Friday, November 29, 2019

The Novel The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne Was An Objective D

The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was an objective description of the life of Hester Prynne, an adulteress. The novel does not go into specific details of the thoughts of the woman except to describe the tragic nature of her character. Tragedy faces the fact that not everything in life ends happily. Therefore, tragedy raises questions about morality; what is considered right or wrong, the meaning of human existence, and the control human beings have over their own actions. Hester is a person that has lead a very tough life for which she, herself is to blame. In examining the elements of Hubris, Magnitude, and Nemesis will answer that Hester is indeed a tragic character. Throughout the novel she faces humiliation by the other people of Boston, but never loses her sense of pride. Hester Prynne suffers enormously from the shame of her public disgrace and from the isolation of her punishment; however, she retains her self-respect and survives her punishment with dignity, grace, and ever-growing strength of character. From the moment Hester Prynne is introduced into the plot of The Scarlet Letter in chapter 2, The Marketplace, the reader realizes how prideful she is. As an adulteress, she is forced to endure ignominy by her peers and is doomed to have the letter A bound to her heart. When standing on the scaffold as punishment for her sins, she never truly falters. She holds a three-month-old infant in her arms and attempts to cover her brand with the child. However, she realizes that the baby symbolizes her sin just as much as the letter, and decides it's pointless. Hesters' pride is what keeps her from losing all that she holds dear; therefore it can b e said that her tragic flaw is her excessive pride. Throughout many years of her life, the people of her town considered Hester an outcast. Her daughter feels these repercussions, Pearl, as well, because she has no friends. They don't associate with others and some instances occurred when Puritan children would throw rocks at the two. During this time, Hester refuses to make publicly known the name of her child's father. To bear the weight of her punishment all alone made her even stronger. A point of magnitude that led Hester to realize that there is a future for Pearl and herself in Boston. As her life progressed, Hester became less of an outcast in the public eye. She was gifted at embroidery and was charitable to those less fortunate than she. (Although Hester was a talented seamstress, she did not make as much money as she could have because she was not allowed to sew wedding dresses. This is obviously because she had committed sins that were supposed to be confined to the sanctity of marriage.) Seven years after she had stood on the scaffold as a criminal, her letter was thought by the people to mean able as opposed to adulteress. Some time after that the public changed their views of her again and she was thought of as angel. Even though she wanted to rid herself of the letter, she knew she couldn't because she had to bear the consequences of her actions for the remainder of her life, or at the very least the rest of her life in the Puritan town. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, for her sins, received a scarlet letter, A which she had to wear upon her chest. This was the Puritan way of treating her as a criminal, for the crime of adultery. The Puritan treatment continued, because as Hester would walk through the streets, she would be looked down upon as if she were some sort of demon from Hell that committed a terrible crime. This would give her much mental anguish and grief. On the other hand, God's treatment of Hester for her sin was quite different than just a physical token: he gave Hester the punishment of a very unique child which she named Pearl. This punishment handed down from God was a constant mental and physical reminder to Hester of what she had done wrong, and she could not escape it. In this aspect, Pearl symbolized God's way of punishing Hester for adultery.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Corporate Elite essays

Corporate Elite essays Elitist theory holds that the majority of political power is held by a relatively small and wealthy group of people, which share similar principles and interests. Most members of this group are born into affluent families. The majority of top leaders in the United States come from this privileged group. The power elite utilizes a variety of resources to dictate public policy. These individuals tend to hold top management positions within big corporations. These corporations are used as a powerful tool to dominate the political arena. Corporations are granted immense power, which they use, to protect their own interests, as well as, shape the interests of ordinary citizens. The leadership role that business has in the economy gives executives of large corporations an unusual kind and degree of influence over governmental policy making. (Lindblom 1993:p91) The economic control of corporations plays an essential role in public policy. Depending on how they choose to play the game, large corporations dictate to economic conditions. Politicians must accommodate corporate interests to protect our sensitive economy. These accommodations can be called corporatism. Big businesses receive a privileged position by donating huge amounts of money and support to politicians and their political parties. This monetary support buys access into the system. This access, known as corporate welfare, can be achieved in the forms of favored rates on goods and commodities, higher interest bond issues, tariff protections, emergency funding, tax breaks and incentives, guaranteed investments, and weak safety standards. The rewards are endless, and they must be worth something because corporations spend a tremendous amount of money to obtain them. Corporations have existed as early as the eighteenth century. The framework of the constitution protects corporations through its interpretation of property rights. Our co...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Key System Applications for the Digital Age and E-Commerce Case Study

