Home Schooling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Home Schooling - Research Paper Example This project stresses that the family which study together stays together. Home schooling is the common thread woven throughout their lives that pulls the family together. It also allows giving quality education to the children .Home as always been the heart of a child’s education. One need not be a professional teacher to home school a child as they are natural learners and parents are natural teachers. Parents are the best teacher a child could have as no one knows the children better than them. The parents knows the strength and weakness of their children and can train them accordingly .Rather than teaching home schooling should be treated as a guiding a child for their future development. This report declares that from the earliest days, a child’s education took place inside the home. Children learned from parents, from a large extended family, and from everyday life. In his book writes that â€Å" History shows that today’s home education sprang from a rich heritage of family based learning† Families made sure that the children learned important life skills, reading, writing, math skills and socializing skills. In the beginning times, school education was not mandatory for children. Many children were taught home as they could not walk the distance to and from school and mass transportation was not yet an option. Some children were kept at home by bad weather, snowstorms and floods. As industrial revolution swept the country, school transportation improved and so did attendance at public schools.

The Criteria Used to Make Judgments in Evaluative Teaching Observation Research Paper

The Criteria Used to Make Judgments in Evaluative Teaching Observation - Research Paper Example The teacher noted that there were formatting issues with my PowerPoint that could be improved and that there was a spelling mistake. Again, these are issues that can detract from my lessons, so I was glad to get this feedback so that I can improve the formatting and fonts on my PowerPoint in later presentations. The observers did feel that I had good communication skills, and was approachable as a teacher, so I was happy to get this feedback as well. It seemed that the main areas for improvement were technical issues that can be easily fixed, as opposed to my overall teaching style, so it made me realize that my overall style of teaching is good. I just need to work on my technical issues, including my issues with formatting PowerPoint. These all focus upon the practice as a teacher, so in this paper, this will be the focus. I will also focus, in this paper, the explicit and implicit criteria that is used in evaluative teaching, and I will conclude by making recommendation for improv ing the process of teaching observation by focusing on making explicit the criteria by which judgments are made and empowering observer and observe to be in control of the feedback process. My teaching observations were in line with the research on the topic. Donnelly (2007) notes that peer observation of teaching is a necessary component for good practice in teaching and that dialogue and open debate are encouraged, and risk-taking is supported in teaching. Although I didn’t necessarily take risks with my teaching, when I was being observed, I did notice that there was a good dialogue between myself and my observers. They were more than happy to let me know when they liked something that I was doing, or if they thought that something needed to be improved upon, and this dialogue was very stimulating and enlightening. I also note that Gosling (2002) identified three different types of observations in teaching – evaluation, development and peer review. The evaluation is conducted by superiors and is a formal assessment of one’s competencies. This might take the form of annual appraisals and is used to manage employees. Development is used not to manage employees, but to give an overall overview of one’s teaching competencies. This is also conducted by a superior, and this review is also formal. The third kind, the peer review, is much less formal. This is observation and discussion, and the feedback, while critical, is considered to be non-judgmental and constructive. This takes place only in an atmosphere where both parties are genuine peers, and there is not a power imbalance between the two, and there are a mutuality and respect for one another. My experience definitely falls under the third assessment, as the observation was not a formal one, and there was not a formal assessment of my skills. It was non-judgmental and very gentle criticism that was extremely constructive. Moreover, the observation was truly a peer observation, w hich was helpful.

