Saturday, August 31, 2019

Bill Clinton and leadership Essay

For the purpose of this paper, I have chosen the political leader and the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton as the subject of my essay. This paper is based on two of his autobiographical books which were based on his early childhood as well as his life before, during and after his presidency. The book My Life is an autobiographical account by Bill Clinton himself. He is the sole author of the book which was published in the year 2004. The book clearly outlines the various events of his life. These events pertained to the inauguration of Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States of America. This second volume, the first being a biography by Adam by the name of Bill Clinton, puts Clintons term in the office as the epic fall and the term of redemption. This was mostly indicated like such I the book due to the disastrous failure which came bout due to the actions of Mack McLarty, the white house chief of staff, as well as the promiscuous behavior of Clinton and the relationship with Hilary Clinton which was more emphatically and influential than his specific term. The years of 1993-1994 are depicted as the time where things were falling apart for both America as well as the Clintons. However the period following that pertaining to 1995-1996 the book depicts Clinton as In terms of the leadership and presidency Bill Clinton was much favored as being the revolutionary and sensible politician who with the support of his first lady was able to make America as the greatest nation of power in the world. The book also made use of many military metaphors to describe the situation the context of the book. It was highly apparent by reading the book that it was mostly about the evolution and change in the personality of Bill Clinton following his inauguration as the President of the United States. The change in him depicted him as being an arch baby boomer to the undisputed leader of his country. The accounts covered by Clinton were very much expected as he takes into account the bogus scandal of Whitewater, the unethical dalliance with Monica Lewinsky as well as his attempts at managing and balancing the budget for the United Stated of America. Other topics covered in the book also pertain to the Middle Eastern crisis and the peace plan proposed by him. However the more illuminating topics those were discusses in the book related to his personality and his life on a much personal note. This depicted the strength he showed as a person and how ,much the person as developed, and matured over the years in terms of his decision making him an ideal president for the United States during his time at the white house. The book itself however is ill organized and quite chaotic. The reason for this which can be ascertained for the events following and surrounding the launch of the book as well as the statement given by Bill Clinton himself was that the book is basically the picture into his life and the various significant events that took place in it. It is very much like the efforts of a small school boy however the content varies in terms of several topics and themes. The period of the presidency is treated like a rush period where the events merge into each other and the timeline is haphazard skipping large time variables in some instances. However despite the lack of maturity in the book, and the ill organization of the content the book did become a best seller, its sales even surpassing the sales of the memoirs of Hilary Clinton. The book My Life by Bill Clinton suffered criticism for the former advisor of Clinton’s Dick Morris who wrote a rebuttal by the name of Because HE Could. Through this book, Dick Morris set right and pointed pout the various inaccuracies which were present in the autobiographical account by Bill Clinton. The authors view on leadership however pertains to a more peaceful and negotiation based method of employing power and making use of it. Bill Clinton is of the opinion that in order to be able to run the country, a dictatorship is not the answer, instead innovative and democratic methods pertaining to dissemination of ideas across the board is a much better way of conducting managerial tasks. The author has stated through his autobiographies as well that the bet for of leadership is when the leader takes into account the point of view of those around him, gathering the specialized intellect available and then unanimously voting on the most beneficial and cost effective solution/ decision for the specific issue or case. This is a very democratic approach to decision making. However in the form of leadership described by Bill Clinton, it is essential to have a formal figurehead as this has the effect of providing the followers and the general population with one pint of view as well as a unified direction. The decision itself may be a democratic one however the proceedings to be carried out have to be collaborative in nature dictates from one source. The aspect of democratic leadership can be applied to the leadership for schools. The reason for this is that the political landscape pertaining to the role of leadership is much institutionalized. This is the same case with schools and colleges which are institutionalized as well with a formal set of rules and ethical code of conduct. However the differences settle in relative to the size of the operation. The operations conducted by Clinton were extensive, even global in nature. The scope for the school is restricted somewhat limited inn terms of the resources available, the