considerable risks in international marke ting especially in emerging economies. The economic scenario and performance in such countries is highly unpredictable. Therefore, a company may actually spend millions of dollars in its marketing efforts but its products may simply fail because of external economic factors not under its control. Thus, market research becomes extremely important for marketing in international markets. The financial risks in international marketing & operations are also dependent upon the level of control of a firm. Therefore, a firm involved only in exporting goods or services has the minimum risk from that point of view. The barriers would be less and so will be the sunk costs. However, the low degree of control may impact effectiveness of marketing. If a firm is in joint venture with... This essay stresses that market research becomes extremely important for marketing in international markets. The financial risks in international marketing and operations are also dependent upon the level of control of a firm. A firm involved only in exporting goods or services has the minimum risk from that point of view. The barriers would be less and so will be the sunk costs. The low degree of control may impact the effectiveness of marketing. If a firm is a joint venture with a local firm, the risk increases. The risk is maximum in case of direct investment by a firm in the international markets.Strategic marketing planning deals with the overall direction of the business in line with marketing. It is the role of marketing to establish links between the business and the customers. Firms use various strategies to enter international markets. One of them is the technical innovation strategy where they exhibit technically superior products as compared to competitors in internationa l markets. Other firms may prefer a product adaptation strategy where only modifications and upgrades are made to existing products and services.This paper makes a conclusion that some firms follow availability and security strategy for entry into international markets. They do this by designing an efficient supply chain and transportation network. Many firms also follow a low pricing strategy where the aim is to penetrate the market as early as possible. Lastly, a firm may completely copy an existing product for conformity to acceptable standards.

Martin Luther King speech Essay Example for Free

Martin Luther King speech Essay I think Martin Luther King’s speech make the strongest argument when Martin Luther King once said, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. This saying rang towards the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the eager, listening ears of people who wanted reform. August 28, 1963, marked the day when Martin Luther King Jr. had changed more than just Washington. More than America. He had envisioned a life where everyone would be considered equal, and everyone would prosper. He had begun to change the world. This historic event took place 48 years ago, and many alterations in society have occurred since then. If Martin Luther King Jr. had never been born, however, racism and segregation would still exist and even burgeon. Martin Luther King Jr. was the exemplar for civil rights, the paragon of justice. Without him, life would be malevolent for me, an Indian from the hot, arid land where the Ganges runs free and nature is all-abundant. There would be no variety in America. The majority would constantly rule over the minority and tensions would erupt. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the minority a voice of reason and hope. When King spoke, he reached peoples hearts and minds at the same time. He dug down deep into issues of racial discrimination and presented alternatives of love and equality. Racists struck down his ideas, but others were moved and worked to better society as he wished. King was a loving man, one that wished people would listen and follow him but he did not force them. If Martin Luther King had never been born we would have never been able to, as a nation, act as a role model to help these countries on their quest to become industrialized nations. America would become full of arrogance, and we would not participate in national affairs with an open mind. The Declaration of Independence, a document which we hold in our hearts so fervently, summarizes Martin Luthers Kings purpose in life: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Today, all men are indeed created equal, but would that have been recognized without this man who went against the norms of society and rose in the ranks

Feminism Essay Example for Free

Feminism Essay Feminist ideas of freedom suggest that outside social forces that are repressive can corrupt an individual’s desires and limits their thinking abilities. Jean Grimshaw was a feminist philosopher who analyzed this concept. Grimshaw with other feminists believed that these repressive forces come from male domination in society. Questions about the self are important to feminists because they are constantly trying to figure out a woman’s autonomy. Feminist philosophers have come up with many approaches to the self. Jean Grimshaw goes back to an argument from Aristotle. Aristotle questions what makes people do things voluntarily and out of free will. Aristotle says that that actions that originate from inside the self are desires or intentions and actions that originate from outside are not. Jean Grimshaw however questions whether those desires that come from outside are not really one’s own desires. There is a constant conflict between internal and external constraints. Feminist authors such as Mary Daly, Marilyn Frye and Kate Millet wrote books on how women have been conditioned in their thinking by men, therefore cannot have their own desires. Feminists agree that women are deprived of their free will because men treat them as robots and this changes a woman’s personality. Based on the books of these three authors there is many things to conclude about the self. The self is aware of its interests, it is altered because of the interference of male domination and the only way to really have a true self is to fight against those social effects of domination. A woman must understand the changes they are going through by men in society in order to reveal the self. I believe that if someone is constantly thinking that there are outside forces that disable form being they they must change that. If the male society undermines women, and women continue to accept it then they are not following their own desires. One must understand the constraints that they are dealing with in order to make independent choices to be liberated.