Modern Method Of Construction And Proposed Hotel Project Construction Essay

Modern Method Of Construction And Proposed Hotel Project Construction Essay Basically, this report contains two tasks starts with an introduction giving a background of the modern method of construction (MMC) and reflecting the aim and objectives of the Project. One part of the report involved: Review the history and development of modern method of construction Sustainable development and construction The improvement of construction performance by the MMC The justifications from part-1 are: There were numerous changes came to the construction industry after the MMC. MMC gives a wide range of benefits to construction industry The second part of report involved: The outline introduction of proposed hotel Comparison between the traditional and modern method of construction Conclusion with the case study The justifications from the part-2 are: To build a proposed hotel in Wolverhampton MMC is a better preferred method rather than going for a traditional method. This MMC gives better quality building with less onsite labour in a minimum time. Finally there would be conclusions on each section. In addition, the report consist content pages, references and Bibliography. Nothing can be accomplished without hard work so as a report on your hands, hence I really hope that the work I have done in this report will be a considerable work. INTRODUCTION Its true to say that there are many types of non-traditional method of construction in the UK than any other country in the world and also numerical types has been growing. Talking about modern method of construction, its all are better products and processes. By using this MMC, building developers aim to improve business efficiency, quality of building, buyers satisfaction, the performance of environmental, the sustainability time scale, delivery of time, etc. These Modern methods of construction could provide better quality building with less onsite labour in a minimum time. This report mainly talking about the method of MMC and their development in the UK construction industry compared with traditional construction. Furthermore the selections of method for specific proposed hotel which will be build in city centre of Wolverhampton. TASK01: Review the history and development of modern method of construction Introduction to MMC The MMC can be defined as those which give an efficient product management process to provide more products of good quality in a minimum time. It has been defined in a many ways which are pre-fabrication, off-site production and off-site manufacturing. The MMC can be classified for five categories Off site manufacture volumetric There are three dimensional methods produced in the factory, condition prior to transport to site. In this method the dwelling is pre fabricated at off- site then which are assembled on site. Off-site manufacture panellised The flat panel prepared at off- site then assembled on site to make a three dimensional structure. Services, windows, doors, internal finishes and external cladding may also be incorporated. Off-site manufactured-hybrid This method referred to semi-volumetric which are mixed with both volumetric and panellised approach. Off-site manufactured sub-assemblies and components Large element that can be included into both conventionally built or MMC dwelling. Non-site manufacture Using new ideas method of construction used on-site and use of element in an new ideas such as floor or roof cassettes, pre-cast concrete foundation building up, thin jointed blocks, etc. The history of MMC The United Kingdoms construction industry developed strong growth in recent years. UK construction industry is a trend setting construction industry well none for worldwide construction expertises. Approximately one and half million people employed in the construction industry and over 160,000 firms. UK construction industry growing with the infrastructure and the commercial construction sectors at the forefront of this trend. Ralph Morton. (2002) states the new forms of construction developed in response to new forms of demand and they transformed the face of Britain. In 1801 no town in Britain, with the exception of London, had a population of more than 100,000 people. Fifty years later there had been a vast increase in the area of housing, London had grown to two and half million, Liverpool to 376 000, Manchester to 303 000. In the last decade procurement and practice of both public and private work has been subject of huge change. Several wrongs have identified the public and private sector clients dissatisfaction with the traditional approach within the industry. Poor quality, over budget and late completion also has been increased problem in construction industry. For ex: Scottish parliament building in Edinburgh Initial budget-4o million Final cost-430million and 20 months late. The 1st step was taken in1994, Sir Michal Latham reported to the construction industry. Now the constructing best practice developed and developing with the support of Lathams and Eagans reports. These report led to best value, best practice achieving excellence in construction and new procurement routes and mainly focused in delivering value for money deliver project to time , quality and cost. Introduction to Sustainable Development and Sustainable Construction Sustainable development is the process by which we move towards sustainability. Sustainable development focuses on improving the quality of life for all without increasing the use of natural resources beyond the capacity of the environment to supply them indefinitely. As defined in The Brundtland Report (1987): Within the UK construction industry, the concept of sustainable construction has emerged because of growing concerns on the environmental and social impacts created by the construction activities. By definition, sustainable construction is (Khalfan, M.M.A., 2002: 15): The creation and responsible management of healthy built environment based on resources efficient and ecological principles In 2004, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has registered more than 170,000 private construction contractors working in the UK and 93% of these companies employed less than 8 people (DTI, 2004). The Triple Bottom Line of Sustainable Construction As a whole, sustainable development or sustainable construction comprises of three broad themes of social, environmental and economic accountability, often known as the triple bottom line. The objectives of these three themes are (Constructing Excellence, 2004): Social To recognise the needs of everyone impacted by construction, from inception of a project to demolition. The list will include construction site workers, local communities, the supply chain and people that will use the finished product. Environmental To protect the environment from the impact of emissions, effluent and waste and where possible, to enhance it and use natural resources, carefully. Economic To increase profitability by making efficient use of resources, which includes labour, materials, energy and water. Figure 5: The Three Themes of Sustainable Development (Source: Khalfan, M.A.A., 2002: Figure 2) Sustainable construction takes account of these objectives in a balance at all stages of a construction project. However, within the context of this research, emphasis will be given the environmental aspect of sustainable construction, at production/construction phase. The improvement of construction performance by the MMC The MMC gives a wide range of benefits to construction industry. This includes a range of technologies and processes. By using MMC construction industry can benefit from: Reduced construction time The MMC can provide new construction facilities in less than half the time required for traditional construction. Reduced on-site activity MMC techniques require less time on site. This can be in the order of 20% of the time required using traditional methods. Reduced on site disruption As a many of construction work carry out off-site, the impact to the existing site is significantly low. In comparison to traditional construction, there is a reduction in noise, dust, and light pollution and the site will also benefit from less vehicle movements. As a result, the construction is able to carry on its operation with minimum disruption to the daily activities. Reduced health and safety risk Most construction work at the off-site therefore risk will be reduced for the workers and also for third parties. Improved quality control This construction makes higher degree of quality assurance. Both contractor and client could able to prove the building before the installation. Reduced force on on-site parking Minimum time required on-site for construction so reduced in need for parking. These are the major issue on many construction sites during the major development. The majority of construction related traffic is directed to the factory, causing less impact on the construction site. Increasing site utilisation Many construction sites are struggle to accommodate much needed new facilities. The nature of construction enables to provide facilities in many challenging locations such as over rooftops, on gantry style support structures and in enclosed courtyards. Overcoming skill shortage Cost-effective Predictable construction progress Reduced waste Fast and precise Speed up housing creation Maintain high standards of design quality Minimum resource consumption Makes use of more effective materials Less period of investment to the client The background to change has been: The apparent failure of the industry to satisfy the perceived needs of its customers, particularly in the way it organises and executes projects Changes in society towards greater openness and accountability, greater efficiency, effectiveness and economy Changes in IT and technology Growth in construction professionals Change in culture of working practices Spectacular failures of high profile, high value projects Recent reports into the state of the industry: Accelerating Change (Rethinking Construction, 2002) Government intervention in construction through privatisation philosophies e.g. compulsory competitive tendering, European legislation, PFI Pressure groups forcing through changes i.e. Clients wanting single point responsibility Impact of quality assurance systems which have evolved into a desire to establish best practices in construction work Conclusion Sustainable construction has increasingly gain popularity in the construction industry. It has been recognised as the way forward to improve the performance of the construction industry in the UK. With regards to the construction activities, sustainable construction practices such as waste management, water conservation, energy efficiency, use and procurement of materials and protection of biodiversity, should be given higher priority by the construction team. Emphasis on these practices will benefit the contractors and the whole construction industry. Task: 02 The outline introduction of proposed hotel The hotel will be built in the city centre of Wolverhampton which is near to the railway station on a restricted area. Shape: rectangular Storeys: 10 Bed room: 16 Hotel and surrounding area The site is in a prominent gateway location, on a major arterial route into the city centre, very close to the railway station. Location factors Narrow width between Culwell Street and Lock Street Levels difference between Culwell Street and Lock Street Overshadowing and lack of outlook because of Wednesfield Road and Noise from traffic, railway line and station Carver blast zone Site bisected by public footpath Contamination This is a very significant and unique site in terms of its location, prominence and constraints. The appropriate uses for this site are limited and a viable alternative to the proposed student housing seems highly unlikely, particularly in the current economic climate. It is considered that the proposed high quality buildings on a very difficult yet prominent site will create a positive landmark that has the potential to substantially improve the image of the City and the scheme should be welcomed. The proposed use and buildings will generate a range of benefits identified above. Comparison between the traditional and modern method of construction Basically, talking about the traditional method of construction its very attractive and simple. Most of the people like to build their dream building in the traditional method. Even though when its compared with modern method it has some disadvantages. The proposed hotel of comparison between both methods given by below. In the context of the construction industry, many of professionals would acknowledge that successful construction projects are often attributed to those that achieve the clients requirements and project objectives set out at the outset of the project. Such objectives may include delivery within the stipulated TIME period, construct within the budgeted COST and meet the QUALITY standard set. Other objectives, equally important, may include meeting functional requirements and satisfaction of the clients. 01) Cost: Clients have been increasingly concerned with the overall profitability of projects and the accountability of projects generally. Cost overruns, in association with project delays, are frequently identified as one of the principal factors leading to the high cost of construction (Charles and Andrew, 1990). In the hotel project, MMC leads to more effective than the traditional method. The MMC will help to ensure cost certainly. Construction time By using of MMC Builders could provide proposed hotel in less than half the time required for traditional construction. So this could help to the client earlier return of money. Site labour requirement In the MMC, most of the working process will carry out at off-site. Therefore all of the project members will be working together to maximise the output, in turn reducing the work required on site compared with traditional method. This implies the construction cost will be saved at all the stages. Professional fees The standard design details used for MMC therefore hotel will be simplify and minimise the need for specialist design input. Waste Site installation of the MMC is rapid and quiet operation this can be done just in time without site storage requirement. On the other hand the delivery of huge amount of materials will be reduced so that waste and also cost will be reduce by using MMC against the traditional method. Return of investment MMC technique has minimum time on-site because most of building element constructs using pre-fabricates elements, off-site production and off-site manufacturing. This could be in order of 20% time required compared with traditional method, again fast return of investment to the client. 02) Quality: To the client, quality may be defined as one of the components that contributes to value for money (Flanagan and Tate, 1997). Vincent and Joel (1995) define total quality management as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the integration of all functions and processes within an organisation in order to achieve continuous improvement of the quality of goods and services. The goal is customer Satisfaction. Furthermore, in order to achieve successful project quality management three separate drivers to quality management must be managed, namely: Integration of the project team so as to have a single objective and a common culture A customer focus for the team thereby facilitating the provision of products and services that will meet the clients needs A process of continuous improvement in the management of the construction project. MMC can deliver the hotel as good quality as much techniques providing under the durability. It makes possible a far higher degree of the quality control than a traditional construction project because of the factory controlled environment in terms of pre-assembled units. The hotel of both contractor and client can prove the building before installation on site. Using MMC hotel could ensure majority of internal fitting and mechanical and electrical installations with the good quality control and protecting against the weather damage and delays during the construction. 03) Speed Speed completion of a construction project is frequently seen as a major criterion of project success by clients, contractors and consultants alike. Newcombe et al. (1990) note that there has been universal criticism of the failure of the construction industry to deliver projects in a timely way. NEDO (1983) states that a disciplined management effort is needed to complete a construction project on time, and that this concerted management effort will help to control both costs and quality. This is tantamount to saying that the clients objectives can be achieved through a management effort that recognises the interdependence of time, cost and quality. Time MMC technique requires minimum time on-site because hotel construction going to be built using pre-fabricates elements, off-site production and off-site manufacturing. This could be in order of 20% time required compared with traditional method. This time saving implies: The site productivity will be increased and also speed. Earlier return of investment of hotel for the client Site preliminaries could be reduced as 8% to 15 of the total construction cost. Reduced in on-site labour requirement to less than a quarter. The standard design will be used in the project. Therefore this MMC could make better use of scarce and minimise in total development time with regard to maximum speed. 04) Risk In the last 25 years over 2,800 people have died by injuries as a result of construction process in Britain. Today health and safety conditions have been improved by the construction professionals. Many of contractors are seeking for improve safety on site for its employees and also subcontractors. The location of hotel project is close to the rail way station and also restricted area. The risk should be considerable mainly at the working site. The major benefit of using MMC in the hotel project, the health and safety risk involved minimised due to following factors: Off-site manufacture: Many of the construction and fit out of the hotel will take place in a controlled factory environment where is not affected by the weather condition. The multi story of hotel will be constructed at ground level minimising risks from working at height. Safety measures could be strictly imposed and simple to supervise. Modern installation: Once the installation delivered to site, a fit out modern building requires fewer contractors, far smaller no of deliveries, less construction compound and overall minimises the disruption to the hotel surrounding environment. All of these things reduce the health and safety risk. When compared to traditional method, overall the complete construction process could be 60% of the total time of traditional method, again reducing probability of incident. Disruption: The installation to the hotel will take place off-site. It has fewer people will be around and cause less disruption to the site area. The less period on site also exposes hotel staff and public to minimise risks. The reduced working progress on site will reduce exposure to risks both for construction workers and the public, again MMC makes much safer from construction. 05) Design integration: In the MMC the design integration must be considered early and also economy of scale could be achieved through the design. Once it compared to traditional method the MMC has more preferred method when design integration considered. The following key points are consist benefits of MMC compared to traditional. At off-site manufacture hotel building gives a pre-assembled unit life spans could vary from 25 to 60 year design life by using frame type and specification employed. The frame going to be used in the construction of hotel, which benefit from void at roof level allowing easy to re-routing of mechanical and electrical services. During the life cycle of the hotel, floor could be reconfigured with the mechanical and electrical services simply suit in the service void. The hotel could be relocated en masse to another site, and it will be used for the same purpose where it was originally constructed or re-configured for a different requirement. In the MMC, most of the hotel structure will be built using steel. This gives very efficient as a structural material and relatively small quantity of steel accomplishes spans of high-load bearing capacity and also it has less in weight so it can be handled easily on site. Conclusion: MMC offers considerable offers to the developers or builders in term of fast of construction, ability to pre-plan the construction work and minimised call-backs. Its providing hotel building offers sustainability in the honest way that traditional construction will never be able to match. Even though this MMC still facing some barriers which are poor understanding, poor courage, poor acuity, poor agreement for products, poor skills and cost perception. So in this hotel construction its essential that these obstacle both by client and project team members. Case study 01: Hotel, Granada Travelodge, London This project contains 64 bed rooms building with underground parking facilities. It was built by the steel frame with the support of MMC. It has five story building and space for public on the ground floor. Building includes bar for breakfast and different lifts facilities. The benefits arisen from MMC in this project were: Maintained better finished quality Site production and preparation was done in same time with factory production, therefore less disruption for existing business and environment. There was a cost effective for 5 storey building. Hotel was built within 27 weeks, more of this winter moths also included. The all manufacture cost was reduced by 35% Extra revenue, as early completion of the building was brought additional  £179,000 income for the client. Case study 02: Barling court, stockwell, London This project contains 8 apartments with the bed room facilities. This apartment originally were manufactured in Krakow and transferred to sites. No of apartments-08 Project cost- £700,000 Construction type- Modern Reduction in site labour-75% Reduction in commercial vehicle movement-40% Reduction in waste-70% From these case studies Again these case studies give a better preferred method is MMC Its a preferred method of proving hotel as proposed.

