Dreaming Expository Essay

Folio Task 3 – Expository Writing 1. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. Statement of explanation: This piece of writing is in the form of an expository essay. The purpose of this expository essay is to explore and discuss what it means to accomplish great things, and how these dreams and aspirations can be anything more than just a dream. This essay agrees with the statement that ‘to accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.Saying that it is simply not enough to have dreams and goals, and it is also not enough just being a hard-working person. It takes a combination of both dreaming and aspiring to greater things, and also a person or people that are prepared to work hard and who believe in what they do, in order to eventually accomplish something ‘great’. The audience for this piece of writing is for a collection of expository essays written by students, for other students who may benefit from seeing other pieces of writing that relate to their studies. Accomplishing great things does not often stray far from being persistently hard working. To accomplish great things, it often takes far more than just luck. It takes a combination of hard work, planning, having goals and ambitions and having belief in what you are striving to accomplish. For most people in life, ‘great things’ do not come easily, and do not come without the sacrifices that sometimes have to be made. For most, great things are a result of the belief and trust that one has within themselves, and the time, effort and planning that needs to be inaugurated for great things to be accomplished. Great feats will never be accomplished if there are no dreams or ambitions in the first place. It is true in saying that in order for great things to be accomplished, a lot of hard work and planning needs to be involved, but these great dreams and ambitions will never come true if they never existed in the first place. In order for something to be ‘great’ and for it to seem satisfactorily accomplished, it needs to have started off as a simple pipedream or aspiration, so it has room to grow and develop fully into something great. There are no shortages of examples of dreams and aspirations in David Malouf’s Dream Stuff. For example in one of the short stories, Closer, the youngest of a very strict and religious family, Amy, dreams that one day her family will re-unite and her Uncle Charles will be accepted and loved once again by his family, forgiven of his sexuality. It is never known if Uncle Charles will be re-united with his family, but it is certain that for Amy, dreaming about this happening makes it all seem more plausible and that it might one day actually come true. If Amy did not have this dream, this desire to see her Uncle walk back on to her side of the fence – both in the literal and metaphorical sense – then Amy would have lost hope and would not continue being the ambitious and optimistic girl that she is. Great things will never be accomplished or earned if hard work and planning is not somehow involved. As much as there needs to be aspirations and goals for dreams to start, they will very rarely come true unless actions are implemented and planning is used. Hard work and planning are just as, if not more important than the initial spark that will hopefully turn out to one day be ‘great’. If a person truly wished to accomplish something great, then not only their heart, but also their mind must be entirely focussed on what they hope to achieve. They must know and understand what they want to accomplish, and then plan, work hard for it, invest time in it, and take action upon it. This is the only way that a person can completely earn and feel wholly satisfied with what they desire to accomplish. For example, in David Malouf’s Blacksoil Country, another short story in Dream Stuff? the newly colonised family are an unsavoury and a somewhat unpleasant example of how some dreams, whether they are desired by all or not, can come true. The father of the family dreams of owning his own land for agricultural and farming purposes, and he takes his inquisitive 12 year old son and very unwilling wife to the outbacks of Australia. But due to the lack of knowledge and poor communication, the son becomes the unfortunate victim and losing his life to the racial discrimination that was very prevalent in those days. But the father’s dream of owning is own land, and moving to Australia would not have come without hard work and it quite clearly did not come without any sacrifices. It is true to say that dreams and ambitions are very important and are a vital part of accomplishing great things. Great things cannot even be considered to be accomplished if there is no dream or goals or aspirations to begin with. But it is also true to say that these dreams and ambitions cannot transpire or emerge from anything more than a dream, if hard work and planning is not involved. These dreams will rarely become anything more than just dreams if the person is not wholeheartedly committed and has full belief in what they are doing. In conclusion, it takes a combination of both – the initial dreams and aspirations, but also hard work, commitment, planning and most importantly, belief in what you are aiming to achieve.

Learning and Student Code Essay

The Student Code of Conduct and the Student Code of Academic Integrity were both very informative. In the Student Code of Conduct, there was no information that I can say that I found very shocking. All of the rules that are listed in the Student Code of Conduct, seem to be in place to ensure that students will be able to learn and work in a safe and productive environment. In the Student Code of Academic Integrity, there was also nothing that I can say that I found necessarily surprising. In a learning environment, us as students should be expected to rely on our own academic abilities, and submit work that is our own. What did you learn about the behaviors considered important for an ethical learner or student in the University of Phoenix learning community? Each student has their own unique set of ethics, principals and rules, which help us to determine the choices that we will make in life as well as during our learning experience. I learned that the way that each of us learn and react to different situations, can be from a variety of many different things. For example, our DNA, upbringing, as well as the communities in which we grew up in play a vital role in our decision making process and the ethical choices that we decide to make. At the University of Phoenix, it is important that each member follow the ethical standards, to ensure that every student is safe and treated with respect. Why are the Student Code of Conduct and Student Code of Academic Integrity important to you and the University of Phoenix learning community? The Student Code of Conduct and the Student Code of Academic Integrity are both very Important resources to being a productive member of the University of Phoenix Learning Community. The Student Code of Conduct is designed to ensure that students are aware of what is expected of them and focuses on the behaviors that will guarantee that each student is safe and treated with respect, and able to learn in a productive environment. The student code of Academic Integrity is very important as a student and contributor to the University of Phoenix learning community. The Code of Academic Integrity teaches students the importance of relying own their own learning abilities and thoughts when completing assignments and coursework.

Essay Questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Questions - Essay Example For example, in deductive explanation, if God is good, and murder is bad, then murders are not Godly. A probabilistic explanation example is that if it rains every 3 days a week in June, it is likely that June will have only 10 rainy days. 4. The aims of science are to generate knowledge, allow critique, analysis and explanation of claims of a body of knowledge. Science also aims to encourage logical predictions and understanding of phenomena. 5. In prediction, knowledge is sought based on previous trends. Unlike explanation, prediction does not delve into systematic analysis of precedent factors that affect the process of body of knowledge. That way, it is reverse process of explanation. 6. In Verstehen tradition claims that the understanding of social sciences must be analyzed through the prism of human behavior subjectively. On the other hand, predictive understanding argues that logical conclusions can be drawn objectively without approach social study subjectively. 7. In order for knowledge in general and scientific methodology to be intersubjective, there has to be transmissibility between the two approaches used in gaining knowledge. That is to mean that either can inform the other owing to an assumption that their methodology remains irreproachable, e.g. both being self-critical and highly analytical so that their conclusions are reliable. 8. What the authors term â€Å"scientific revolution† is a paradigm that transforms developments abruptly rather than gradually, ideas that related to normal science. Such paradigm transforms the existing body of knowledge. 9. Kuhn’s descriptive view of science is that a rival paradigm that introduces transformation is the dominant one whereas Popper’s prescriptive theory suggests that all paradigms should be acceptable as equal without assigning them superiority statuses. 2. Conceptual definitions are those whose major aim is to

Self-assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Self-assessment - Essay Example It also determines individuals about their strengths and limitations in specific areas. It acts as a reflective evaluation for one, which is beneficial in recognition and making respective changes accordingly. 1a. Through the questioner of procrastinator and deliberate decision- maker, I came across with the knowledge that I have a blended style of decision making and I have emotional stability and conscientiousness. I do not rush myself especially in rational decisions. Although, I do rush in personal matters like eating, walking and reaching on time, but I take time for decisions so I can assess the pros and cons of it. Thus, with the help of rational model I can change my habit of occasional rash decision making as well. Delaying or postponing tasks on hand increases work stress and hence, one regrets on the wasted time which cannot be turned back. I found that I tend to put tasks in pending and realize about the delay as well, but none practical approach was adopted by me to change the habit of postponing. Through the score of 28, I came to realize that this habit can prevail and can become a reason of regret for me in future. Therefore, I intend to change this habit of delaying tasks and put it on the top of my new-year resolution list .However, it sometimes helps me in making clear decisions after analysing all the aspects. The score of my emotional intelligence discovered that I might perform better in jobs of sale and management, where targets are achieved through interpersonal skills and working in team describes one’s ability to manage work and differences effectively. Though, EI is genetically coded, but flexibility to accept differences can make one more comfortable with others either at work or in personal life. 1b. The reward determining grid indicated that I am motivated through material rewards and would prefer to work in non challenging environments. It