Tasks on Management and Leadership Skills

Tasks on Management and Leadership Skills 1.1 INTRODUCTION: This academic essay is related to strategic management and leadership in McDonalds. The purpose of this assignment is to understand the impact of decision making in an organisation i.e. McDonalds. In this cut throat competition which is prevailing in the market, it is my understanding that leadership and proactive strategy plays vital role in overall organisations success. In addition to this it has become apparent that strategic management and leadership operate at parallel level in an organisation. 1.1.1 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: It deals with the most fundamental and basic question that involve the very existence of the whole organisation and guide the whole companys future. (Mullins,1985) Strategic management entails both strategic planning and implementation, and is the process of identifying and executing the organizations strategic plan, by matching the companys capabilities with the demands of its environment.(Gadiesh and Gilbert, 2001) In laymans term strategic management provides overall direction to the organisation. This in turn entails specifying the organisations mission, vision and objectives, developing plans etc. 1.1.2 LEADERSHIP: Leadership is defined as influence, that is the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievements of the groups mission. Visionary leadership inspires the impossible: fiction becomes truth. (Lynch, 1997) In leadership, people run the organisation to one place or another for the achievement of its objectives. Leadership is a great tool in achieving success for the organization, not just through charisma, but through good judgement,proper motivation of employees effective utilization of materials. 1.1.3 LINK BETWEEN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP: Due to a rapidly changing world, organizations face incredible pressures in delivering immediate results. This necessitates for strategic management because there is a great need to maximize every available resource to achieve the organizations goal. To manage an ever increasing demand for company effectiveness, there is a great need for strategic leadership to approach these conditions priorities. For any ongoing business, it is mainly important to implement strategies through effective leaders. Real strategic leadership means taking responsibility for the future as well as what is happening today. A primary goal of strategic leadership is gaining a better understanding of the business conditions, the environment and the leading indicators that identify new trends and situations that may arise. According to the situation, leadership styles can be varied like autocratic, democratic and charismatic and so on. In any organisation it is required to have a good strategic management with good leadership skills. These two must be in parallel positions for the organizations success. 1.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES ON DIFFERENT SITUATION IN MCDONALDS As I have taken McDonald as case study, I would like to discuss the management style that operates in this company. Based on my understanding, McDonald operates with a Democratic style of management. This realisation comes to me while I am working with the company and it gives freedom and flexibility of change according to different situations. In this style, the employee and people associated with the company have more participatory role in the decision making process. McDonald has a democratic style and there is a less gap between manager and employees. They have two way relationships between them. They have a comfortable working pattern. So the manager can easily get the feedback from the employees. Also on the other hand, the employees understand the situation and they follow the rules without any difficulty. There are same levels of working. According to the different situation they have a different style of leadership. In this particular approach, the store manager has all power to run the branch but still allows employees to share their ideas and insights. Also in McDonald, every employee has a participative role in the decision making process. All employees have to work with their strengths and provide input on how to delegate work within the team. The management gives more importance to work in a team rather than doing individually. In McDonald, ideas move freely amongst the group and discussed openly thus ultimately achieving their objective. This works both ways for the company by fulfilling individual objectives in line with the overall objective of organisation. The management of this organization motivates the employees to do more work by involving them into decisions which really affects the objective of the organisation. This particular approach influences the productivity of employees and they feel important to be a part of the organisation by providing a value. They lead all the employees to the same level and the manager always tries to know the strengths and weakness of employees. To overcome these difficulties, they provide appropriate training career development programmes. McDonald has flexible working hours which provides stress-free environment. They are free to ask with the manager about schedules. The way McDonald management adapts to different situations, a strong relationship is being formed between the subordinates and the managers. 1.2.1 OBJECTIVE OF MCDONALDS: The main objective of McDonald is to make people aware of each product on offer, feel positive about it and remember it. The right message has to be communicated to the right audience through the right media. Because of this, McDonald need to give importance understand the value of both employees and customers. Happy employees serve well and results to satisfied customers. This serves as a win-win situation for both organisation and employee. McDonald has continuously done internal marketing this is important as it precedes external marketing. It goes in line with the ultimate aim of creating not just service leadership but management service. This delivery process is the key to achieving the aim of the company. 1.3 IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP STYLE ON STRATEGIC DECISION: Good leadership is adapting to any changes at any time doing the right things at the right time. Because of democratic style of leadership, employees can work comfortably and they can share their ideas and insights with the management. Also in McDonald, managers effectively delegates work to their subordinates and give them full control and responsibility to the tasks. Managers welcome feedback on the result of initiatives and the work environment. Strategic decision has to be made by leaders who have the ability to take effective decisions and adapt to changes in any situation. Because of democratic leadership, employees and managers easily understand the situation and cope with it. They work freely and comfortably. In McDonald all employees have a right to participate in the objective of organisation. McDonald has a strategic decision which is implicated and formulated by leaders and managers of the organisation. First they decide the future plans and objective of McDonald and how to get there in minimum time. They also motivate people to do more work and they appreciate their work by giving the performance award at the end of month. 1.4 CONCLUSION: From above discussion, I came to a conclusion that in adapting democratic style McDonald is really effective in providing value to employees. Although this style may bring out differences in ideas, it still ends up with formulating a common decision. McDonalds management leadership style is useful as well as to other organisations where managers and employees easily understand the situation and work accordingly. Strategic management and leadership correlates with each other. Without making any effective strategic decision, leadership cannot work and it cannot reach to the final objective of an organisation. 1.5 Bibliography: 1 Gadiesh and gilbert Arit and James(1998)Harvard Buisness Review on Leadership(U.S.A) 2 LYNCH, Richard(1997) Corporate Strategy (third edition published 2003) 3 MULLINS,Laurie (1985) Management and organisational behaviour(Eight edition) 4 http://www.coaching-business-to-sucess.com/leadership-styles.html 5 http://www.scribd.com/doc/36681688/Mcdonalds TASK 2 LEADERSHIP STRATEGY 1 INTRODUCTION: These case will focus on how leadership and management theories emphasis on current thinking on strategic decision in an organization. It is focused on how these theories help the organization to meet success. In leadership strategy, the leaders of the organization should create the unique and valuable market position, while the goal is to support the organization with activities that fit together in a complementary way. In recent years increasing business competitiveness and the need for the most effective use of human resource has focusing attention on how leadership strategy revitalize organizations. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill levels. There are many theories on leadership that are emerging in todays work environments. While leadership styles may differ, the one thing they all have in common is their objective to lead individuals toward a unified goal. 2 LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES: 2.1 Transformational leadership: Transformational leadership is also known as relationship leadership and it focused upon the connections formed between leaders and followers. It is a process of engendering higher levels of motivation and commitment. The emphasis is on generating a vision for the organization and the leaders ability to appeal to higher ideals and values of followers, and creating a feeling of justice, loyalty and trust. Transformational leadership motivates followers to do more than originally expected and the extent of transformation is measured in terms of the leaders effects on followers. Transformational leadership motivate and inspire people by helping group members see the importance and higher good of the task. Leaders are focused on the performance of group members, but also want each person to fulfil his or her potential. Leaders with this style often have high ethical and moral standards. Leaders with this style often have high ethical and moral standards. 2.2 Participative leadership: Participative leadership is one that takes the input of others into account. These leadership encourage participation and contributions from group members and help group members feel more relevant and committed to the decision making process. In participative theories, however, the leader retains the right to allow the input of others. Involvement in decision making improves the understanding of the issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions. In this leadership, people are more collaborative when they are working on joint goals. Also in this style, a participative leader, rather than taking autocratic decisions, seeks to involve other people in the process, possibly including subordinates, peers, superiors and other stakeholders. Participative leadership is a style of leadership that involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies for reach those goals. 