Financial Aid Appeal Letter

This is in response to the official letter that I received from your office regarding the suspension of my financial aid. I am writing to present a request to have the privilege of receiving financial aid again. During my last semester, year, including the months leading up to my suspension for credits at Howard posed a challenging point in my academic career. With the external pressures and stress conditions faced at the time prevented me from meeting my set goals for academic progress.The long strenuous hours at work, the displacement that my Mother and sister faced by moving to Boston from Miami, then back to Miami, then later to Pittsburgh and then now back to Miami. The worries of what I was going to have to sacrifice in order to send money to my immediate family, as well as other less fortunate family members in Haiti, all took an unbearably heavy toll on me thus spilling over and effecting both my attitude and efforts placed towards my classes. It forced me to readjust and rep rioritize things causing school and my studies to be placed on the back-burner.I found myself at work, working on days I had schedule classes. I wasn’t putting forth any real effort in any of my difficult classes primarily because I was so distracted with stresses outside of school. I was sort of just going through the motions. During that moment in my life I was fatigued end exhausted with school life. I had arrived at a point where I forgot why I initially came to Howard, which was to be the first person in my immediate family to attend college and earn a quality education. I came to Howard to earn a bachelors degree and work in a field, still to this day, I’m most passionate about.Without the required financial aid, it would be difficult for me to take the amount of courses I need to take in the next academic semester. I am aware that my performance during my last attendance at Howard University does not give any reason for faith in my abilities to do better but I a m in a position to ensure that I am going to take strict steps to ensure that my academic work will be more successful in the future. I have, for one, found a better stable job, working for a great security company, which allows me the flexibility to cut back on the number of work hours ensuring that I get more time to devote to my academics.I have made myself familiar with and established a network of tutors on and off campus that I will utilize for classes that I find most difficult. I also plan on establishing and maintaining close contact with my adviser in the School of Business, Accounting department, regarding measures I can take to stay ahead of the academic demands of college. Without financial aid this will be impossible. I am a good student as my records from earlier academic performances would show you and I intend to get back on track as my education is of prime importance to me.