Social Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Issues - Assignment Example Introduction One of the key arguments of the civil rights together with Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) movements have for long advocated is the fact that the state has no rights in determining or getting itself involved in what happens between two consenting adults in the privacy of their bedroom (Querbes, 2004). In these two cases, first in Georgia and then in Texas, police officers came into the citizen’s home and found him and his partner engaging in the act of consensual sodomy, which was outlawed in these states. In the first case, even after the Georgia Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled in favor of the respondent, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ruled that sodomy was not a fundamental right. In the second case, the Supreme Court basically ruled that they had no right to interfere with what happened in the confines of the bedrooms of consenting adults (Querbes, 2004). 1 There were numerous societal factors that led the US Supreme Court to abandon the rule of stare decisis. The stare decisis is a principle that basically holds that judges usually allow previously made decisions to stand. In the case of Lawrence v. Texas the Supreme Court saw need to completely rule in the opposite of the judgment in Bowers v. Hardwick due mainly to the changes in attitudes, perceptions and views on homosexuality in the country (Harms, 2011). In 1986 when the initial Bowers v. Hardwick decision was made the country had just come out of the rather â€Å"freewheeling† permissive society of the 1960s and 1970s and a decidedly conservative candor was more the norm (Hanon, 1999). It was therefore no wonder that more than half the states still had rules in place that outlawed sodomy which was viewed as one of the practices that many felt made homosexuality abhorrent. The American society then was much much stronger in intolerance with the homosexual lifestyle (Harms, 2011). For the court also by the time the second (Lawrence v. Texas) decision was taken there had been quite a change in the Supreme Court with nearly half (four out of nine) judges having either retired or died and been replaced, giving the Supreme Court a totally new outlook which made it easier for them to make such a radical change in decision. The majority in the Bowers v. The Hardwick decision was only 5-4 and one of the judges in the majority later changed his opinion and said he would have voted differently had he thought the matter was as important as it turned out to be (Harms, 2011). Historically mainstream United States Culture has always condemned homosexuality and any other type of â€Å"deviant† sexual practices hence the enactment of anti-sodomy laws in many US states up to the eighties. Gay men and women were seen and depicted as degenerates and sexual criminals and they, their practices, views and lifestyles by the medical profession, government and the mass media. In the early 1980s, the Bowers v. Hardwick was therefore not an unpopular or an unusual decision at the time that it was made. 2 At the time of the Bowers v. A Hardwick case in 1986, the American public’s attitude toward homosexuality was very conservative. In fact as late as 1988, only

America's intervention in Syria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

America's intervention in Syria - Essay Example America has previously intervened in other crisis like this such as in Egypt and Iraq though Syria’s case has been complicated by failure of China and Russia to adopt a resolution by the United Nation’s Security Council. This paper therefore recommends against military intervention but a diplomatic and politically negotiated solution for the benefit of both Syrians and America. Introduction The uprising in Tunisia ignited the turning point in the leadership of many Arab countries. In what begun within the social media, it is now clear that the uprising in Tunisia was a significant event in the Arab spring. It took only one year since this uprising begun in Tunisia and now Syrians are fighting to overthrow the Damascus regime led by their authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad. Despite the many deaths that have occurred in other countries such as Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt due to the same fight against dictatorship, innocent Syrians continue to die. It is also important to note that Syrians who are persistently seeking to overthrow the government and Bashar regime has constantly faced severely and violent crackdown from him. The increasing violent attack on Syrians by Bashar regime has not only led to the death of many Syrians, but has presented a serious humanitarian crisis in the nation. . As stated by (), the number of Syrians who have died in the violence stand at seven thousand since the beginning of the violence in March this year. Moreover, the matter has been complicated further by the rejection by China and Russia to adopt a resolution on the matter by the United Nation’s Security Council. Although the certain interventions have been successful in the past like in Libya where dictator Gadhafi was brought down, intervention in Syria is tricky and the feasibility of United States intervention is in question. Background of the Study and History Syria is an Arab nation found along the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea within the Middl e East. This nation is very diverse in terms of both ethnicity and religious even though many citizens of the nation are Sunni Arab Muslims. Civilization has taken place in different nations since many years and centuries, however, Syria can be rated as very young in terms of civilization. Although its boarders were drawn over a hundred years ago by the European colony, it has not adopted the modern democracy with regards to national governance. Currently, the nation is in the center of a serious humanitarian crisis resulting from violence between government forces and National Coalition of Revolution and other militia groups (Hasan, 2012). The conflict in Syria begun when the peaceful protesters mainly inspired by revolution in both Tunisia and Egypt begun challenging the dictatorial regime led by Assad in late March 2011 (Unham, 2013). The response from the government was not only severe, but exhibited the highest level of atrocity never witnesses in the country. The government be gun raping, kidnapping, killing and torturing activists as well as their family members. This never deterred many protesters but only served to energize their operations. The government then directed and increased atrocities to small children and women mutilating their bodies and dumping by the roadsides (Unham, 2013). When military begun shooting direct on the protesters, the civilian responded by shooting back thus the fighting escalated from a mere protest into civil war. The year 2012 marked the midst of highest atrocities ever

Argumentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Argumentation - Essay Example While many experts decry the negative effects of global warming, it is in fact turning out that global warming is a good phenomenon going by its numerous positive benefits. Scientists note that the earth’s temperature is rising undoubtedly as a result of the greenhouse effect. The atmosphere is saturated with carbon dioxide that traps heat leading to a steady increase in the earth’s temperature and consequently, changes in climate. This carbon dioxide does not come from outer space but from burnt fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal. The other factor contributing to global warming and climate change is the rate at which forests are lost, especially within the tropics as a result of deforestation. Scientists are overwhelmingly in agreement that global warming is a reality and that human activities are its main causes. (Union of Concerned Scientist par 6-7). According to scientists, each year, for the past 37 years, has been warmer than the average temperature of all the years in the 20th century. In the United States, the 12 warmest years have occurred since 1998 with 2012 standing out as the hottest years. Since the late 1800s there has been an increase of more than one degree Fahrenheit on the average surface temperature of the earth. The past three decades have experienced the lion’s share of this increase (Union of Concerned Scientist par 4-6). The current decade has been the warmest since 1880. Scientists note that the earth could experience a 7.2 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature in the 21 century if nothing is done to curb global warming. This would be the case if emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which are the main culprits, not reduced. Scientists are worried that a number of negative consequences in relation to global warming are quite evident (Natural Resource Defence Council par1). For one, weather

Business Ehtics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Business Ehtics - Essay Example Ethical standards govern the existence of human life and encompass the realm of business entities. The seven habits of strong ethical leaders are presented by Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell is applicable in personal scenarios as well as in business organizations. Business problems are solved by utilizing collaborative and participative approaches to decision making with ingrained habits of strong ethical leaders. From among the seven habits, five are hereby proffered. Ethical leaders possess strong personal character. Leaders are concerned with the creation of an environment for performance. They integrate tasks, structure, technology, resources, and people into a productive configuration. They achieve goals through the efforts of other people. They have to influence the behavior of other people in order to get things done. They have the passion to do right. Ethical leaders value honesty and integrity. Honest and integrity means being straightforward and firm in adherence to an ethical code of conduct. Honesty is specifically critical in terms of conforming to truthfulness in financial matters and in doing one’s responsibilities, as expected in the organization. Ethical leaders have the integrity to adhere to the policy of financial accuracy in disclosing the truth in financial reporting. Both values must be deeply ingrained in one’s personality to form part of the individual’s philosophy in life. Being proctive takes vision to look forward. Ethical leaders take charge and are accountable for one’s own destiny as well as those of his followers. Leaders who are proactive make strategic decisions based on creative plans for the future and being governed by a standard set of ethical codes. Ethical leaders do not hide anything and are transparent in their actions. They are also actively involved in decision making process. Equipped with values of honesty and integrity,

Police Corruption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Police Corruption - Essay Example This can be attributed to the fact that the word ‘corruption’ is not actually neutral. This implies that anything said to be corrupt is just bad and cannot be tolerated. As a result people tend to pay les attention to what is preferred as corrupt action. Hence police corruption has been viewed as a type of subculture. One form of police corruption is the petitioning for and receiving bribes in return for not reporting a crime or any illegal activity as suggested by Cole and Smith (2007. Other form may include a police officer breaking the police code of conduct so as to prevent conviction of a suspect, for instance via the use of untrustworthy evidence. In most major cities like in the cities of the United States, there are sections of internal affairs whose work is to investigate police officers who have been suspected of corrupt actions. For instance in the United States there is the Knapp Commission which inspected issues of police corruption in the New York city in t he 1970’s. There are various sorts of police corruption acts; one is the corruption of authority where police officers are given free items by the suspects. Secondly, there is the act of opportunistic theft from the suspects and the victims of a criminal act. The other act of corruption is the kickbacks which refer to receiving payment through referring individuals to other businesses. Shakedowns are other acts of corruption which refer to receiving bribes instead of pursuing a crime. Another corrupt act is a police officer protecting illegal activity by individual and accepting payments in return from the individual involved. Fixing is another corrupt crime which involves the police officer withholding evidence on a crime or not presenting himself or herself in court during the judicial hearing for favor of the suspect. Another act of corruption is the internal payoff whereby prerogatives of the law enforcing organizations for instance holidays are sold and bought. The other sort of police cor ruption is where the police officers engage in the direct criminal activities. Last but not the least is the frame-up sort of police corruption where the police officer ads or removes information about suspects evidence in his/her favor. In American policing some forms of police corruption can be a norm as opposed to exception. However despite the form of police corruption it might be, police corruption is illegal and those who practice it should face the law. Incarceration Police corruption can be a major threat to the issue of incarceration. As a result reducing police corruption can reduce incarceration. This is due to the fact that if police officers fail to receive bribes many criminals will reduce their criminal acts hence reduced imprisonment. Reducing or ending police corruption also can reduce the period of imprisonment of some criminals according to Kenney (1999). This is due to the fact that some police officers can get corrupted by others so that they can keep criminals behind bars for a long time. In case where police can not be bribed by those who report criminal acts to imprison the suspects then incarceration is likely to reduce. For instance officials in New Orleans who work in conjunction with the FBI have been able to reduce cases of police corruption which have also reduced incarceration and homicides. Police corruption however, can reduces rate of incarceration in that those who involved in criminal acts can chose bribe the police so they can minimize their cases hence less imprisonment period. Police corruption can increase ones incarceration due to the fact they are not able to bribe in order to reduce period of impris

