The Godfather Essay Example For Students

The Godfather Essay The GodfatherDirected by Francis Ford CoppolaBased on Mario Puzos novelThe Godfather was based in the late 1940s in New York City. The story is about the Corleone family, which is headed by Vito Corleone. He had four sons. The quick to act older son is Santino, also known as Sunny. The next son is Fredo and the youngest son is Mechael which was in the military at the start of the movie and later stepped up to be the head of the family business. Finally, there is the adopted son Tom who Sunny found in the streets of New York homeless. He took him in seeing how his life was so terrible and Sunnys life was so good. Vito also had a daughter, Connie who went through the pain of the family business and she was not even involved in it. We will write a custom essay on The Godfather specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The movie starts off at the wedding of Connie and her husband Carlo. Vito promises Carlo a good future, but will not ever let him be a part of the family business. After the wedding, Virgo Salatso, a herione dealer from Italy is looking for the Corleone family backing by money and protection from the law, as they have control over the local government. Vito wants no part of the heroine dealer and little does he know all of the other mob bosses are going along with Salatso. Vito had no idea his noncompliance with Salatso would start a war between the families of New York. This led to Virgos men to shoot Vito but not killing him. This outgraged Michael and this led to the revenge of him shooting a police captain under Virgo and the shooting of Mr. Salatso. After this, the family sent Michael to Sicily to hide out. While Michael was in Sicily, he fell in love and got married to a woman named Apolonia but their love was short lived because a hit was put out on Michael. Apolonia was kille d by the car bomb that was intended for Michael. Also, while Michael was in Sicily, the bosses put a hit on Sunny. The other bosses used Carlo, Connies husband to set him up. Carlo beat yup Connie and Sunny and was sent to her aid. On the way he had to ggo through a tollbooth where he was met by heavy machine gun fire and was killed. After everything died down, Michael was summoned back to America. With Sunny dead and Vito tired and rapidly aging, he needed to pass the responsibility of the family over to Michael. Michael called a meeting of the five families to announce the Corleone was going to drop all of their operations in New York and go to Las Vegas, but before the y moved to Las Vegas, Michael had to settle all debts. During the baptism of Carlo and Connies son Michael, who was the childs godfather, had the other five family heads killed. He would also kill Moe Green, who stood in the way of Michael owning a casino in Las Vegas and he also confronted Carl0o about setting up Sunny and going behind the familys back by making deals with the other mob bosses. A few weeks later the Corleone family moved to Las Vegas. Before they leave Michaels wife confronts him about the killing of Carlo and he denies it. He asks her to never ask him about the family business again.

Driving Force essays

Driving Force essays What is the driving force for a football player to push a little harder to score a touchdown? What drives a body guard to take a bullet for another living being? What pushes a person to go above and beyond the call of duty? All these people and millions around the world have a long term help with day to day life. A force that is unseen by the naked eye, unheard by the keenest of ears, this perceived agent is known as motivation. In the epic poem Beowulf, the hero Beowulf is pushed by this remarkable force a number of times. Beowulf first incounters this driving force when he prepares to fight the fiend Grendel. Fame, greed, death, and an owed debt-all played a major role for Beowulf wanting to battle Grendel. Beowulf is positioned ontop of a pedestel to be the best of the best, so if he slaughtered this "unstopable" beast he would infact be the ultimate warrior. "And end that terror, I shalle greet him with treasures, Gifts to reward his courage in coming to us." {Lines 384-385) Beowulf had pieces of gold, shiny sword, and ancient artifacts in his eyes. He knew if he defeated Grendel he in return would be rewarded with a generous prize. With his king being a "ring-giver" meaning the king would give back a portion of the treasure Beowulf won for him. Edgatho, Beowulf's father, owed a favor to Hrothgar that he had never payed off. Beowulf thought it was left upon him to pay Hrothgar off by ridding his lands of the minace that haunted his lands. Then over all the other motives there is death. If Beowulf would be killed in the battle between himself and Grendel, he in return would be granted entrance to Valhalla. On Beowulf's second brush with evil he is motivated by guilt, greed, fame, and death. Even though he acomplished the task that was set before him another lay in the wake of the aftermath. The slain fiends mother had came to avenge her sons death. If Beowulf would have just sailed back to Swe ...