2.2 Leadership theory work in ALICON company: Alicon group is committed to green environment and is in the process of achieving ISO management systems standard. Alicon group is working with various OEMS on the innovative projects for reducing the weight of Aluminium components for protecting the environment through improving the fuel consumption of vehicles. Alicon group is creating to various domains including Auto, Agriculture, Marine, Medical, Locomotive, Extreme sports and Power sector. Alicon group has been in the forefront in developing new and challenging products for its customers. As Alicon is conducting many sectors, communication is a key element in relationship, and also transpires into key elements for leadership strategies. By practicing outstanding skills, leaders can maintain strong relationships with those they are leading. Alicon generates greater awareness of the products including them to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the organization. Relationship-building is an important quality for leaders to possess because it builds trust between the followers and the leaders. Leaders of Alicon give special concern to the growth and developmental needs of the followers. Leaders are more likely to give importance towards success, demonstrate self-confidence and emphasis positive aspects of the vision of company. At the end of the month they evaluate performance of the employees and motivate them towards achieving the overall aim of the company, and based on their performance the employees are getting bonus, promotion. By making the right dec isions, they demonstrate their commitment to turning that vision into reality; and by doing so successfully, they instil in the others the confidence to trust in their leadership. On the other hand, in the participative style in Alicon, where the leaders sells the idea to the team. They also describe objectives of the company and they discuss with the team that how to achieve that to meet the companys requirements. In Alicon, participative leadership helps bring more minds together and hence there are more ideas and suggestions that are generated. However because of this style, several people belonging to different levels of activity are asked to contribute to the worth of a particular decision, new ideas emerge. So the decisions become more practical and implement able and creatively rich. In Alicon, there has a less gap between leaders and followers. Since everyone has put in some or the other effort towards the planning process and everyone has a feeling of importance, it is quite evident that they will work towards implementing their own suggestions as well. It becomes easier for leaders to generate results. 2.3 Trait theory: In Alicon, except these two theories, according to me Trait theory work better in an Alicon. The trait model of leadership is based on the characteristics of many leaders, and therefore it is used to predict leadership effectiveness. The most important thing is that it is not responsible to identify whether a person will be a successful leader or not, but they are essentially seen as preconditions that endow people with leadership potential. It can be applied by people at all types of organization. Also managers can know their strengths and weaknesses and thus they get an understanding of how they can develop their leadership qualities. The major advantage is that, company know that which talents leaders have. Even if there are certain inborn qualities that make one a good leader, these natural talents need encouragement and development. Because in this leadership self-confidence is developed, honesty and integrity are a matter of personal choice, motivation to lead comes from within the individual, and the knowledge of business can be acquired. In trait theory, people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify particular personality or behavioural characteristics shared by leaders. As in Alicon is dealing with so many sectors like auto, sports and power systems, so its necessary to have different skills for different sector. 2.4 CONCLUSION: In general there are lots of theory and all the theories have some effect in and other way on the organisation. Ledaership strategy is very useful in an organisation for both the leaders and followers to communicate with each other. And also it motivate them to reach the goal of an organisation with the use of this theory. And it works towards the satisfaction from the management and leaders. 2.5 Bibliography: 1 http://www.alicongroup.co.in/products.php 2 http://www.strategies-for-managing-change.com/transformational-leadership-theory.html 3 MULLINS,Laurie (1985) Management and organisational behaviour(Eight edition) 4 http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/trait-theory.htm TASK 3 PLANNING FOR LEADERSHIP 3.1 Introduction: This case will identify the requirements that needed in successful planning for leadership. Also it emphasis plan for development of future situations requiring leadership in this competitive world. Todays world is changing drastically in technology and it affects in the development of leadership skills. A critical skill for leaders is the ability to manage their own learning that the highly motivated, self-directed and satisfied ways to the development of leadership skills. The leaders must be well-planned and they have a strategies to deal with the problems and to overcome with their skills. 3.2 Leadership Requirements: In this modern world, leaders need to have an innate ability to have the courage to make decisions that can take their organisation well ahead of the competition. Leaders need to involved their organisation well ahead of the competition. Leaders need to be co-operative with their staff and gain support and respect of their staff so that they will follow their lead. Talented leaders address the critical issues that are having the biggest impact on positively to their job responsibilities. Successful leaders do not just recommend change and develop new processes, they become the champions of change. Dynamic leaders take a look at what changes need to occur and implement those changes to happen. 3.2.1 E-LAEDERSHIP: E-leadership is similar form of effective leadership. It requires highly participative nature of the e-world between e-organisations and e-customers and the interconnectedness between leader and follower. Being a leader in this modern world, e-leadership takes a closer to each and every activities around the world. In future leader can easily take their organisation towards the success if they have this type of qualities. Change is one of the factor that affect to the development of leadership skills. At the basis of the change is the need for the management to recognise that organisations are in fact social systems and that the emergent technology property of the system, the e-world, needs to be well integrated in whole organisational system itself. Because of e-leadership world becomes closer to the activities and also it is possible to communicate to different countries for the leader and they can easily deal with the activities related to their business. So e-leadership concept h as given more importance in this fast growing world. 3.2.2 Globalisation: Globalization is one of the most important factor in todays world. Because it affects to each and every place also it is the system of interaction among the countries of the world in order to develop the global economy. Globalisation includes technological, economic, political and cultural exchanges made possible largely by advances in communication, transportation, and infrastructure. Being an leader, they have to think about the expansion of their business at globally. Also they need to think about how they can expand to their business around the world. Because of globalisation , the number of countries where products can be sold or purchased has increased dramatically and it leads to improvement of international trade. The leaders need to compete globally, governments have upgraded their level of technology. Large companies refer to the countries is called a multinational so there has a increasing influence of multinational companies. Another effect of globalisation is the strengt hening power and influence of international institution such as World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World bank(WB).Globalization allows countries to source their manpower in countries with cheap labour. The manpower shortages in Taiwan, south Korea, and Malaysia provide opportunities for labour exporting countries such as the Philippines to bring their human resources to those countries for employment. Also leaders outsource their business processes to other countries so at the end they can achieve their goal. 3.3.3 DIVERSE TEAMS: Each organisation has its own distinctive culture. It is a combination of the founders, past leadership, crises, events, history, and size. These impact individual behaviour on what it takes to be in good standing and directs the appropriate behaviour for each circumstance. Being a leader, they need to know the climate thats the feel of the organisation , the individual and shared perceptions and attitudes of the organisations members. Culture is the nature of the organisation that is a result of long-held formal and informal systems, rules , and customs, while the climate is a short -term phenomenon created by the current leadership. Climate represents the beliefs about the feel of the organisation by its members. The leaders must know that what the people believe about the activities that occur in the organisation. These activities influence both individual and team motivation. Organisational climate is directly related to the leadership and management style of the leader, based on the values, attributes, skills, and actions as well as the priorities of the leader. Culture represents the shared expectations and self-image of the organisation. Individual leaders Cannot create or change culture because culture is the part of the organisation. Culture influences the characteristics of the climate by its effect on actions and thought processes of the leader. 3.3 EFFECTS OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS: The leader must need an effective leadership skills so they can easily communicate with their followers. In this competitive world, it is required to have an efficient qualities in the leader that it help them to do more work and carry a smooth relation with their followers. Because of these leadership skills, leader can take maximum outcome with using minimum resources in an organisation. 3.4 DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS: There are different methods of developing leadership skills with formal and informal learning style. Leaders are the backbone of an organisation. Because of this leadership skills that they have , they can held seminars, training, self- help projects the leaders can know the picture of their organisation in the future. And according to that they can brief out their staff deeply that how work can be done in a more effective way. 3.4.1 JOB ROTATION: Job rotation means employees are moved between two or more jobs in a planned manner. Job rotation is important in developing leadership skills because it includes the aspects related to work environment also along with other individual attributes . It helps to make satisfaction derived from balanced distribution of work load, working conditions and learning opportunities. A well planned job rotation in an organisation has immense positive impact on job satisfaction. Being a leader, job rotation helps employees to get different experiences and wider variety of skills to enhance job satisfaction. Also it helps to improve poor performance and settling scores from arising organisation politics. 3.4.2 SEMINARS: Seminar means formal presentation by one or more experts in which the attendees are encouraged to discuss the subject matter. Seminars are intergral to most programs so because of this the leaders can know the issues which are raised and they can develop their skills by giving better ideas. The success of the seminar is dependent on the groups ability to work together through intelligent discussion, develop an understanding of the material that the leaders had already think before. 3.4.3 TRAINING: For the leader to develop the skills training helps them that at which level they are standing not matter that how good or bad the leader is but then they will further improve their skills. It involves the acquisition of knowledge, rules or changing attitudes and behaviours through professional development. It helps to adhering a plan for the organisation. Through training leader can improve their quality of work and work life. Also it develop the morale of work force in leader. 3.5 CONCLUSION: To conclude this, leaders required a skills to the betterment of an organisation through different method of developing leadership skills. Comparing to old times there has a competition in the world so leaders must acknowledge certain skills that really useful in an organisation towards the success.