Key System Applications for the Digital Age and E-Commerce - Case Study Example Now the BSE decided to customize the SAP slowly and systematically by applying the best practices for wholesale distribution. Moreover, the BSE replaced the self developed software modules with SAP software for the provision of integrated services. The BSE did not face as much problems because of minimum customization strategy and by doing this; the system was put into use within specified date as well as costs were 14 percent below budget. The BSE got the advantage of standardization by providing the readily available information to the management through SAP. When BSE acquired a large company that added 19 new branches, the new users were able to run BSE’s SAP software within a day after the acquisition had been completed. The case study is about the E-Commerce models including business-to-business (BtoB) and business-to-customer (BtoC). Both models have been implemented by the Amazon, as they retailers as well as they offered many dealers to sell their products by using the Amazon’s platform. Moreover, the case study explains the value chain model that helps to determine how systems can progress and improve their functional competence to get more loyal customers and supplier relationship. The model has been employed by the Wal-Mart as well as the Amazon in their businesses. In the North America, Wal-Mart is one of the success stories of e-business. The main factors of their success can be a connection of the e-business and e-procurement and customization and standardization of internal and business processes. The Wal-Mart employed the supply chain management where the suppliers are managed according to the demands of the customers. Initially, the Amazon was an online store that mainly dealt with books and music. They long-drawn-out themselves quickly and introduced many more products in every segment. Additionally, the Amazon developed a strategy to deal not only (customers) Business to Consumer but also Business

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

American Marriage in Transition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

American Marriage in Transition - Essay Example Cherlin points out child bearing outside family, changes in household labour division, cohabitation and gay marriage as factors which redefined the structure of marriage as a social intitution (403). Other materialistic trends included â€Å"decline of agriculture labour and the corresponding increase in wage labour; the decline in child and adult mortality; rising standards of living;and in the last half of the 20th century, the movement of married women into the paid workforce†(403). These factors along with global events including depression and World War II brought in changes in the sociological understanding of the term marriage to a large extend. One of the first meaning assigned to marriage was that of a process which legitimises sexual relationship and to have children. Cherlin here provides a comparitive global picture on the understanding of marriage at this context. He notes that this trend resulted in an increase in the percieved importance of marriage among young Americans during the 1950s (403). This trend began to diminish in the 1960s. The median age of marriage in US began to be as it used to be in early 1900s (403). Cherlin also notes that during this perion living together before marriage became more common. Another notable trend during this period was that divorses increased and â€Å"same sex unions found greater acceptance†. The article further talks about the transition from companionate marriage to individualistic marriages. The three vital characterestics of these marriages were; self development; flexible and negoitibale roles within marriages and communication and openness in confronting problems(404). The article provides extensive literature support which suggests similar trends. Cherlin identifies that a complete deintitutionalisation of marriage occurred in the 20th century. Here the bonding of marriage was not based on the traditional roles as that of raising children. These