Better writing for nurse managers - Emphasis

Better writing for nurse managers Better writing for nurse managers When most people think of Leonardo da Vinci, they think of him as the artist who painted The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. But da Vinci was also an inventor, an architect, a musician and an engineer. To be successful as a nurse manager, you need to adopt da Vincis Renaissance approach. Aside from your main leadership role, you also need to be a resource allocator, go-between, disturbance handler and innovator. Unfortunately, there is no definitive manual for managing these roles. And being in charge of people, policy and paperwork can sometimes be a case of trial and error. But honing your written communication skills can go a surprisingly long way to making things run more smoothly. For example, it can help you persuade people to see your point of view, clarify complex issues, or simply write instructions that people actually read and follow. Here are seven ways to turn writing into a powerful health-management tool. One Listen carefully to your team to ensure you fully understand their problems and issues. Then brainstorm your response using the headings who?, what?, where?, when?, and why? before you write it. This will help you clarify your main message so that your writing is clear and concise. Be sure to look at all your options and dont just choose the first one that comes to mind. Two If you foresee that an issue will be challenged or youll be questioned for more information, prepare a detailed explanation. Use the Four Ps technique, which stands for: position (where they are now), problem (why they cant stay there), possibilities (where they could go) and proposal (where they should go). Three Avoid playing office politics and dont mislead the reader in any way. Use jargon only if youre certain your readers will understand it. And use the active voice to make your writing more specific. For instance: we are implementing a new shift system is more effective than a new shift system will be implemented. Four Widen the reader audience when necessary, to make sure you address all problems and everyone understands the context. Email is often a good vehicle for this. But beware of copying too many people in on mass emails. And avoid heresay or writing as if youre chatting on the phone: email is a permanent medium covered by the law of libel, so you should write only what you dont mind being broadcast on the 10 oclock news. Five Enlist the help of other departmental services (such as legal and human resources) to review your writing when appropriate. Make sure you write only things you believe in, and that youre willing to be accountable for. Six Ensure facts and figures are as accurate as possible. Even it takes 24 hours to obtain figures you dont have, its worth spending the extra time to ensure you build a reputation for accuracy. (Dont let waiting for the fact hold up the writing process though: just put [To come] in the text and come back to that bit once you have the details.) Seven Finally, coach your staff to become better writers, so that your time as a manager is spent effectively. Theres a host of free online writing resources at emphbootstrap.wpengine.com to help you. If you decide to traing your staff, see our courses for individuals or our courses for groups. Alternatively, send us a message or call one of our friendly advisors on +44 (0)1273 961 810 Good writing may not always come easily at first. But with practice, it can become second nature. And once it does, it may well be the glue that holds your da Vinci set of roles together. Robert Ashton is the Chief Executive of Emphasis.

Case study on reducing customer churn fir T-Mobile Essay

Case study on reducing customer churn fir T-Mobile - Essay Example The rule was further enhanced by Sherden as 20-80-30 expressing the idea that the top 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of the companys profits, half of which is lost serving the bottom 30 percent of the unprofitable customers (Sherden, 1994). Customer retention has become harder with the propagation of internet and increased bandwidth. Provision of several options has made the switching barriers ineffective. In order to keep the customer base in the safety net it is important for the company to fill all the loops and holes to avoid customer leakages. It is always important for the Telecommunication companies to find new and innovative ways of finding about the factors, which lead to the customer defection. It is also imperative for the company to create a connection with the customers being at high risk of defection and reduce the overall churn rate. It is important to tie the above mentioned segments in the loyalty string of the company. An automated survey query can be sent to the customers through email or the survey can be directly undertaken by sending an automated call to the specific numbers of the target audiences in order to get instant response from the customers on daily basis form both the segments of Pay Monthly and Pay as You Go customers. The survey then can be reviewed by the customer care staff so that call centre representatives can purposefully undertake conversation with the customer providing negative feedback. On the next level the customer should be provided with the opportunity to again fill a brief survey form. If again the feedback is negative the customer should be asked if they would like to speak with a manager regarding their issue(s). Managers should be notified of the customer call-back requests on urgent basis. The data regarding the customer’s survey responses should also be provided to t he manager in order to undertake useful follow up with the customers. The loss of the customers can be

Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human Resource Development - Essay Example Because the soft learning of management training is not measured currently, Westway Land requires a different human resources model to determine management growth in training using a Critical Incidents Technique and alterations to how HR approaches the assessment of management learning. Because the movement from a junior-level position to a middle management position requires maintaining the specific skills and competencies necessary to fulfill a higher-influence role in business activities, Westway Land requires a template by which these competencies can be measured from identified trainee to trainee. The critical incidents technique describes a series of hypothetical management situations or other relevant encounters, asking for a specific solution from trainee members regarding how best to appropriately handle these situations. Based on the individual demands of the business, whether the middle management positions entail heavy customer interaction or simply the organisation of subordinate employee job roles, the critical incidents template can be constructed at a relatively low cost, with low staff investment in its design, to capture the essence of management job roles after training has occurred. Because the systems and processes already exist at the company which measure individual job performance and clearly outline the role responsibilities in management positions, the critical incidents techniques should be constructed with 10-15 unique circumstances, calling for an ultimate qualitative analysis of assessed manager responses. Lau and Neal (2009) offers that significant contributions to what drives employee satisfaction are job security, communication, autonomous working environments, and compensation. With this in mind, from a rather practical HR viewpoint, if the junior manager’s new role (upon training completion) will involve a heavy focus on staff interventions and project leadership roles, assessment criteria built into the new critical