Essay --

Economic and Strategic Traits of the Industries and Companies Some industry factors to consider between Harley-Davidson and Polaris is their diversification, market growth rate, market size, competitive and corporate strategies. The market of recreational vehicles is very broad and it includes vehicles that are designed for on-road the experience to even off the road experiences. Recreational vehicles include ATVs, snowmobiles, utility vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, campers, boats, jet skis and even trailers. To dominate in all fields of the recreational vehicle industry would be very ambitious and expensive to accomplish. Our diversification in the recreational vehicle market is truly unique. We provided the first ever motorcycle to the consumer and we still are going strong for 110 years. There is three diversification tests we must consider and pass if we were to move on to acquiring Polaris. The industry attractiveness test is all about the opportunity for potential profits and returns in entering the side of recreational vehicles that would appeal to a broader market share could be impactful. The cost of entry test to Polaris’ industry that appeals to off-road, snowmobile and even on-road customers cannot be higher than our potential profit if we acquire Polaris. We must look at the long-term growth of Polaris and even at Harley-Davidson to see if this does make business sense. We must consider potential new competitive start-up companies that may want to try enter our market as well since there will be less competition. With the cost of entry we must consider Polaris as a growing company and it’s the number one seller of ATVs in North America. A growing company also means a higher price to obtain. The better-off test is anot... ...ompany’s corporate strategy is to eventually enter into the other side of the recreational vehicle market and that could be achieved with the acquisition of Polaris. We are looking into opportunities to have strategic fit with a new company to make sure we have better competitive advantage. Here at Harley-Davidson, we do marketing differently and that includes giving people the experience to test drive our motorcycles so they can feel the experience of the ride. We are unconventional in our marketing concepts but it has proven to pay dividends. Polaris’ corporate strategy is to drive down costs in the recreational vehicle market but to also produce high quality, reliable vehicles. They are looking into focusing more globally especially in emerging markets. Polaris is recognized nationally for our superb customer service and this is something they plan to continue. Essay -- Economic and Strategic Traits of the Industries and Companies Some industry factors to consider between Harley-Davidson and Polaris is their diversification, market growth rate, market size, competitive and corporate strategies. The market of recreational vehicles is very broad and it includes vehicles that are designed for on-road the experience to even off the road experiences. Recreational vehicles include ATVs, snowmobiles, utility vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, campers, boats, jet skis and even trailers. To dominate in all fields of the recreational vehicle industry would be very ambitious and expensive to accomplish. Our diversification in the recreational vehicle market is truly unique. We provided the first ever motorcycle to the consumer and we still are going strong for 110 years. There is three diversification tests we must consider and pass if we were to move on to acquiring Polaris. The industry attractiveness test is all about the opportunity for potential profits and returns in entering the side of recreational vehicles that would appeal to a broader market share could be impactful. The cost of entry test to Polaris’ industry that appeals to off-road, snowmobile and even on-road customers cannot be higher than our potential profit if we acquire Polaris. We must look at the long-term growth of Polaris and even at Harley-Davidson to see if this does make business sense. We must consider potential new competitive start-up companies that may want to try enter our market as well since there will be less competition. With the cost of entry we must consider Polaris as a growing company and it’s the number one seller of ATVs in North America. A growing company also means a higher price to obtain. The better-off test is anot... ...ompany’s corporate strategy is to eventually enter into the other side of the recreational vehicle market and that could be achieved with the acquisition of Polaris. We are looking into opportunities to have strategic fit with a new company to make sure we have better competitive advantage. Here at Harley-Davidson, we do marketing differently and that includes giving people the experience to test drive our motorcycles so they can feel the experience of the ride. We are unconventional in our marketing concepts but it has proven to pay dividends. Polaris’ corporate strategy is to drive down costs in the recreational vehicle market but to also produce high quality, reliable vehicles. They are looking into focusing more globally especially in emerging markets. Polaris is recognized nationally for our superb customer service and this is something they plan to continue.

Social Traditions in Medea, The Piano, and The Age of Innocence Essay

Social Traditions in Medea, The Piano, and The Age of Innocence Traditions demonstrate a set of social norms that have been followed and adapted to for an elongated amount of time. In each of the plots, Medea, The Piano, and The Age of Innocence, the standard set by society was broken and the consequences imposed took form in varying degrees and shapes of violence. Whether it was outright murder as in Medea, or a more subtle but intense struggle as in The Age of Innocence, these consequences serve as the community's opinion of this breach of its expectations for its members. All societies have many traditions set up, and each of the characters in the books either plays the role of someone who helps to uphold these traditions by following them and imposing consequences on those who don't, or someone who disregards tradition and attempts to point out its pitfalls and shortcomings in modern society. The first role, the person who reinforces tradition, is generally someone who refuses to think outside the box, or does not like the product of going against the tide. This person is comfortable with the way that society has set itself up as far as social norms and expectations. Edith Wharton's character of Newland Archer describes May Welland's innocence as a "helpless and timorous girlhood...she dropped back into the usual, as a too adventurous child takes refuge in its mother's arms." (Wharton 123) May Welland and her family are quite content living within the boundaries that New York society has erected for them, and they fear the changes and consequenc es of acting otherwise. The adventurous spirit of Newland Archer is dangerous to their precious social norms and unwritten rules for how to conduct oneself in society. Howev... ... when his son learns a story of his relations with Ellen and speaks to him about it many years after (Wharton 41). The lesson that he learns is that society is very concerned with the affairs of its members and even his wife had heard the rumors about the two cousins. While May was busy upholding her traditional role as faithful wife, she also was acting within social norms and ignoring his infatuation with her cousin Ellen, and allowing a facade of a strong marriage to continue. The violence presented in this book, while not as obvious as that in The Piano or Medea, is no less intense. May's innocent look but underlying manipulation of Archer's feelings towards her and his feelings of obligation demonstrate a great struggle between the "innocent" May Welland who looks "blankly at blankness" and the "fiery beauty" of Ellen, and both of their desires for Archer.