Kraft Foods and Corporate Social Responsibility

Global Challenges Individual Assignment: Kraft Foods and CSR. 2012 Global Challenges Table of Contents Table of Contents1 1. 0Introduction2 2. 0Application3 2. 1Kraft Foods Inc. 3 2. 2PESTEL Analysis3 2. 3SWOT Analysis5 2. 4Porters Five Forces5 2. 5Management at Kraft Foods Inc. 6 3. 0Corporate Social Responsibility6 3. 1Impact of CSR on Kraft Foods Inc6 4. 0Conclusion7 5. 0Recommendations7 6. 0References8 1. 0 Introduction Management is a term that is used and heard of every day and a role that is undertaken everywhere you go. It’s the ability to maintain and produce the best from a team or from a task, the activity of completing a task using the resources that are available and taking responsibility of the situation in hand. Even as individuals everyone participates in management in one form or another, whether it’s in a work environment or simply from the everyday running of life. In a business sense however, ‘management is the jobs within an organisation charged with running the organisation on behalf of the beneficial owner’ (Pg no 294, Martin, 2005). This report is going to examine the different principles and models of management, how it can be applied to individual companies and businesses and then go on further to examine Corporate Social Responsibility and how firms use this. ‘According to Mintzberg (1973) there are ten management roles, these are ‘Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson, Figurehead, Leader, Liaison, Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource allocator and Negotiator’. Mintzberg proposes that every manager’s role combines a number of roles, rather than ten individual roles. (Boddy, 2009) For example a CEO of a company could be a figurehead, a spokesperson, a leader as well as the negotiator; but he would assign the other roles to other specific managers or colleagues. Management involves a vast amount of planning as its sets out the direction of the work that needs to be done and the objectives that need to be achieved. According to Boddy (2011) ‘SMART acronym summarises criteria for assessing a set of goals’. This covers: Specific – Does the goal set specific targets? Measurable – Ensure you can measure the progress towards the attainment of the goal Attainable – Assuring the goals are challenging but reachable Rewarded- A reward is obtained for succeeding the goal Times – The time scale of which the goal is to be achieved in Boddy (2010) proposes that ‘’goals and objectives are the same’’. However in cases like this it could be argued that they are different in which the goal is the overall target or aim, and the plan which looks at what is involved to obtain this goal is made up of individual objectives at each level. A widely used management model used within virtually every company is the Competing Values Framework. ‘’It has been named as one of the fifty most important models in the history of business and has been studied and tested in organisations for more than twenty five years’’ (CVF, 2009). The model is made up of four components and each quadrant represents a different model and the roles that are played within the model; which can be seen in the diagram below in Figure 1. 1. The following section will demonstrate how the framework can be applied to individual companies. Figure 1. 1 Competing Values Framework. Source: Octogram. net (2005) 2. 0 Application 3. 1 Kraft Foods Inc. Kraft Foods Inc. is the second largest food company in the world generating annual revenue of ? 54. 4 billion. The company was founded in 1903 in Chicago, North America, where their headquarters are still based, and shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991. They have over 126,000 employees in over 70 countries and they sell products to consumers in 170 countries. Kraft’s products are divided into five categories: snacks and cereals, beverages, cheese and dairy, grocery, and convenient meals. Popular household name brands include Philadelphia, Oreo and Cadburys, which they recently acquired in 2010 for $18. 5billion. The acquisition created the world’s largest confectioner, and confectionary now makes up for 28% of their net revenues. (Kraft Foods, 2012) In 2011 Kraft announced its intent to create two independent public companies by the end of 2012 as a strategic approach for growth; one being a high growth global snack business and the other a high margin North American grocery business. 3. 2 PESTEL Analysis ‘PESTEL analysis is a useful tool to understand the macro-environment in which Kraft Food Inc. perates and how these factors affect the company. PESTEL framework helps evaluate the risks associated with market growth or decline, and the position and direction of the company. ’ (Bender and Ward, 2008) It examines six different segments, which are: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. Although there are many factors which fall under each of the segments of the PESTEL analysis it is important to analyse them and select the most significant factors which have the greatest effect on the company. POLITICAL Kraft Foods Inc. s subject to various federal and state laws in the U. S relating to the protection of the environment. They also have manufacturing facilities in 70 countries and consumers in 170 countries which subjects them to individual environmental laws, health and hygiene regulations in every country which they operate. ECONOMIC As Kraft operates in 170 different countries, currency fluctuations and unfavourable exchange rates can put pressure on the company’s earnings, particularly with the current Eurozone crisis. ‘Increased unemployment in the U. S and other countries will lead consumers to cut spending on premium quality products’ such as those made by Kraft Foods Inc. (Bloomberg,2010) SOCIAL Diet patterns are rapidly changing in emerging economies like Brazil, China and India. The people in these countries are spending more on packaged food and this social drift has provided companies like Kraft to look towards emerging markets to increase revenues. (Yahoo Finance, 2010) Consumers are also getting increasingly aware about health implications of food which can cause obesity. ‘Federal Trade Commission reported that child obesity in the U. S has quadrupled in the last four decades’ (RWJF, 2008). Food and Beverage companies need to respond to these changes to maintain its market share and profits. TECHNOLOGICAL ‘Kraft is investing heavily in new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emission and protect the environment. They have adopted a policy where there is increased use of rail and barge transport instead of using trucks. ’ (Kraft Foods, 2010) ENVIRONMENTAL There is increased pressure from governments and the general public about the way companies operate and their effect on the environment. ‘In 2008 Kraft Foods Inc. ame under pressure when Rainforest Action Network asked companies such as Kraft Foods Inc. to stop buying palm oil from Indonesia to prevent deforestation. ’ (CNN, 2008) LEGAL Kraft operates in a highly regulated environment with a constantly evolving legal and regulatory framework around the world; particularly when selling products for human consumption involves inheren t risks such as contamination. ‘Cadbury, now owned by Kraft Foods Inc. had to recall 11 chocolate types in China in 2008 when at least 50,000 babies fell ill and 4 died by milk tainted with an industrial chemical. ’ (BBC, 2008) 3. SWOT Analysis Another approach that companies implement is the SWOT analysis. ‘’The core of this approach is a simple and eminently reasonable strategy that is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprises external environment’’ (Pg No 721, Linstead, Fulop & Lilley, 2009). This analysis examines the strengths and weaknesses internal to the company and then the external opportunities and threats. In Kraft Foods Inc. case the strengths that can be identified are that they are the world’s second largest food company and they have strong brand equity with over 100 years heritage. However their weaknesses are that the Cadburys acquisition resulted in added debt pressure and they are subject to cut throat competition from rivals such as Nestle. From the external point of view an opportunity for the company is that they could centre new products in the health related market such as introducing low fat or organic products. But on the other hand a threat for Kraft is that the Cadburys acquisition resulted in a lot of protests and bad media from the British which resulted in a drop of profit margins. 3. 4 Porters Five Forces Porter’s five forces is an analysis framework that identifies the competitiveness intensity and the five forces most relevant to the profitability of the company. ‘According to Porter (1980a) the ability to earn an acceptable return depends on five forces – the ability of new competitors to enter the industry, the threat of substitute products, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers and the rivalry amongst existing customers’ (Boddy, 2008, Pg No 93). This framework is demonstrated in the diagram below in Figure 2. 1. Figure 2. Porters Five Forces. Source: Wikepedia When looking at the bargaining power of suppliers with Kraft Food Inc. suppliers do not hold much power to enforce the company to extract their profits due to the competitive nature of the industry. Buyers however have an opportunity to extract firm profits as demand changes over the period of time. Due to intense competition in the market, there is a low possibility fo r new entrants to capture the market, and the threat of substitute products is medium as Kraft Foods Inc. hold such a large market share in the industry. Finally competitors such as Nestle and Kellogg’s are spending enormous sums of money for the promotion and advertising of their brands yet Kraft Foods Inc. is still the second largest in the world. 3. 5 Management at Kraft Foods Inc. As previously mentioned in the introduction, every business’s management model can be applied to the Current Values Framework. When analysing Kraft’s business strategy and management it is evident that their current dominant model is the Rational Goal Model. This model focuses towards maximisation of output and making a profit. Of course, the vast majority of companies would be dominantly working from this model as every company needs to make a profit in order to survive; although successful models of management relate to all four of the segments. ‘’The basic assumption of the Rational Goal Model is that clear direction leads to productive outcomes. There is a continuing emphasis on processes such as goal clarification, rational analysis, and action taking. All decisions are driven by consideration of the bottom line†. (Taylor, 1911) Kraft Foods Inc. hows elements of dominantly using this model from their hostile acquisition of Cadburys and with their intent to create two independent public companies as a strategic approach for growth. 3. 0 Corporate Social Responsibility ‘’Corporate Social Responsibility is the business contribution to sustainable development goals. Essentially it is about how business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the wa y it operates – maximising the benefits and minimising the downsides. ’’ (CSR, 2009) 4. 6 Impact of CSR on Kraft Foods Inc Kraft Foods Inc. as thrown into the media in 2010 with their hostile acquisition of Cadbury’s. Cadbury’s unions opposed to the take-over in fear that there would be big job cuts, and UK politicians even weighed in voicing their concerns. ‘Following the acquisition five senior executives of Cadburys quit and only 30% of the leadership positions were made available to Cadburys staff. ’ (FT, 2010). By the end of the acquisition over four hundred jobs had been cut by Kraft, this was deemed as an extremely bad case of CSR, particularly in the social aspect; and the company have been portrayed negatively in the media ever since. However, it is not all negative when it comes to Kraft’s CSR. ‘Over the past 25 years they have donated more than $770 million in cash and food to those suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Kraft Foods ranked 23rd in the 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility Index and were recently awarded the Gold Award for Environmental Excellence at the 4th Global CSR Awards 2012. ’   (Kraft, 2012) They work with non-profit organizations such as Feeding America in the U. S. and Save the Children in Southeast Asia as well as helping develop healthy lifestyles programs for children in the U. S. , Russia and many other places. 4. 0 Conclusion In conclusion the above shows us how the management theory helps us to analyse an organisation, and we can see how Kraft Foods Inc. operates successfully using the Rational Goal Model. They do however operate in a highly competitive food sector, where margins are diminishing, and they have to face tough competition from branded food as we ll as generic food manufacturers, particularly in this economic slowdown. Although the company does partake in a lot of CSR activities, a bad image always remains with customers for a lot longer than a positive one, and they still have a negative image portrayed on themselves from the hostile takeover of Cadburys. 5. 0 Recommendation Kraft Foods Inc. could benefit from repositioning their brand image in the markets to communicate with customers to remove the negative thinking from their minds which arose after Cadburys acquisition. They should also consider moving towards the Human Relations model in the CVF which emphasises commitment, cohesion, and morale. The key values are participation, conflict resolution, and consensus building. In this model the organisation takes on a team-oriented climate in which decision making is characterised by deep involvement. ’ (Quinn, 1988) This would be beneficial in gaining trust and respect from the employees after all the conflict and job losses that arose from the acquisition of Cadburys. Another option for t he company, as mentioned before in the SWOT analysis, is the expansion into new and developing markets which will aid the company in earning more profits to meet their debt requirements. With the consumer market becoming more health and environmentally conscious, organic and reduced fat content products could be a niche in the market for a confectioner such as themselves. 6. 0 References BBC (2008). Melamine found in Cadbury goods. September 2008. Available: www. bbc. co. uk Accessed 12 May 2012   Bender, R. and Ward, K. (2008). Corporate financial strategy. 3rd Ed. London: Macmillan p. 52-55. Bloomberg, Homan, T. R. (2010). U. S. Employers Add Fewer Jobs Than Forecast. December 2010. Available: www. Bloomberg. om Accessed 24 April 2012. Boddy, D (2011). Management, An Introduction. 5th ed. Essex: Pearson. CNN, Gunther, M (2008). Eco-police find new targets. August 2008. Available: www. money. cnn. com. Accessed 23 May 2012. CSR. gov. uk (2009). Available: http://webarchive. nationalarchives. gov. uk/+/http://www. berr. gov. uk/whatwedo/sectors/sustainability/corp-responsibility/page45192. html/ Accessed 22 May 2012. CVF. (2009). Competing Values Framework: An Intr oduction. Available: http://competingvalues. com/competingvalues. om/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/The-Competing-Values-Framework-An-Introduction. pdf Last accessed 12 May 2012. FT. Elizabeth Rigby. (2010). Kraft hit by exodus of Cadbury executives. Available: http://www. ft. com/cms/s/0/1dad970a-69c1-11df-8432-00144feab49a. html#axzz1viuO14PA. Last accessed 18 May 2012. Kraft Foods, About us (2012) Available: http://www. kraftfoodscompany. com/About/who-we-are/index. aspx Last accessed 28 April 2012 Kraft Foods CSR (2012) Community Involvement Available: http://www. kraftfoodscompany. om/About/community-involvement/community-involvement. aspx Accessed 22 May 2012. Kraft Foods, Document Sheet (2011) Available: http://www. kraftfoodscompany. com/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdf/kraft_foods_fact_sheet. pdf Last accessed 20 May 2012 Kraft Food Q1 Financial Figures – http://phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=129070&p=irol-EventDetails&EventId=4756026 Linstead, S, Fulop, L and Lille y, S. (2009). Management & Organization. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave McMillan. Pg No 721. Martin, J (2005). Organizational Behaviour and Management. London: Thomson Learning. Octogram. (2005). CVF Framework. Available: http://www. octogram. net/quinn-model Last accessed 6 May 2012. Porters Five Forces, Wikepedia. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis Accessed 22 May 2012. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2008). Food and Beverage Marketing to Children and Adolescents: What Changes are Needed to Promote Healthy Eating Habits? October 2008. Available: www. rwjf. org Accessed 22 May 2012 Taylor,