Behaviorism vs. Cognitive Psychology Essay Example for Free

Behaviorism vs. Cognitive Psychology Essay Watson believed that psychology did not accomplish the goal of predicting and controlling the behavior of a person. He believed that psychology had two problems; the pursuit of consciousness as an object of study and the use of introspection as a method. Watson developed a type of psychology that he believed would address these issues, behaviorism. â€Å"Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior† this is the definition of behaviorism that John Watson expressed as his Columbia address. Behaviorism is said to limit the psychological study of behavior. Watson believes that humans had three innate emotions when they were born: fear, rage, and love. The goal would be to take one of the emotions and condition it to a stimulus in order to create a response that was not previously elicited. This was demonstrated in the â€Å"Little Albert† experiment. Watson had a baby, Little Albert, who was not fearful of white rats. During the experiment whenever Little Albert was shown a white rat Watson would pair it with a loud noise until the baby showed fear. This experiment showed that fear can be conditioned in a person. Behaviorism tended to dominate American Psychology until approximately 1954 when cognitive psychology started. â€Å"You say you want a revolution. Well, we all want to change the world.† This quote describes the change in psychology that developed cognitive psychology during an era of social change. Experimental psychologist began seeing a change when the number of unexplained human behavior increased. Psychologist started to think that in order to understand human behavior, mental processes can no longer be ignored. Cognitive psychology was created to understand these mental processes by analyzing the way sensory information is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recover, and used in the brain. It can be e xplained using a computer metaphor, which means that the ideas of conceptual models played a role in the processing, storage, and retrieval of information. Which leads to Gestalt’s psychology experience should be studied as it occurs. Experience is processed into storage in our brain and that storage is available for retrieval for later experiences. An example of this would be Gestalt’s Organizing Tendencies, organization such as grouping is learned at a young age and stored in our memory, now every time after that   experience the mind tends to organize the stimuli into groups without the person’s awareness this is happening. In conclusion, behaviorism is the prediction and control in behavior and cognitive psychology has to do with the way the brain senses, percepts, imagines, retains, recalls, problem solves, and thinks. Behaviorism and cognitive psychology both need each other to exist it is not possible for one to exist without the other. Behaviorism is human experience that is argued that experience is not directly knowable. Scientist began to see an increase in unexplained behavior and determined that mental processes must be analyzed in order to have an accurate depiction of the experiences that should be studied as they occur. Cognitive psychology may be superior to behaviorism because it takes behaviorism to the next level. Behaviorism is the human experiences and cognitive psychology added the extra factor of analyzing the mental processes. In closing, cognitive psychology would not exist without the basic theories of behaviorism and behaviorism would have faded away quickly having so many unexplained behaviors. Cognitive psychology and behaviorism need each other to exist. Work Cited Benjamin, L.T. (2007). A brief history of modern psychology. Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell.

Stephen King Essay -- essays research papers

The Master Of Malice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around† states Stephen King in his book On Writing (94). Stephen King is a world-renowned author for his works in horror fiction, fiction, cinema and television. He has published more than forty novels and written nine screenplays (Adams 1). Stephen King draws a great deal of his inspiration from his surroundings, his job and his life experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. Stephen came as a surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would never conceive. The couple had adopted a son, David, Stephen’s older brother. When Stephen was just a toddler his parents divorced. Nellie moved Stephen and David to Indiana for a short time then to Connecticut. At the age of twelve, Stephen’s small family moved back to Maine (Stephen King.com 1-2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen showed an interest in writing at a young age. When he was growing up his brother would allow Stephen to write articles for â€Å"Dave’s Rag†, his brothers independently published newspaper (Full Biography 2). Throughout his childhood he would read articles from horror comics and become inspired. He began to write short stories and sell them to his mother’s friends for a nickel (King On Writing 15). Stephen graduated from Lisbon Falls High School where he was sought after to be on the newspaper staff. Stephen sold his first professional story to Starting Mystery Stories in 1967 (Stephen King.com 1-2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen King met his wife, Tabitha, while attending the University of Maine at Orono. Tabitha and Stephen were married in January of 1971. The couple lived in a small apartment; their only source of income was Stephen’s salary as a laborer at an industrial laundry. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching sophomore English in Hampden Maine and working on short stories on the evenings and weekends. In 1973, his first novel Carrie was published. Not long after that his second novel ‘Salam’s Lot was published. With the money made from the two novels Stephen and Tabith... ...e natural talent (Adams 2-3). King believes that a strong desire to write is what fuels brilliant story telling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex and work† (King On Writing 157). Stephen King is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He is also the world’s best selling novelist (Stephen King.com 2). When Stephen is not writing he spends his time playing guitar in a rock band called â€Å"Rock Bottom Remainders† (Full Biography 5). The way King parallels his life with his writing without making it seem like every story is a biography is amazing. His stories are compelling and inspiring. â€Å"These are just interests which have grown out of my life and thoughts, out of my experiences as a boy and a man, out of my roles as a husband, a father, a writer and a lover† (King 208). Stephen King is a phenomenal author who has written many classics of the twenty-first century. He has cleverly told the world about himself and his life through his immortal words.