Business ethics in promotion of alcohol based products Essay

Business ethics in promotion of alcohol based products - Essay Example The paper tells that the age of globalisation has virtually put organizations into head on competition against each other. Firms are trying to outpace each other using a mix of different strategies and varying products to understand the needs of the consumers and deliver them accordingly. Firms are essentially trying out various strategies in order to not only attract new consumers but to also retain the existing ones. The role of marketing communication and advertising assumes prime importance in this regard with the former being a media for transmitting the message from the companies to the target customers. The advent of multiple channels including the online channels has led to greater importance and scope of this aspect in marketing of goods and services. The aspect of marketing communications has however been a subject matter of debate with regards to the aspect of ethics in advertising. It has been stated that marketers in an attempt to outpace their competitors and to generat e greater attractiveness often indulge in unethical activities. The present study would analyse the ethical aspects that are into consideration in case of marketing of alcohol based products. The aspect of ethics in case of alcohol based products assumes considerable significance as the product is perceived as a threat for the health and there are various social stigmas attached to alcohol based products. This makes the promotion of these products a matter of debate. There are many nations like India that have completely banned any form of promotions with regards to alcohol or tobacco based products using any form of communication. However protagonist state that there is nothing unethical in marketing alcohol based products as they generate revenue and the livelihoods of a large number of individuals depend on the profitability of these companies. They argue that these are one of the most highly taxed products and hence it is nothing unethical about these companies unless they viola te the aspect privacy of individuals. Business organization on their part state that they have various community development programs that can help provide them with a socially responsible image. Companies are also putting up statutory warnings on products and commercials in order to make individuals aware of the ill effects of drinking. Critiques however slam this move and state that in spite of all such efforts and tall claims the business organizations are only engaged into profit making and do not have any other motive. Given the size of this industry they state that it has a lucrative opportunity to gain billions of dollars for the industry. They state that advertisements are normally made for promoting products among the customers and given the ill effects and the nature of alcoholic beverages it is not justified to have these products being promoted so as to pull customers and make them indulge into this habit. The effect of these commercials on students and kids along with t he growing number of use of alcohol among kids has also been stated as an example to showcase the unethical aspects in the promotion of alcohol based products. The present essay will try to give a critical analysis of the aspect of ethics in promotion of alcohol based products so as to have a comprehensive analysis of the topic. Analysis and Discussion The aspect of marketing and advertising of alcoholic products has been a subject matter of debate over the years. The issue amounts significance considering the fact that alcohol is considered injurious to health and worldwide organizations like WHO have effectively stated that alcohol consumption is injurious to health. Alcohol also has other bad effects including the fact that alcohol consumption has led to major accidents. Various studies conducted in this aspect have shown that the consumption of alcohol and its after