Experiencing Cyberspace :: web internet

Experiencing Cyberspace 1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If a survey were being done on how people experience cyberspace, one would immediately notice that no two answers would be the same. Experiencing cyberspace is something that is different for every individual. I myself experience cyberspace psychologically, I experience it in my mind. There have been many attempts at trying to define the abstruse term, but up to date, no one has pinned the tail on the donkey. There cannot be one solid definition for a word that possesses so many meanings. I personally associate the word cyberspace with the idea of being able to travel to distant places without ever leaving my chair. Obviously, I know that there is no possible way of visiting different places or countries via my home computer, but in my mind, when I see the location that I am connected to, it feel as though a part of me is there. The best part is that I can switch from scenario to scenario without having to travel any ground. I do not feel a sense of distance or location, except when it takes a prolonged amount of time to connect to a host. When I travel from place to place (site to site), I do not cover any known physical distances, but instead I cover visual distance. Just as many people do, I refer to the places that I visit as virtual worlds. I like calling them this because I never actually get to see the reality of the "world". I only get to see it electronically and digitally. The feeling that I experience while in cyberspace is knowing that I possess the power to visit any where I want. When I click one of the buttons on the mouse, or what I refer to as a transporter, I feel as though all the power in the world rests at the end of my fingertips. I am in my own sort of fantasy land. Once I land in a desired location, or website, I have the opportunity to click on pictures and words that take me to new worlds. These pictures and words have the power to make my virtual tour even more pleasing by introducing me to new and exciting things. People have referred to experiences in cyberspace, experiences such as mine, as a basic extension of the mind. I definitely agree with this statement. I believe that it takes imagination and creativity to experience all of the things that cyberspace has to offer. With all the colors, strange text and mind-boggling graphics, cyberspace is something that everyone must experience on their own.

Ethical Issues Surrounding Walmart

Ethical issues surrounding Wal-Mart Ronald L. Reeves Columbia Southern University Ethical issues surrounding Wal-Mart Sam Walton, founded Wal-Mart over forty years ago, where it started as a five-and-ten store in Bentonville, Arkansas (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Since then it has become one of the largest retail stores in the world, with an estimated annual sales of close to $300 billion (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). His business philosophy was to provide low prices to its customers everyday (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).With such tremendous success in profits and growth, it has also brought many challenges relating to ethical issues in regards to; off-the-clock-work, sexual discrimination, health benefits, the role of unions, use of illegal aliens, and issues relating to child and labor laws. It is the intent of this case study to identify the ethical issues Wal-Mart has faced, as well as, discuss four questions of thought. Off-the-Clock-WorkFrom 2000 to 2007, Wal-Mart has been in cou rt facing numerous law suits, in which they have paid out millions of dollars, for violation of laws surrounding non-payment of overtime compensation to its employees (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Several employees claimed that managers required them to work off the clock by requiring them to work after punching out their time card (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). If the employee refused to work after their shift and off the clock, then they would be threatened with termination of employment.One of the many complaints include the use of â€Å"lock-ins† (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). According to Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) they stated, â€Å"Managers would lock the doors after the store had closed and would force the workers to stay in the store until all the work had been completed† (p. 410). Employees were also told that if they could not complete their assigned work in their eight hour shift, that they would have to remain at work, off the clock, until their work was comp lete.It was evident that the mangers had no respect or appreciation for the employees, who should have been valued as stakeholders that contributed to the success of the store. Sexual Discrimination In 2001, Wal-Mart faced a lawsuit with regards to sexual discrimination for not promoting women to managerial positions and for not paying them a wage equivalent to what the male employees were making (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Some of the facts that supported the lawsuit include; 65% of the hourly employees and 33% of the managers were women, and on average women received 6. % less in wages than their male counterparts received (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). One example of discrimination included a female employe being told that a man was promoted over her, who was qualified, because the man had to support his family (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Another example of discrimination was when a women was told that a man was paid more becauase according to the Bible, Adam came before Eve. The managers involved in these and other sexual discrimination cases included in this lawsuit made poor ethical decsions by discriminating against its female employees.Health Benefits Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) mentioned, â€Å"In 2003 Wal-Mart’s policy of lower costs in every part of its operation was highlighted based on the type of health benefits that it offered to its employees† (p. 413). New employees had to wait six months before being eligible for the health care benefit, and retirees were not allowed to keep their benefit (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Wal-Mart’s payout for employee healthcare benefits in 2002, were 40% lower than the average that all companies in the U. S. ere paying and 30% less than their competive retailers (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). In an effort to keep health care costs down, Wal-Mart recommended to the board of directors that it should hire more part time employees and try to discourage unhealthy employees by requiring all employe e’s responsibilities to include some type of physical activity (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). It is evident that Wal-Mart’s board of directors and upper management were more concerned with profit than the welfare of the employees. The Role of the UnionsIn an effort to keep low prices for its customers, Wal-Mart kept its labor cost low (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). There has been a constant battle between Wal-Mart and its employees, who wanted to create a union. The purpose of the union was to ensure that employees, who were members of the union, would receive a wage that was competitive to others in the workforce. Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) stated, â€Å"In 2002 a comparison of wages for unionized workers and Wal-Mart employees showed that unionized Kroger employees would get four to five dollars an hour more than the Wal-Mart employees† (pgs. 15-416). It was discovered that Wal-Mart would discourage employees from forming unions, by firing those that promoted it (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Of the contrary, the Wal-Marts in China were allowed to have unions, as they received pressure from the All-China Federation of Trade Unions which is belived to be apart of Chinese Communist Government (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Use of Illegal Aliens In an efforet to keep their costs low everyday for its customers, Wal-Mart used a campaign slogan of â€Å"Roll Back the Prices,† but agian it came at the sacrifices of its employees.Wal-Mart outsourced to third party contractors to hire janitors to clean its stores afterhours (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). To keep cost down, these third party contractors, with Wal-Mart’s knowledge, hired illegal aliens to clean the stores afterhours (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). This was discovered after federal agents, from the Immigration Servive, raided sixty Wal-Mart stores in an operations called â€Å"Operation Rollback,† in 2003 (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).As a result of the raid, more than 250 i llegal aliens were arrested, and Wal-Mart faced thiteen felony indictments and paid $5 million dollars in fines (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Some of the illegal aliens also filed lawsuits that claimed they were forced to work every night and did not receive compensation for overtime (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). This was not only a violation of federal law, it also showed a lack of the citizenship principle where every employee should respect the law (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).Child and other Labor Laws From 2000-2005, Wal-Mart was faced with fines and lawsuits pertaining to violations of child and labor laws. It was identified by audits, that employees under the age of eighteen were working past midnight, working during school hours, and working more than eight hours a day (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Discovered were employees under the age of eighteen operating machinery that was dangerous, which included chainsaws and cardboard balers (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).Also, exposed wer e employees who were not taking their breaks or given time off for a meal period (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Questions for Thought 1. Are the ethical issues Wal-Mart faces really any different from other large retailers? I don’t think the ethical issues facing Wal-Mart are any different than that of its competitors. I do believe though that since Wal-Mart is considered the largest retailer and it promises to keep the lowest prices everyday for its customers that they are misusing the reliability principle of taking care of its employees.Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) stated, â€Å"Traditional violations of the reliability principle would include breaching a promise or contract or not fulfilling a promised action† (p. 9). An example of this is when Wal-Mart managers did not pay their employees for working overtime. 2. Wal-Mart officials have stated that they don’t feel women are interested in management positions at the company. Do you agree or disagree? I disagre e. Based on the case study, it seems to me that women are discouraged from seeking positions in management through sexual discrimination.If women were not oppressed by comments such as a man needing the promotion over a qualified woman because he needed to support his family, or that a man works at Wal-Mart for a career and women do not, then they may feel more competitive for managerial positions (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Wal-Mart’s managers in this case demonstrated a failure in the dignity principle by not respecting all of its employees (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). 3. Wal-Mart is continually criticized for its health care policy. Is this really and ethical issue?Why or why not? I do not think that Wal-Mart’s health care policy is unethical and meets the requirement of the fairness principle. Of the four types of fairness’s: reciprocal, distributive, fair competition, and procedural fairness, they demonstrate the distributive fairness (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). They do provide both part time and full time employees with a choice to enroll in its health care policy and at different levels of coverage (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). The also have provided a health savings account for its employees.Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) stated, â€Å"In a Wal-Mart survey of 220,000 employees, it was found that 90% were covered using Wal-Mart’s health insurance† (p. 415). The 10% that did not have their insurance were either covered under their spouse’s insurance, insured by Medicaid, or through a military health insurance plan (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). 4. Should Wal-Mart be concerned about unionization of stores since allowing unionization of workers in China? Wal-Mart should be concerned about unionization in stores outside of China, as they have allowed it in China.This is a double standard that is not fair to the other Wal-Mart employees throughout the world. The case study identified that employees who were in favor of a union were either discouraged or terminated (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). The National Labor Relations Board, ordered Wal-Mart in 2003 to negotiate with former employees of the meat market, whom formed a union, to bring back the meat department that was originally closed when the employees formed a union (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).This thought encompasses the values of the fairness principle, with regards to the reciprocal fairness (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Wal-Mart should address the thought of a union fairly as the employees seek a way to have competitive wages. Conclusion While Wal-Mart is considered to be one of the highest grossing retailers in the world, which strives to offer the lowest prices everyday to its customers, it has done so by adversely affecting their employees.The management’s efforts to keep prices down resulted in poor ethical choices which resulted in employees being forced to work beyond their normal working hours and not be compensated for their overtime. In addition, many employees were forced to work during their breaks or denied mealtime breaks, in which they were not compensated for either. Sexual discrimination was also an issue, as women were discouraged or discriminated against for seeking management level positions.Although Wal-Mart did offer health benefits to its employees, they were questionable and came at a high cost for low paid employees. Wal-Mart also set a double standard by allowing its stores in China to have a union, while it discouraged or terminated employees in other parts of the world who were in favor of developing a union. Child labor laws were another issue for Wal-Mart, as they required employees under the age of eighteen to work late at night, working during school hours, working more than eight hours a day, and operating dangerous equipment in some of its stores.The results of their unethical acts and violations of federal laws, has caused Wal-Mart to review its policies and identify ways to im prove its ethical principles concerning the treatment of its employees. Stanwick and Stanwick (2009) mentioned, â€Å"The managers at Wal-Mart agreed to meet with the ten rank-and-file workers every week from each of its 4,000 stores to get employee feedback† (p. 419). This program that Wal-Mart created is called â€Å"Associates out Front† (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). Reference Stanwick, P. A. , & Stanwick, S. D. (2009). Understanding business ethics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Equal Opportunity Essay