Developments in Management and Organizational Thinking

Strategy has been defined as â€Å"the pattern of organizational moves and managerial approaches used to attain organizational objectives and to pursue the organization's mission† (Thompson and Strickland, 1990). Current models of strategic management can be traced to the way in which strategy it was defined and applied to business (Chandler, 1962): â€Å"the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.†Chandler identified two parts of the strategic process, formulation and implementation, known as strategic management. Thus, strategy refers to the means a firm uses to attain its ends. Fundamental to every firm's mission and competitive strategy is its value strategy. Generically, a value strategy is the pattern of decisions and actions that comprise the firm's overall approach toward providing realizable net value to customers. A value strategy intrinsically involves all parts of a firm's functional and organizational strategies that give value realized by customers or need sacrifices by customers.As due to excessive competition, firms must have a value strategy that must have completely conceptualized and obviously articulated value as the basis for competing. In fact, numerous firms are more competitor-oriented than customer-oriented. Consequently, many managers are more well-known with their firm's competitive strategy than its strategy for improving customer value. Several inadvertently compromise net customer value either by producing products/services supposed to be of low quality or by requiring exceptionally high sacrifices of customers.Paradoxically, the most competitive firms are the customer- oriented, not the competitor-oriented firms. Customer-oriented firms are virtually driven by value-based strategies. Given a defined set of value expectations, a value-based strategy is that pattern of decisi ons and actions in which managers take accountability for: (1) delivering products/services that provide best net value, and (2) creating strategic suprasystems to develop that value and satisfy the obligations of the enterprise.Most basically, value-based strategies are customer oriented; business-level strategies aimed at giving best net value. Value-based strategy should not be confused with generic strategy. The basic generic strategies of low cost, differentiation, and focus (Porter, 1980) are the three most extreme examples of producer based, value-added strategies (Porter, 1985), but they are not customer value-based strategies. Each of the three is more competitor-oriented than customer-oriented. Each strategy can be pursued with no assertion of providing best net value.While low cost and differentiation are typically seen as mutually exclusive (Porter, 1985), a value-based strategy may need and achieve both. Since many customers now count time rather than dollar cost as the ir most precious asset, a high-quality strategy gives little competitive advantage unless it is paired with low cost (i. e. , low price and/or sacrifice reduction). Similarly, low-cost/price strategies can also fail if they are not complemented with quality supposed to be of sufficient value.The synergistic combination of low cost and differentiation that can come with a value-based strategy is a direct effect of managing critical systems that put in to value. As the globalizing world is shifting the nature and needs of organizations by requiring them to be more quickly responsive to developing circumstances. The corporate planners of the 1960s and 1970s were much concerned with issues such as the market and macroeconomic environment, the product portfolio, and the product life cycle. All of these underline characteristics of industry or sector and market.They leaned to underplay the role of competitors and competitive behavior in influencing outcomes (Ghoshal and Westrey 1993). cer tainly, it is still common to see plans which base output growth on forecasts of the market, or to view industries in which each individual firm extrapolates its own experience to give generally results which everyone knows are inept of realization. Having reviewed the business environment and its competitive position, the firm should go on to make its strategy rather go for old strategy.The rationalist school sees the definition of the objectives of the firm as the key constituent in strategy formulation. That view, which owes much to the continuing influence of Drucker on management thinking, is in itself comparatively uncontroversial, but the subject of substantial operational difficulty. There are two distinct historical phases in the development of thought on corporate strategy. Until the early 1980s, the primary aim of corporate strategy was the formation of a diversified business portfolio.Such a portfolio might include related diversification–motivated by synergy betw een old and new businesses and unrelated diversification supported by portfolio planning techniques. But by the early 1980s, evidence had accrued that unrelated diversification added little value and several of the conglomerates created in these earlier decades had succumbed to financial pressures. In using old strategies by formulating new ways led firms to focus on the critical importance of market share.Emphasis on competitive issues, the choice market position was seen as a central element in strategic decision-making. Quality, it was professed, had been a key ingredient in Japanese success. Over time most markets moved up the quality spectrum. With the aid of phrases such as ‘quality is free' (Crosby, 1979) ‘total quality management' became a preoccupation of the later 1980s. Many authors offered taxonomies of generic strategies–checklists from which corporations could choose the majority relevant objectives for particular markets.One early list was proposed by Ansoff (1965), who recognized market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification as alternative strategic objectives. The Boston Consulting Group's alternatives are invest, hold, harvest, divest, and Arthur D. Little offers a list of no less than twenty-four strategic options (Jackson, Hitt, DeNisi, 2003). Porter (1980) taxonomy of generic strategies proved particularly influential. Porter's (1980) ‘five forces'–of competition, entry, substitution, suppliers, and customers–offered a more comprehensive checklist of environmental factors (Porter, 1980).Moreover, In Porter's framework there are two dimensions of choice. Firms can trail either cost leadership–the same product as competitors but at lower cost–or differentiation. They can range hardly, or broadly, thus generating a range of alternatives encompassing cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Today, a debate on the content of the corporate mission is a wi despread starting-point for a discussion of strategy. Such a statement can cover objectives in both corporate and business strategy.The mission statement is planned to provide a link between the broad objectives of the firm (which may focus exclusively on profit maximization, or may state concern for other stakeholders) and its specific commercial activities. A rather diverse critique of these processes of rationalist strategy formulation–yet one still very much within the rationalist framework–is given by the shareholder value movement. As with numerous shifts in thinking about strategy, this is found more or less simultaneously in the thinking of practitioners and the writings of business school academics.American business was stunned by the emergence of a group of corporate raiders. Figures like T. Boone Pickens and the partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, with little in the way of resources of their own, but with the aid of the ‘junk bond' financing pioneered by Michael Milken, could make convincing bids for some of the largest corporations in the United States. This threat to incumbent managers led to apprehensive re-emphasis on major companies' concerns for ‘shareholder value'.Academics (Day, Georges, and Robin Wensley 1988) were led to explicate and justify it, providing both a critique of accounting earnings as a focus of corporate attention and a rationale of the public benefits of restricted focus on the interests of shareholders. The