staff participation and the relevance and long term effect of the decision making. However the same principle of school leadership as a form of democratic leadership can be employed. School leadership can be employed using democratic leadership styles characteristic of Bill Clinton by giving autonomy as well as decision making power to the lower staff and managers for their operations as well. This is an important component of the democratic leadership as the management and staff is usually the closest entity to the students and can understand their issues and problems much better. Moreover by being close to the students in terms of proximity the staff is also able to observe them and make them provide inputs for the prospective solution to the problem and the long term strategic goals of the institution. This information can be gathered form the expert and specialized managers and staff in the school and then relayed on to the appointed leader. The chairman for the board of directors of the school can then take this information in to account as well as any other information that would be reported by the management and the staff. After performing a cost benefit analysis and the long term strategy and profitability analysis the board of directors would be able to ascertain upon the main strategy for the school and how the issues need to be addressed. The above mentioned format for leadership enables almost all the members of the organization to participle and conduct a two way communication with the leader or the leaders of the organization. The solutions and strategies formed through this method are more accepted by all those concerned an in the long run are mostly effective as well. In terms of applying the leadership techniques and theories mentioned in the book and practiced by Bill Clinton clearly depict that the leader has to be an enigmatic person who has charisma and charm to carry out the role of being a figurehead and a liaison to the elements in the external environment. These views would enable me to hold a position of leadership in the school by making the fellow students aware of the characteristics that I have for being a potential leader as well as the communication and negotiation skills that would enable me to conduct discussions with them pertaining to the solution of the issues and the problems that hand. Aside from this the enigmatic personality is good for public relations as well as gaining the confidence and support of those around me. References 1. Clinton, B. , (2004), My Life, Publisher: Knopf, ISBN-10: 0375414576

Friday, August 30, 2019

Crucible Essay

Telling what seems to be a small lie can harm others more than it harms you. Being honest is better than people being killed over false accusations. In the play â€Å"The Crucible† Arthur Miller creates foil characters between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. Foil characters in a story is a technique used to contrast characters. In the play Abigail Williams portrays herself as an innocent girl being afflicted by the devil. In the play Elizabeth portrays herself as a good wife being accused of witch craft because Elizabeth envy’s her. Based on the play â€Å"The Crucible† Arthur Miller portrays Abigail & Elizabeth as foil characters; Elizabeth being a honest woman and Abigail being a dishonest harlot. Elizabeth is a honest woman because she doesn’t lie. John Proctor realizes the only way to prove Abigail is a liar and dishonest is to confess. So he confesses to to the court; Abigail denies this making Danforth confused. Proctor tells Danforth â€Å" [Elizabeth] will never lie Mr. Danforth† (III, 92). Elizabeth is an honest woman because an honest woman would never lie. Danforth no longer knows who to believe on whether or not John Proctor committed lechery so he questions Proctor â€Å"Your wife (Elizabeth) you say is a honest woman. Proctor: In her life she has never lied†¦my wife cannot lie (III, 111). She is a honest woman because she won’t lie and hasn’t lied in her life. Therefore, in the play â€Å"The Crucible† Elizabeth portrays a honest woman because she does not lie. Abigail Williams portrays a dishonest harlot. John proctor confesses his sin to having an affair with Abigail and he tells the court â€Å"She wishes to dance with me on my wife’s (Elizabeth) grave!†¦God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it’s a whore’s (Abigail’s) vengeance and you must see it(III,94). By John confessing his affair with Abigail he proves that not only is she dishonest for wanting to dance on Elizabeth’s grave; but she is a harlot for having sexual relations with a married man. Reverend Hale sides with John Proctor by saying † I believe [John] pointing at Abigail: This girl has always struck me false† (III,114). Everyone is realizing Abigail is a dishonest harlot and cannot be trusted.  The court is now seeing her for who she truly is. Abigail is a dishonest harlot because she constantly lies and commited adultery with John Proctor. In the play â€Å"The Crucible† Arthur Miller uses foil characterization, He portrays Abigail as a dishonest harlot that cannot be trusted and Elizabeth as a honest woman that is mistaken as a bad person. Elizabeth is a honest woman, she has never lied which makes her trustworthy. Abigail is a dishonest harlot that can’t be trusted, partially why she later runs off to Boston. Telling a lie may not hurt you but it may hurt others. Elizabeth was a good wife whose husband was killed because Abigail envied her. Although Abigail never meant for John to die it was her fault because of her lies and dishonesty.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A Shift Of Reality Essay Research Paper