In this short story, Equal Opportunity, written by Walter Mosely, Minority Socrates Furtlow, faces the dilemma of getting a job. Socrates is an ex-con, having served 27 years in prison. While drunken, he killed two of his good friends, and now lives life as a bumb who goes around collecting bottles and cans for a living. This story tells his struggle to find honorable work as a black man in society because of his background. Because there were no jobs in Socrates neighborhood that would hire him, knowing of his background, finding a job was a complicated task for this African-American, 58 year-old man who hadn’t worked in 37 years. As Socrates travels approximately 14 miles, 3 bus transfers from his apartment in Watts, South Central, Los Angeles, he arrives at Bounty Supermarket to try and get a job. As he enters the store, he wondered what the workers would think of him working there surrounded by money because of his prison background. Socrates, though was a murderer, not a thief! During his job search at Bounty Supermarket, he attempted to retrieve an application. Being a man of his stance, he had already practiced how he would attempt to ask for â€Å"an application. Anton Crier, assistant store manager of Bounty Supermarket, was a young white male who Socrates interacted with during his first visit. Anton was reluctant to give Socrates the time of day, mainly because of his appearance. Anton’s first question to Socrates was â€Å"Uh. How old are you sir? † As an ex-convict, with the stereotype of knowing the law, Socrates knew that this question was a violation of is rights for Equal Opportunity, and he surely informed Anton. Socrates stated to him the law of discrimination, equal opportunity, and his right to basically be given a chance and to at least to turn an application. Determination allowed Socrates to â€Å"demand† his right to fill out the application and wait for a reply, based on the information submitted on the application and simply not his race! After he turned in the application with a borrowed pencil Anton loaned him, he informed Anton and the store manager Halley Grimes of his dilemma of not having a phone, but an address where they could write to him he results of his application. He had to explain to them his address was valid because they were already going trying not accept it based on the fact he did not have a phone . He also questioned them about an information section on the application about his ability to travel to work. The question asked if he had a car? Although he didn’t, he didn’t mind using the public transportation (RTD -Rapid Transportaion District) bus route. Over a five day period, Socrates proved to them both his willingness to work and get there on time even if he was using the bus. He arrived at the supermarket for those five days straight on time, and before 9:30am. On the fourth day, Halley informed him his application had not been accepted and that she had thrown the fax away stating his denial. Unable to produce proof, Socrates called the main office himself, finding out his application was never submitted. In the midst of all this, Halley had also reported that Socrates was a threat to her and was afraid that he would do her harm because of him coming in all the time demanding his application results, knowing that she hadn’t submitted them. So that fifth day when Socrates came to the supermarket for an answer, he was approached by two gentlemen in lieu of his business there. He was called into the manager’s office and then was asked explained to the men, Mr. Parker and Mr. Weems his situation. Surely as they thought about his rights, end up offering Socrates a job at one of their other locations. As Socrates faces dilemma in his position as a black man during the Harlem Renaissance period, he ultimately succeeds in doing what he set out to do†¦.. find a job. As honorable as Socrates claimed he would be while trying to get this job, he ended up lying in the end about another question on the application he had missed. That question is the one who would identify him as a felon for his past mishaps. As appreciation for Mosely’s short story, one must believe that Socrates and many other African-Americans struggled to be successful, and to survive during this time period. This story tells the struggle of a man who just wanted to work to survive, and that knowing his rights and acting on them with patience and non-violence helped him get what he wanted eventually!

Rhetorical Analysis of The The essays

Rhetorical Analysis of The The essays Rhetorical Analysis of The Theory of Multiple Intelligences We believe that human cognitive competence is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills, which we call intelligences. (Gardner 379) In 1993, when Howard Gardner wrote this essay, people focused most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. They esteem the highly articulate or logical people. IQ test devised by Alfred Binet was the only indicator that measures permanent basic intelligence. Howard Gardner proposes a new view of intelligence that is rapidly being incorporated in school curricula. In his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Gardner expanded the concept of intelligence to also include such areas as music, special relations, and interpersonal/intrapersonal knowledge in addition to mathematical and linguistic ability. From his book Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (1993), he proposes that there are at least seven distinct intelligences. Additionally he wants to let the public know his different view. He spent 2 pages of his essay to tell us a story which shows that something is wrong. He is trying to facilitate communication for modern public readers. That must be the reason why this essay has simple language and a brief structure. He hides the details of his research but tells us a story which can be easily understood by most of us. He is introducing the new concept of human intelligence to the public. First, Ill discuss about the structure of this essay. First thing that catches my eyes is the way he list the seven different kinds of intelligence with parallel structure. From musical to intrapersonal intelligence, he explains each kind of intelligence as simply as possible with the exact same structure. He begins with a story that identifies the specific intelligence. For example, in the musical intelligence part, he tells a story about a three year old boy who was f...