Monday, November 18, 2019

Eugenics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eugenics - Essay Example The foundation of the idea of eugenics is that any species can be manipulated through genetically selecting parents in order to achieve higher levels of attributes in each generation. While this was developed as a science, the concepts took a dark turn when applied to human genetics.Eugenics was used during World War II to support attempts at genocide by Adolph Hitler’s regime. Forced sterilization was a solution that preceded the camp deaths of those fitting into an undesirable framework in keeping the ‘Nordic’ race pure. Through ideas that defined people based on traits of birth or instances of medical problems, eugenics was a false science that allowed for the reasoning behind much of the atrocities of World War II. The foundation of the idea of eugenics is that any species can be manipulated through genetically selecting parents in order to achieve higher levels of attributes in each generation. While this was developed as a science, the concepts took a dark t urn when applied to human genetics. In the early 20th century eugenics thrived as a popular belief system to the point that over 30 states had eugenic programs of sterilization in the United States (Joseph 342). More horrific adaptations of eugenics occurred in Hitler’s Germany. In 1923 Fritz Lenz berated his fellow countrymen for not having kept up with the United States in eugenics studies and programs. Marriage was being prohibited in the United States for people who had mental challenges, as well as those who had epilepsy. Lenz was more specific than the United States in that instead of focusing on the idea of preserving the ‘white’ race, Lenz focused on the ‘Nordic’ race, defining superiority through a narrow set of characteristics (Lifton 23). Lenz clarified his position when he wrote in a paper for his professor Alfred Ploetz that â€Å"race was the criterion of value† and â€Å"the State is not there to see that the individual gets hi s rights, but to serve the race† (Lifton 24). As Nazi Germany began to evolve, the idea of purification was romanticized; the idea of â€Å"a more extensive program of compulsory sterilization than had ever previously been attempted† began a social reform that would lead to the genocide that was the greatest horror of World War II (Lifton 24). Abortion became one of the means through which control of the population of those who had ‘undesirable’ traits was established. German laws were passed in 1933 which allowed abortion and eventually forced it through German health courts who decided the fates of those who were not desired under Hitler’s regime (David, Fleischhacker, and Hohn 110). Bavarian scientists pushed the idea of sterilization and elimination of undesirable traits from the population to the point that compulsory sterilization became the standard. From that step, it was a short leap to massacre. Those who were blessed by the ‘rightâ⠂¬â„¢ traits were encouraged to marry and have children with the state providing for those families through welfare programs who had â€Å"racially valuable children† (Lifton 43). Beyond encouragement, the state engaged in kidnapping children with desirable traits, fostering their growth through programs that also helped to shape their belief systems. Heinrich Himmler developed the program called â€Å"Lebensborn† or â€Å"Spring of Life† which was intended to breed the SS from a ‘superior’ biological gene pool, through which the kidnapping was accomplished. Himmler is quoted as saying â€Å"I really intend to take German blood from wherever it is to be found in the world, to rob it and steal it wherever I can†

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Conflict And Functionalist Theories In Religion Sociology Essay