most significant practical consequence of this activity was to give further impulsion to the break-up of conglomerate firms. The grouping of discrete businesses tended, it was argued, to conceal the potential strategic value of individual mechanism to specific purchasers.That message for corporate strategy was obvious, but for business strategy shareholder value had few clear implications. Proponents stressed the need to evaluate investment and acquisitions by reference to their probable cash f lows–but this is a theme familiar from every elementary text in corporate finance–and texts on strategy in a shareholder value framework (Weinrauch, Donald 1986) do no more than juxtapose Rappaport's critique with Porter's taxonomies of competitive forces and generic strategies.The new way of this strategy spectrum is that the state of the art in rationalist strategy can entail the formulation of a statement of company objectives, often summarized in a ‘mission statement' and encompassing both corporate strategic objectives-what sort of business are we in–with business strategic objectives-expressed in terms of plans for market share, product quality, and geographical scope. It is not astounding that attention is moving from the problems of formulating strategy to issues of implementation.The idea that successful strategies are often opportunistic and adaptive, rather than calculated and planned, is a view as old as the subject of business strategy itself. The adaptive strategies of reacting to the seasonal fluctuations of demand are actually important. The operations manager should try to accommodate whatever seasonality remains as cheaply as possible. Each type of adaptive strategy will acquire costs beyond what the company could achieve if demand were smooth.Thus, it is up to the operations manager to get the strategy or mix of strategies that will diminish this extra cost. One strategy for accepting the seasonal demands is just to ignore them and to produce at a constant rate throughout the year. By maintaining a balanced labor force, the company will help to sustain good relations with organized labor and will also ease the burdens of the personnel department. At the same time, short-term production planning and supervisory loads will be reduced as compared to a continually changing schedule. These effects will show up as real cost savings.On the other hand, maintaining a constant production in the face of fluctuating demands me ans that these fluctuations should be absorbed by inventory. That is, when demands are low, inventory stock will build up. As demands increase, inventories will be used up and can even run into a stock out or back order situation. Large buildups of inventory can sprain building capacities and can cause significant extra costs. But it is clear that there are costs associated with physically storing and handling inventory, as well as the more restrained opportunity costs of holding inventory.At the same time, there are costs linked with running out of inventory. While difficult to measure, the costs linked with dissatisfied customers, extra paperwork on back orders, and the interruption of schedules for catch-up work are quite real. The opposite approach would be to try to match the fluctuating demand by changeable production. There are numerous ways a company might do this. Probably the least disruptive would be for the workers to work overtime throughout heavy demand periods.In some situations workers can be eager to earn extra money; in others they may prefer not to work any overtime. If the company is unionized, the union can have the power to help determine the amount of overtime allowable. In any case, if a company uses an overtime strategy, it will have to pay an overtime bonus, and productivity can not be as good as usual because of such factors as fatigue. Similarly, in several operations systems it may be possible to work under time (shorter work weeks or forced unpaid vacations) when demand is lower.However, most workers would oppose having to work less and receive less pay. Some might quit in order finding steadier work. Another method of varying production would be hiring and lying off workers as desired. Here again, though, there are extra costs involved. The progression of selecting and training workers is costly, and their productivity can not be as good as experienced workers for a while. Also, when a worker is laid off, there are usually benefi ts that must be paid, as well as the less tangible chilling effect on labor relations.Thus, despite the use of strategic management process and content models, numerous managers fail to maintain or develop their firm's competitive position. The new globally competitive framework requires using old strategies by formulating them accordingly. As â€Å"Knowledge-intensive firms compete differently – they fight vigorously to win the best experts and best projects, but thereafter cooperate with their rivals. † (Norman Sheehan) Jenster (1987) introduced a strategy planning and strategic control process that is firmly integrated with the firm's information system.The new way is used for developing, monitoring and assimilating critical information into effective strategic management decision support that is CSFs (critical success factors) that clearly and briefly communicate critical elements of the strategy to members of the organization. More significant, the CSFs direct the attention of key managers to focus on the vital premises of the firm's strategy. Shriberg et al. (1997) described how the BPM method can be used as a tool for strategy execution.This technique describes CSFs as the primary step towards strategic execution. These few factors should be executed with excellence to gain and protract competitive advantage. Once CSFs (or driving forces or core competencies) have been identified, the next step in BPM is to widen performance measures for the CSFs. CSFs specify to the firm what has to be done to attain goals. Performance measures determine how well the firm should perform and whether it has been successful. Lots of authors suggest that CSFs can be used in an organization's planning function.Additionally, they can be used in increasing strategic plans, implementing a plan, helping managers attain high performance, managing resources and monitoring a corporation's activities (Ferguson and Dickinson 1984). The motivating force behind world eco nomic growth has changed. Consequently, the key success factor for various firms is maximizing strategic means. Rather than price and quality, formulating strategies in new ways has become the dominant. As a strategy itself provides the most sustainable long-term competitive advantage. References: Ansoff, H. I. (1965). Corporate strategy: An analytical approach to business policy for growth and expansion. New York: McGraw-Hill. Arthur Thompson, Jr., and A. J. Strickland Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 9th Edition (1990). Chandler, 1962, Strategy and Structures: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass Crosby, Philip B (1979) Quality is Free, Mentor Books, New York Day, Georges, and Robin Wensley (1988), â€Å"Assess Advantage: A Framework for Diagnosing Competitive Superiority,† Journal of Marketing 52 (April), 1-20. Ferguson, C. R. and Dickson, R. (1982) ‘Critical success factors for directors for the eighties', Business Horizons, May-June, 14-18. Ghoshal, S. and Westrey, D. E. (eds) (1993) Organisation Theory and the Multinational Corporation, New York, St Martin's Press. Jackson, S., Hitt, M. & DeNisi, A., (eds). (2003). Managing Knowledge for Sustained Competitive Advantage: Designing Strategies for Effective H uman Resource Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Jenster, P. V. (1987) ‘Using critical success factors in planning', Long Range Planning, 20: 102-3. Porter, Michael E. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. __ (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superiority. New Y ork: Free Press. Shriberg, A., Lloyd, C., Shriberg, D. and Williamson, M. (1997) Practicing Leadership: Principles and Applications, John Wiley & Sons. Weinrauch, Donald J. (1986), â€Å"Franchising an Established Business,† Journal of Small Business Management 24 (July), 1-7.