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Cultural Issues and Business in the Russian Federation Research Paper

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Involving Parents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Water and oil separator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Describe the three major causes of soil erosion Essay

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Employee Reward Strategy for Heidelberg Insurance Services Assignment

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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Comedy Essay Example for Free

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Burberry The Well Known Luxurious Brand Marketing Essay

Burberry The Well Known Luxurious Brand Marketing Essay Burberry, the well-known luxurious brand, comes from England. It has existed since 1856, and was originally made by Thomas Burberry, of London. Currently, Burberry is an international brand and their multiple shops are located all over the world. The main office of the company is in London. Burberry was famous for the exquisite coats of its original time; however, nowadays Burberry sells coats, accessories, perfume, glasses (Burberry, 2010) Burberrys logo (HaiBao, 2010) 1.1.2 Prada Next, Prada is also a luxurious brand from Italy since 1913. Additionally, it started with the high-class leather by Mario Prada. The products of Prada are concerned modern style and trends. Not only the quality of Prada, but also the performance of modernistic art. Prada has been famous, over 100 years due to its handbags. (Prada, 2010) PRADA logo (2010, soutuzi) 1.2 Theory 1.2.1 Market segmentation According to Hall et al (2008), market segmentation is how a Business divides the features-such as geographically, demographically and behaviorally into sub-groups and how it attracts different types of consumers. 1.2.2 Marketing mix Hall et al (2008) reports that market mix also called four ps-products, price, place and promotion. It is the factors of the market that related to the firms strategy. 1.3Aims The goal of this report is to analyze the market segments as well as the market mix of Burberry and Prada. After that, Burberry is more affordable than Prada. Finally, it includes the recommendation. 2. Findings Discussion 2.1 Segmentation First, Burberry is divided into three sections; there are Burberry London, Burberry Bailey and Thomas Burberry. Since 1997, the new director came to Burberry. Therefore, it also had changed the style of Burberry, which provides the products to the elders, soldiers and the royal members; and it faces the wider customs from all over the world (Burberry, 2010). It could say the demographically of Burberry is all of the youth and the elders. Additionally, according to the Haibao, Burberry established the series called Thomas Burberry. It is suitable for the younger; however, as compare to the Burberry London or Burberry Bailey, T.B is more popular with consumers, because of the lower price and the younger styles. Another strategy of Burberry is geographical region. As for the market shares, Burberry is devoted in the Asian area and the United States. Burberry (Burberry, 2010) announced Sales all over the world is increased by 25% totally, and China takes up 15%, although the main area is still in the Europe. For instance, in 2009, Burberry set a multiple shop in Beijing. Actually, Burberry only chooses the place that has the most shoppers, especially the wealthy. Therefore, the majority of geographical regions are the large cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai in China. It is to say that the different areas citizens have different lifestyle and atheistic standards. Regions (2010) Following the findings above, everybody can know about the segmentation of Burberry. For example, Burberry targets young women, men and children. The measure of this segment is age and gender. As comparison, Pradas marketing segmentations is geographical, demographical and psychological. It is reported by Haibao that the majority of handbags are for mature women and the suits for successful men (2010). The age of consumers is apt to be older. Amount of consumer is high-class. Prada insists in Less is more (Prada, 2010). The fashion company aims at the youth, which can get high salary. Prada is a familistic brand all the time. Miuccia Prada and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli considered that they would do the vendition in Hong Kong firstly. According to Tammy (2010), one of the managers in Prada stated the company would choose Milan, London and New York in time. In China, Prada (Prada, 2010) located in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Dalian, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. 2.2 Marketing Mix 2.2.1 Products Burberry produces the products, which includes coats, women, men, womens accessories, bags, shoes, scarves, gifts, beauty, children and perfume. Burberrys new managerManley (Manley, 2010) announced that Manley previously looked after all communications aspects across traditional and new channel such as new stars and Internet service (Manley, 2010).In current, Haibao reports that Burberry shows that the series of Winter Storms and the majority of consumer are lovers. Additionally, accessorization, such as scarves, handbags and umbrella also belong to this theme. Winter Storms (2010) Originally, its market served Italy. Nevertheless, Mario Prada changed the materials into the special one nylon, to made bags. Nowadays, Prada includes clothing, underwear, accessories, handbags and oxides items (Prada, 2010). In 2010, Prada (Prada, 2010) forecasts the little gifts for Christmas Day. Accessories of Prada, for Christmas (Haibao, 2010) 2.2.2 Price Burberry sets a high level for the price of its product, Especially Burberry London (Burberry, 2010). However, Thomas Burberry sets a lower price for the mid-class youths. It seems that the price is divided by different level, such as Thomas Burberry is affordable for Burberry London. Certainly, two parts of Burberry-Burberry London and Burberry Baily is sold at a high price, it is to say that Thomas Burberry is approached to consumers. In a word, high-class of the society could be offered these expensive products (Burberry, 2010). Thus, it is obvious that China is a large market for Burberry. Burberry-bags-wallets-and-purses (2010) Pradas prices are similar to Burberry. Skimming is the first position of its strategies. Price of Prada (2010) raffaello-network 2.2.3 Promotion It is essential that a business promotes to attract customers. According to Burberry (2010), Burberry Foundation could give opportunities to make teenagers dreams come true. Therefore, the reputation of Burberry is great. Hence, there is great public relation that Burberry has done. Christopher Bailey, who is the highest manager of Burberry (Luxurious, 2009), with famous Chinese actor-ZhangMan yu, which celebrated the new store built in Beijing. Both of the companies use super stars or super model to display their products to attract consumers. Prada (Prada, 2010) predicts the advertising in 2011 will invite Mariacarla Boscono, Arizona Muse, Kinga Razjak, Zuzanna Bijoch, and Tati Cotliar show the new fashion. Prada in 2011 2.2.4 Place All of the channels of selling in Burberry is increased. Especially, the agency in China goes up and makes considerable profits for Burberry. Revenue by channel of distribution (2010) Amy and Pink (2006) reported the Internet has really changed the way that Prada sells. Wholesale of Pradas handbags are commonplace on the Internet, It is can make consumers buy very first Prada handbags. While Prada will never be considered cheap, the Wholesale Prada handbags offered on the Internet are generally a lot more affordable than the retail stores (Amy Pink, 2006). 2.3 Comparison Turning the topic into the comparison of Burberry and Prada, the traditional marketing mix is about 4ps, which are products, price, place and promotion. Certainly, it includes the unique selling point. First, the unique selling point of Burberry is their coats. However, Prada is famous for their handbags. Products, that Burberry has Perfume, clothing, underwear, accessories, perfume and glasses. Prada has no underwear all the time and Prada notice the familism but Burberry does not. Next, the place seldom has differences between two companies, because both of them are luxurious brand, the companies choose the developed cities to set their multiple shops. Nevertheless, Prada has greater chains of store in China. Therefore, Burberrys marketing share looks like more than Prada. Finally, the place for these two brands is obvious that Prada has more stores in China than Burberry. Moreover, Burberrys place is much better than Prada, because of multi-channel. For promotion, Burberry chooses Zhangmanyu to celebrate the new store and to find some famous, young, modules to represent the products. However, Prada just rely on the Weekly Milan to display their new product, although, Prada choose represents like John Varvators to show the products. After that, due to the luxury, Burberry is royal brand in the United Kingdom, so the price is high. However, there is Thomas Burberry has lower price. All the Pradas series are setting high price (Prada Burberry, 2010). 3. Recommendation In summary, the advantages of Burberry and Prada are the skimming strategy, because it can make more profits. Both of them are known that producing attractions to allure customers, the promotion of Burberry is more attractive than Prada because Burberry likes selecting famous stars to represent the products. However, the disadvantage of these two companies is the price is too high although the cost is high as well. Nevertheless, the marketing share cannot be high. Especially, Prada has no series that sets lower price for citizens, Burberry has Thomas Burberry to connect more consumers at least. Moreover, their multiple shops are located in the big cities, but medium-class cities cannot buy their products from local stores. The suggestion for Burberry is the selling place can be wide, particularly the cheaper Thomas Burberry.(Burberry,2010) As for Prada, the promotion is not enough, though, the words of mouth is popular. Moreover, all of the products and price of Prada is similar. It is hide that ignores medium consumer, so try to divide into more series for consumers could be improved. 4. Conclusion There are all the recent surveys for the Marketing Segmentations and Marketing Mix of Burberry and Prada, the pricy products, widely promotion and prosperous places could make these two companies develop preferable.