Conflict And Functionalist Theories In Religion Sociology Essay The difference between conflict and functionalist theories on religion are: *Conflict theory refers to religion as the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of the soulless condition. It is the opium of the people. Functionalism is a structural-consensus perspective that views society as a system. As its name implies this theory seeks to define the separate institutions of society in terms of how they function to maintain the social system. It should be noted that sociological research into religion does not attempt to reveal the mysteries of the supernatural, however whilst seeking to understand the role of religion within society some theorists have been drawn to rather unfaithful conclusions. Emile Durkheim, the founding father of functionalism, claimed that all societies divide the world into the sacred and the profane. He observed that even seemingly ordinary objects, for instance a wooden cross, could provoke deep emotions, though they held no intrinsic power. For Durkheim the significance of such objects was symbolic, and for Durkheim the wooden cross did not represent sacrifice and eternal salvation, as with all religious iconography it represented the collective conscience, the shared set of beliefs that bind society together. One common way to define religion is to focus on what are known as functional definitions: these are definitions which emphasize the way religion operates in human lives. When constructing a functional definition is to ask what a religion does usually psychologically or socially. Functional definitions are so common that most academic definitions of religion can be categorized as either psychological or sociological in nature. Psychological definitions focus upon the ways in which religion plays a role in the mental, emotional, and psychological lives of believers. Sometimes this is described in a positive way (for example as a means of preserving mental health in a chaotic world) and sometimes in a negative way (for example as with Freuds explanation of religion as a type of neurosis). Functionalists argue that the role of religion is to preserve the status quo rather than to promote social change. They agree that religion is a beneficial conservative force because it maintains consensus, binds people together and promotes social order. They however see it as having a positive influence, whereas the Marxist view is somewhat more negative in its outlook. (Especially when looking at social change) It is impossible to see how religion can be functioning to socialise the majority of societies members into morality, and integration in the 21st century, when only a minority of people attend church and of course when some of the attendees these days engage in anti moral and antisocial behaviour and to a large extent sizeable percentage of people especially the young teens are been exposed to some of these moral dangers. Having said this, it could be observed that functionalists tend to neglect the areas in which religion has been dysfunctional for society for example in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, religious divisions have caused disruption and conflict rather than promoted social order. Another pertinent point that can be argued is that the post modernist believes that the old sociological searches for the grand explanations of social behaviour and values are pointless. They believe there are no absolute truths, and values in society are only relative ones, this is due to the fact that society is more fragmented due to modernisation, and there are also various ideologies to choose from. Along with this added choice non-traditional beliefs and behaviours are being adopted. People now select their beliefs like they select lifestyles and leisure activities, a good example is the concept of consumerism. This shift away from the traditional has a huge impact on religion according to postmodernists. Religion no longer holds the role of promoting social solidarity and social order that the functionalists argue to be the case. Instead religion has become a personalised entity; it has become pick and mix in a sense. People are becoming more aware and open to new ideas; this could explain the growth in new religious movements. Religion has to shift according to the needs of the people in different social contexts. Theologically, from the bible for instance God recommended in the institution of marriage a unique and acceptable union between a man and a woman in the book of Genesis which has serve as a standard for a while in some part of the world but as a result of man insatiable quest for new ideas, experience and adventure we now have what we call gay marriage which many countries are now institutionalised and drafted into the constitutional right of the citizenry. Undoubtedly, religion had a prominent position in early functionalism. According to Comte, the macrofunctionalist, it prompted simple folk to serve unseen purposes that even clever scholars could barely detect. Durkheim (1912) proposed that religion sacralised social life itself and, because the perspective of society was implicit in all cognition, religion thus served as the foundation of all knowledge. The micro functionalist Malinowski (1948 [1925]) observed that religion established, fixed, and enhanced individual attitudes that were valuable to the collective existence and survival of societies-attitudes such as reverence for tradition, harmony with the environment, and courage in the struggle with difficulties and at the prospect of death. However, many of these functions that used to be the hallmark of religion could no longer uphold the central pillar of the society canon that seems to be falling apart or perhaps, eroding. The Irish society can be cited as an example of a dedicated religious state for many decades, which as a result serve as a way of modelling and tailoring people in a particular direction of social values and norms but unfortunately in todays world all of these norms and values are eroding speedily and consequently peoples way is now perverse, the act of terrorism is now a lifestyle, statistic has revealed alarming rate of people committing or about to commit suicide due to issues related to emotion stress and financial issues just to mention a few, basically these are some of the hole that religion used to fill perfectly in the heart of people. Edit- Nevertheless, it is also true that from the fundamental perspective that religion could relieve social anxiety, that it could provide a sense of security when people are faced with uncontrollable situations. Malinowski observed that when the islanders fished in the calm lagoon, no religious practice was attached, however when faced with the perils of fishing in the open ocean, religious rituals were always performed. In this way, Malinowski believed humans could exert a perceived control over a world in which they held no significant, individual, power. Apparently, this is not really the case anymore why because the greatest problem of insecurity that is most imminent all over the world now can be traced to the fragmented religion sect been propagated Islamic fundamentalist which has changed the world order and shaped how we lived our lives tremendously and consequently create a tense and uneasy atmosphere rather than the secure, hopeful and serene expectations postulated by functionalist school of thoughts. Perhaps the most extreme functionalist assessment of religion has been put forward by the American sociologist Robert Bellah. Bellah has fused Parsons argument that America derives its values from Protestantism and added that to Durkheims belief that the worship of god is the disguised worship of society creating the concept of a civil religion. Bellah believes that what unifies Americans, whichever religion they may be is an overarching civil religion; a faith in Americanism and not necessarily need not contain supernatural belief, Bellah maintains that in America it does. For instance God Bless America is a common phrase, American Presidents swear an oath before god and American currency pronounces to the world In God We Trust. However this god is not the god of any particular creed but a god of America. In this respect faith in America unites all the American peoples. CONCUSION In analyzing religion, functionalists argue that religions serve a number of functions, such as: they preserve and integrate society, create communities of believers, promote social control, provide answers to ultimate questions, provide us with rites of passage, and cultivate social change. Religions may also be dysfunctional in some respects. The conflict perspective suggests that religion is a tool used by the elite to subjugate the masses. The functionalist and conflict perspectives have a number of practical applications, such as providing a link to the understanding of an entire culture and learning much about a particular community. Not least Durkheims prediction of the cult of man. Certainly modern religious phenomena such as having a personal relationship with Jesus , religious trends such as Wicca or even the rise of the tele-evangelist are evidence that religion is becoming less social and more personal. Whether this is mere coincidence or proof of Durkheims prediction is at the very least debatable, but surely it is the human ability to question and wonder that initially gave rise to religion. Apparently, in the times past religion as the functionalist postulated as served as a unifying factor, dictator of status quo, canon of values, bind people together, promote social order and so on in many society but things are changing fast, religion has become so fragmented not only to the extent of eroding the social values that it stood for in the hands of radical fundamentalists to perpetrate terror in the name of religion but it has also facilitate uncountable exposure of people especially the young teens who are vulnerable to diverse moral dangers, the rapid cases of paedophiles across the western hemisphere is a good example. Basically, vast majority of people have lost faith and hope in what used to be a unifying force in the society, people have been wounded both emotionally and psychologically. Rather than binding people together and promoting social order, religion has left more people in a state of disillusioned. It can be aptly concluded that universal functional need can neither be served by religion nor can religion be the sole survival and sustainers of any system in a modern society as once believed by the functionalist scholars. People now have individualistic adorement as against the universal religion that used to determine the way be think, react and live in term of our value system an d one of such things is sport specifically football which has suddenly turned to some kind of god. Obviously, there is a paradign shift from the old values that used to hold any societal system together from the functionalist view to the modernistic era where technology and other things now determines value system.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