Petrys View Of Victimization In The Street Essays - Free Essays

Petry's View Of Victimization In 'The Street' Essays - Free Essays Petry's View Of Victimization In 'The Street' In The Street, by Ann Petry, Lutie and her son Bub, as well as most of the characters, are clearly portrayed as victims. One is ultimately led to believe that their victimization and the barriers they face are because of race. Race is clearly the main obstacle for Lutie and Bub. It is what holds them back from leaving the street. Born into prejudice, they are basically prescribed a future. The three characters which best represent the victimization of African-Americans and women are Bub, Lutie, and Min. The main obstacle facing Lutie is obviously the color of her skin. This prevented her from being able to advance the way she wanted to. The fact that Lutie is a woman contributes to her struggle even further. Women have to deal with male dominance and being victimized by men, in addition to being a minority. Both Lutie and Min try to break free these constraints, but ultimately fail because the task lies deeper than within themselves. This story is a perfect example of the struggles A frican-Americans, and in particular, women, have to endure, and a perfect illustration of the vicious cycle that keeps them unable to achieve the lives that they wanted and worked so hard for. There was a force that was keeping African-Americans on the street, and according to Ann Petry's views, it was the system in which they were living. Lutie is faced with being a single parent. She must provide child care as well as earn money to keep her and her son alive. Her life is a double edged sword, because she needs to be at home and working at the same time: an impossible task. Because of these two factors and the invisible barriers they pose, it is impossible for Lutie to achieve the life she desires for herself and Bub. In the beginning of the story, Lutie was forced to take action and support her family because Jim could not find a job. She left her family and home and sent all her earnings to support them. In that time, it was hard enough for a woman to get a job, let alone an African-American woman. Petry contests that the most available job to them, was being a maid. Lutie was able to get a job working for the Chandlers. The portrayal of the Chandlers was a clear illustration of the racial divides at the time. Lutie was awestruck when she saw the lifestyle that they led. The luxuries they had would never be accessible to someone like Lutie. Although she admires their lifestyle, she loathes the impact money has on them. When Jonathan Chandler killed himself, it was then she realized that money was the only thing that this family had. She was interested in the way which money transformed a suicide she had seen committed from start to finish in front of her very eyes into an accident with a gun(Pet ry 54). It was then that she began to despise the family. The fact that African-Americans were dependent on whites for employment made it hard for them to ever be on the same level. They were dependent on the white race essentially, to live. The increasing dependence made it more difficult to ever overcome the dominance. The knowledge of this is what angers Lutie. Mom, why do white people want colored people shining shoes?(Petry 71). Deep down, she knew that no matter how hard she worked, she would never live the way they did. But she did not want the racist mind to bring her down. She began to blame the white race for the hardships she was enduring. I dont know, Bub, she said finally. But its for the same reason we cant live anywhere else but in places like this...(Petry 72). She wanted to escape the street, and made a great effort. ...Theyd never catch her in their dirt trap...Shed fight her way out(Petry74). But later we learn that this resolve is to no avail. Lutie wanted Bub to have a better life and rise above the street. She worked very hard to provide this for him. She could do it, too- bring him up so that

Ashlyfive point linguistic star Essay Example for Free

Ashlyfive point linguistic star Essay We’ve allowed a natural approach to language instruction to dominate our schools, hoping our English learners â€Å"will just figure it out. † (SCOE, 2009) This approach suggested by Kevin Clark proposes that teachers explicitly teach ELL by giving them a set of skills. Teacher will have to teach students not just vocabulary, but the sound system of language, the words and their word parts and meanings, and also rules for structuring sentences grammatically. Teaching students from this perspective can support a deeper understanding of the language. When the  concept is thoroughly supported by background knowledge, explanation as to why, activities that strengthen skills, and consistency in lesson structure that follows this pattern, students are more likely to understand the concept and create a platform from which to launch higher level thinking and conclusions on following concepts and content area. Students learn more efficiently when they have prior knowledge on a presented concept. If the student can link content to a concept that they gained from previous knowledge on from their own unique background or culture, it  will inevitably spark interest in that subject area. By sparking interest the teacher is now adding value to the lesson. Since students synonymize interest with value, the teacher would prove effective. Now a sense of purpose has now been infused into the lesson, and the student/students may begin to contribute more. (NCREL, 1990) This approach is rather intriguing, and teachers should be trained in linguistics prior to teaching ELLs. I would learn the subparts of linguistics via a course: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. By learning each subpart in-depth, I can better compose lesson plans and activities that explore those areas for the ELLs to better benefit. Understanding the mechanics of a language is just as important as understanding the language itself, for both teachers and students. The concept of prior knowledge should not be limited to the students but 2 LINGUISTIC APPROACH teachers should utilize this concept for their own effective instruction. If teachers have prior knowledge of the subparts of the English language, as well as knowledge of the diverse cultures  he/she is instructing can help the teacher create and blend a comprehensive and student-inclusive lesson plan and curriculum. Prior knowledge influences how the teacher and students interact with the learning materials as both individuals and a group. (Kujawa and Huske, 1995) Prior knowledge assists in segue of appropriate instruction and retention, because it is a foundation from which to build from and facilitates the idea of making sense of the educational experience. As the students are learning from the linguistic perspective, especially under syntax and  semantics, students would be primed for grammatical instruction, also. As they learn how, where and when to use appropriate vocabulary, I will insert instruction on main grammatical principles and rules and branch off into further instruction where applicable. I would try to make sound non-confusing connections with the native language grammatical principles, so there is a prior knowledge foundation established in that arena as well. I would also have a grammar day in the middle of the week to review prior concepts and morph new grammar lessons into the lesson  plan and utilize formative assessment strategies to see what needs to be reviewed and further defined. 3 LINGUISTIC APPROACH References Kujawa, S. , & Huske, L. (1995). The Strategic Teaching and Reading Project guidebook (Rev. ed. ). Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Restructuring to promote learning in America’s schools, videoconference #2: The thinking curriculum. (1990). Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Sonoma County Office of Education. (2009) Structuring language instruction to advance stalled English learners. Aiming High Resource. Retrieved September 16 2014. 4 Ashlyfive point linguistic star. (2016, Sep 12).

Super bowl commercials in the United States Essay

Super bowl commercials in the United States - Essay Example Though there are mixed emotions as to what should and should not be aired, ultimately it is a decision of freedom of speech while also remaining ethical and without offending a segment of the population due to race, gender, religion, or personal ethics. When considering these factors most major companies, including CBS, stand firmly behind free speech and freedom of the press but they are also relieved of the some of the pressure of censoring themselves with air time being so costly during specific times. Major companies want to shock, interest, and be creative but they also recognize the fine line between positive media influence and consumer gain and must consider the impact on their company financially should the commercial be viewed as offensive. There are several whose reputation and name brand have allowed them to carry off what a smaller and less known brand would not risk. Disagreeing with all censorship opens the door for those which are outright offensive to segments of the population such as in racial matters while building brand name strength in customer base. This serves some purpose but as a major company there is usually the continuing quest to build and increase one’s customer base, rather than further divide it. Many submitted were never allowed to air, including ones from major names such as PETA and Bud Light. While my position supports free speech 100% there several companies have outright censored any material containing matter of a specific nature without discussion or review. While in the past artists have been asked to perform during the super bowl there has been an instance of outright censorship of vocals which were censored specifically for the super bowl performance in 2006 by the Rolling Stones.

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Research Paper Example This paper explores attitude and concentration as two main elements that constitute professionalism in the hospitality industry. Attitude is a key factor in professionalism, and auspiciously, it is controllable. It denotes a person’s opinion towards a profession, and it is from this opinion that the character of a person is confessed. Every activity a person executes in the course of his hospitality career is a reflection of his or her attitude, such as the manner in which one relates with guests, coworkers, and customers. Being in control of one’s attitude is beneficial since one can develop a healthy attitude and sincere respect for the people one serves or works with, rather than seeing them as a necessary evil. A positive attitude will make the customers to respond positively, as well. In addition, the concentration of a person on a given task is a sure way of exhibiting professionalism. Concentration refers to being adept on what to do and at what time. Intrinsically, effective concentration involves the garnering of knowledge on what it takes to get a given task done. As Longstreet maintains, â€Å"There is no question that concentration takes practice† (Longstreet, 2013, P. 43). Practice is required to ensure that the actions and the decision making of a person are in harmony with each other. Naturally, the mind has the ability of carrying out several tasks simultaneously and hence causing a person’s concentration to disperse. However, through practice, a professional gets to learn on how to control his or her attention, which leads to effective self-control, a requisite skill in professionalism. In conclusion, each person working in the hospitality industry should be committed to being a professional and hence instancing growth in the industry. Through effective management of the controllable intangibles, such as attitude and

Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors Term Paper

Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors - Term Paper Example In a vast majority of cases, child molesters execute these behaviors knowing that they are unlawful but they cannot resist their intrinsic desire to indulge in such acts. There is also a category of offenders who do not consider such acts unlawful particularly when the child enjoys this kind of behavior. Summing up, child molestation is the execution of sexual offence against any child that is below the age of consent for sex. Child molestation is a crime that does not happen quite infrequently. â€Å"According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, on any given day there are approximately 234,000 sex offenders who were convicted of rape or sexual assault and are in the custody or control of correction agencies† (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). The U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics records that as many as 4300 child molesters have been released from imprisonment in 15 states across the US in just one year, and out of these who have been released, about 3.3 per cent have been rearrested within just three years after the release for having caused another sex offense to a new child (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). This percentage excludes the freed child molesters who did commit the crime after getting released once and did not get caught or imprisoned for the second offence. From these statistics, the ineffectiveness of the current state of punishment for the offence of child molestation is quite evident. This imparts the need for a radical change in the policy of punishment for the child molesters. The current policy that provides the child molesters with an opportunity to be released from punishment after some time is totally unacceptable because harming a child is a heinous crime for which t he offender must not be provided with any opportunity of rehabilitation. A vast majority of the child offenders are habitual criminals and there is little surety, if any, that they would not

Cultural Issues in Public Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Issues in Public Schools - Essay Example Before going to discuss cultural issues in public schools and their association with anthropology, let us get a better understanding of what culture actually is. Culture represents customs and traditions, which people belonging to any specific country or society adopt. If we talk about culture with respect to the concept of culture in public schools, we can say that culture of public schools depends on the overall culture of a country. If a country is diverse ethnically and culturally, the culture of the public schools will also be diverse which will raise cultural issues in the schools along with some benefits for the students. The thesis statement of this paper is that ‘Cultural issues that occur in public schools of culturally diverse countries affect the overall culture of the public schools’. Cultural Issues in Public Schools Cultural issues in public schools refer to those issues, which occur between the students belonging to different cultures and societies. â€Å"Cultural diversity in the classroom opens the minds of students to an enriching experience† (Borkar, 2010). .In a society having the diverse culture, different kinds of cultural issues occur along with benefits for students. Some of the common examples of cultural issues in public schools include the low level of understanding between students, discrimination, and language proficiency.