Candide Essay -- essays research papers

CANDIDE By Voltaire   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout Candide the author, Voltaire, demonstrates the character’s experiences in a cruel world and his fight to gain happiness. In the beginning Candide expects to achieve happiness without working for his goal and only taking the easy way out of all situations. However, by the end of the book the character realized that to achieve happiness a lot of work, compromises, and sacrifices are necessary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Candide is a person of privilege who began life in the Castle of Westphalia. While a part of the castle-life, Candide was taught by Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss is a philosopher who teaches there is a cause for all things and that everything is all for the good, even though a person may not understand it at the time. Suddenly, however, Candide is exiled from the privileged confines of the castle when he is caught kissing Cunegonde, the daughter of the Baron. Upon his exile Candide immediately begins to face adversities. Candide finds himself in the army simply because he is the right size. His life in the army is nothing but turmoil and hardship. Despite the misfortunes of army life, Candide continues to believe there is a cause and effect for all things.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After leaving the army, Candide once again is paired with his mentor Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss is now a diseased beggar. Pangloss is soon cured of his disease and he and Candide are befriended by a charitable Anabaptist. ...

Images Of Light And Darkness I :: essays research papers

In his play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare weaves a timeless tale. Although it is over 400 years old, Romeo and Juliet, is as interesting today as it was at its inception and my guess is that its appeal lies in its subject matter. Shakepeare picked a theme that’s been known to cause indigestion and sleep loss for centuries. And yet, regardless of the ills associated with it, it remains a topic of worldwide interest. And that is simply, love. My mother says that love is one of the most overused, misunderstood words in the English language. Over time, I’ve asked friends what they thought â€Å"it† was. I’ve always received differing answers. It’s when he opens the door. It’s when she does the laundry. It’s that thing that causes insanity. It doesn’t exist. It existed only in the middle ages. It’s what everyone is hunting for and no one can find. Forget about it. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) defines it as: 1. (1): strong affection for another rising out of kinship or personal ties. 2: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion. 3: unselfish loyal and benevolet concern for the good of another. 4: to thrive on. Spiritual masters say that love is all there is. They also say in order to truly know something, one must know it’s opposite. To know hot, one must experience cold. To know sorrow, one must have known joy. To love, one must hate. (Or at least come pretty damned close to it.) Without darkness, one cannot appreciate light. Professors of English say that the greatest writers are those who can â€Å"hook† their readers. Those who can propel a story forward. Divide and contrast. Divide and contrast, they say. Friction produced by opposing forces creates great drama. Shakespeare is a great dramatist. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare opens with a prologue that basically outlines the entire play. After finishing line fourteen, the reader isn’t required to continue reading because he/she knows the outcome. Shakespeare has given the reader the end. There really is no reason to read on. And yet they do. The reader continues because Shakespeare was a genius at creating dramatic tension. In Romeo and Juliet, he uses two main vehicles to do so. One is the theme of love (Romeo and Juliet) versus hate (The Montagues and the Capulets). The other is the theme of darkness and light. For purposes of this paper, I will look briefly at the use of light and dark imagery as it is associated with the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet.

Deception Point Page 17

Rachel could only stare. I traveled three thousand miles for this kind of hospitality? This guy was no Martha Stewart. â€Å"With all due respect,† she fired back, â€Å"I am also under presidential orders. I have not been told my purpose here. I made this trip on good faith.† â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"Then I will speak bluntly.† â€Å"You've made a damn good start.† Rachel's tough response seemed to jolt the administrator. His stride slowed a moment, his eyes clearing as he studied her. Then, like a snake uncoiling, he heaved a long sigh and picked up the pace. â€Å"Understand,† Ekstrom began, â€Å"that you are here on a classified NASA project against my better judgment. Not only are you a representative of the NRO, whose director enjoys dishonoring NASA personnel as loose-lipped children, but you are the daughter of the man who has made it his personal mission to destroy my agency. This should be NASA's hour in the sun; my men and women have endured a lot of criticism lately and deserve this moment of glory. However, due to a torrent of skepticism spearheaded by your father, NASA finds itself in a political situation where my hardworking personnel are forced to share the spotlight with a handful of random civilian scientists and the daughter of the man who is trying to destroy us.† I am not my father, Rachel wanted to shout, but this was hardly the moment to debate politics with the head of NASA. â€Å"I did not come here for the spotlight, sir.† Ekstrom glared. â€Å"You may find you have no alternative.† The comment took her by surprise. Although President Herney had said nothing specific about her assisting him in any sort of â€Å"public† way, William Pickering had certainly aired his suspicions that Rachel might become a political pawn. â€Å"I'd like to know what I'm doing here,† Rachel demanded. â€Å"You and me both. I do not have that information.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"The President asked me to brief you fully on our discovery the moment you arrived. Whatever role he wants you to play in this circus is between you and him.† â€Å"He told me your Earth Observation System had made a discovery.† Ekstrom glanced sidelong at her. â€Å"How familiar are you with the EOS project?† â€Å"EOS is a constellation of five NASA satellites which scrutinize the earth in different ways-ocean mapping, geologic fault analyses, polar ice-melt observation, location of fossil fuel reserves-â€Å" â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said, sounding unimpressed. â€Å"So you're aware of the newest addition to the EOS constellation? It's called PODS.† Rachel nodded. The Polar Orbiting Density Scanner (PODS) was designed to help measure the effects of global warming. â€Å"As I understand it, PODS measures the thickness and hardness of the polar ice cap?† â€Å"In effect, yes. It uses spectral band technology to take composite density scans of large regions and find softness anomalies in the ice-slush spots, internal melting, large fissures-indicators of global warming.† Rachel was familiar with composite density scanning. It was like a subterranean ultrasound. NRO satellites had used similar technology to search for subsurface density variants in Eastern Europe and locate mass burial sites, which confirmed for the President that ethnic cleansing was indeed going on. â€Å"Two weeks ago,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"PODS passed over this ice shelf and spotted a density anomaly that looked nothing like anything we'd expected to see. Two hundred feet beneath the surface, perfectly embedded in a matrix of solid ice, PODS saw what looked like an amorphous globule about ten feet in diameter.† â€Å"A water pocket?† Rachel asked. â€Å"No. Not liquid. Strangely, this anomaly was harder than the ice surrounding it.† Rachel paused. â€Å"So†¦ it's a boulder or something?† Ekstrom nodded. â€Å"Essentially.† Rachel waited for the punch line. It never came. I'm here because NASA found a big rock in the ice? â€Å"Not until PODS calculated the density of this rock did we get excited. We immediately flew a team up here to analyze it. As it turns out, the rock in the ice beneath us is significantly more dense than any type of rock found here on Ellesmere Island. More dense, in fact, than any type of rock found within a four-hundred-mile radius.† Rachel gazed down at the ice beneath her feet, picturing the huge rock down there somewhere. â€Å"You're saying someone moved it here?† Ekstrom looked vaguely amused. â€Å"The stone weighs more than eight tons. It is embedded under two hundred feet of solid ice, meaning it has been there untouched for over three hundred years.† Rachel felt tired as she followed the administrator into the mouth of a long, narrow corridor, passing between two armed NASA workers who stood guard. Rachel glanced at Ekstrom. â€Å"I assume there's a logical explanation for the stone's presence here†¦ and for all this secrecy?† â€Å"There most certainly is,† Ekstrom said, deadpan. â€Å"The rock PODS found is a meteorite.† Rachel stopped dead in the passageway and stared at the administrator. â€Å"A meteorite?† A surge of disappointment washed over her. A meteorite seemed utterly anti-climactic after the President's big buildup. This discovery will single-handedly justify all of NASA's past expenditures and blunders? What was Herney thinking? Meteorites were admittedly one of the rarest rocks on earth, but NASA discovered meteorites all the time. â€Å"This meteorite is one of the largest ever found,† Ekstrom said, standing rigid before her. â€Å"We believe it is a fragment of a larger meteorite documented to have hit the Arctic Ocean in the seventeen hundreds. Most likely, this rock was thrown as ejecta from that ocean impact, landed on the Milne Glacier, and was slowly buried by snow over the past three hundred years.† Rachel scowled. This discovery changed nothing. She felt a growing suspicion that she was witnessing an overblown publicity stunt by a desperate NASA and White House-two struggling entities attempting to elevate a propitious find to the level of earth-shattering NASA victory. â€Å"You don't look too impressed,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"I guess I was just expecting something†¦ else.† Ekstrom's eyes narrowed. â€Å"A meteorite of this size is a very rare find, Ms. Sexton. There are only a few larger in the world.† â€Å"I realize-â€Å" â€Å"But the size of the meteorite is not what excites us.† Rachel glanced up. â€Å"If you would permit me to finish,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"you will learn that this meteorite displays some rather astonishing characteristics never before seen in any meteorite. Large or small.† He motioned down the passageway. â€Å"Now, if you would follow me, I'll introduce you to someone more qualified than I am to discuss this find.† Rachel was confused. â€Å"Someone more qualified than the administrator of NASA?† Ekstrom's Nordic eyes locked in on hers. â€Å"More qualified, Ms. Sexton, insofar as he is a civilian. I had assumed because you are a professional data analyst that you would prefer to get your data from an unbiased source.† Touche. Rachel backed off. She followed the administrator down the narrow corridor, where they dead-ended at a heavy, black drapery. Beyond the drape, Rachel could hear the reverberant murmur of a crowd of voices rumbling on the other side, echoing as if in a giant open space. Without a word, the administrator reached up and pulled aside the curtain. Rachel was blinded by a dazzling brightness. Hesitant, she stepped forward, squinting into the glistening space. As her eyes adjusted, she gazed out at the massive room before her and drew an awestruck breath.