How the Atkins Diet Works :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

How the Atkins Diet Works   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Atkins has been at the center of the recent controversy over how to cure America’s obesity problem. America’s desire for a quick fix has caused the introduction of fad diets that claim to work quickly. The Atkins Diet has been deemed one of these fads because of its radical ideas and its straying from the norm of low fat diets. Dr Atkins encourages consumption of foods high in protein and fat while minimizing intake of foods that are high in simple carbohydrates including sugars and breads. But how can this diet be effective at losing body fat if the subject consumes foods that are high in fat? The Atkins diet reduces body fat quicker than normal low fat diets by reducing the amount of food that is consumed and by causing the body’s natural biological functions to burn the body fat that has already accumulated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One reason that the Atkins diet reduces body fat is due to the decreased intake of calories. This reduction in caloric intake is not due to calorie counting but to a reduction in food consumption. The first explanation for this decrease in consumption is that the strictness of the diet severely reduces, if not halts, the occurrence of â€Å"snacking†. These in between meal snacks often consist of simple carbohydrates that are prepared for your easy consumption. Since Dr. Atkins forbids the consumption of simple carbohydrates, he prevents snacking and therefore reduces the amount of calories that enter your mouth. Furthermore, the monotony in the method of the Atkins diet could be a cause of the loss of appetite that is experienced by dieters. Again the strictness of the diet only allows the dieters to eat a small category of foods. This causes the subjects to eat the same meals consistently and understandably become bored with the acceptable foods. Soon this will cause the dieter to opt not to eat rather than eat the same meal again. In addition, the foods that are acceptable according to