Principles of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of Management - Essay Example The writer expresses in anguished tone â€Å"Some of you think that seniority means you have power, a certain right to protest ... throw it in the faces of your supervisors every time you don’t want to do something.† He notes that seniors would complain over recognition and points which the juniors earn as deserved yet they occur not to realize that their performances have run the risk of being underrated due to the capacities exhibited by the newcomers who strive harder and are self-motivated to reach the top. Basically, business managers are confronted with the trouble of dealing with seniority once this concern becomes serious as it leads to the lack of cooperation and improper communication within a group. To address this, a manager or supervisor should make it a point to monitor organizational relationships on all levels and figure how employees, junior and senior alike, collectively fare as a team and try to detect if there are members who are left behind, experiencing unjust treatments. As much as possible, submission of reports in reference to daily or weekly accomplishments must be conducted by each worker across-the-board regardless of tenure and position. It would be worthwhile to consider a new policy pertaining to transparency of all acts and accountability for one another so as to discourage any thought or intent toward selfish interest via acts of power tripping caused by the pride of

Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors Term Paper

Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors - Term Paper Example In a vast majority of cases, child molesters execute these behaviors knowing that they are unlawful but they cannot resist their intrinsic desire to indulge in such acts. There is also a category of offenders who do not consider such acts unlawful particularly when the child enjoys this kind of behavior. Summing up, child molestation is the execution of sexual offence against any child that is below the age of consent for sex. Child molestation is a crime that does not happen quite infrequently. â€Å"According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, on any given day there are approximately 234,000 sex offenders who were convicted of rape or sexual assault and are in the custody or control of correction agencies† (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). The U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics records that as many as 4300 child molesters have been released from imprisonment in 15 states across the US in just one year, and out of these who have been released, about 3.3 per cent have been rearrested within just three years after the release for having caused another sex offense to a new child (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). This percentage excludes the freed child molesters who did commit the crime after getting released once and did not get caught or imprisoned for the second offence. From these statistics, the ineffectiveness of the current state of punishment for the offence of child molestation is quite evident. This imparts the need for a radical change in the policy of punishment for the child molesters. The current policy that provides the child molesters with an opportunity to be released from punishment after some time is totally unacceptable because harming a child is a heinous crime for which t he offender must not be provided with any opportunity of rehabilitation. A vast majority of the child offenders are habitual criminals and there is little surety, if any, that they would not

Principles of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of Management - Essay Example The writer expresses in anguished tone â€Å"Some of you think that seniority means you have power, a certain right to protest ... throw it in the faces of your supervisors every time you don’t want to do something.† He notes that seniors would complain over recognition and points which the juniors earn as deserved yet they occur not to realize that their performances have run the risk of being underrated due to the capacities exhibited by the newcomers who strive harder and are self-motivated to reach the top. Basically, business managers are confronted with the trouble of dealing with seniority once this concern becomes serious as it leads to the lack of cooperation and improper communication within a group. To address this, a manager or supervisor should make it a point to monitor organizational relationships on all levels and figure how employees, junior and senior alike, collectively fare as a team and try to detect if there are members who are left behind, experiencing unjust treatments. As much as possible, submission of reports in reference to daily or weekly accomplishments must be conducted by each worker across-the-board regardless of tenure and position. It would be worthwhile to consider a new policy pertaining to transparency of all acts and accountability for one another so as to discourage any thought or intent toward selfish interest via acts of power tripping caused by the pride of

Cmt Communications Essay Example for Free

Cmt Communications Essay The success of any organization is determined by managers being able to plan, set goals, and make decisions. Decision making is the primary function of management and this task should not be taken lightly. Decisions are made to achieve goals and tie them to company actions and outcomes. According to Peter Drucker, Whatever a manager does, he does through decision-making.† When making a decision, managers must take all alternatives into consideration and although one may not have all the answers, a manager must be able to move forward, sometimes immediately, in order to be successful and effective in their decision making process. According to Trewatha Newport, Decision-making involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem. This is a continuous process that requires managers to have specific knowledge, skills and intellectual abilities. Some managers find this task challenging as seen in the case of CMT Telecommunications. In the case of CMT Telecommunications, Manager Dave has been selected to take charge temporarily while his boss is on vacation. His issue is that he has to make a decision to select and assign one of two key managers to take the lead of a new project which entails developing a new CD-ROM self-study course for new software. One manager has extensive experience on the technical side of the house and is in charge of the technical publications department. This manager is skilled in developing detailed manuals on how to use the company’s equipment and software. The other manager oversees the software training department. He is especially skilled in designing training courses that effectively communicate the technical information from the publications department’s manuals. He is known for his excellent presentation skills and for the information being customer friendly and easy to follow. This decision is difficult for Dave because he is friends with both managers but also knows that his decision will reflect his managerial competencies which in the long run can affect his opportunities for advancement. There are three models that decision making fall under: Classical, which is based on rational assumptions and managers beliefs; Administrative Model, which is based on human and environmental limitations and is known to be the most effective model; and the Political Model, which allows collaboration amongst and between managers to facilitate the decision making process when there is uncertainty (Daft, 2013). In this case, the political decision making model is evident in the uncertainty of his ability to make a quick decision. This can be due to his diverse interests in both of the manager’s abilities and past experiences. This is a non-programmed type of decision that Dave needs to make in that it is unique. This is a new project that no one has experienced in the company, let alone Dave as a new project manager having to take the lead and make a difficult decision. There are consequences will play an important role for him personally and professionally. Another aspect of the political model is that Dave realizes he has to get both managers to talk to one another and form a coalition however he fears that this may not be possible given that both managers declared openly that the other department lacked the skills needed to ensure project success. Because both managers are highly skilled and each have a powerful team of employees that can assist with the details and tasks required to ensure the success of the project, they need to be able to work together and form an alliance. By using the political decision making model a manager would engage his team to collaborate and share their diverse ideas, interests and skills, while understanding there are conflicting goals and inconsistent viewpoints. The team would work together towards strategically developing specific goals and in this case, each group could take a certain area of the project to work on then bring them together in hopes to acquire a successful cohesive project outcome. The work of Herbert A. Simon proposes that the two concepts: bounded rationality and satisficing are instruments that shape the administrative model of decision making. Satisficing is when managers choose the first alternative that satisfies the minimum criteria of the decision. Bounded rationality is the concept that managers have to be rational when making decisions based on the amount of time and ability to process all of the information needed to make the decision (Daft, 2013). In the case of David, he does have to make a quick decision mostly because the equipment that needs to be purchased for the project has to be placed immediately. Although Dave understands the differences in opinions from both managers, he has to consider his alternatives in a timely fashion for long-term benefits. He also does not come with much project management experience so his ability to make these types of decisions is limited. As Dave, my plan of action would include the following: * Follow the six steps in the Managerial Decision-Making Process * Discuss project plans with each manager, gather their ideas and perspectives * Brainstorm ideas and develop alternatives that meet both managers needs and that allows for collaboration but at the same time allow for some constructive debate * Use the analytical style of decision making first while considering all the alternatives however switch to the directive style when ready to make the decision * Use intuition and trust in my experience, background, and skills * Take a risk in making the best decision possible without being influenced by emotions or friendships built with the other managers, without thinking too much on past decisions and doubts of my decision making capabilities, have some self-efficacy, and think outside of the box to gather the best ideas and develop strategies to move the project planning phase forward. Every problem can be solved differently depending on the manager, their personality, past experience, education, upbringings, but most importantly their intuition and the risk taking abilities they bring. When making decisions, managers must consider the type of decision that needs to be made, their own managerial style when it comes to making decisions, as well as how rational one can be depending on the decision that needs to be made. One should always consider all the alternatives presented to them as well as the time needed to make a decision. As a manager, one should not be afraid to take risks however should understand the levels of risk depending on the alternatives presented. Being true to what one believes is also important and should always play a part of a manager’s decision making process. References: Kalyan City Life Blog. Decision Making Process in Management-Problem Solving. Retrieved from http://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2010/06/decision-making-process-in-management.html