Case Study of Alliance Boots Plc

ALLIANCE BOOTS PLC: INTRODUCTIION: Alliance Boots is a leading international pharmacy-led health and beauty group serving a wide range of products and services to customers over 100 years in the UK. We are trying to identify how the Boots works internally and externally to reach its goal. We are also trying to find out how the Boots motivates its employees to be productive. We will also discuss its organizational structure and design to communicate each other function of the organization. We will discuss its appraisal system and organizational record keeping. We will also find out about its brand image to the stakeholder. Customers are at the heart of their business and they are devoted to providing extraordinary customers and patients care by offering innovative products ‘Only at Boots’ with exceptional values. People are their strength and tell us that Boots is a excellent place to work. They always aim to be the employers of choice by attracting and retaining the most talented and passionate people. BACK GROUND OF THE COMPANY: Boots had established its roots in the mid-19th century by John Boot, an agricultural worker, at Nottingham, in the UK. He opened a small herbalist store on Goose Gate in 1849. After John’s death in 1860, his widow, Mary, continued trading, with the help of her young son, Jesse, who became a full partner when he was 21. The store continued to thrive. In 1877, Jesse took sole control of the Boots. In 1920, he sold Boots to the United Drug Company of America. In 1933, the United Drug Company sold its holding in Boots to a group of British financiers led by John Boot, Jesse’s son. Under John’s chairmanship, the first overseas store opened in New Zealand in 1936; key brands No7 and Soltan was both launched in the 1930s. He also continued his parents’ tradition of staff welfare – improving working conditions, reducing hours and introducing pensions for all employees. More recent decades, the introduction of successful brands such as 17 cosmetics and Botanics and new business ventures such as Boots Opticians are more popular to the customers. A new chapter in Boots history started on 31st July, 2006with the merger with Alliance Unichem, to become part of Alliance Boots, an international pharmacy-led health and beauty group. Their product and services are Health and beauty, Personal care, Cosmetics and toiletries, Baby care, Dental & health care, OTC and Prescription medicines, Perfumes, and Skin care. (www. bized. co. uk,) MISSION: Their mission is to be the world’s leading pharmacy-led health and beauty group. They seek to develop their core business activities of pharmacy-led and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution across the world and become a significant player in many leading international markets. PURPOSE: Their purpose is to deliver products that help people look and feel their best. VALUES: They believe in making a difference for the well being of the communities they serve. The core values are described below. * PARTNERSHIP: It includes respect, understanding and working together. They create and build value through partnerships and alliances, inside and outside the business. * TRUST: The essence of the way they do business. People trust because they deliver on their promises. * SERVICES: They hold high standards of care and service for customers and their people. * ENTREPRENEURSHIP: They are innovators, seeking new challenges and having a winning entrepreneurship. SIMPLICITY: They are proud of being lean and efficient, uncomplicated and easy to do business fairly. (www. allianceboots. com) AT A GLANCE: * Operating over 20 countries. * It has115, 000 employees. * Operating more than 3,250 health and beauty retail stores. * Dispensing more than 245 million items each year. * 1500 Stores in the UK and Irish Republic. * Serving 420 million customers (pa). * Operat ing over 360 pharmaceutical wholesale distribution centers. * Cash generated from operation ? 1130 million. * Revenue is ? 22. 5 billion. * EBITDA is ? 1,360 million. * Trading Profit is ? 1,074 million. www. allianceboots. com) BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT OF THE BOOTS: The organizational environment consists of internal and external environment. Alliance Boots operates in highly attractive markets with potential for significant long term growth. The Company expects to increase life expectancy and product innovation to continue to drive demand for prescription medicines and related healthcare services. At the same time, they believe that a growing customer focus on personal well being will drive demand for health and beauty consumer products and related services. Fig: The Organizational Environment of Boots: Legal Environmental Technological Political Social Economic External Environment Communication External Environment ————————————————- Innovation Strategy Change Internal Environment (Writer’s observation) INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: In order to sustain an organization, it is necessarily to adapt internal structures, process and behaviors to enable to cope with complexity and the pace of external change. It is concerned about organization’s strategy, teamwork, management, leadership style, working practices, empowerment, employment patterns, etc. * STRATEGY: Johnson et al (2008) say that strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment with the fulfilling stakeholder expectation. The Boot’s strategy is to focus on its two business activities of pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution, while increasingly developing and internationalizing product brands to create a third dimension. * CHANGE: According to Mullins (2007), every change becomes welcomed as an opportunity for increasing efficiency and building new organizational success. Boots increased female participation in the workforce and growth of services. It also changed the sophisticated information technology where cognitive skill demands. It has created fast flat and flexible organizational design. The company plans to further increasing the number of Boots stores through new openings and pharmacy acquisitions and have also just commenced a trial with Waitrose to sell selective product ranges in each other’s stores. * INNOVATION: According to Mullins, innovations arise from technological advancements, new processes, and improvements in all major areas of organizational activity. Boots concentrates in expanding their core business in existing markets, continuing to deliver productivity improvements and other cost savings, pursuing growth opportunities in selective new high growth markets. Boots is always launching products in the new markets. * COMMUNICATION: Boots always focus on customers/patients needs and services. Their communication and distribution channel is well updated which improves productivity. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: The external environment is the pressures of the organization from outside that can influence and affect the performance of the organization. The significant environmental pressures are the PESTEL which locates for Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environmental, and Legal factors. * POLITICAL: The political environment of a country predisposes by the political organizations such as philosophy of political parties, ideology of government, legislation, taxation, employment law, trade union policy and activities. Boots are also affected for political decision in the UK. The UK government is cutting the employees from most of the sectors. As a result, people will have no enough money to spend on health and beauty. ECONOMIC: It is mainly concern about total GDP of the country as well as consumers’ expenditures and disposable income. It is also included currency exchange rates, tax regime, wage rates, raw material prices etc. Boots is a multinational company. So, during recession, UK’s currency rates fell down and Boots lost lots of money to exchanged currency from other country to UK. * SOCIAL: It concerns about demographic trends, lifestyle preferences, social values, distribution of incomes, education and health, labor mobility, attitude to work, discrimination trends, skills availability, etc. Boots never discriminates any employee. Boots always tries to adopt different life style in different countries, languages, traditions, people expectations etc. * TECHNOLOGICAL: The technology adopted by the industries determines the type and quality of goods and services to be produced and the type and quality of plant and equipment to be used. The technological environment influences the business in terms of investment in technology. It refers to the innovations of IT, nanotechnology, new production methods and process, level of expenditure on R&D by organization’s rivals etc. Boots uses to invest more money on research and development of its cosmetics and medicines. ENVIRONMENTAL: It links to the ‘Green issue’ of the environment, reducing toxic emissions, pollution, spills, hazard prevention, disposable of wastes or rubbishes etc. Boots dedicates to reducing the carbon intensity of their business and continued to launch specific carbon reduction initiatives. For example, Boots UK launched in August 2009 an awareness campaign aimed at reducing energy use in its retail stores. In February 2010, Boots UK received the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of recent achievements in reducing its ‘carbon footprint’. Over 50% of the waste, they create as a Group recycles. * LEGAL: It deals with international law, legislation and taxation, human rights concerns, local regulation. It also concerns international trade agreements, employment and safety law, and product safety issues etc. Alliance Boots operates in regulated markets. It could be adversely affected by changes to existing regulation, new regulation such as licensing regimes for pharmacies, prescription processing regimes. www. boots. com) ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES OF BOOTS: Director Director Director Finance Director Chief Executive Health & Beauty Chief Executive Legal Chief Executive Health & Beauty CEO Chief Executive Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division Chairman of the Board Director Director Director Director Chief Finance Director (www. theofficialboard. com) Organizational structure is the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees so that they work together to achieve organizational goals. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004. P. 874) It is the pattern of relationships among positions in organizations and among members of the organization. Structure makes possible application of the process of management and creates a framework of orders and commands through which the activities of the organization can be planned, organized, directed and controlled. Mullins (2007, p. 564) Alliance Boots has a flat organizational chart. In the structure, we can see that there are eight directors including Board of Chairman and non executive directors. Under Board of Chairman, there are six Chief Executives who are responsible to report to Chairman. All the Executives are the same level in decision making. This structure helps Boots to do better communication between top management and employees as well as increased team spirit too. Hence, we can see less bureaucratic power which helps to make decision easily. It also improves sound coordination and timely passing information among the different department within the Boots which increases productivity. This flat structure is mostly helpful to do faster responses to changing condition. This flat structure has demerits in Boots. Here, workers may have more managers for one job which creates confusions. It is mostly helpful for a small organization but Boots is such a large organization, where it will have demerits. As a result, this will reduce the growth of the organization. (www. learnmanagement2. com) (www. blurtit. com) MOTIVATIONAL FRAMEWORK: MOTIVATIONAL Individual Colleagues The Manager Customers Organization FRAMEWORK (www. ashridge. org. uk) ORGANIZATION: The organization will provide the structure and processes such as performance management and reward schemes, training, interesting work. In the organization, leaders and managers must earn the respect of others, create an appropriate working environment and provide opportunities for people to grow and develop. THE INDIVIDUAL: Individuals need to be more open about share values with colleagues and managers. Organizations need the accurate strategy and processes that make it abundantly clear that individuals have a responsibility for their own development. THE MANAGERS: The Boss provides a crucial role in the motivation process not only acting as a role model but valuing each of colleagues in a way that makes them feel motivated. COLLEAGUES: Colleagues can play a crucial role in motivation at work. By sharing skill and ability, every employee will be motivated in the work place. THE CUSTOMERS: People will be motivated by feedback from both internal and external customers and clients. We should regularly review and share the results of feedback with staff. FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY: The proportion that measures the efficiency of the resources concerned in production of products and services is called productivity. It is also the ratio of inputs and outputs of the production. (www. ayushveda. om) The factors that affect the employee productivity are as follow: * TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: If the employees are not trained properly in their particular job role, then the organization cannot get the benefit from the employees. Sometimes Boots cannot get enough time to schedule the training timetable. COMMUNICATION: There will be constant communication among top management, middle management and the em ployees. But sometimes there is miscommunication or take time to communicate within the Boots because of managers’ holiday, Internet break down etc. * WORK LIFE BALANCE: If the husband or wife works together and there are kids, there will be a problem to match the time table. Boots gives priority to those families. * PAY AND BENEFITS: If the employees get under pay, a late payment, or wrong payment, then they will not be encouraged to perform better the job. * REWARD AND RECOGNATION: Sometimes employees are not rewarded for meritorious services which create employees opposition to complete the job. * WORKING ENVIRONMENT: If the working environment is not suitable for employees or the coordination and cooperation is lacking, the productivity will be low. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY: If there is any discrimination, the productivity will decrease and employees will dissatisfy. Boots strictly follows the rules and regulation about equality. * OTHERS: There are few more factors which affect the productivity, such as poor management, slow decision taking, lack of trust, stress level, conflict, frustration, etc. WAYS OF MOTIVATING KEY EMPLOYEES IN BOOTS An organ ization has many attributes to its success one of which is motivation of staff of the organization. Boots has various ways of motivating their workers leaving them satisfied which encourage them to go ahead and deliver. * TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: Boots provides an online module and training for their staff. This enables them to fulfill their potential at work. The organization makes a significant investment in the development of a range of training. This helps new employees of the organization feel as part of the team and makes them more confident. This year, Boots put additional investment into developing their pharmacists and registered technicians supporting them with their continued professional development. DISCOUNT FOR STAFF PURCHASES: Employees get discounts for purchases on Boots and non-boots products. They obtain 12% discount on Non-boots products and 25% discount for boots products. Every employee, within a year gets double discounts for 2days, which means 25% and 50% for non-Boots and Boots products respectively. This makes them want to stay in the organization. * HEAL TH INSURANCE: Boots believes that their responsibility is to look after their colleague’s health which will help them deliver better customer service. This is particularly beneficial to the employees though this is not compulsory. It encourages them to stay with the organization hence longevity of service, intimate working knowledge and greater output. (www. boots. com) * RETAINING AND PROMOTION: The organization is decidedly particular about recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse employees in the organization. Therefore they strive for this through hard work and hence contribute enormously to the success of the organization. * ATTRACTIVE REMUNERATION: Salary is also another factor that encourages employees to work. If they are well paid they feel like coming to work coupled with a enjoyable working environment at Boots, their employees get an increase in salary every year especially when the economy is stable or growing. * HEALTH AND SAFETY: Boots always provide the right equipment to do the job. All the training regarding health and safety provide every employee to protect them as well as customers. (www. allianceboots. com) APPRAISAL SYSTEMS OF BOOTS: As mentioned above Boots appraises its employees once a year. They are informed when they are going to be appraised and what is expected of them. A form is given to each line manager for every employee just to tick the most suitable one. It describes the employees work performance. Feedback is given to employees, so they will know where to improve. The performance management cycle of Boots Plan for performance appraisal Informing employees about appraisal Feedback and working to achieve goal Performance appraisal of employees Appraisal systems depend upon the individual performance which includes quality of services, customer care knowledge, flexibility of working time, competences, skills, learning achievement, relationships with colleagues etc. ORGANISATIONAL RECORD KEEPING: It is where an organization records information from the time it creates to the time of its disposal. Record keeping is truly essential for an organization because it helps keeps the organization on track and thus achieves organizational goals. Record keeping helps the organization to monitors its financial transaction. In Boots, record keeping uses for verification financial transaction and recording information about employees such as employees personal data, training records, how many times an employee has been absent. Boots keeps its records for two years then at the end of the two the last year records destroyed and a new one is started again. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Records_management) Boots always keep employees personal data secretly and maintain the rules and regulation of the Data Act. All employees have personal record file where all the information are stored in secret. (www. 123helpme. com) CONCLUSION: Boots has a outstanding reputation about health and beauty products at the UK as well as all over the world. It is a delightful place to work everyone says. They have to work closely with manufacturers and pharmacists to improve health among the local communities as well as national level. Boots should give priorities about customers’ loyalty, retention, communication and in store marketing. In the current economic recession in the UK, they have to monitor all the financial activities to minimize the cost. There will be commitment and clear indicators from top level to lower level. Motivation is essential to business success. Boots needs to pay more attention about employees’ learning and development to meet the future demands of the organization.