Value Creation and Business Success Essay Example for Free

Value Creation and Business Success Essay Copyright  © 1998 Pegasus Communications, Inc. (www. pegasuscom. com). All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from Pegasus Communications, Inc. If you wish to distribute copies of this article, please contact our Permissions Department at 781-398-9700 or [emailprotected] com. The most successful organizations understand that the purpose of any business is to create value for customers, employees, and investors, and that the interests of these three groups are inextricably linked. Therefore, sustainable value cannot be created for one group unless it is created for all of them. The first focus should be on creating value for the customer, but this cannot be achieved unless the right employees are selected, developed, and rewarded, and unless investors receive consistently attractive returns. What do we mean by value creation? For the customer, it entails making products and providing services that customers find consistently useful. In todays economy, such value creation is based typically on product and process innovation and on understanding unique customer needs with ever-increasing speed and precision. But companies can innovate and deliver outstanding service only if they tap the commitment, energy, and imagination of their employees. Value must therefore be created for those employees in order to motivate and enable them. Value for employees includes being treated respectfully and being involved in decision-making. Employees also value meaningful work; excellent compensation opportunities; and continued training and development. Creating value for investors means delivering consistently high returns on their capital. This generally requires both strong revenue growth and attractive profit margins. These, in turn, can be achieved only if a company delivers sustained value for customers. If the purpose of business is value creation, it follows that the mission of any company should be defined in terms of its primary value-adding activities. Simply put, Honda should think of itself primarily as a maker and marketer of quality automobiles. McDonalds should think of itself as providing meals of consistent quality throughout the world, in a clean, friendly atmosphere, etc. While this may seem obvious, many managers and strategists behave as though the day-to-day business of a firm is irrelevant. Hence, an oil company might buy a hotel chain, while a national chain of automobile service centers is caught systematically charging customers for unnecessary repairs. What conception of business lies behind these actions? Typically it is a very narrow definition of purpose: to maximize the wealth of the shareholders, or to achieve a set of short-term financial goals. Managers are expected to address shareholder wealth, earnings growth, and return on assets, but the most successful firms understand that those measures should not be the primary targets of strategic management. Achieving attractive financial performance is the reward for having aimed at (and hit) the real target; i. e. , maximizing the value created for the primary constituents of the firm. Paradoxically, it is when an organization thinks of itself as a financial engine whose purpose is to generate attractive financial returns that the company is least likely to maximize those returns in the long run. Often, finance people end up shuffling a portfolio of assets in a self-destructive quest for growth businesses or superior returns, with no real understanding of the value-creation dynamics of the businesses they are acquiring and selling. Or, as with the automotive service chain, attempts to profit without delivering superior value end in lost business, long-term customer alienation, and corporate disgrace. Redefining an Organizations Self-Interest Why do managers so often choose not to focus on value creation and instead ake decisions that systematically decrease the long-term value of their businesses? One reason may be that their training and education lead them to define their organizations interests too narrowly. This narrow view is powerfully reinforced by financial accounting systems that were well adapted to the industrial economy, but are inadequate in the information economy. The accounting and finance conventions of the industrial age are good at valuing tangible assets, but they largely ignore the value of harder-to-quantify assets like employee satisfaction, learning, RD effectiveness, customer loyalty, etc. In the information age, those intangible assets are far more important than the bricks and mortar that traditional accounting systems were designed to measure. If management defines the organizations self-interest (and consequently its goals) too narrowly—for example, to maximize this years or this quarters reported earnings—it will view that interest as being at odds with the interests of customers and employees. Given that perspective, in the short term every dollar spent on employee training is a dollar of lost profit. Every additional dollar squeezed out of a customer, even if it comes at the cost of poor service or price gouging, improves this quarters results. This approach is based on win/lose or zero-sum thinking: The underlying assumption is that there is a fixed pie of value to be divided up among customers, employees, and investors, so the interests of the three groups must be traded off against one another (see Zero-Sum Versus Win/Win Thinking). Companies that act on this myopic conception of self-interest may stumble into a downward spiral of poor decision-making that is difficult to reverse (see When Customers Defect). For example, as reduced employee training and compensation lead to low employee morale and poor performance, and as underfunded RD allows a product line to age, customers can become dissatisfied and begin to defect. In situations where customers are locked-in owing to large investments in proprietary equipment or some other temporary monopoly effect, they may not defect immediately. Instead, they will become increasingly alienated and defect as soon as a technology shift, regulatory change, or competitive offering allows it. When customers inally do defect, profits shrink, tempting management to cut back even further on training, compensation, and RD, thus accelerating the spiral of customer dissatisfaction and defection. Expanding the Pie Alternatively, if managers define their companys interests broadly enough to include the interests of customers and employees, an equally powerful spiral of value creation can occur. Highly motivated, well-trained, properly rewarded employees deliver outstanding service, while effective RD investments lead to products that enjoy a significant value-adding advantage and generate higher margins. Satisfied, loyal customers (and new customers responding to word-of-mouth referrals) drive revenue growth and profitability for investors. Clearly, the undesirable reinforcing processes described in When Customers Defect can work in reverse. This win/win scenario is illustrated in the figure Zero-Sum Versus Win/Win Thinking. An expanding the pie approach to management requires that a company alter its thinking along several dimensions. Time horizons and perceived self-interest. The time horizon within which you evaluate a business decision dramatically influences your notion of self-interest. Considered at an instantaneous moment in time, virtually any transaction is a win/lose or zero-sum game. At the moment you spend a dollar on employee training, that dollar is in fact lost to the shareholder. Conversely, in a well-designed value-creation system, almost any transaction can become a win/win or positive-sum game, if it is managed within the context of an appropriately long time frame. For example, if a companys rate of return on the dollar invested in employee training is 20 percent (in the form of higher productivity, increased sales effectiveness, etc. ), then the shareholder hasnt lost a dollar—he has gained a stream of future cash flows that represents an attractive return on investment. One way to build an understanding of these dynamics is to identify the key capabilities, resources, and relationships that are the basic ingredients of value creation for a particular firm, and to think of those ingredients as assets that either grow or diminish over time, depending upon how they are managed. It is useful to map a companys key assets by building four Strategic Balance Sheets focused on customers, employees, processes, and investors (see Balance Sheet Dynamics). In building the balance sheets, managers must first decide which assets are the most important drivers of the companys value-creation system. For example, employee learning and job satisfaction are two assets that could be tracked on the Employee Balance Sheet. As managers identify the strategic assets that belong on the various balance sheets, they also must articulate the relationships among those assets. By tracing the dynamics through which customer, employee, and process assets accumulate, interact, and ultimately drive profitable growth, a company will be well on its way to managing the fundamentals of value creation and avoiding the pitfalls of managing by a set of narrow financial measures. Expanding the pie between a company and its employees. In a true win/win dynamic, two or more parties aim first to create more total value, then concern themselves with distributional issues (who gets what share). When the parties focus first on dividing the pie, they are diverted from the innovative strategies that could have made everyone better off. One way in which companies and employees can expand the pie is flexible work schedules. If an employee has the freedom to see to personal business (while completing all required work), the employee is better off, and the employer is likely to benefit from higher morale and the ability to attract and hold onto the best people. A key element of win/win scenarios is that they are aimed more at creating opportunity than at minimizing costs. Outback Steakhouse has become a very successful, rapidly growing business by resisting the temptation to view a dollar of additional compensation to employees as a dollar of lost income to the shareholder. Outback has made its restaurant managers partners, attracting the best, most experienced people in the industry with a compensation system that more traditionally managed chains would view as ludicrously extravagant. Outbacks general managers sign a five-year contract and invest $25,000 up front. In return, each manager receives 10 percent of her units cash flow (earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation) on top of a base salary of $45,000. In 1994, total manager compensation averaged $118,600. In addition, managers receive 4,000 shares of stock, which vest over the five-year contract period. All hourly employees participate in a stock ownership plan as well. Another Outback innovation—not opening for lunch—generates benefits for investors, employees, and customers. Because they dont compete for lunch business, restaurants can be located in less costly suburban locations instead of expensive business centers. The benefit to managers and employees is that they work only one shift per day. Outback also insists that managers work only five days per week to avoid burnout and high turnover. Finally, focusing on dinner allows the restaurants to maintain high levels of food quality. From its 1987 founding, Outback grew to 420 restaurants by the end of 1996 in a very crowded, competitive industry. Over the last five years, revenues have grown at a 55 percent annual rate, while earnings have increased 36. 5 percent per year. For the year ending September 1997, Outbacks 20. percent return on equity placed it in the top 5 percent of restaurants (restaurant industry average ROE was 10. 6 percent). The Outback story illustrates one of the key characteristics of successful win/win thinking: The companys strategy is based on a systemic view of the entire value-creation process, and it seeks to align the key elements of that process. For example, if the restaurants were in higher rent locations, they might be more tempted to open at lunch to cover that cost. If managers worked longer hours, turnover would be higher and the partnership model that motivates those managers would be unworkable. If the quality of the food dropped, the number of meals from repeat customers would decrease, putting pressure on margins and tempting the owners to cut compensation to restore profits, etc. Expanding the pie between a company and its customers. As markets become increasingly competitive and one industry after another is forced to deliver greater value in the form of lower prices, higher quality, or both, companies in those industries respond to the mounting pressure with one of two broad approaches. Many firms focus narrowly on cost-cutting measures, playing an intensified win/lose game with their suppliers (pressuring them for cost concessions) and their employees (squeezing them to work longer hours for the same compensation or to do their own jobs plus the jobs of their laid-off former colleagues). This approach can yield some short-term profit increases, but it is not sustainable. You can only squeeze so hard for so long. A smaller number of forward-thinking firms innovate their way out of this zero-sum dilemma. For example, instead of focusing on individual transactions, such as the cost of a particular product, these firms examine the entire value-creation chain associated with their products (and their customers use of those products) and devise ways to make the entire system more effective. This increase in effectiveness often creates enough new value that the buyers total costs can be significantly reduced while the suppliers margins can be maintained or even increased. One example of this kind of value-chain innovation is the Custom Sterile program of Allegiance, Inc. a leading healthcare cost management and product distribution company. Under the Custom Sterile program, all of the supplies needed for a particular surgical procedure are collected, packaged together, and sterilized in advance at an Allegiance facility. This helps hospitals to standardize and optimize their use of surgical supplies, and creates dramatic savings compared to the traditional process, in which expensive nursing labor locates the supplies from storage facilities within the hospital, collects them, and sterilizes them for each operation. The innovation is also good for Allegiance. Instead of having their margins relentlessly squeezed in a series of transaction-focused, commodity sales, the company has created a relationship-focused, high-value-added offering that justifies higher margins. This is the best kind of win/win outcome: using innovation to create a value (and margin) umbrella from which all parties can benefit. Competition and Customer Value Another fallacy that has cropped up in much of the literature on strategy is that the purpose of business is to beat the competition. There is no question that competition, like profit, is an important dimension that companies must be aware of and manage to successfully create value in the long run. For example, a company typically creates value for customers and superior returns for investors by producing goods or services that are better than their competitors at meeting a set of clearly defined needs for a specific set of customers. So competition is a key variable in determining whether a product or service provides a differentiated benefit to the customer, and one that she is willing to pay a premium for. However, competition should never divert management from the primary task of creating those benefits by understanding and anticipating target customers needs, excelling in product and process innovation, providing outstanding service, etc. Thus, we need to think of competition not as a goal, but as part of the business environment—a key element of the context in which a firm seeks to create value. What then become critical are the alternative responses to competition undertaken by different firms, some of which are more likely to succeed than others, given the nature of the business environment. In the emerging information economy, the most successful responses to competition focus on two areas: (1) innovation that drives down the cost of products and services while increasing their quality and variety, and (2) building a deeper understanding of changing customer needs within increasingly specific market segments. Responses that are rooted in a win/lose framework, such as taking share from existing competitors in a zero-sum game, gaining power over customers (for example, by locking them into a proprietary computer operating system), or seeking to become the low-cost producer without simultaneously driving for world-class quality, are extremely dangerous. Many of them pit the interest of the company against the interest of the customer—a prescription for customer alienation and long-term disaster. The most fundamental weakness of those win/lose responses to competition is that they divert management from the more important engines of value creation in the information economy: innovation, imagination, cooperation, and knowledge. Managements time, creativity, energy, and imagination are among the scarcest organizational resources. At the same time, they are by far the resources that yield the highest returns. So it is important to recognize that all of the time, energy, and imagination expended on win/lose activities entails a high (sometimes fatal) opportunity cost. Managers are more likely to stay focused on the higher return, win/win levers if they aim not to beat the competition, per se, but to create more value than the competition—in other words, if they seek to achieve a value-adding advantage. And by doing so, they are likely to be more successful than their competitors in the long run.