A Shift Of Reality Essay, Research Paper A Shift of World The new telecasting genre of world shows is going so popular because they offer an alternate sense of world. What is world and is there merely one reading or many different 1s? There is no 1 world because world displacements. The dictionary definition of world is the followers: World is the province of things as they are instead than as they are imagined to be. Worlds are facts. Just like world, facts besides shift. There could be a newspaper article about an temblor in Los Angeles and it would depict the harm and deceases, which are facts. Another edition of the newspaper may come out a few yearss subsequently with new information and more deceases to account for which would so do the facts to switch. Virtual world is the set of images and sounds produced by a computing machine which seem to stand for a topographic point or state of affairs in which a individual sing it can take portion but is this truly world? There can non be merely one world that is cosmopolitan to everyone becau se along with the always-changing context, people s perceptual experience besides changes on a regular footing. To assist exemplify this, world telecasting plans have been created. Of class the manufacturers of these telecasting shows do non desire the viewing audiences to hold on such differentiations between world and the shows they are bring forthing because it might endanger the merchandise they are seeking to sell. Unfortunately, the people who buy into these world shows far out-weigh the 1s who don T. Ten old ages ago, manufacturers recognized there was a whole new genre of programming out at that place. Today, the world fad is now under manner in full force. New shows are being introduced one right after another. Manufacturers have created shows like Big Brother, Survivor, Real World, Blind Date and Temptation Island because of the popularity of this new genre of world shows. But why are these shows so popular and how existent are they or in what sense are they existent? Why have these world shows taken over and have somewhat replaced Television situation comedies and films? Aren t there similarities between the two? These shows are so popular because they deal with existent life issues and jobs that happen in every twenty-four hours lives of people in our society. Of class in existent life, you might non travel to Belize to rip off on a important other but the bang of it excited the viewing audiences. They deal with constructs that could go on to you and we, as people are funny about how to respond to these same state of affairss without really holding to be in them at the present minute. We continue to watch these shows because we associate to a character that is similar to ourselves and we concentrate on that character s interactions and relationships with others. But how existent are these character s reactions. Of class they don Ts have a book but they know that they were picked because they could full-fill some imitation and they play up to this function they were given. We get pulled in and go funny to what is traveling to go on next. We want to see our character and what they do next or what is in shop for them. You could about state that we become addicted to the telecasting shows. Not merely do we watch these shows for existent life comparings but we besides watch them because they are merely entertaining and merriment to watch. Sometimes the material that happens is so far fetched that you merely have to express joy at the idea of it really go on ing. Peoples like these shows because they can express joy at the state of affairss being portrayed and know that they don Ts have to cover with them themselves and because it isn t go oning to them. These shows offer an alternate sense of world where at that place seems to be no effects or the effects seem bogus or staged because it is a telecasting show. How existent are these telecasting shows and can you truly compare them to existent life world? Take Real World and Temptation Island. Real World is about six aliens who go through an full showing procedure and are picked to populate in a house someplace and have their lives taped and so broadcasted to the full universe. The public viewing audiences raise many inquiries. How much of their lives and interactions are really shown? There is no manner that the manufacturers can suit all of the things that happen into a half-hour or hr block. So what do they make? They edit and edit and edit. They create the struggles and play off people s insecurities and emotions. They develop the chief narrative line and secret plan with all the hours of fresh taping. Real World is now in its seventh or 8th episode. Make you truly think that the 7th episode is traveling to be as existent at the first 1 was? The reactions are supposed to be believed to be existent but in fact, many argue that they are s taged. They have no book but the manufacturers can make the character with the engineering of redacting. They can pretty much make about anything with this engineering. There is no written book that is really touchable but it seems as though there is an mute book that these alleged existent people follow. Temptation Island on the other manus is about four twosomes who go to an island in Baja off the seashore of Belize and are so separated from their important other. They so are surrounded by individual aliens of the opposite sex and tempted to rip off. The manufacturers tape the twosomes as the y travel on assorted