Naturalist and interpretationist social science Essay

The naturalist approach to social sciences is based on content. The naturalist actually pays attention to what people say and considers their life stories as revealing phenomena. On the other hand interpretational approach, if people have beliefs and desires, an interpreter ascribes them. In this approach there are no independent facts of the matter about content. So there should be some way in which the content is interpreted as a set of revealing set of beliefs. In other words, there should be some agent and a system of methods (procedures) with which the interpretation is done. So, the basic assumption in interpretationist approach is that there is an acceptable behavior of the agent whose relation to the environment is understood and that the beliefs of the agent will match those of the subject he is interpreting (Davidson. D, 1993). The basic conflict between these two approaches is that the naturalist approach accepts the contents of the life stories of what people say, on the other hand the interpretationist accepts only those beliefs and desires that are ascribed by an interpreter. The naturalist accepts that independent facts can exist on the other hand the Interpretationalism does not accept independent facts about mental content. The naturalist accepts what people say on the other hand unless ways of interpreting the spoken word is not found Interpretationalism does not accept the set of beliefs that are held by person making the utterances. Let us consider a more general fact that is studied by social sciences, that if the supply of a product decreases then, â€Å"other things being equal† the price for their product will increase. The naturalist may study the life story of a commodity dealer who may give an account of how the prices of the commodities that he dealt with like wheat; barley and rye went up whenever there was a shortage of these commodities. The naturalist may then visit a grocer who may give a lifetime account of how every shortage led to increase in the prices of products he studies. The naturalist may proceed to take several such life stories, statistically significant and establish the cause and effect relationship between the shortage of supply and price increase. In case of Interpretationalism the scientist would approach an interpreter, in case of a commodity market it would not be the commodity dealer but an expert who would interpret the behavior of the dealers. The task of the interpretationist would be to first select the agent (agent) on the basis of his behavior in relationship to the market. The interpretationist would study the relationship of the expert with that of the commodity market, and attempt to ascertain if his beliefs are similar to those of his. Then the expert will interpret the behavior or the utterances of the commodity dealers and reach a conclusion that if the supply of a product decreases, then, â€Å"other things being equal† the price for the product will increase. Currently, using an expert opinion is an interpretationist approach to market research. The strength of the naturalist approach in establishing that that if the supply of a product decreases then, â€Å"other things being equal† the price for their product will increase is that the naturalist gets information direct from the dealers, that is from the people who are the actual actors. In addition, getting information from several actors increases the validity of the study as well as provides scope for statistical analysis. On the other hand the weakness of such an approach is that the naturalist may misinterpret the data from dealers. For, example the dealers may not eliminate the factors relating to â€Å"other things being equal†. It is possible that factors like a substantially increased demand may have led to the increase in prices but because the naturalist depends on the dealer’s accounts he may accept their interpretation that the prices of commodities have gone up because of decrease in supply. The strength of the interpretationist approach is that the interpreter or the agent has the expertise to interpret the utterances of the dealers. His relationship to the market (environment) is such that he has the ability to make a learned interpretation of what the market dealers utter. In addition, the agent is supposed to have beliefs that are similar to those of the interpretationist. In other words he has the sagacity to take into consideration â€Å"other things being equal†. The weakness of this approach is that the interpretationist has to depend on the interpreter or the expert. He does not have the facility of large numbers. It is not easy to subject the information to numerical analysis. In addition, there is a chance of errors in interpretation because the selection of the agent may be faulty. The agent’s relationship to the market (environment) may not be as close as required. In addition, the beliefs of the agent may be at variance with that of the researcher. In both these cases the results would be erroneous. To sum, there is a conflict in the approach of the naturalist and the interpretationist. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Kimi Dora

Blog Number One â€Å"Oh, You are so Funny and I’m Love it† By: Kenneth Esteleydiz de Guzman (Submitted for an Essay Class in DLSUD) I know that you have already watched a lot of funny films around. But one thing you shouldn’t miss is the movie directed by Ms. Joyce Bernal, and was produced by Spring Films. This movie will surely make you giggle and laugh so hard! I swear to you that every minute that you will spend in this film will never make you feel doubtful and regretful for the fact that this is really worth watching. I’ll tell you now the title of this movie.My much loved movie ever for this year is â€Å"Kimy Dora†, starring Eugene Domingo. Kimy Dora is a film that is about twins who are identical. Kimy Go Dong Hae is the older of the two, she was not that smart when she was young but suddenly after she got a typhoid fever (a very high and severe fever), and she became really smart! It was like she ate a dictionary! Doctors said that her bra in could have been affected by the severe illness she had. She became a war freak as well. She is also insecure for having less attention from her dad and from her very much loved man, Johnson (played by Dingdong Dantes) who admires Dora a lot.Dora (Kimmy’s twin sister) on the other side isn’t so smart but not so dumb as well. Dora may be compared to those who are mentally challenged because of the way she acts; this happened because she was born inside a toilet bowl and got her head bumped inside it when she came out from her mother’s womb. Her parents thought that they would only have one daughter who was Kimy but what happened was that when their mom was a I know that you have already watched a lot of funny films around. But one thing you shouldn’t miss is the movie directed by Ms. Joyce Bernal, and was produced by Spring Films.This movie will surely make you giggle and laugh so hard! I swear to you that every minute that you will spend in this film wi ll never make you feel doubtful and regretful for the fact that this is really worth watching. I’ll tell you now the title of this movie. My much loved movie ever for this year is â€Å"Kimy Dora†, starring Eugene Domingo. Kimy Dora is a film that is about twins who are identical. Kimy Go Dong Hae is the older of the two, she was not that smart when she was young but suddenly after she got a typhoid fever (a very high and severe fever), and she became really smart!It was like she ate a dictionary! Doctors said that her brain could have been affected by the severe illness she had. She became a war freak as well. She is also insecure for having less attention from her dad and from her very much loved man, Johnson (played by Dingdong Dantes) who admires Dora a lot. Dora (Kimmy’s twin sister) on the other side isn’t so smart but not so dumb as well. Dora may be compared to those who are mentally challenged because of the way she acts; this happened because sh e was born inside a toilet bowl and got her hea bout to poop in a toilet bowl, and it was Dora who came out!Their mom died due to severe bleeding and shame due to what happened. Knowing the fact that Dora is a bit mentally challenged, Kimy hated her so much. But one thing that proved that Dora was not retarded was when Kimy was kidnapped; she was able to take over of their company even though Dora only pretended as Kimy to make sure that people won’t panic for the lost of Kimy. At the end of the film, Dora and Kimy were able to be good sisters again and Kimy realized that she shouldn’t mistreat her sister as to what she usually did before.The reason why I really love this film is that Eugene Domingo is also one of my favorite comedians. She has that kind that of humor that would make me burst out. This was the first movie wherein she got the major role and the great thing is that she got the best actress award for this movie. Another reason is that the movie also has m oral lessons, lessons that would surely make your heart cry. I bet you should really watch this movie not just for fun but for simple lessons as well. Just go and grab a copy of this now and be astonished of the laughter that this movie might bring to you.