Environmental Effects on Human Health Essay

With the vast changes in the environment, human health is at an all time risk. Man has created factors over the years that can be controlled with enormous effort on each individual. Environmental risk factors from natural occurrences are not easily controlled, yet have an astounding effect on human health. Dry conditions have created perfect environment for natural wild fires throughout much of the world causing concern for increased air pollution. Radon gas is a radiation that occurs in nature and has been around since the beginning of time; it is the second leading cause of lung cancer, but can be controlled with little effort. Mold spores in the millions grow in most areas of the world affecting people’s respiratory health, skin, and eyes yet can be prevented. Environmental health risks from natural causes are mostly preventable with diligence from everyone. Wildfires are a combination of grasses, trees and possible building materials. This leaves fine particles in the air that can travel for several miles causing health concerns in areas surrounding the fires. Air pollution caused by wildfires not only hurts your eyes but also can irritate the respiratory system causing people suffering from asthma and chronic lung disease to feel the effects. Chronic heart disease is also affected by the harmful air quality. (Center for Disease Control, 2011) Always check the local air quality index to determine if you are safe outdoors; otherwise, remain indoors with the windows and doors closed and the air conditioning running to keep contaminated outdoor air form coming indoors. Take caution to remove yourself from situations that may be unsafe or harmful to your health. Radon gas is a naturally occurring background radiation that has been around since time began. It is found predominantly in soil, but occurs everywhere. Radon gas is an odorless, tasteless, invisible gas that can seep into our homes through the ground causing serious health problems. Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer. The amount of radon in your house and the amount of time you spend there, determine the risks of getting lung cancer from the gas. Smokers face a much larger risk of getting lung cancer from radon gas than non-smokers. There is a big push by governments across the globe to reduce the risks of lung cancer from radon. There are many myths surrounding radon that the government is working to dispel. Of those myths scientists agree that radon causes thousands of preventable deaths each year from lung cancer, radon testing is easy and can be done by yourself or by a qualified testing company, all homes are affected and homes with dangerously high levels can be easily fixed by professional radon gas mitigators, and every house tests differently. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2009) Molds are fungi that grow most everywhere and effect people in all health categories. People with respiratory conditions such as asthma, allergies, and sinusitis have the greatest risks of affected. Individuals with a weakened immune system, children and elderly are at risk of being effective as well. Symptoms that may occur are nasal stuffiness, wheezing, eye irritation, and skin irritations. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010) Mold can be found anywhere but prefer places that are warm and moist. A cleaning solution of one cup bleach to one gallon of water may be used to kill existing mold. Keep areas that are prone to moisture clean and ventilated to reduce potential mold hazards. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2006) In summary, human health concerns are at an all time with the vast environmental changes that have occurred. Air quality affected by naturally occurring wildfires has a large impact on people for miles surrounding the fires. Lung cancer caused by naturally occurring radon gases is being addressed by governments across the globe in an attempt to reduce outbreaks. People everywhere are fighting the harmful effects of mold and learning ways to control the infestations. Maintaining good health in a world riddled with natural and manmade environmental concerns requires knowledge, understanding, and effort on every individual.