Earth Studies Essay Example for Free

Earth Studies Essay Sheenagh Pugh gives us a very depressing view of the future in her trilogy of poems known as the Earth Studies. She gives us these views by writing very descriptive and atmospheric poems subtly conveying her opinion on world pollution. All her poems tell stories at different times of earths extinction for example: The Craft I left in was called Esau was set just when the survivors left the now extinct earth, And Geography 1 and Do you think well ever get to see Earth, Sir were set when the survivors are in a different place, probably a planet.   In Sheenagh Pughs poems, the mood and atmosphere are very important as it helps her convey her opinion to her readers. And also it makes her poems interesting to read. The first poem that I am going to analyse is The Craft I left in was called Esau which is the first in the Earth Studies trilogy. This poem tells the story of human survivors leaving Earth because they destroyed it. The poems title refers to the parable of Esau, who swapped his inheritance for a bowel of potage. This is suggesting that humans made a bad barging as Esau did.  My first example of Sheenagh Pugh creating good atmosphere from The Craft I left in was called Esau is lines 10-11 when she says No bother, No big deal. I can t recall feeling sad I think this creates good atmosphere because it seems to be said very hollowly, conveying a large sense of falseness among the readers, it is as if the writer is saying something to try and hide emotion, which tells me that the writer really means the opposite. My second example from The Craft I left in was called Esau is in line 6-7 when she says People joked nervously; just like a plane flight. I think this creates a good atmosphere with good use of the simile just like a plane flight because it is something that the readers can relate to. Also the phrase nervously joked conveys the general mood of the survivors, who are on the flight, which is uncertainty and fear. My third example is from line 8 which says they found seats and wondered if their bags would fit I think this phrase discreetly shows atmosphere as the survivors are worrying over the most trivial things such as whether their bags fit after they just left their home planet because they misused its resources which caused it to be destroyed. I think that they are doing this to try and blank the past from their minds. The second poem is called Do you think well ever get to see Earth, Sir. It is about two people talking about visiting Earth on excursion trips. I think this is set in around 20 years after The craft I left in was called Esau as it states that the writer used to live on Earth. The poem starts with in a very sad atmosphere, the poem is very sad and pessimistic, an example of this is you wont see what it once was. This shows that the writer is still very sad because of earth being destroyed; it conveys the writers opinion and sensitivity very well. From line 11 the poem does not create much atmosphere but it does use very beautiful descriptive language to create an overall happy mood. The start of this is But if you see some beautiful thing But signals that there is going to be a change to the mood of the poem. It also starts using very uncommon words such as damascened (which means: something is decorated by inlaying or encrusting a pattern) and iridescence (which means: spectrum of luminous or shimmering colours). One of the best examples of description I have ever read in a poem is look at it as if you were made of eyes, as if you were nothing but an eye, lidless and tender. To be probed and scorched by extreme light. I think that the aforementioned description is an amazing way of personification because it is totally original, A completely different way of describing something. Also the ending is very nicely phrased to make it sound soppy and could bring tears to some peoples eyes. The third poem is called Geography one and is about a futuristic geography class where none of the children had ever seen Earth before. This is the last in the Earth Studies trilogy and is a very similar the first 2 poems because some of it is very descriptive and is very emotional. In this story the teacher is showing her class slides of a volcanic region called Surtsey, which she briefly saw while she was on Earth. This helps her remember her experiences. Also this poem carries the moral of cherish the moment.  My first example of discretion and mood is from line 6 Now here you see the terrific spray, the water heaved aside as the rock was thrown up. The first part of this describes the water as a terrific spray, which is usually seen when waves crash against something, i.e. when it hits a boat. Also the waves must have been quite big as it managed to throw up a rock. My second example is from line 22-25 The man here is a warden, guarding his little world from any interference, letting it grow as it was meant to I think this phrase shows that the writer appreciates this mans view otherwise she would not have brought him up. I also think that she envies him for having his own little world, which is his and his alone. My last example is from line 28 until the end. I saw it one day in passing; it was a few years old. Just an offshore island, a stony outline softened with lichen. Someone said thats Surtsey, and I said fancy that, but I hadnt time to look properly Conclusion I think that Sheenagh Pugh is a very effective writer, but I do not think that she is that good a poet because I usually associate poetry with Rhyming words. I personally think that she should think of becoming a proper author and that she should convert her poems into short stories. I think that she is very effective at describing things and adding her own feelings. I think that in her fist poem The craft I left in was called Esau that she was very good at creating atmosphere and tension. In the other two poems, she was great at describing images.  I agree with her that we are careless with resources and that someone will have to come up with an answer soon. I think that the second poem Do you think we will ever get to see earth, sir was my favourite poem as it had lots of description.