Communication and Professional Relationships Essay

1.1Explain the principles of effective communication? Why are 1.2effective communication skills important when developing 2.1positive relationships with children, young people and adults? 2.3 1.3What social, professional and cultural differences/factors may 2.2affect the way we develop relationships with children, young 2.3people and adults? 2.4 2.5Explain how to manage disagreements with children and young people within your school? 3.2Why is it important to reassure children, young people and adults about confidentiality. Provide an example of how confidentiality would be breached. Effective communication is a two-way process of giving and receiving information. Effective communication skills are important when developing positive relationships with children, young people and adult. Effective communication is important to develop a good rapport. You need to support children and young people in making choices. There are many forms of communication; there is verbal, non-verbal, written format and body language. You need to consider the forms of communication for the appropriate age and language. If you were communicating with little children you need to position your body to their level, you need to come face to face with them instead of looking down at them. With people of different abilities you tend to use hand gestures and rely on body language. While speaking to other staff members in the school you speak to them in a more formal way. It is important to know the cultural beliefs of everyone in the community as some cultures can cause communication barriers. As a Muslim in the school it would be hard to use eye contact as it is against their beliefs. You need to be able to create an atmosphere in which everyone feels involved and confident to communicate. You need to adapt communication for different needs. Other communication barriers that could occur are having misunderstandings, disagreements and lack of time. If a disagreement was to arise in the school I would stay calm. I would be assertive and discuss the issue in private. I would get the people involved in the disagreement together and talk through the problem. If talking calmly didn’t sort the problem out then the next step would be to ask someone else to step in who isn’t bias and see what they could suggest. If these steps didn’t work you would have to work your way up the ranks until you reach the head teacher who would then have to inform the governors. This is a problem for the two parties involved as formal steps would be taken and a tribunal would be carried out. You need to record all progress made within the school, including any difficulties you find children or employees are having as well as achievements that are made. Adults are role models for all young people so it is important to be a caring person, you need to be approachable, genuine and a good time keeper.

Gynocentric Feminism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Gynocentric Feminism - Essay Example In the past years, women were excluded from important activities in the society and, therefore, were denied the ownership of certain rights such as the right to expression, participation, and education among others. Although women had the power to change the situation, they did not have the courage to exercise this power. Every woman has an erotic resource lying deep within them and the spiritual plane. This resource is rooted in the power of their unrecognized or unexpressed feeling. However, in order to perpetuate the resource, various male models of power that bring oppression must be distorted. This is because oppression suppresses the erotic resource of the women making them powerless in the society (Allen 166). Men have made women to believe that it is only the suppression of the women’s erotic resource, within their lives, that can truly make them strong. However, that belief is illusory because it is framed by the male models of power which only aims at taking the advantage of female existence. However, through gynocentric feminism approach, women have come to distrust the male models of power. They have discovered the potentials and possibilities that lie within themselves. Their erotic resource offers a provocative and replenishing force to a woman (Ptacek 12). It is a source of information and power that can help them to explore the world. It is also a measure between the beginning of a woman’s sense of self and the pandemonium of their strongest feelings. In addition, it is â€Å"an internal sense of satisfaction† where once a woman has experienced it, she gets to aspire. Furthermore, this measure can be well understood by observing the current public housekeepin g of the modern cities in America. The city departments, controlled by men, have snatched women, their responsibility as housekeepers. This has affected their sense of self and they no longer aspire to carry out their responsibilities as housekeepers.

Implementing Leadership Change Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Implementing Leadership Change - Term Paper Example Objective The main objective of the company is to remain competitive via product development and to focus on innovations. Strategies to Be Followed Two main strategies can be inculcated by Gene One. They are leadership strategy and the training strategy. Leadership has been a key component for determining the success of for-profit as well as non-profit organizations. Gene One has taken the decision of going public via IPO issuance; however lack of knowledge of effective implementation is becoming the challenge for the company. It is leadership strategies through which the company will effectively be able to implement the decisions that have been taken by the management. When such decisions are taken, it becomes important for the company to opt for effective leaders since they can make even the weak business plan a successful one. It is the leaders who will set a proper direction for the followers and thus help to visualize the goals to be achieved (Mills, 2005). The leaders at Gene O ne needs to have a proper vision of what is to be achieved. He further needs to assume the risk of loss as well as failure and thus formulate his strategies accordingly.

King arthur Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

King arthur - Essay Example According to legend, he was the son of Uther Pendragon, king of Britain, and Ygraine of Cornwall. During his childhood, Arthur's identity was kept anonymous. Upon his maturity, he was abruptly presented to the people as their king and became a prudent and brave ruler ("Microsoft Encarta"). On the other hand, in the early Latin chronicles, Arthur is characterized as a "dux bellorum," i.e. a military leader rather than a king or emperor ("Camelot Project"). Despite the varying depiction, Arthur consistently appears as the epitome of ideal kingship ("Wikipedia"). Based on the Arthurian romances that gained popularity in the 12th century, Arthur gained the throne as he was the only one who had successfully withdrawn the Excalibur, a magical sword, from a stone. Many others attempted but failed since this act could not be accomplished apart from the "true king." This implied that Arthur was indeed the divinely appointed king and the true heir of Uther Pendragon ("Wikipedia"). He then established a court at Camelot, which is believed to be the modern Caerleon on the southern border of Wales or the great hill fort at South Cadbury in Somerset ("The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy"). At Camelot, Arthur gathered the Knights of the Round Table, which were comprised of Sir Aglova... ne; Sir Ector de Maris, son of King Ban of Benwick; Sir Florence, son of Sir Gawain; Sir Gaheris; Sir Galahad, Sir Lancelot's son and the hero of the quest for the Holy Grail; Sir Gareth; Sir Gawain, Arthur's nephew, who at some points appeared as the embodiment of knightly courtesy and bitter opponent of Lancelot; Sir Geraint; Sir Kay, Arthur's villainous foster brother; Sir Lamorak; Sir Lancelot; Sir Lucan; Sir Palamedes the Saracen; Sir Percival; Sir Tristan; and Sir Yvain, son of King Uriens of Gore (Lacy). These knights were awarded the highest order of chivalry at the court of King Arthur as narrated in the literary cycle, the Matter of Britain. According to Sir Thomas Malory, the knights abided by a set of rules called the Code of Chivalry. Provisions of this code include not committing outrage or murder; fleeing treason; not succumbing to cruelty but instead giving mercy to those who ask; helping and never forcing ladies, gentlewomen or widows; and not taking up wicked battles for love or worldly goods. Aside from Arthur and his knights, the Arthurian legend also featured notable characters such as Merlin, a powerful wizard possessing the gifts of prophesy and metamorphosis who partook in the court at Camelot and revealed the existence of the Holy Grail to Arthur, and Queen Guinevere, the wife of Arthur. Moreover, it gives an account of the knights' numerous quests, perhaps the most famous of which is the search for the Holy Grail ("Wikipedia"), and Arthur's wars and victories, which extended to the European continent where he triumphantly fought the Roman Empire forces ("Microsoft Encarta"). One of the main themes in the Arthurian legend is the downfall of Arthur's kingdom, which is primarily attributed to two reasons. In the chronicle tradition, the

Natural gas & Geothermal energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Natural gas & Geothermal energy - Essay Example Such energy is recovered as the natural gas. However, natural gas represents nonrenewable energy source because of the inability to replenish such energy. Geothermal energy depicts the heat, which is obtained from the earth. Such heat generates a sustainable and clean energy. The resources of geothermal energy vary from deep hot rock in the ground to shallow hot water. These resources contribute in generation of energy, which does not contribute in emission of greenhouse gases. Further, geothermal energy has few chemical pollutants, minimal waste and it is renewable. Rankine cycle depicts a model, which is used in the process of predicting steam turbine systems performance. The system, which is a thermodynamic cycle, changes heat into mechanical work (Stanley, 2010). The supply of the heat is on the external closed loop whereby the working fluid is water. As such, the Rankine Cycle is a form of the steam engine, which has the potential of generating