Maharaja Dalip Singh :: European Europe History

Maharaja Dalip Singh Maharaja DALIP SINGH, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was born in Lahore, on Feb. 1837, to mother Maharani Jind Kaur. His date of birth is disputed by some and alternately suggested as Sept. 4, 1838. Many foreign journalists have wrongly named him as Dhalip Singh and Duleep Singh. However, it should be noted that his correct name is Maharaja Dalip Singh. He assumed the Punjab throne as a child, after Maharaja Sher Singh, on Sept. 18, 1843. During his reign several wars were fought with the British. Unfortunately, he was surrounded by corrupt advisors as illustrated by the following quote. "Among the Sikh barons who stood around the throne of the young Maharaja Dalip Singh, there was not one, who honestly labored for his country, or who have made the smallest sacrifice to save her." - The Punjab Chiefs by L.H. Griffin The agreement of March 9, 1846, after the first Sikh war with the British, included the following conditions: 1) There shall be peace and friendship among Maharaja Dalip Singh and the British government. 2) Lahore darbar would have to relinquish control of the region between Satluj and Bias. 3) War compensation of one and a half crore rupees to be paid by Lahore darbar. Since this amount was beyond the capabilities of Lahore Darbar at that time, Kashmir region was offered for 75 lakhs. However, Maharaja Gulab Singh stepped forward and paid this amount to buy back this region from the British. 4) Maharaja Dalip Singh's forces were restricted to 50 platoons and 12,000 horse-back soldiers. 5) No foreigner from Britain, Europe, or America could be employed in Lahore Darbar without explicit permission of the British government. 6) British government shall refrain from interference in the internal affairs of the Lahore Darbar. However, towards the end of this year, another set of arrangements were made, under which a council was established to run the Punjab affairs. This council was headed by a British Resident. Further, British forces were brought in to maintain peace in the country. Lahore darbar was charged 22 lakh annually for the maintenance and upkeep of such forces. However, this arrangement did not last for too long. As in April of 1848, a war erupted among the Sikhs and British. At the end of this war, Sikh kingdom was annexed and Maharaja Dalip Singh was sent out of Punjab to FatehGadh (Uttar Pradesh, dist.

Critical thinking process Essay

Critical thinking often involves the creation of alternative plans, solutions, approaches, etc. , then comparing original with the alternatives. Creative thinking requires some critical evaluation during and after the creative phase. Critical thinking depends upon that little known and seldom discussed characteristic of the human nervous system—self-reflexiveness. Usually it also depends upon that remarkable human creation and tool—self reflexive language. Humans not only know about their environment, they know that they know; they can think about how they think, evaluate their evaluations. Languages, too, have this self-reflexive characteristic. They enable us to talk about talk, to make statements about statements, to write books about writing books. The self-reflexiveness of language and the human nervous system provide us with an open minded system: we can make statements about statements, indefinitely; we can react to our reactions to our reactions indefinitely. At no point can we say, â€Å"That’s the last word on the subject† or, â€Å"No further reaction is possible† (since, in doing so, we have said more, reacted further). However, believing that we have said the last word may cut of the self-reflexive process. This open ended, self reflexive system makes it possible for us to conduct scientific research, write poetry, plan enterprises, spin out complex tales of fiction—or spread rumours, spin webs of delusion and talk ourselves into insanity or war. Which we will do depends in part upon our motivation, but also upon our understanding of the thinking process and some aspects of the working of the nervous system. General semantics provides a meta-linguistic or ‘second order’ approach to critical thinking. It enables us to use self-reflexiveness systematically to monitor on-going evaluations. The principles and devices it provides call attention to either-or and ‘allness’ statements, to inferences treated as facts, to overgeneralizations, to statements unrestricted in time, to overly-simple statements of causality, etc. The tools work, whatever the order of abstraction, whatever the source of the statement (Johnson, 1991). How language empowers or limits the expression of our thoughts. Along with most of his contemporaries, Blair defines language in terms of a relationship between signs and thoughts: â€Å"Language †¦ signifies the expression of our ideas by certain articulate sounds, which are used as the signs of those ideas† (cited 1:98). Elaborating on this interdependence, he asserts that â€Å"when we are employed†¦ in the study of composition, we are cultivating reason itself. True rhetoric and sound logic are very nearly allied. The study of arranging and expressing our thoughts with propriety, teaches to think, as well as to speak, accurately†¦ so close is the connection between thought and the words in which they are clothed† (Ulman, 1994). Language can empowers and limit the expression of our thoughts. Talking about something that reinforces it, therefore say what you want to be true. Language has power, and by knowing this, you can select words that allow others to hear and understand you. Certain words provide a way of maintaining the focus of what you want. They can assist you to be in the state of mind that you desire. Looking for positive language patterns, gives your brain the opportunity to find alternative ways expressing your experiences to yourself and others. These tools get you off automatic pilot and in control. Having choice means you can regulate how an experience will affect you. You can choose to use your old patterns of expression which produces certain results, or use empowering language to give you different results. Now it can be you who decides. Labels limit is another concept that we’re dealing with here. When we label something or someone, we put a meaning on it that can limit our awareness, experience, and understanding. Labels are a form of beliefs, and like all beliefs, they filter our perceptions. Our beliefs only allow us to be conscious of things that are in agreement with them, and we unconsciously filter everything else. It can be tremendous evidence of the opposite to penetrate the belief filters. But with negative labels, the effects can be very destructive (Kaufman, 1998). The role of critical thinking in persuasion. What is the value of critical thinking? When someone else writes or speaks a peace of reasoning, they are trying to persuade us of something. Persuasion is an attempt to get us to believe something. People want us to believe things so that we will act in certain ways. Action requires some effort. There are choices involved. We could be doing something else. Because of this, it is very useful to be able to evaluate reasoning, for some pieces of reasoning should be accepted while others should not be accepted. If persuasion occurs in advertising, we could be doing many other things with our money. Take buying a car, for example. A lot of money can be involved, so what kind of car to buy can be a pretty big decision. Whether to marry a certain person or which of a couple of job offers to take are still bigger decisions. Almost every reader will eventually get some serious illness. There may be several different treatments available. One’s comfort, health, even ones life may depend on the decision as to which treatment to undertake. To make these decisions well, we will need to gather our own reasons to support various alternative conclusions. At that time, we could make an irrational decision, or a sheep like decision to follow some other person’s advice. The values of critical thinking, specifically how to recognize and evaluate reasoning, are the following: †¢ It help us arrive at true conclusions and therefore †¢ it increases our knowledge. †¢ It should help us make better decisions. †¢ It should help us persuade others and †¢ explain truth to them. †¢ Contribute to a happier life (Cogan, 1998). References Johnson, K. G. (1991). Thinking creatically: a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to creative-critical thinking. Englewood: Institute of General Semantics. Kaufman, R. A. (1998). Anatomy of Success. New York: Ronald A Kaufman. Robert Cogan. (1998). Critical thinking: step by step. Boston: University Press of America. Ulman, H. L. (1994). Things, thoughts, words, and actions: the problem of language in late eighteenth-century British rhetorical theory. New York: SIU Press.