Effectiveness Of Employee Empowerment

Effectiveness Of Employee Empowerment Introduction: In such a competitive environment, the organizations have to continuously provide quality products, better services and need to bring innovation to stay in the business and generate profits. To conduct such activities, efficient and empowered employees are essential (Bowen and Lawer, 1992; Fulford and Enz, 1995; Bowen and Lawler, 1995). In the past, the authority was not delegated to the employees and it centered on the managers who were responsible for making all the decisions in the interest of the organizations. This had limited the creativity to show up since the employees were not able to express or share their ideas. Empowerment in the recent years has been considered as the most important factor that contributes to the success of the organization. The creative energy and potentials of employees benefits the shareholders, suppliers and customers as well (Gandz 1990; Appelbaum, HÃ ©bert, Leroux, 1999). Empowerment means delegation of decision making authority when there is a need to take action which is important for both the managers and employees. Following are the main reasons for practicing empowerment in the organization: It provides fast solutions to business problems It provides growth opportunities for employees It helps in lowering organizational cost Employees benefit from empowerment because they have more responsibility in their jobs. Employee empowerment increases the level of employee involvement and therefore creates a deeper sense of satisfaction and higher levels of motivation. The style of management is changing as the managers are now being considered as the coach, advisors or facilitators. The decision making has been shifted down to the lowest level of the organization. According to Rob and Margret brown, empowerment isnt just a matter of delegating job authority to the job-holders. It means that everyone can take action to enhance his or her work, either in personal or organizational terms. Instead of the traditional bureaucracy, with its emphasis on control, standardization and obedience, Brown-blessed empowerment can only thrive in the liberated surround of innovation, flexibility, commitment, zero defects and continuous improvement. Effectiveness of Employee Empowerment: Employee Empowerment can only be effective when management clearly defines the achievable goals and accountability standards. The management should provide employees with the resources such as time, money, training and relevant and factual information which is supported by the upper and lower management. The benefits of empowerment can be substantial for the organization but it doesnt come without costs. If this approach is not properly implemented, it can cause many problems such as bad decisions taken by the employees who are not well-trained, conflict arising between team members reducing the team innovativeness and performance of the employees (Henderson and Lee; Davenport ) and high training costs to successfully operate in the empowered environment. There are also numerous benefits that are associated with empowerment such as enhanced creativity resulting in increased performance, making cross functional teams of diverse work group for sharing and developing innovative ideas and increased customer service quality by letting them solving the customer problems on their own without waiting for the managerial approval (Shrednick et al., [26]). Hence we can assume that empowerment is a skill and can be learned. Effective management teams must have a firm grasp on the latest business techniques as well as an understanding of the importance of human potential and high self-esteem. Empowerment is a total commitment to doing business in a productive and positive manner. The famous researcher John R. Drew proposed Seven Steps to Empowerment. According to him empowerment can be achieved by creating champions, involving people in planning the change, creating team leaders, educating the workforce, changing the support system, practicing consensus decision making and involving people in strategic and tactical planning. A lot of research has been conducted on empowerment in the last decade to fully understand its impact on the performance of employees and how it effects the organization as a whole. An organization must understand its compatibility with the organization system since its effect varies from organization to organization. The approach is dependent on the organizational structure, its system, its culture, skilled workforce and the attitude of top management toward the change. Before the organizations move to the empowerment approach, they must critically analyze what empowerment basically is and how its different from the traditional approach. Empowerment encourages information sharing with front-line workers, rewards based on organizational performance, employee training, and employee involvement in management decision making (Bowen and Lawler). Most of the researches indicate that the empowerment must be nurtured and supported by the other factors which trigger its effect and produces positive results for the organization such as Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem. Theories and practices of empowerment: There has been a lack of theoretical and empirical work being done on practices of empowerment. The term empowerment being used in the business organizations is not clearly defined since it is difficult to understand what the writer is referring to when he uses the term empowerment. Broadly there are two main approaches that are widely used to understand the concept. Following Conger and Kanungo(1988) and Thomas and Velthouse (1990), spreitzer (1992) refers to these as a psychological and relational perspectives. Psychological perspective on employee empowerment: The first approach to study empowerment focuses on the concept that empowerment depends on the perception of employees. If they believe that they are empowered, then they will tend to work with more autonomy ( Spreitzer 1992). Conger and Kanungo(1988), and Thomas and Velthouse(1990) and spreitzer (1992) imply that an employee is psychologically empowered when (a) he/she finds meaning in his/her role involvement (b) feels efficacious with his/her ability and capacity to perform (c ) has a sense of determination to achieve a desired outcome with his/her role and (d) believes that he/she has control over desired outcomes meaning they have an impact on the large environment. The relational perspective of empowerment: The second approach focuses on the concept that how sharing of power is affected by the organizational structures and its cultures. It deals with the organizational structure and culture that it should be designed in such a way that creates an environment to facilitate the empowerment of its members (Bowen and Lawler 1992, Byham and Cox 1998, Jaffe and Scott 1991). Apart from these approaches, different theories on empowerment were presented by different theorists having opposite view points. Some theorists argue that there should be a relatively uniform understanding of empowerment and they were in the favor of implementing standardized programs (Rumelt 1974; Denhardt 1984; Wallace 1992; Balk, 1996). On the contrary, other theorists were of the view that empowerment is individually, contextually and variably defined (Zimmerman 1995; Quinn and Spreitzer 1997; Foster-Fishman et al. 1998). These researchers think that there exists a wide range of empowerment varying from person to person even in the same work setting, although both the viewpoints were in favor of empowerment. Each viewpoint is based on the same assumption that employees value empowerment and by exercising empowerment, they can give better outcomes, increased efficiency and performance, increased job satisfaction, and consistent ethical behavior. Objectives and significance of study: A lot of conceptual research has been done on empowerment but there is a need of studying the effect of these 5 factors and get a more generalizable result. The main purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between these variables (i.e. Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem) and empowerment of front-line employees of Mobilink Company in Islamabad. We will then further investigate the impact of empowerment on employee performance. Although these relationships have been explored in the Western environment, we will be investigating these relationships in the Asian environment to explore if the results differ in any way or the hypothesis we have created shows the positive results. Following are the main objectives of this research: To understand the core concepts of Empowerment and performance To identify the variables and investigate the relationship between these variables and employee empowerment To explore the overall impact of empowerment on the performance of Mobilink employees. Problem statement The problem statement of our research paper is to study the impact of empowerment being nurtured by the other factors such as Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem on the performance of Mobilink employees. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Sanjay Menon and Clarkson (2001) have tried to explain the psychological approach to employee empowerment in this article. It was developed based on the principal that the psychological experience underlies feelings of empowerment. This article extends existing perspectives of empowerment by integrating the empowering effect of valued goals, such as those provided by transformational leadership. In addition to the two traditional facets of perceptions of control over the work environment and the perception of self efficacy or competence, internalization of goals was also identified as a major component of psychological experience of empowerment. They have also mentioned the implications of defining empowerment as a psychological state and the need of multiple measures of empowerment. They also recognize empowerment as one of the most important strategic tool to motivate employee if the organization are concerned with growth of their employees. (Employee Empowerment: An Integrative Ps ychological Approach) John Peter, Patricia Byrnes, Do-Lim Choi, Frank Fagan and Randy Miller (2002) have discussed that the empowerment of public employees is an important mediating step in improving public organizational outcomes, yet such a relationship depends on an assumption that employees value what is offered as empowerment. The empowerment is multidimensional. Survey was carried out to know the opinion of employees regarding empowerment. Employees or Street-Level Bureaucrats were in favor of empowerment because they believe that their skills will improve, they will be able to perform job effectively, they can save a lot of time and they will be able to improve their decision making skills. Empowerment programs consider what each individual employee values. (Dimensions and Patterns in Employee Empowerment: Assessing What Matters to Street-Level Bureaucrats by John Peter, Patricia Byrnes, Do-Lim Choi, Frank Fagan and Randy Miller published in 2002) Logan and Daniel C. Ganster (2007) report the result of randomized field experiment that tested the effects of an empowerment intervention among unit managers of large trucking company in this article. The intervention has designed to increase participants beliefs in their personal control and self-efficacy with regard to key aspects of their jobs. Individuals who managed geographically dispersed profit centers were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N=38) or a no-treatment control group (N=30).the intervention significantly increased perceptions of maintenance control and impact at four months after the intervention, but only for managers who felt that their supervisors were supportive. The intervention also improved archival measures of unit performance and affected work attitudes (depending upon the level of perceived supervisory support). The data point out the key role that perceived supervisor social support plays when implementing such organizational change int erventions.(The Effects Of Empowerment On Attitudes And Performance: The Role of Social Support and Empowerment Beliefs) Butts, Mike (2004) argues in this article that most of the employees feel frustrated and completely ineffective because of lack of employee empowerment. According to the author, most of the time your manager asks you to do a certain project with full responsibility and when the time comes to implement your strategic plans and action plan, your manager doesnt support you and your higher-ups dont give you authority to bring some positive changes or to make some effective decisions. At the end, when the project fails, they ask you that why your performance has not improved. So in simple words, you cannot give someone the responsibility for a job without giving them the means and authority to bring about needed changes. (Command performance: empowerment is the catalyst for positive corporate changes By Butts, Mike Publication: Prosales Date: Wednesday, December 1 2004) Gaynor Borade (2008) discusses about the importance of employee empowerment and how it can be implemented in an organization. Employee empowerment can be attempted via dedicated virtual courses, special employee empowerment workshops by management gurus, dedicated books and articles and even software packages. It can only work if the management team believes in it. The implementation of employee empowerment involves managers willing to give up control in certain areas of work production. The writer argues that the traditional bureaucracy and the age old emphasis on control and standardization are now things of the past. The new vistas involve innovation, flexibility and commitment and consistent improvement. (Employee Empowerment by Gaynor Borade Published: 2/23/2008) Cheryl (2007) enlightens its readers with his view that the most important asset that any company will ever have is its employees. Employees are the backbone of the organizational hierarchy, allowing the employees to accomplish organizational goals by giving them some decision-making ability is the way to enhance the growth and performance of todays organizations. Empowerment is a process that is adapted through a course of time and gradually, almost effortlessly, comes together. So in this article, the writer explains that how managers assure the employees that empowerment is not only in their own best interest but also for the organization as a whole. (Employee Empowerment: Organizations Must Take Active Roles by Cheryl, published Sep 26, 2007) Susan M. Heathfield basically tries to pinpoint the fact that if employee empowerment is such a powerful tool into accomplishing word, better work more efficiency then why does it fail. It then takes a look at 5 reasons why employee empowerment fails such as managers pay lip service to empowerment but do not really believe in its power, they fail to provide easy access to the information and training to the staff to make decisions, they fail to establish boundaries for empowerment, have defined the decision making authority and boundaries with staff but then micromanage the work of employees and lastly the managers fail to appraise or appreciate the employees for their hard work.(Five More Reasons Employee Empowerment Fails by Susan M. Heathfield) Robert Bacal (2004) basically answers to a question of a manager who is finding it hard to implement empowerment as the employees themselves are hesitant to take an initiative and in the answer to the query tells the manager that empowerment just does not mean treating the employee like a guest as the employees tend to get used to the traditional hierarchy of the firm and thus resist the opportunity(empowerment) and in order to empower employees in the real sense steps such as clearly defining what empowerment criteria you have set what you actually mean by it and clarifying the goals of the firm , effective routing of information in the firm, clear process for input of decision making, management consistency i.e. not necessarily blindly following each decision but over-ruling it with tactics so that the spirit of empowerment is not hurt and skill development that is providing the necessary tools to extract ones ability to benefit from it, and a stable and respectful workplace histor y which will give confidence to employees to work with confidence and no hesitance otherwise a bad track record will just suppress the ability to participate freely. (Empowering Employees Can Yield Unexpected Conflict and Resistance! By Robert Bacal published in 2004) Peter Grazier (1998) discusses the benefits associated with the employee empowerment in his article that how it helps a company to reduce its expenses or costs occurring due to Absenteeism and turnover. The author further describes that due to employee empowerment, Absenteeism and turnover goes down, safety assurance and employee performance gets better and the company obtains other associated benefits as well. (Quantifying the Soft Costs of Empowering Employees by Peter Grazier Originally published in EI Network on April 1, 1998) Susan M. Heathfield has defined employee empowerment in her article as the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. She has also discussed the main problem regarding employee empowerment that most organizations experience. They think that the manager bestows empowerment on the people who report to him rather than thinking that each employee should work in empowered ways. Lastly, the author argues that the organizations should create such environment that helps boost the ability of employees to act in empowered ways. (Employee empowerment by Susan M. Heathfield) Theoretical framewor And hypothesis The theme of this research is to shed the light on the empowerment as a core concept and a major factor in this study and to investigate the impact of some antecedent factors including (autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and self esteem) on the degree of employee empowerment and then to research the impact of empowerment on employee performance as illustrated in the following framework. Identification of variables: Dependant variable: Performance of employees Independent variables: Employee empowerment Autonomy Creativity Level of communication between managers and employees Self esteem Competency Network of Associations Positive relationship between autonomy and employee empowerment Positive relationship between employee empowerment and performance Positive relationship between creativity and employee empowerment. Positive relationship between self esteem and employee empowerment Positive relationship between understanding between managers and employees and employee empowerment Positive relationship between competency of employees and employee empowerment. Justification of relationships: Employees having more autonomy are more empowered to make decisions. This shows that relationship between autonomy and empowerment is positive. There is a positive relation between employee empowerment and performance. With the increase in empowerment, performance of employees will increase. Creativity and empowerment has also a positive relation. If employees are more creative, they will do their work with more freedom and bring innovation to the work. Positive relation exists between self esteem and empowerment of employees. If employees are having a high level of self confidence, they will definitely make right decisions. If there is a good understanding between managers and employees, employees will feel more comfortable in doing work with them and it will effect the performance of employees in a positive way. If employees are more competent or capable enough, they will exercise empowerment and will show high level of performance. After developing a theoretical framework of above mentioned variables, we will develop hypothesis of each variable. We will then test these hypotheses to check whether these factors are the primary ones that influence employee empowerment and ultimately this leads to increased performance of employees. Autonomy Autonomy is defined as the state of independence one has to take decisions without the consent of others. Autonomy can play a major role to increase the job satisfaction of employees and they show more involvement in their work, thus creating a competitive edge for the firm. In our study we will focus at the autonomy of each individual within an organization and how it will lead to empowerment being exercised by the employees and to what extent it is effective in increasing their performance. White (1986) found that certain strategies that require high levels of control produce better results with low rather than with high autonomy. So, along with affecting people at their jobs, autonomy is also related to many variables crucial to organizational effectiveness (Brock 2003). Empowerment and autonomy are not interchangeable but rather autonomy enhances the degree of empowerment among employees. It helps in lowering the turnover rate and level of absenteeism in an organization and promotes quality work. Hypothesis: H 1: The higher the level of autonomy given to service employees, the higher the level of empowerment they would exercise. Creativity As defined by the Webster dictionary Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new. It can also be defined as the ability to use different modes of thought to generate new and dynamic ideas and solutions (Carnevale, Gainer, and Meltzer). Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena (Roger von Oech). Creativity and employee empowerment have complementary relationship. Employees should be empowered to take decisions and this leads to the opportunity of being creative. Creativity facilitates the employees to show the expressions of commitment, courage, to take decisions, more involvement in their jobs, risk taking and using their imagination for the success of the organization. Innovative employees show more productivity as compare to those who are happy in doing their boring routine work because creative people are curious, self confident, optimistic, flexible, visionary and have a good sense of humor . Creativity and empowerment are believed to result from comparable organizational factors. For example, creativity is enhanced by freedom of information and relaxation of conditioned thinking. Empowerment results from open communication and network building, access to decision making and control of resources are empowering. Providing resources and support and encouraging the solution of unstructured problems enhance creativity. Low levels of supervision, participation in goal setting, and the establishment of challenging work goals foster creativity, while participation, expanded awareness, and being attuned to organizational goals empower individuals. Hypothesis: H 2: The higher the level of creativity shown by the employees, the higher the level of empowerment they will exercise. Level of Communication between managers and employees There is an often saying that The only thing constant in the World is Change. With the advancement in technology and rapidly changing environment, the methods of communication are also changing and the organizations are expecting more productivity from its employees due to increased efficiency and effectiveness of communication process within the firm. There is a definite relationship of communication between managers and employees with empowerment. More authority the manager gives to its employees, the higher the level of performance will be shown by them. Open communication between managers and employees is essential and must be practiced in the organizations since it reduces stress and removes ambiguity. Open communication flatten your organization, reduces the hierarchal levels and decentralizes the authority which creates more empowered environment. Hence Empowerment in business means knowing how to humanize the work environment so management and employees work together to enhance productivity and achieve greater personal and professional success. HYPOTHESIS: H 3: The higher the level of communication between managers and employees, the higher the level of empowerment they would exercise. Self esteem Self esteem is defined as the opinion you have about your self or how much confident you are about yourself. Some employees may have low self esteem and some may have high self esteem. Employees with high self esteem tend to show more positive response towards their work and environment and this confidence motivates them to takes decisions on their own. Since they believe in their self, this results in more productivity or output. This effects the organization as whole and leads to success. Negative thoughts about one self can be demotivating and one can easily give up or loose hope. They start depending on others and are not able to decide on their own. In a CNN interview, Robert Wagner on Larry King 2002 was asked the following question: What is the most important thing for a person starting out on the road to success? I would tell them the most important thing is to work on your self esteem, thats the best advice I can give An empowered company begins with self-empowerment. Owners and managers cannot empower others to perform their best until they are empowered themselves. Empowered management begins by hiring leaders who possess healthy self-esteem, superior people skills, and the willingness to share expertise to bring out the best in employees. Promoting and maintaining consistently high self-esteem in managers and employees is a vital ingredient to a highly empowered workforce. High self-esteem within the company is achieved by encouraging creativity, individuality, problem solving, and an open and honest exchange of ideas among all the employees in a non-threatening environment. The opposite of an empowered workforce is one composed of negativity, low morale, and a distrust of management. An unempowered workforce is an unproductive workforce. Managers and workers have the basic need to feel they are contributing and making a difference. Employees who consistently feel enthusiastic about what they are doing, do a good job. In our study, we will be looking at the relationship of self-esteem and empowerment and how it promotes an employee to work in a decentralized organization causing employees to be empowered in many ways. Hypothesis: H 4: The high level of self esteem in employees, the higher the level of empowerment they will practice. Competency Competency means an individuals conviction or confidence in his or her ability or effectiveness in accomplishing the performance requirements of a task. To delegate the employees, the managers must provide them with the necessary knowledge, enhance their skills and try to make them feel competent. A Competent person seeks opportunities to increase personal contribution and level of responsibility; Supports and respects the individuality of others and recognizes the benefits of diversity of ideas and approaches; Delegates and empowers others to increase contribution and level of responsibility; Facilitates team goal setting and problem solving; Recognizes differences between individuals, cultures and teams and provides developmental feedback in accordance with performance management principles; Identifies competencies required and suitable resources for specific tasks; Displays personal interest in the well-being of colleagues; Able to manage own time as well as time of colleagues and other stakeholders; and Manages conflict through a participatory approach. In the different researches and studies of employee empowerment, such as one carried out by Erickson et al, revealed that employee empowerment is said to occur when the management and employers pursue goals of both personal as well as professional growth for their employees. For example the senior managers and leaders within the organizations can assist their employees in enhancing their capabilities, in turn enhancing their potential to fully utilize their capabilities. Hypothesis: H 5: The level of Empowerment will be high for those employees who have the capability or the necessary skill or knowledge to take decisions. Now that we had clarified how each of the previous variables (Autonomy, Creativity , Level of Communication between managers and employees, self-esteem and competency) affects and contributes to the adaptation of an empowerment culture, the following section is dedicated to verifying the relation between employee empowerment and the job performance concepts. Performance Simple, some people say. Performance is getting the job done. Producing the result that you aimed at, nothing else matters. There are no prizes for coming second. [reference] Performance is basically the level of output shown by an employee. The level of performance (high or low) varies from person to person. Some employees may produce good results and some may show poor performance. Managers consistently check the performance of employees to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. There is a deep connection between employee performance and employee empowerment which is based on two things. The first main thing is the goal setting. If the employee understands his job or work well and know how it will effect the organization, he will take those decisions that will benefit the company for long-term. Second, empowerment implies accountability, along with the freedom to make decisions. It helps to create that accountability for results and the outcomes of decisions the employee makes through ongoing communication, and of course, the performance review process. Intellectual capital of a staff can be distinctive competence of a company. Firms that motivate their employees to make creative decisions and being open to experience (always ready to take risks) are more likely to achieve success. The most efficient and effective way to increase the performance of employees is to empower them as it gives authority to workers to make prospective decisions. This delegation of authority increases job satisfaction and sense of responsibility (Marshall, Talbott Bukovinsky 2006) Empowerment is the most important practice which has a greater effect on the performance of employees in an organization. Progressive Productive firms are profitable, effective, adaptive and proactive towards changing environment