Research Paper Outline

Research Paper Outline Every student has to write a research paper outline from time to time, and that student has big problems with his  research paper outline, as this  research paper outline has to be on a specific topic, and has to be written according to specific instructions and requirements. A  research paper outline is what you write before you write the research paper, and that  research paper outline in particular plays a great role in your research paper. Whatever you do, in any activity in any sphere, the first stage you have to come through is planning. When you plan your research paper it always comes out more logical, algorithmic and sound than a research paper without any planning. It doesnt matter what writing skills you have or what writing experience you got during your lifetime, without planning you can make your research paper sound as from a sever year old. When sitting down do write a  research paper outline the first thing you have to do it pick the  research paper outline topic. The topic of your research paper defines the whole research paer and the route you will be following with your research paper. The best way to choose an appropriate topic for your  research paper outline is to think what would your professor be pleased to read about. You may be down to four or five topics, and afterwards you can simply choose the most interesting topic for you. Never  negate your professors point of view, as he might be searching your research paper for his own thoughts, and confirmation that you have  successfully  understood the material of his lectures. Another important  issue  in writing a  research paper outline is to be detailed as much as possible. When writing a school  research paper outline, high school  research paper outline, college  research paper outline or even a university  research paper outline you have to focus on the outline as much as possible. The research paper outline is your first step to getting a research paper done, so if you fail your research paper outline you won’t be able to write a research paper outline with excellence. Always follow the  research paper outline instructions 100%. The first thing your professor checks is the instructions, requirements and specifications that must be followed. If you do not follow the  research paper outline instructions you get a deduction in point you did not follow. So if you want an ideal  research paper outline always plan it using the requirements of the  research paper outline. If you need a custom research paper writing service feel free to contact us.