Misc-En-Scene Sin City

For my essay on mise-en-scene, I will be talking about Sin City, written and directed by Frank Miller, Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino. In this film, there are many unique techniques used by the directors to portray emotions, hidden meanings and to determine mood. Sin City is a bold and brutal adaptation of the graphic novels written by Frank Miller. Mise-en-scene is a cinematic term, which refers to techniques used by directors to help construct a specific onscreen representation. It consists of the setting of the film, costume and make up, lighting, staging, and last of all, time and space. The scene that I will be analyzing would be the scene in which Marv confronts Cardinal Roark and forces him to confess, after which Marv kills him. Marv, a brute of a man, is one of the protagonists in this film. He wakes up after a one-night stand with a prostitute ‘Goldie’ and she lies beside him dead. Marv realized that he has been framed and goes on a vengeful rampage to uncover the truth. He kills Kelvin who is a cannibal who murders and consumes people, and finds out the Kelvin was the cardinal’s ward. The setting of this scene is in the Cardinal’s room where it is dark and we can barely make out the furniture present inside. Color symbolism is extreme in the entire film; the film is almost entirely inked in black and white. The directors created the film using the visually stunning black and white style of film noir to emphasize cynical and extreme attitudes and sexual motivations. Film noir is used to depict the darker aspects of modernity, and is usually set in a criminal milieu; exactly what this film needed. The narrative and existential angst that drives a male protagonist and a voluptuous femme fatale who seduces the protagonist for her own benefits are the gist of film noir, which are present in Sin City. Goldie used Marv for his huge size and brute strength to protect her, while Marv had feelings for Goldie. Her murder drives him mad and fuels his rage to find her killer. Sin City can be classified as a neo-noir film, which possesses elements of film noir, but with updated themes and visual elements that were absent in classic film noir. However, it is the color rendering in this film that is unique. The retained or added color to certain objects is an amazing technique, bringing out the emotions of the character or empathize the significance of the object. In the confrontation scene, the eyes of Cardinal Roark are painted green and it is the only other color present in that picture of black and white. The color of the eyes shown would make the audience focus on Cardinal Roark as he confess, and to be drawn to ponder on his sick thoughts and emotions. Green color may have been used to depict a sense of evil and perverse present in the Cardinal, and true to the saying â€Å"The eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. The color red is rendered many times in the strikingly monochromatic film, mainly in the form of bloodshed or love objects like the heart-shaped bed where Marv and Goldie had their one night affair. Red is meant to depict extreme violence, death, love and vulnerability in Sin City and it plays an important role in stimulating the emotions of the audience. In spite of this, red is only used when it is required and not all blood is painted red. In some scenes, the blood is left as white colored to show that it is not as significant in the film. There is a scene in the flashback during Cardinal Roark’s confession, in which Goldie is fully colored from her yellow locks to her fiery red dress and the color of her skin. The idea was to illustrate how beautiful Goldie was in Marv’s eyes and how full of life Goldie was to Marv in the dreadful Sin City. Besides the color in the scene I have chosen, there are flashes of brilliant color at different junctions of the film. There is one scene where the prostitutes in Old Town, depicting justice served in a crude way, stain the skies red during the massacre of mercenaries. One very distinct color I would like to point out would be the Yellow Bastard’s skin color at the last part of the film. The connotation of yellow in this case, will be to represent dirty, pungent and obnoxious, so true to Yellow Bastard’s character that even his blood bleeds yellow. The costumes and makeup play another important element of mise-en-scene. As in the case of the dressing of the prostitute Goldie, the elegant and sexy dresses that she dons in the film help her play the part of the seductress. The blonde locks along with the blood-red lipstick she possess give the audience the vibe that she is a femme fatale. On the other hand, Marv is clothed throughout in a black trench coat with a white singlet inside, displaying his heedless of caution attitude. The actor playing Marv, Mickey Rourke is portrayed as the graying behemoth embodied underneath a ton of facial make-up to make him look grotesque and fierce. Besides that, Kelvin wears a pair of glasses to invoke the look of a creepy psychopath killer. All this costumes and makeup contribute in building the personalities of the characters in Sin City, empowering them with attributes the directors require them to have. In the lighting context for Sin City, low-key lighting is utilized throughout the film. Low-key lighting or chiaroscuro is present in the scene that I mentioned, with artificial light shone through the windows of the Cardinal’s room. The room is supposedly pitch dark and the only light present comes from outside the window. Thus creating a dimly lit scene, which gives the audience a feel of the impending doom of Cardinal Roark. Strong shadows engulf both the Cardinal and Marv, generating tension between the both characters. Marv’s face is barely visible at times, only a portion shown by the lighting. I believe by making the room so dark, it forces the audience to focus on what is visible. The weak light shone on Kelvin’s decapitated head also creates an eerie feel. At the final part of the scene whereby Marv presumably cuts Cardinal Roark’s throat, the darkness and shadows conceal the gore that ensues. The low-key lighting acts to dampen the effect of the violence as the details are being obscured. Furthermore, in the flashback during the confession of the cardinal, there is a shot of Kelvin with bright lighting shown from behind him. His entire face is black due to the shadow and his glasses were the only thing white in color. The effect creates such a deviant character and literally sends chills down one’s spine. On the whole, the sinister environment of Sin City is primarily submerged in low-key lighting, except in dramatic epic sequences, where the directors want the audience to see the details clearly. Another important aspect of misc-en-scene used in a film is the staging. Staging refers to the movement and placement of actors and objects. In the chosen scene, Marv breaks into Cardinal Roark’s room, shows him the decapitated head of Kelvin and places it on the table. â€Å"The dog ate the rest†, Marv tells Roark straight in his face. Marv does that to show his hostility towards Roark and to instill fear in him, but it does not seem to work as Roark just got out from his bed to examine the head. The act of Marv drawing his gun from his holster tells the audience that Marv was all ready to shoot Cardinal Roark in the head. His stance is in standing position while Roark just sat there without fleeing. This shows that Roark was ready to accept his fate. Yet, Marv did not blast his head to smithereens. He sat down across Roark to listen to his confession before murdering him. He smokes a cigarette as he listened to Roark, taking his time. All of this staging tells us that he wanted pleasure in killing the cardinal slowly. Expression on the characters is a critical part of staging and in a scene of confrontation as such, it plays a huge role. The expression on Marv’s face in the cardinal’s room remained unusually calm, without showing much rage. It creates a very tense atmosphere in the room, keeping the audience in suspense over when Marv would end Roark’s life. On the other hand, Roark was almost expressionless when he confessed to Marv about his perverse deeds and till the very end when he was killed in cold blood. There was only a slight tinge of nervousness when he saw Kelvin’s head. This scene illustrates vividly about a man who knows he is about to meet his doom and a man who is determined to take the life of another. It is the part where dark truth is revealed. Speech used is another element of mise-en-scene, not only can it invoke thoughts in the audience, it can bring out the true nature of the character. The rampaging Marv finally achieves his maniacal madman majesty when he answers Cardinal Roark’s final question of whether killing him would satisfy him, Marv answers â€Å"The killing? No, no satisfaction. Everything up to the killing, it’d be gas. † From that, we find out that although the diabolical priest and his ward deserve to die, Marv in fact enjoys torturing people and the speech alone reveals the sadistic nature in him. The camera is focused all the time on the closed-up faces of Marv and Roark when either one is speaking. In cinematography, facing the camera is the position with the most intimacy as the character is looking in our direction and we are able to see the expressions on his face, engaging our attention. Hence in a scene like this, the closed-up face positioning would be best. Close ups give the audience time to judge a character and create mood and tension between the two characters present. In the scene, I realize that the camera points upward towards Marc, giving the audience the perception that he is the powerful and dominating character now. The camera is high angled when focused on Roark, the cannibalistic cardinal, making him seem powerless and pitiful. The computer-generated monochromatic landscape of Sin City is both elegant and vivid. Presence of retro sets and vintage cars make the city seem like a city decades again, except when one of the thugs in the film drives a Ferrari from the modern world. This means that it could be a retro-modern world or it could be set today, just that the city is still in the 40s era. The costumes donned by the characters are weird for modern day fashion, from trench coats to stripper wear. It is perhaps pulp noir imagination and visualization of a world found only in graphic novels. The use of shallow depth of field in the scene I choose, allowed the subject to be isolated from the background. It serves to direct the audience’s gaze upon the expressions of the two characters. Depth is also created by lighting, which reveals or hides the parts, which the director want the audience to see. The scene is also set up in a small room to confine the background and focus on the characters. In this essay, I have analyzed how the directors used cinematographic elements of mise-en-scene to convey meaning and stimulate response in the audience in the particular scene. Mise-en-scene is extremely important in filmmaking and has to be incorporated in every film, how well the individual or combined mise-en-scene techniques are used will help create the desired meanings in each scene.