Human Equality as an Impossible Ideal in Animal Farm :: Animal Farm Essays

How do the events in Animal Farm show human equality to be an impossible ideal, not a practical reality? One of the main themes of the book is the effect of power on leaders and how it leads to corruption, propaganda and most of all inequality, and in this book, inequality is shown through out and there are many different examples of it. The main event in the beginning of the book is old major’s speech, where he starts it by mentioning how unequal human are to the animals and how they don’t do any work as they are the leaders of all creatures. He implied that the other animals should get rid of man so that his dream can be fulfilled and create a society where all animals are created equal. Just as Old major dies, the pigs create â€Å"Animalism† and the seven commandments under the intention of equality, even as they have just automatically chose themselves as leaders of the revolution and the other animals. The rebellion wasn’t really led by the pigs; it occurred when the animals got mad after a long day without food, the pigs unequally became leaders without actually taking a huge part in it. After Mr. Jones is kicked out and the animals’ hope of an equal society rose, they started working hard while the pigs didn’t do any work under the excuse of the need of supervision. Another example of the inequality of the pigs is after the apple harvest where they took it for themselves claiming that they need fuel while the other animals are the ones who need it as they work harder. During the successful defensive fight against Mr. Jones, all the animals fight equally, Snowball and boxer did an excellent job, except napoleon who didn’t turn up for the fight. Napoleon is becoming increasingly corrupt and unjust. After the effective speech by snowball which made snowball more popular and was going to divert the votes to him, Napoleon â€Å"uttered a high-pitched whimper† and the dogs chased snowball of the farm, which confirmed the untrustworthiness of napoleon. And subsequently the inequality began to increase at a more severe rate. The animals gradually become like slaves doing napoleon’s plans and doing whatever he likes, moreover they are forced to work on Sundays but Napoleon rests like he does all over the week. Yet he starts trading and starts progressively breaking the commandments. What is more, he horrifies the hens after their refusal of giving the pigs their eggs for money by cutting the food supply on them and starving them until 9 of them died, so that they agree on giving the