Monday, November 11, 2019

Defining the Purpose and the Problem When Writing Proposals Essay

INTRODUCTION When drafting a proposal for any type of changes in the workplace, it is important to define the purpose and identify the problem being addressed in the proposal. There must be a needed or desired change identified in order to begin the research and planning phases of the project. Once the desired change is identified, the request for proposal process can begin. This process is repeatable and interchangeable with all project and grant proposals. GENERAL INFORMATION Collecting project requirements is the first step in determining the processes to be used to meet those requirements. The stakeholders of the project should be identified and each group’s individual tasks and boundaries identified. At the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), efficient, accurate, and personal customer interactions are all part of the Service Department’s daily operating policies and procedures. As a major part of this operating strategy, change is often imperative to maintaining expected levels of efficiency and accuracy when servicing  insurance policies for GEICO customers. Service Agents are responsible for anywhere from 50-100 calls from policyholders per day. Developing a new system of self-service options for GEICO’s approximately 13 million policyholders nationwide help alleviate over-burdened call centers. In order to ensure that policyholders are able to complete needed transactions without a need to call a licensed agent, th e self-service system must include the same controls as the GEICO Agent’s systems. The duration of this system enhancement and development project will be no more than three months, beginning on August 1, 2014. Distribution of the system will be completed over the following two month period and will be fully on-line in all Regional Office Service Centers by January 1, 2015. Financial resources are unlimited, but will be approved at the discretion of the Approving Authority on a case by case basis. There will be a total of 22 participants in this system development project. The Regional Vice President in charge Region X as the overall Approving Authority for the project. All changes to the established project requirements will be sent via the Project Manager through her office for final approval. A Project Manager who is a current Team Leader / Supervisor of Employees is needed to oversee the project directly. This Team Leader will be chosen by the Regional Vice President. Updated monthly statistics through the month of June, 2014 will determine the best candidate for assignment to this project. In the interest of team integrity, the five Licensed Agents assigned to this Team Leader will be selected to serve as the Working Group of the project and will be pulled from regular floor duties for the duration of the project. This group will be responsible for providing performance and safety measures, system input requirements, and accuracy testing through periodic live reviews of the system. A five person Software and Systems Development Team (SSDT) of Information Technology Office Agents (ITOA) will be responsible for the creation of the  new Internet-based system. Taking inputs from the Working Group members, a system will be written and distributed to all GEICO Regional Offices upon completion of testing and final approval. In addition to the trained professionals assigned to this project, a small sampling of ten customers (Product Testers) from the Tucson area will be participating in the testing and improvement phase of the project to ensure simplicity and accuracy of use for the new system. These testers will receive no formal training on the new system. The only outside input provided will be a data entry sheet containing information for the customer to input / edit on training accounts to test the user-friendliness of the final interface before full distribution. These product testers will also be given satisfaction questionnaires throughout the duration of the testing period from October 1 – October 15. The Product Testers will work from 8AM – 5 PM, with a one-hour lunch break, Monday – Friday. The Product Testers will be paid $600 (before taxation) at the end of the two week testing period. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS The Project Manager will report bi-weekly to the Approving Authority directly with performance updates and any changes to the project Scope. Updates to project objective statuses will be included. These objectives are: Develop a user-friendly policy management system. Test the new system. Identify bugs, inefficiencies, and needed control measures to be built into the new system. Implement needed changes and control measures. Develop a training model using a closed operating system with identical functionality as the production system. Train all employees to use the new system. Put the new system into operation across the GEICO organization. Release the self-service version to policyholders through GEICO’s website at GEICO.com Market the new process to current and prospective policyholders throughout the country. RECORD KEEPING Upon completion of the project, a final report (summary of all tasks), changes, and improvements to the original scope of the project is compiled and turned in to the Approving Authority and kept on file for three years in accordance with State Insurance Regulations. All documents and records kept throughout the creation and testing process will be collected, scanned for sensitive information, and all non-essential pieces will be destroyed. Essential project â€Å"keeper† documents containing sensitive information and company procedures will be edited and stored with the final summary document for three years. EVALUATION CRITERIA Upon completion of the project, a final report (summary of all tasks), changes, and improvements to the original scope of the project is compiled and turned in to the Approving Authority and kept on file for three years in accordance with State Insurance Regulations. All documents and records kept throughout the creation and testing process will be collected, scanned for sensitive information, and all non-essential pieces will be destroyed. Essential project â€Å"keeper† documents containing sensitive information and company procedures will be edited and stored with the final summary document for three years. CONCLUSION Through effective use of the Proposal and the Project Planning Processes, change can be implemented across any size organization effectively and efficiently. Accurate identification of the purpose and possible problems when writing a Project Proposal will increase the chances of efficient and effective change.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Balancing Control in Management