41 Words That Are Better Than Good

41 Words That Are Better Than Good 41 Words That Are Better Than Good 41 Words That Are Better Than Good By Michael The soul of writing is specificity, yet all too often, we lean on general-purpose words instead of choosing the most precise ones. Most of our daily communication probably depends on less than 1,000 words. Of course, that includes words such as you, I, is, are, of, and for, which are already the best words for the job. I admit that sometimes in conversation, I deliberately limit my vocabulary because I dont want others to look at me quizzically: Who does he think he is, anyway: one of the authors of a writing tips blog? The result is vague, even boring, conversation, using words so general, they could fit almost everything in the world. How was your trip? Fine. How do you feel? Good. Choosing other words is no improvement, if we always choose the same words. A world where everything is cool or awesome is not much more interesting than a world where everything is fine or good. So lets buck the trend. Here are 41 alternatives to good that cant be used to describe everything in the world because they each have specific meanings, or at least, different connotations. breathtaking amazing, surprising, astonishing, enough to make you gasp with pleasure, and almost enough to make you forget to breathe. choice preferred, prized, specially selected. In New Zealand, the exclamation Choice! is used similarly to Great! in the United States. dazzling amazing, splendid, brilliant, shining so bright that its hard to see it. delectable highly delicious, usually describing food, from the Latin for delight. delightful causing joy, delight or pleasure, producing positive emotion, with the same Latin root as delectable. deluxe high quality, related to luxury, from the Latin for excess. enjoyable pleasant, bringing pleasure and satisfaction bringing joy. excellent superior, best in its class, of the highest quality, making a person shout Excelsior! exceptional uncommon, rare, and better for being so. exemplary an example of high quality, a model for others. fine delicate, exquisite, almost as good as it gets. Related to the French and Latin words for finished and exact. Overused until often it merely means acceptable. exquisite exceptionally fine or rare, with the sense of extreme favorable helpful, encouraging, positive, convenient, such as getting hoped-for results. first-rate exceptionally good, in the highest class. Describing a British naval vessel with more than 100 guns. first-string the starting players on a sports team; that is, the best of them. Many other expressions begin with the word first. five-star from the hotel rating system in which a five-star hotel is among the worlds best. formidable causing awe, respect, wonder or even fear, perhaps because its so large or strong. gilt-edged high quality, from the practice of putting a thin layer of gold on the edges of a book. gratifying pleasing, satisfying, making someone content. incredible amazing, beyond belief, almost too good to be true. luxurious fine or comfortable, such as an expensive hotel room. I use it to show gratitude for a gift that is too fancy for my tastes. magnificent splendid, elegant, noble. From the Latin word for great deeds. opulent showy, extravagant, magnificent, sumptuous more than luxurious, with the sense of more than you really need pleasing giving cheer, pleasure, or enjoyment something that pleases you positive certain, good, favorable. Currently used in expressions such as positive energy or positive vibes. precious beloved, valuable, worthy, of high price. Precious writing is euphuistic: overly cute and takes itself too seriously. prime first, as in first quality. rare uncommon, scarce, and therefore valuable. The gravestone of an influential English playwright is inscribed with the (misspelled) tribute O rare Ben Johnson. satisfying sufficient, pleasing, more than adequate. select privileged, specially chosen, high-quality. shipshape well-organized, fully prepared, meticulous, tidy. Before you embark on an ocean voyage, you want your ship to be in shape. sound healthy, solid, secure, complete. If a floor is sound, you wont fall through. sterling of high, verifiable value, as in sterling silver, which is 92.5% pure silver. Originally referring to British coins, which had a star or a starling on them in the Middle Ages. striking impressive, memorable, calling to mind the striking of a coin. sumptuous costly, expensive, as in a meal with many courses of great variety. Weve got a whole article about sumptuous. top-notch belonging to the highest level, possibly from some 19th century game that used notches to keep score. subtle clever and crafty, though thats an older meaning. A subtle flavor is not overbearing, and the chef will be pleased if you tell him so. up to snuff meeting the standard, adequate, sharp. Snuff is a more expensive powdered tobacco, which was sniffed by higher-class gentlemen as a stimulant in the 19th century. valuable worthy of esteem, having high worth or value. welcome anticipated, a pleasure to see, received with gladness, as in welcome news. From the Old English for â€Å"a wished-for guest. well-made built right, properly constructed, sound. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Types of RhymeOne Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . .48 Writing Prompts for Middle School Kids

Educational Trends Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Educational Trends Education - Research Paper Example In such an immersive computing environment, where notebooks and pens are replaced with smart phones, iPods and laptops this era of pervasive education technology, is marked with revolutionary educational trends. The development and rising popularity of social networking and micro-blogging sites has upped the ante, making access to information just a click away. Such trends within the domains of primary and secondary education, has significant implications on the manner in which such education is imparted across the globe (Leu, 2001; Gilster, 1997). This paper, on â€Å"Educational tends† aims to discuss both the current as well as future trends in education, and the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) within classrooms and its likely impact in shaping, nurturing and developing the knowledge and cognitive learning abilities of students over the years. Historical Background: ICT in Classrooms The twentieth century was swept away by technological makeover, and c omputers entered the classrooms as educators realized its power and impact as an effective teaching aid (Dwyer et al., 1991). However, during this era, computers were merely used as a data management tool for tracking grades, attendance and reviewing test results. Moreover the ratio of computers per student was low. During the mid 20th century, this highly rigid approach towards computer usage changed significantly from predominantly conventional behavioral attitudes to a more constructivist approach (Anderson, Speck, 2001). Current trends: Overview The 21st century classrooms have had a drastic makeover from that compared to the 20th century classroom, in the sense that it has now become more interactive as opposed to passive learning, and includes the addition of various gadgets which are incorporated on a large scale across various schools. The technological tools in used in the past were mostly passive in nature which involved little or no interaction from the students, and were limited to just listening, watching, or at the most, taking notes. However, the tools used today include greater participation from the students via the use of interactive media where they are encouraged to make presentations and communicate and share their experiences via blogs and vlogs (Smolin, Lawless, 2003). Figure 1: Instructional technologies timeline from the year 1900 - 2004 Source: Whelan (2005) Pp.14 The use of interactive whiteboards has drastically increased and remains one of the most popular tools of teaching across American classrooms. Furthermore gadgets such as PDAs and hand-helds are also being used primarily for middle school and high-school students. Also, there are various online resources which offer interactive learning to students by way of games, puzzles and quizzes which help them in understanding key concepts in a fun entertaining and engaging way. Future trends: The conventional definitions of schools as buildings made of bricks and walls are likely to change to 'nerve centers' virtual space occupied by e-teachers and e-learners, connected by technology. The role of teachers in such a space is likely to expand from merely the providers of education to that of information and knowledge generators. Until recently, students were accustomed to access education through schools, but the