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST LEGO is one of the most popular toy brands due to the companys distinctive brand image, high-quality products and creative business climate. However, the present successful performance of the company went through a period of significant transformation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced drastic net loss which was resulted by internal inefficiency and over-ambitious expansion targets. The transformation path of the company has not always been smooth and flawless as LEGO faced some substantial threats over the lengthy period of operation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced significant tremors which were resulted by profitability deficit of 1.4 billion DKK. At present LEGO has introduced a number of innovative strategies to enhance its consumer insight, reinforce its creative dynamics and produce more market-relevant products. The company has been involved in a number of operations which include the work of external professionals and enthusiasts to attract greater creativity influx to the production of new products. Although LEGO has gone through a period of highly positive transformations, the company is still facing a number of environmental threats and operational risk. The introduction of the Mindstorms NXT product line made the company penetrate in a highly competitive market where innovative and experienced brands as SONY failed. On the other hand, the company is working with a number of external parties which implies a continuous risk and pressure on the companys intellectual property. Moreover, the coordination of external professionals is hard to be sustained in the long-term and also hard for the company to fit these professionals within the corporate culture. In this context, the present report is focused on analysing the strategic capabilities which LEGO possesses, exploring the external environment and identifying business opportunities and threats. The purpose of the report is to outline some strategic issues which the company needs to avoid or exploit and thus introduce recommendations to promote LEGOs profit sustainability in the long-term. The Environment The environment in which LEGO operates can be characterised as highly dynamic. The companys products have been played by some 300 million children and adults on annual basis. LEGO manufacturers more than 1 400 000 components every hour to fulfill sales of some 100 million products worldwide every year (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). Deriving from these findings, it can be suggested that LEGO manages a highly diverse and complex environment where efficient resource allocation is of paramount importance for profit sustainability. The internal complexity of the organisation can be recognised as one of the main source for the past net profit loss as the company could not realise its resource potential, many new concepts were never released to market and the focus on continuous expansion incurred substantial costs. This is the reason why, LEGOs EBIT margins were falling in period when the company achieved high sales growth (Figure 1) (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). LEGOs Revenue and EBIT comparison Figure 1 Apart from the complex internal climate, LEGO has been also operating in a challenging external environment which can be identified from the presented PEST analysis (Figure 2). Political Environmental LEGO needs to consider international emerging markets, such as China. However, the company would need to be knowledgeable and flexible with respect to responding to the specific political characteristics of the Chinese market, such as penetrating through state-owned enterprises and government equity within the venture. Moreover, the company needs to produce products which continuously comply with health and safety regulations and, therefore LEGO is constantly exposed to risk and regulatory pressure (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). The company is operating in a business climate where the global environmental sustainability is continuously growing in importance. This is the reason why, producing plastic products as a core product line is of substantial challenge for the companys corporate citizenship and responsiveness to environmental degradation (Tracey et al., 2005). Social Technological The company has been continuously challenged by the need to keep up with new emerging social trends and lifestyles of their consumers. New toy themes have been continuously released on the market, therefore continuous research and product development would be one of the most expensive operations of the organisation (Robinson and Crawford, 2008). LEGO has penetrated a highly competitive market with its Mindstorms NXT product range. The company is facing competitors, such as the popular robotic brand of WowWee. Moreover, this market requires significant product development costs and thus is likely to challenge the companys profitability. For example, brands as SONY, which has significantly more experience than LEGO in electronic products failed to realise its robotic ambitions (Allonrobots, 2009). LEGOs PEST analysis Figure 2 Strategic Capability The strategic capabilities of LEGO are explored and analysed through the use of the resource-based view theory. The resource-based view theory describes the strategic capability of organisations are based on their internal resources. In this respect, in order for a company to have high degree of strategic capability it needs to possess resources which are valuable, rare, in-imitable and non-substitutable (Colbert, 2004). In this respect, the following table adopts the resource-based view theory to evaluate the strategic capability of LEGO (Figure 3). Resource Characteristics LEGOs Strengths LEGOs Weaknesses Valuable One of the most valuable resources of LEGO is knowledge. The company has a well-developed team of engineers and designers and is also employing external professionals to enhance the industry knowledge and creativity of the team. LEGO is producing an extensive amount of new design and prototypes and only few ever reach the market. In this respect, the company may generate some valuable know-how and intellectual property but at the end appears to be wasted and not successfully utilised. Rare The resource which can be identified as rare is the brand image of LEGO. The company have distinctive brand image and product ranges. This is proved by the case study analysis which revealed that LEGOs reduction of product components ignited dissatisfaction among customers. Although LEGO possesses some rare resources and capabilities the company is facing some significant competition from other toy segments. Moreover, LEGOs Mindstorms NXT product line is competing with WowWee which have greater experience and know-how in this particular segment of the market. In-imitable LEGO is continuously producing new concepts and product lines and therefore it is hard for competitors to imitate them. Moreover, the company has been recently paying extensive attention to community responses to their product prototypes which has been enhancing the companys continuously enhanced insight on segment needs. On the other hand, LEGOs products can be easily imitated by competitors with respect to toy themes and components. However, as already recognised the company has distinctive brand image which differentiates the brand from possible copy cats. Non-substitutable LEGO possesses non-substitutable resources such as intellectual property, designing capabilities, know-how and industrial insight. The company is competing with a great number of toy brands which provide consumers with substitutions for LEGOs products. Moreover, the highly innovative Mindstorms NXT brand has product substitutions from competitors such as WowWee. LEGOs Resource-Based View Figure 3 In order for the author to further analyse the strategic capabilities of the company a Porters Five Forces model is implemented. It will reveal how the internal strategic capabilities of the company relate to the market context (Figure 4) (Porter, 1990). Risk of entry by Competitors Power of Suppliers Competitive Rivalry Power of Buyers Threat of Substitutes Porters Five Forces Figure 4 Deriving from Porters Five Forces model it can be concluded that LEGO is facing a number of strategic challenges. For example, the power of buyers is significantly high as the company needs to tailor product lines to specifically fit consumer segments needs and preferences. Although LEGO has greater power of external suppliers, the company still needs to develop solid collaboration with external partners within the supply-chain in order to increase operational efficiency and innovation (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Afuah, 2003). In the context of new competitors penetrating the market, it can be suggested that the risk is comparatively higher than other industries. The toy industry does have any high barriers to entry as it does not require substantial investment and know-how to operate. This is the reason why, LEGO faces a number of substitution products form popular brands, such as: Playmobil; BRIO; ELC; Meccano Toys; Geomag; Hasbro; and Logiblocs (ToyShop UK, 2009). All these brands provide construction toys which use similar principles of build-to-play entertainment. However, it should be outlined that the company is facing other substitute toy products which are own-branded from popular names as Hamleys, ToysRUs and Disney (Doyoo, 2009). However, with respect to LEGOs new range of Mindstorms NXT product line the situation is different. There are very few competitors which can provide substitutes, such as WowWee (WowWee, 2009). This product line requires greater investment by companies to penetrate and is likely to increase production costs. This is the reason why. LEGO can develop and sustain advantage in the production of robotic products which are building by hardware and software. Moreover, the greatest competitor WowWee does not have such a diversified range of robotic products as LEGO but still WowWee provide robotic toys and technologies with greater functionality (WowWee, 2009). Business Opportunities and Challenges Based on the presented analysis, it can be concluded that LEGO can exploit a number of promising business opportunities. However, it should be also underlined that these opportunities hide substantial threat to the EBIT profitability of the organisation. In this context, one of the greatest business opportunities of LEGO is the companys focus on external professionals and enthusiasts in the product designing and engineering (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Lego, 2009). On the one hand this results in influx of fresh idea and creativity due to the diverse range of participants but on the other hand it can result in a number of risks, such as: intellectual rights; outflow of knowledge; inability to fit external professionals to the organisational climate, etc. Another significant business opportunity which can be recognised is LEGOs development of the Mindstorms NXT product range through the use of external specialists and by involving consumers in a virtual collaborative platform (Robertson and Crawford, 2009). On the one hand, this is an emerging innovative market which has strong growth potential as it targets both young and adult segments. However, on the other hand, penetrating this market involves high amounts of investment and operational costs which may push profit margins down. Moreover, the greatest competitor of LEGO in the Mindstorms NXT range is WowWee which can be recognised to outperform LEGOs product by functionality, whereas LEGO is more focused on robotic entertainment (WowWee, 2009). This is the reason why, it can be suggested that WowWee is more likely to attract adult consumer segments and thus generate greater margins sales as adult consumers would be more willing to pay higher price for more functional products. Another challenge for LEGO, which can be directly produced by the product diversification of the company, is the negative impact this may have on LEGOs brand identity. As identified, the company has recognisable brand image and any drastic diversification may have negative impact on consumers perceptions (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). Moreover, LEGO is managing a wide range of product lines and there is not any identified synergetic relationship between them. This is not only challenging to LEGOs ability to optimise costs and enhance efficiency but has substantial impact on what actually the LEGO brands stand for. On the other hand, the numerous opportunities for new product development which LEGO can utilise can be proposed to increase supply-chain complexity. For example, the build-it-by-yourself service which LEGO provides to consumers to construct their own Mindstorms NXT robot may result in pressure within supply-chain operations and specifically inventory management. This virtual platform needs to be integrated with a highly sensitive back-end supply-chain system to indicate any changes in inventory levels. And this is a complex process that may predispose to errors and inefficiencies (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008). Finally, LEGO has the opportunity to continuously develop complementary products to increase profitability. The present case study identified the companys inability to successfully integrate complementary merchandise with the sale of its product lines and toy themes (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). This can be proposed to be a significant drawback as other market competitors provides diversified range of merchandise and other complementary accessories to enhance consumers experience and entertainment. Recommendations Based on the analysis of the external environment and strategic capabilities of LEGO, there are four strategic recommendations which can be made with respect to the companys segmentation strategy; supply-chain efficiency; financial profitability; and brand identity. 5.1 Segmentation LEGO needs to target new segments not only through demographic characteristics but also by identification of new consumer needs. For example, the company may focus on the adult segment by developing LEGO lines, such as LEGO Hobby (e.g. selling construction sets with innovative elements to be used for hobby purposes, such as: small models building of airplanes; ships; automobiles, etc). Moreover, the company may target professional segments such as architects to which components for models can be sold. In this respect, the present Lego Club can be diversified to fit the needs of adult consumers. An interesting theme in the Lego Club may be how parents can communicate with their children through Lego games. In other words, Lego can produce games to enhance parents-children communication and sharing of experience. Moreover, this is an opportunity for Lego to penetrate other family games markets and segments, and produce Lego games to compete with Monopoly, Scrabble, Pictionary, Cards, etc. Lego can also enhance customers loyalty through providing discounts existing customers who wish to return old Lego toys and purchase new ones. First, this would be an effective recycling strategy which Lego can adopt. Second, parents would have the incentive to return old toys but still continue purchasing new ones through discounting vouchers. Third, children would have the opportunity to play with all new Lego models throguh this discounting scheme, which will constantly promote their interest in the Lego brand. 5.2 Supply-chain efficiency The company has developed a Mindstorms NXT range which is a highly innovative and promising product line. However, LEGO should consider competitors threats seriously and thus develop supply-chain partnerships with organisations which have extensive experience in building electronic products. 5.3 Financial profitability Lego needs to focus on developing its merchandise range and complementary products to both enhance the entertainment experience and use additional source of profit. 5.4 Brand identity Lego should consider how the companys brand identity is changes with the introduction of new products. The company may focus on enhancing its corporate social responsibility by introducing product ranges with environmentally friendly components. This would not only have positive impact on the brand image of the company but is likely to target new segments (e.g. environmentally conscious consumers). In this respect, the company could focus on Green Marketing by donating some small amount of every purchase to environmental projects. Another interesting strategy for promoting the brand identity of the company may be also focused on socially responsible projects, such as donating a small amount of every purchase to the construction of hospitals, homes, schools and other public and private sector buildings in developing countries. In this context, the company can promote a campaign slogan, such as: Lego A Real World Constructor.