Culture in Everyday Life Essay

I experienced culture shock about 7 years ago, when I became friends with a Philippine woman. Her name is Christeen Humangnan; she was born and raised in the Philippines. It wasn’t until Christeen was 14 years old, that she moved to the United States. She would tell me how spoiled we are as Americans. She lived in the Philippines without electricity, a television, and rarely had money for new shoes. Although those customs are different from ours in the United States, there is one culture she practices that stood out. It is called pagmamano. Pagmamano is a Filipino culture that has survived the times and foreign influences. This is the practice of respect by asking for an elder’s hand and touches one’s forehead while bowing. One usually asks by saying â€Å"Mano po.† Mano po translates to â€Å"may I have your hand please.† In return, the elder blesses the person. In the Filipino culture the elderly, refer to parents and grandparents, cousins, or close family friends. It is usually done when one visits a family, when meeting these people outside of the homes or after a religious activity. It is also common to bring children to their godparents during Christmas time to pay respect with this custom. I found this custom in the Filipino culture to be shocking to me because, I have never seen it done before. I also see so many children act disrespectfully to their elders in this country, so it was a blessing in my eyes to see the elderly being respected. Now that I have learned of pagmamano, I participate, and have taught my own children the meaning of this culture. We do not use it in our own culture, but whenever we visit my friend Christeen and her family, we show enough respect to her and her family by participating in pagmamano. I would say that the value assumption was slightly an issue when I first  learned of this practice. I thought to myself, this is not the Philippines, we don’t do that here. After seeing the custom in person and how respectful the adolescents are to their elders, I realized I was wrong. I was happy to learn of it and see the children learning respect. You don’t see many American children show this type of respect. Since cultural relativism supports the theory that there is no absolute right and wrong. Instead, the morals, standards and behaviors that vary among cultures must be taken into consideration. I was wrong to assume that pagmamano should be practiced in the Philippines. I think it is a great way to show respect. At first I thought to myself, that’s weird! Then, I realized that we do â€Å"weird† things too. She considers some of the things we do as â€Å"weird,† when we considered it normal. We just have to accept the fact that we all live together in this country that participates and allows different cultures. I am thankful that I learned of the pagmamano culture, and I respect it.

Managing Information Technology Essay

Question #1: What would be your prioritized list of IT investments? Four IT investments need to be prioritized; 1. 2. 3. 4. Ecommerce & Web sales Aligning the various systems (legacy, SAP, ERP) together. Hire relationship managers Make IT a â€Å"partner† 1. After only 3 years, KL’s Web sales have reached $156M, equalizing its in store sales, and now represent 15% of total sales. This is very encouraging and exciting. KL needs to continue to invest in Ecommerce & Web sales in order to continue this great growth. Selling via the Internet should be a priority because it’s cheaper than your ordinary brick and mortar sales points, there is less overhead expense, and this market is growing exponentially. The company should work towards gaining the most market share possible developing an industry leading website, timely and dependable delivery, and customer service. Accomplishing the above means getting all the company sharing information and data more efficiently (see point #2). 2. KL has a complex IT infrastructure with various systems in use around the world. The result is a frustrated bunch of employees upset with the fact that communication data sharing is awful. To remedy this the company needs to invest more in training to get the whole company, including the USA, to use SAP as soon as possible. 3. Assign/hire relationship managers to improve information sharing, facilitate plans, priorities, communications, and relationships, and in turn get the whole system to work together. 4. To avoid such problems in the future, KL needs to make IT a â€Å"partner† in the decision making process. In other words, the company needs to better involve IT in company strategy and tactical planning. With the IT team, the company needs to develop and define an Enterprise Operating Model and Architecture that include business strategy, current IT assessment, IT strategy and IT plans. Question #2: Would your colleagues on the executive committee agree with your selection and prioritization? The above priorities should be well received because they solve or improve many of the frustrating employees around the company. This answer will look at each division (upper management, sales & marketing, order fulfillment and distribution, and ITS) and see why the four IT priorities should be well received by the executive committee. The KL upper management is on record stating that the company has IT challenges â€Å"†¦around coordinating the various, and at times conflicting, business priorities across the enterprise. We sure could use better IT tools for this as well as ready access to timely performance data.†, CEO Joseph Campbell. In addition, COO Jens McCreary stated that the company needs to improve global supply-chain management and leverage the expertise to outpace out competitors and cut our operating costs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Considering these quotes it’s safe to assume that the CEO and COO should be accepting of these four IT priorities because will want to see IT provide better services in order to reach their goals. The products, manufacturing and distribution divisions of the company want to see SAP standardized and compatible across the company in order to better share information. Priorities #2 and 3 should please this division. Sales & marketing hope to see inter-operating unit and communications and coordination issues to be resolved and they need real-time data. Priorities #1, 2 and 3 should encourage the sales and marketing team. The order fulfillment and distribution divisions need capabilities to forecast sales and manage our product and cash flows need to be more competitive. They want to be able to deliver in a J.I.T. basis (optimize effectiveness) and have data integration between the legacy systems, SAP, Oracle, etc. These issues should improve with priorities #2 and 3 and this making these priorities acceptable to this division. Finally, the information technology services (ITS) claim that not spending enough on IT (more spent on production and sales), and Web and ecommerce should be priority. Priorities 1 to 4 all favor the ITS team, and therefore should be well received.