In any kind of organization, management control and management styles are core representatives of the way the organization works and how the people within the organization interact. To have a positive and healthy organizational environment, a suitable and balanced management style is very important. An organization has many plans and tasks that it takes care of either on a day to day business or time specific projects. The kind of management control over these projects and the involvement of the manager along with the employees also plays a crucial part in how successful these tasks and projects are.Management in a business environment comprises a combination of the different theories of management styles and the actual implementation or the practice. it is extremely important of a task for an organization to find the right kind of business management style which would be suitable to the kind of environment and personality your organization or business has and should be given a lot o f time and a lot should be invested in it.This is important because knowing your weaknesses and working on them to make them your strong points and also highlighting the strong points of your personality can help the organization grow and enable smooth process of communication with the employees and other people of concern. (Daud, 2008) If you consider the management style that exercises a lot of control and power over the employees and where the management has a lot of emphasis on what is being done on projects, it is basically known as an autocratic style of leadership.In this style the manager wants to take care of everything by enforcing a lot of power and sometimes misusing his or her power. Here more power and trust is given in the hands of the boss or the manager rather than the employees themselves. Rather than making the employees feel a part of the decision or the process, the management tends to take care of all the important decisions and creates a very cold and unconcer ned environment for the employees to work in. The problems that arise in this kind of leadership are that there is no employee manager relationship.People are not motivated to work because they feel like they are working under a dictatorship and they have no say in what the organization does. There is no employee loyalty or sense of belonging. This kind of style does manage to get the work done but at the expense of the morale of the employees. Employees in these kinds of culture are generally dissatisfied and there is a high employee turnover which refers to the amount of employees that leave the organization. (Beam, 2008)When we talk about the management style that has an open environment and complete freedom is given to the employees to make their own decisions and to build a casual and open environment where there are no rules or there is no one to answer to, you are basically describing a democratic style of management. Here the management has very little influence over what th e employees are doing and there is no form of formal control or guidance over the employees. The employees are given maximum freedom of input in projects and plans of the organization.Although the final decision is still taken by the management in this style of control, the employees are efficiently involved in the process before these decisions are made. The problem with this kind of management is that it completely ignores one of the core aspects of management that is control. The lack of control can have serious consequences on the kind of output the employees produce. With some kind of control, the management is able to keep the employees on their toes and is able to produce the outcome on time.In this kind of democratic leadership, the environment is such that employees are happy to come and there is a sort of comfort and the employees feel like they are a part of the organization, however, the relaxed environment can be misused by the employees to the extent that their work ho lds less importance than building and maintaining relationships. (Daud, 2008) Now we realize how important it is to create a balance between these two very diverse styles of management and management control. so one of these alternatives is known as â€Å"the laissez fair management style†.This style is one approach that aims to strike a balance between the two different approaches by using the advantages and avoiding the disadvantages of both the democratic and autocratic styles of leadership. This is a more accommodating style of management, This approach gives a balanced amount of power to the employees by allowing them to give their input in the decision making process while giving the management the control over making the decisions on both the project and how the employees are performing over projects and plans.Here the employees is not shunned and is given a fair chance to participate but also is under the control of the management so that he or she is answerable for a nything that they are doing or any task that they have been assigned to do so to the upper management. This way the balanced environment of work and healthy employee and management relationship is also maintained. References Beam, J. (2008).What is Employee turnover, Retrieved on September 3, 2008 from http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-employee-turnover. htm Daud, Naz (2008), Different Management Styles, Retrieved on September 3, 2008 from http://www. articlesbase. com/management-articles/different-business-management-styles-432524. html Windmueller, J. (1996). Conflict analysis and resolution bookshelf, Retrieved on September 3, 2008 from http://www. spcomm. uiuc. edu/projects/vta/vta021. 401

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Dont Be a Hero! Take Your Sick Days!

Dont Be a Hero! Take Your Sick Days! Somewhere in between convincing our parents that we’re sick enough to miss school and landing our first professional role where it’s actually worse to miss work than to go in sick, we’ve lost sight of something important about sick days. Shane Ferro over at the Huffington Post recommends we all learn from a recent BMW CEO’s collapse onstage and change our attitude about taking days off. Full disclosure, my husband is on his third straight week of pink eye. Three weeks of discomfort and upsetting visuals and being too contagious to go in to work- but he hasn’t taken a single sick day. Instead, he’s worked from home constantly, sometimes with one eye closed, Skyping in for meetings with his web cam turned off and generally getting exactly zero rest despite years worth of accumulated sick days and a seriously gunked-up eye. How did he get like this? †¦.That’s a topic for another column. Let’s look at the public examples set by the 1% instead!Harald Krueger, BMW’s new CEO, collapsed at the Frankfurt Motor Show on stage last week due to a moment of dizziness. Chances are in a new role, at an important public event, he knew canceling wasn’t an option- despite the fact that he’d been traveling extensively and was feeling ill before it happened.A recent study  by researchers at Harvard and Stanford estimated that â€Å"more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5-8% of annual healthcare costs are associated with and may be attributable to how U.S. companies manage their work force.† The study looked at factors including long hours, job insecurity, and work/family conflict.Americans in particular think of their jobs as extensions of themselves. Even when they’re too sick to do their jobs, that high-stakes feeling is what sends them to work with colds, flus, and worse. We like to prove we’re dedicated, essential, and stoic- even though germs don’t know from bravery and just want to find a new host whose life they can ruin!Of course what people don’t realize when they’re trying to play the hero is that refusing to give your body a day to rest up- choosing instead to power through and suffer at your desk while your immune system struggles to defeat the germs that are making you (and trust me, everyone around you) miserable- actually has more long term health consequences than we knew. Stress at work can exacerbate illness or even affect your life expectancy.So if you’re lucky enough to have them, make sure you take your sick days. Get your flu shots. Stop infecting your neighbors and go lie down and drink some fluids. The work will be there when you recover.Now, can someone please print this out and go put it on my husband’s desk?Taking A Sick Day Is Not A Crime. So Why Do We Feel Weird Doing It?Read More at Huffington Post