The Spread of Soviet-Backed Communism Across Eastern Europe after 1945

The Spread of Soviet-Backed Communism Across Eastern Europe after 1945 In seeking to provide an answer to the question, â€Å"Was the spread of Soviet-backed communism inevitable across Eastern Europe after 1945?,† I would like to point to the words of a contemporary specialist. At the end of World War II, R. R. Betts, the Masaryk Professor of Central European History at London University, asserted that much of the â€Å"revolution in central and eastern Europe† is â€Å"native and due to the efforts of the peoples and their own leaders . . . [making it] â€Å"clear that even if the Soviet Union had not been so near and so powerful, revolutionary changes would have come at the end of so destructive and subversive a war as that which ended in 1945† (Betts 212, in Mazower, 255). Though Betts points simply to the war and native efforts as the essential impetus for radical solutions where many points can be made implicating pre-war issues and outside intervention (or lack thereof) in the same causal fashion, the thrust of his argument is what I would like to echo in my paper. The radical situation following World War II in Eastern Europe was untenable and called almost uniformly for a radical solution. However, that the solution was necessarily Soviet-backed communism is not fully supported by the facts. A radical solution? Yes. Authoritarianism? Quite likely. Soviet-backed communism? Very probable, but by no means inevitable. While there is much evidence and scholarship to support the deterministic viewpoint implied by the principal query, it seems a naà ¯ve view of history to suggest that what happened absolutely could not have happened any other way. To respond in kind to the simplistic discourse of ‘in... ...ore or less might not have found a marginally different path at some point along the way. An argument of inevitability is not sufficient to understand the subtleties of history. Works Cited: Betts, R. R. ed. Central and South East Europe, 1945-1948. London, 1949. Lewis, Paul. Central Europe Since 1945. London: Longman, 1994. Mazower, Mark. Dark Continent: Europe’s 20th Century. London: Penguin, 1999. Roberts, Geoffrey. â€Å"Moscow and the Marshall Plan: Politics, Ideology and the Onset of the Cold War, 1947† Europe-Asia Studies 46:8, Soviet and East European History (1994), 1371-1386. Rothschild, Joseph and Nancy M. Wingfield. Return to Diversity: A Political History of East Central Europe since World War II. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Swain, Geoffrey and Nigel Swain. Eastern Europe Since 1945. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1998.

Essay --

Now Hitler was a self-centered man when it came to power and dividing the work, he was no doubt a great leader according to me. He would order work and divide work but never did he divide his power. There are numerous attributes of incredible pioneers and Greenberg and Baron (2009) state that the first normal for extraordinary pioneer is that he has the yearning to lead and succeed in business. Buchanan (2007) battle that pioneers have the adaptability which helps them in distinguishing the movements needed in a given circumstance and afterward they can act likewise. The pioneers have inspiration enough to look for force to accomplish sought objectives. They are versatile enough to match their style with the requirements of adherents and they can additionally act appropriately according to the interest of circumstance they confront in business sector. Possibility Theories: Possibility speculations of leadership concentrate on specific variables identified with the environment that may figure out which specific style of leadership is best suited for the circumstances. No leadership style is best in all circumstances. Victory relies on various variables, including the leadership style, characteristics of the supporters and parts of the circumstances. Trademark Theories: Comparable in a couple of methodologies to "Phenomenal Man" speculations, trait theories acknowledge that people inherit certain qualities and attributes that realize a recognizable change suited to leadership. Quality speculations customarily distinguish particular character or behavioral properties bestowed by leaders. On the off chance that particular qualities are key attributes of leadership, then how might we show people who have those qualities however are ... ...ties of the Nazi Party all in all, and the political association incorporating his power. I’d like to conclude by saying that the point when analyzing Hitler's initiative, it is vital to distinguish your authority model. Do you accept that ethics and correspondence are key elements when creating a solid and compelling pioneer? In insight into the past, it is not difficult to criticize Hitler as a pioneer in light of the torment and damage he distressed on others. Imagine a scenario in which those qualities are corrupt and damaging to numerous gatherings. Hitler was a pioneer, basically because of his positional power and impact on others encompassing his vision. On the other hand, I accept there is a contrast between ethical and indecent pioneers, and when the vision is hindering to different gatherings, the initiative is not a victory. Essay -- Now Hitler was a self-centered man when it came to power and dividing the work, he was no doubt a great leader according to me. He would order work and divide work but never did he divide his power. There are numerous attributes of incredible pioneers and Greenberg and Baron (2009) state that the first normal for extraordinary pioneer is that he has the yearning to lead and succeed in business. Buchanan (2007) battle that pioneers have the adaptability which helps them in distinguishing the movements needed in a given circumstance and afterward they can act likewise. The pioneers have inspiration enough to look for force to accomplish sought objectives. They are versatile enough to match their style with the requirements of adherents and they can additionally act appropriately according to the interest of circumstance they confront in business sector. Possibility Theories: Possibility speculations of leadership concentrate on specific variables identified with the environment that may figure out which specific style of leadership is best suited for the circumstances. No leadership style is best in all circumstances. Victory relies on various variables, including the leadership style, characteristics of the supporters and parts of the circumstances. Trademark Theories: Comparable in a couple of methodologies to "Phenomenal Man" speculations, trait theories acknowledge that people inherit certain qualities and attributes that realize a recognizable change suited to leadership. Quality speculations customarily distinguish particular character or behavioral properties bestowed by leaders. On the off chance that particular qualities are key attributes of leadership, then how might we show people who have those qualities however are ... ...ties of the Nazi Party all in all, and the political association incorporating his power. I’d like to conclude by saying that the point when analyzing Hitler's initiative, it is vital to distinguish your authority model. Do you accept that ethics and correspondence are key elements when creating a solid and compelling pioneer? In insight into the past, it is not difficult to criticize Hitler as a pioneer in light of the torment and damage he distressed on others. Imagine a scenario in which those qualities are corrupt and damaging to numerous gatherings. Hitler was a pioneer, basically because of his positional power and impact on others encompassing his vision. On the other hand, I accept there is a contrast between ethical and indecent pioneers, and when the vision is hindering to different gatherings, the initiative is not a victory.