George Orwell’s 1984 - Mindless People :: 1984 Essays

Occupations are important in order to be successful in life. One needs a source of income and a way to provide for one’s families. Some people work at home, some people have a schedule when one leaves at a certain time each day and return home at the same time each night. One gets comfortable in one’s work but does one take time to ask oneself why one is doing it? If an occupation does not help society or have any real purpose then is it really a useful occupation or is it just a bunch of mindless activity? Professional athletes make an insurmountable amount of money but what is the point of professional sports? Professional sports do not help make the world a better place nor does it have a purpose other than entertainment for the sports junkies on this earth. What is the purpose of movie makers and artists? How do they make the world a better place? In some ways they make a world a worse place because people get so caught up in entertainment that they forget about th e rest of the world and the ones who suffer and the corrupt governments and the deadly diseases. Why cant jobs be created to help in those areas? Instead of paying people for doing mindless jobs, one should be paying others to actually work to make this world a better place with a better economy and without suffering people. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 it offers a great view of mindless occupations. Winston, the main character talks about how boring his work is in the Ministry of Plenty. He explains how his work is to change the words and meaning in newspapers, books, letters and any other text related materials in order to make the government and the society the best that it can be. Then once he follows his orders and completely changes history with his speakwrite, he takes the original information and dumps it down a memory hole which destroys it (Orwell 37). Everything that Winston must write has to take the form of the Newspeak language which is the English language modified, and made simpler by combining words together. For example, instead of having words such as ‘excellent’ or ‘splendid’ one would use the word plusgood or doubleplusgood if you wanted something even stronger (Orwell 51). Another example is Winston’s workplace.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. :: essays research papers

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very important leader of the American Civil Rights movement as well as a Nobel Prize winner. He proved that Civil Disobedience was an effective weapon against depression. King’s challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950’s and 1960’s helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of Civil Rights in the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. King was born into the American Civil Rights movement in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. His grandfather was the founder of the Atlanta Chapters of the NAACP, and his father was the Pastor of the Eboniza Baptist Church where he worked as a Civil Rights Leader. Dr. King attended Morehouse College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1948. Dr. King married Coretta Scott King in 1953. After graduating with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951, he went to Boston University where he earned a PHD in Divinity in 1955. After graduating from Boston University, Dr. King became the Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama where he began the activities that would make him an American Civil Rights Leader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In many states, African Americans were denied voting rights and access to schools, buses, and other public facilities that were segregated. They were also denied accommodations in hotels that were for whites only. Discrimination was openly practiced and in some places sanctioned by law. Dr. King’s goal was to protest segregation until it was declared unconstitutional. In 1955 Rosa Parks was ordered by a bus driver to give up her seat to a white passenger. When she refused, she was arrested and taken to jail. King started the Boycott of the Montgomery Bus System. In 1956 the Supreme Court declared Segregation Laws unconstitutional which ended Bus Segregation. King learned Civil Disobedience from Gandhi and proved that peaceful non-violent protests, such as marches, boycotts, and sit-ins, were an effective weapon against depression. In 1957 Dr. King and other ministers formed the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) which fought for the Civil Right s of all Americans. In 1959 King returned to Atlanta, Georgia, the headquarters of the SCLC, to assist his dad and work for Civil Rights. In August of 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King gave his â€Å"I Have A Dream† speech during the March on Washington. Later in the spring of 1963 President JFK introduced the Civil Rights Act (the single most important piece of Civil Rights Legislature) which was passed by President Johnson.

Allegory of the Cave Summary and Response Essay

Marlo Diorio Dr. Mishra – College Writing I â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, written by Plato, is story that contrasts the differences between what is real and what is perceived. He opens with Glaucon talking to Socrates. He has Glaucon imagine what it would be like to be chained down in a cave, not able to see anything other than what is in front of him. He tells a story of men that were trapped in a cave and were prisoners to the truth. These prisoners have only seen shadows. But because of their ignorance, these slaves to the cave believe that the shadows are real. The story goes on to say that one of the men has been dragged out of the cave. He is not happy to see the real world, yet upset because he is being taken away from all that he knows. As he approaches the outside, he is blinded by the sunlight that he has never seen. The sunlight can be interpreted as actual sun or as knowledge, making the journey rather painful in mental and physical ways. The prisoner wants to return to his life as a peasant inside of the cave. When he is outside of the cave, he only wants to look at shadows and reflections, but later proceeds to look at actual objects surrounding him. Lastly, he looks at the sun itself, as he realizes that is what created this beautiful nature. The climax of the story is when the ma realized that he no longer has to worry about reality and reasoning, because he achieved the understanding of it. Eventually, he goes back to the cave. He is not greeted nicely back at the cave because he is seen to have taken a meaningless trip. The man who had seen the outside world took it upon himself to teach the others and lead them into understanding the truth of reality. The story finished by Socrates saying that the most qualified and wise people are the best options for leading in government, like the prisoner who discovered truth. Throughout the reading of this symbolic narrative, I found it easy to relate to my own life. This story can be taken as an extended metaphor with a great meaning. I took this story as, the hard path to take out of the cave, was like the pattern of life. It would never be an easy path to walk down, and it would take a lot of struggling. Only certain determined people will actually make it to the opposite side. Socrates says these most qualified people should be the ones to lead the public. I believe this is also true in today’s society. I say this because when it comes to election time, we as a country are not going to vote for an uneducated lunatic. I believe that the president should be someone intelligent with good morals and very qualified. In order to reach that high point, you must go out of your comfort zone, like the prisoner did. In life, people go out of their comfort zones all of the time. I’ve always believed that in order to achieve something you’ve never had/done, you must do something you’ve never done before, such as stepping out of your comfort zone. Only the best can be found when you make an attempt to extend yourself as a human being. I relate the cave in this story to the social norm. No one wants to step out of it because I their life, the norm is all there is. I believe the shadows would represent all of the other things that could be out there, but they have no desire to go find out what they are. They are too comfortable with what they have and haven’t gone looking for more. The cave is a comfort zone for the prisoners in Plato’s time and for teenagers today. Without the outside world, there is no curiosity, no questioning. I believe it is important to question everything, because with questions come answers. And when you find out something you didn’t know, you’re learning. Yes, ignorance is bliss, but ignorance won’t make you president.

Research Outline

Submitted by Group 5 Topic Mussel Shells, malignant neoplastic disease carapace and premature ventricular contraction as an alternate aggregate and makeweight in concrete making seek Outline I. Problem and its background (chapter 1) A. excogitation 1. Concrete fillers and Aggregates a. Composition of Aggregates b. Different Kinds of Filler 2. Mussel shells, skreigh carapace and polyvinyl chloride as alternative aggregates and fillers a. likeities of Mussel shells, backbite carapace and premature ventricular contractions to other aggregates and fillers b. Advantages and disadvantages of using Mussel shells, Crab carapace and PVCs as aggregates and fillers for concretes B.Rationale of the interpret C. Significance of the study D. scheme II. Review of Related Literature (chapter 2) A. character of the Subject (background) 1. Crustaceans a. Cancer Pagurus b. Scylla nonched 2. Mollusks a. Perna viridis more ordinarily know as the Asian Green Mussels b. Perna canalicula more commonly known as the Green liplike Mussels B. Related Studies 1. Characterization of Calcium carbonate Obtained from Oyster and Mussel Shells and Incorporation in polypropene a. alcium carbonate in mussel and oyster shells utilise in the formulation of medicine, in verbalism or as filler in polymer materials b. calcium carbonate from mussel and oyster shells and utilize as filler in polypropene compared their properties with polypropylene and commercial calcium carbonate composites. C. Info Sources III. Methodology A. Experimental visualize Used 1. Brittleness of shells induced by heating in microwave a. one hour of treatment b. 18 Shells B. 6 samples for Mussel shells, Crab epidermis and PVC C. MaterialsD. appendage Submitted by Group 5 Submitted To Mrs. Bernardino mop up Proposal Sections of Research Methodology I. Overview of research design A. Mussel shells, Crab Carapace and PVC abundance B. aggregates and fillers in concrete 1. Components of aggregates and filler s 2. Similar qualities of components C. Procedures in making Concrete Aggregates and Fillers D. occupation of Mussel shells, Crab Carapace and PVCs into Aggregates and Fillers. II.Questions/ queries about the topic A. Are Mussel shells, Crab Carapace and PVC strong equal to hold as fillers and aggregates? B. What kind of Mussel shells, Crab Carapace and PVC will be best in making fillers and aggregates? C. ordain the Aggregates made out of Mussel shells, Crab Carapace and PVC be able to withstand strong force? III. Boundary move Procedures A. Shells, Carapaces, and PVCs 1. Shells, carapaces and PVCs to be used will be limited to the left-over components of each after the aliment parts are consumed. . Shells, carapaces and PVCs to be used will not exceed six per subject IV. process Processes V. Subjects A. Crustaceans 1. Cancer Pagurus 2. Scylla serrate B. Mollusks 1. Perna viridis more commonly known as the Asian Green Mussels 2. Perna canalicula more commonly known as the Gr een Lipped Mussels VI. get wind rigor validity, reliability/ trustworthiness, authenticity VII. Assumptions and study limitations A. Crabs, Mussels and PVCs 1. Value for each subject 2. availability to the types of subject VIII. Timetable