Monday, November 4, 2019

Modern Knowledge Management Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Modern Knowledge Management Practices - Essay Example Knowledge is nowadays increasingly becoming an ultimate competitive advantage either replacing or complementing such traditional sources of success as technologies, marketing mix, and often even financial resources (Malhotra, 1998). Modern business history lists a number of instances when knowledge-centred management has helped create competitive advantage of organisations and even countries formerly limited in financial and other resources. For Microsoft, Dell, IBM (which is believed to be one of the founders of the paradigm), Compaq, British Airways, Ryan Air and other major organisations knowledge management has become the cornerstone of success. The same is true for such countries as South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong which rely on the national knowledge economy. Over the last two decades, organizations have often been described in terms of knowledge and learning with the help of such concepts as "learning organisation", "intellectual capital", "people-centred approach" or "knowledge based management". Cakar and Bititci (2001) perfectly summarise this trend in the following statement: "1980s were all about automation. In the manufacturing industry FMS, FAS, Robots, AGV'S etc. were commonplace. The 1990s have been about people, this is evident in the development of concepts throughout the 90's focusing on delegation, involvement, ownership cross functional teamwork, self managed works teams and so on The needs of modern business emphasize the role and importance of people and knowledge" (p.2). The ideas of Peter Drucker (1994), whom was the first to use term 'knowledge worker', became widely recognised in 1980s, particularly the idea that investments in human resources were increasingly becoming more cost-efficient than investments in machines. In 1986, European knowledge management pioneer Karl-Erik Sveiby described the concept of a "know-how company" (Doz, Santos & Williamson, 2001), and in 1991 the ideas of knowledge management were reconsidered by Ikujiro Nonako (1991) whom presented the idea of "knowledge-creating company". The 1996 could be considered the turning point in history of knowledge management: the influence of this paradigm became overwhelming in the developed countries (Skyrme, 2002). While earlier on knowledge used to produce goods, these days it is used to produce other knowledge and information: "what is specific to the informational mode of development is the action of knowledge upon knowledge itself as the main source of productivity" (Mishel & Bernstein, 1996: 17). In other words, the process of creation and sharing knowledge has become the key for strengthening the competitive and successful outcomes of modern organisations. Probably the main reason for such shift is the improved understanding of the importance of knowledge created and shared within organisation. At the same time, the changed patterns of managing human resources made the businesses pay more attention to tacit knowledge the employees possess. Main discussion Originally emerged in 1960s, the paradigm of HRM relied on the broad range of findings revealed by several outstanding organisational researchers. As Alan

Saturday, November 2, 2019

CHURCHILLS LEADERSHIP STYLE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CHURCHILLS LEADERSHIP STYLE - Essay Example He said that â€Å"if we fail then the world sink into an abyss† (Churchill, 1940). Technical and analytic skills: Winston Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace. He was born into a wealthy family who treated Winston to a rich lifestyle. In 1893, Churchill entered the Royal Military College as a Cadet, where he rose to the top ranking commander. He began to make political speeches at the age of 23; he talked to the primrose League. When he was 24, he wrote his first book ‘The Story of the Malak and Field Force’. Churchill was elected to the House of Commons at the age of 26, being one of the youngest members. Winston was appointed Prime Minister of England on May 10, 1940. The two books published made him a respectable author and made people believe his speeches. Influence and social skills: His speech at the House of Commons was intended to not only try to persuade elected officials, but also to speak to all people fighting against the Nazi Party. â€Å"We must fight in this war, and we must win, for if England shall lose the rest of the world would lose.† In the last part of his speech, he said, â€Å"But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science† (Churchill, 1940).   Communication skills: The speech was written in chronological order. It started with British efforts in France and the battles that were fought around the area then ends with him stating that the war now laid on the British navy and army. Winston’s speech also gives a problem and a solution to the war; he says, â€Å"Fight and never give in, for losing is not the end of the war but the end of the world† (Churchill, 1940). Throughout the speech, he claims that since Hitler was winning the war and conquering countries, Great Britain must