Strategic practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic practice - Essay Example A critical view has been presented throughout the essay giving a balanced argument about the pros and cons of strategy formulation and their execution in the presence of complexities. With globalization and thus multidimensional growth, organizations have tremendous opportunities of growth now open to them. Products and services have been expanded, growth is occurring in different countries and regions catering to consumers belonging to different cultures having varied needs. Thus firms are entering the industries as there are opportunities waiting for them. However, chasing these opportunities has is not a simple process and surround firms with complexity (Floyd and Lane, 2000, pp. 154-177). Expansion in such a multifaceted way involves complicated ways and devising strategies that would enable them to overcome the complexity hurdles. These complexity issues make things extremely difficult for the firms and things are disorganized. Taking â€Å"strategic complexity control† according to Hase & Brodnick, (2001) becomes imperative for firms to be able to operate successfully and to pursue their strategic objectives. Complexity theory has been used increasingly to manage firms strategically and to study the internal functions of organizations (Clark, 2004, pp.105–111). These theories enable firms to have a better understanding of their environment both internal and external and thus help them come up with more meaningful strategies (Mainzer, 1994). Complexity sciences are now being used to device and understand strategies and organizations. An American automotive OEM1 after 10 years of product explosion and outsourcing began having prominent operational losses, increase in the coat of warranties and complexities in their five R and D centers. They needed to regulate their product development to counter their increasing complexity costs.

Executive Pay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Executive Pay - Essay Example While there is diversity across industries, sizes of organizations and countries, executive pay includes the common features of base pay and bonus based on performance. CEO compensation has become one of the most important issues of concern in the field of corporate governance. With ever increasing economic activity and companies transcending all boundaries, geographic, economic and technological, the person in charge of steering the company has been thrust into focus. Typically, huge compensation packages were a phenomenon of the golden days of dotcom glory. The period of Internet boom may safely be termed the era of exorbitant pay-outs. The Internet made millionaires of people in a matter of days. In the Internet-rush' of the late 1990s, a number of small companies mushroomed redefining the principles of economies of scale and scope. The CEOs (as well as the employees) of dotcoms often burnt the midnight oil trying to float their talents. For their efforts, they were compensated handsomely, when the company took off and reaped rewards. However, even after the burst of the Internet bubble and the decline of the software industry from its top position on the list of the most happening industries, huge pay-outs have remained. A quick recap of the origin of CEOs will give us a better understanding of the topic. When economic systems evolved from sole proprietorships to the company form of business, a need for a distinction between the owner of the resources and their managers arose. In some cases, owners stopped playing an active role in managing the business resources and turned them over instead to paid managers. These paid managers acted as agents of the owners and took up the responsibility for the success or failures of the business. As businesses grew in size and scope, the manager attained the glorified title of a CEO. The compensation system also became more complicated, evolving from a simple salary to benefits like bonus, perks and stock options. As time passed, the compensation packages grew in size until t hey attained such astronomical proportions that people began feeling the need for some control. This leads us to the question of whether CEOs merit the huge compensation they receive or not. In the US, historically, CEO's in "utilities earn significantly lower levels of compensation than their counterparts in other industries, while CEO's in financial services earn higher pay" (Ashenfelter, et al, 1999, p. 5). Yet the relationship between firm size and executive pay is weakening. A comparison of executive pay in 23 countries shows that executives in the US receive a greater proportion of their pay from bonuses and incentives than from base salary. Another reason for high CEO compensation was the fact that a major portion of their compensation package consisted of stock options and stock grants. In some cases, nearly two-thirds of the CEO's pay assumed the form of stock options. Some companies offered options packages to compensate for low salary and risk associated with the company, especially in case of a start-up company. Stock options had emerged as one of the most important factors, which made the CEOs salaries in big companies in the US to swell to almost 458 times the

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Theoretical Framework Centered on Term Paper

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Theoretical Framework Centered on Universal Notion of Gender - Term Paper Example Because of the situations presented to them by such a framework, members of the same gender learn to love and help each other in the society. For example, men may learn to work together and help each other as they strive for financial resources to help their families. On the other hand, women also learn to help each other in carrying out household chores. A theoretical framework that is centered on universal notion of gender has strength of helping the society maintain law and order. Once a belief concerning a certain gender becomes universally known, those concerned, that specific gender, tends to abide by what that theory states. Women for example naturally respected men and effectively take care of the family. In this case, gender roles in the society are strictly observed thus maintaining law and order. From birth, each child learns what is expected from him or her in the society. If such children learn that, that is what is universally expected of them, or that is their status in the society, they easily accept and practice it. In most western countries, though women are engaging themselves in professional jobs, they still uphold the universal believe that they are their family’s caregivers. Therefore, they ensure, at all costs, that they observe their roles at home as expected. After work, they go home to take care of chi ldren and cook for the family as men go out to enjoy themselves in bars. The weaknesses of a theoretical framework that is built on universal notion of gender include gender discrimination. In this case, if a certain gender, male or female, is universality viewed as weak, for example females, such a gender will be discriminated universally in every society because such a notion is usually believed to be a fact. The other weakness of a theoretical framework that is built around the notion of gender is that, it hinders self expression and individual strengths. In this case, individuals may fear to come out publicly and express themselves because of fear of the way the society might perceive them. For example, the African woman is believed to be inferior to the man, and is only supposed to care for the family. Such a woman may hardly express herself, and interests in the society, especially political ambitions. In Africa, women rarely stand out in the society for political or education al reasons because they can rarely succeed as almost everyone believes that that is not their role because of gender. Domestic labor among girl children has also had a negative impact on school performance among girls. They are expected to help their mothers as they learn the roles of motherhood instead of fully concentrating on education. Kinship and the Understanding of Gender Kinship is the study of links between different people that is based on descent, adoption or marriage (Vigdis, n. d.). Kinship has been a domain of definition in anthropological investigations since it was incepted in the late 19th century. Major paradigmatic changes in anthropology like feminism, cultural turn and political economy made kinship to undergo many restructuring phases. Detailed complexities in the system of kinship were considered important in the understanding of societies that were not from the west. Anthropological studies of kinship have been used to help in the understanding of gender as w ell as new forms of family, genetic development, lesbian and gay movements. In anthropological history, kinship is seen like a social institution