day of the months with different work forces and adult females. These tapes so acquire shown to the important others with the worst parts of class being shown to change and falsify world and do it look like something bad happened. The people on Temptation Island have most likely seen other world based Television shows. They know that there are 1000000s of viewing audiences watching them on telecasting so they are traveling to make things to seek and stand out. Their reactions most probably will non be 100 % existent because they know they have a function to full-fill or an image to maintain. How can you be 100 % existent when you have 100s of cameras on you all the clip? This leads to the point about bad material. It is the bad material that sells. Anyone with even a small spot of sense should be able to see that these shows are altered and offer a different sense of world. But why so does this material sell and does it go on to go more and more popular? What do people believe of when they hear the word normal? What is normal? Are the people on Temptation Island and Real World normal people or do they full-fill some function that the manufacturers want portrayed? Normal as depicted in the dictionary says that it is conforming with an recognized criterion or norm ; natural ; usual. How so, do you find what is the recognized criterion? Is it being scraggy and a size two or is it a size eight? Is normal holding tonss of money and being celebrated and being driven around in a limousine or holding a house in the suburbs and having your ain concern and driving a mini new wave? You can construe something to be normal legion ways. I think that the world shows take what they think is normal and broadcast their position all across the state. Temptation Island for illustration does non hold any corpulent work forces or adult females. They all have nice, muscular organic structures and respectable callings. What does this do the younger viewing audiences that these shows have been targeted at feel about how they should look? Is this what world is all about? These people in these new shows are people like the remainder of us but they change the minute they get behind a camera. We might be looked at as tiring but they could be merely like us, merely non perceived as drilling because they are on this world telecasting show. Are these shows so popular because it is stressed upon us that the persons in these shows are normal so we are supposed to be able to associate to them better because they are more like us instead than a alleged famous person? Berger makes a claim on page 105 in the Way of Reading text. He says that the manner we see things if affected by what we know or what we believe. This helps to explicate why there is non one world and the differentiations between the varying degrees of world. If an person is brought up in an environment where his/her parents don t get along and there is dishonesty in the household, so they might turn up to see rip offing as non so bad. They would see Temptation Island as a show similar to their childhood and might promote the twosomes to rip off or wouldn t look down upon it whereas a kid who was brought up in a different type of environment where dishonesty is looked down upon enormously. This kid might see the show as disgusting and abhorrent and might non understand why any twosome would hold to take part. There are many other cultural issues in our society that one could reason are ambivalent. The issue of abortion, criminal conversation i.e. Monica Lewinsky, the monetary value of gas, child labour Torahs or speeding ordinances. The experiences in our lives and our beliefs shape the manner that we see world. It all relates to Berger s claim about the manner that we see things are affected by what we know and believe. I think that a large portion of this popularity with the world telecasting shows is credited to people s captivation with phantasy universes and desiring to populate the perfect life where everything happens merely as it should. How can one specify the perfect life? Is it holding a batch of money and being able to make everything you want or is it holding an tremendous household with tonss of love? It is difficult to state what the perfect life is. These new telecasting shows challenge that perceptual experience on what people think world is and offers a different degree of world. This is why I believe that there can be no one world. Everyone has a different position of what they think world is to them, what is normal to them, what is a perfect life and what is of import to them that they get out of life. They compare their lives to those people on these telecasting shows because it is the cupboard to existent that they can associate to without really being straight involved. They do n Ts compare their lives to films and Television situation comedies as much because they know that they both have books that the histrions have to follow and they are seen as farther from the true world than a show like Real World or Survivor. By watching these shows people can populate their lives about through the characters and that manner there are no effects. The characters do things that us as persons would neer believe of making or opportunities we could or neer would take. These new world telecasting shows offer an alternate sense of world and many different degrees of it. There is non one world because it is everlastingly altering and germinating and our society has taken this new genre of telecasting shows to portray this.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Compare and contrast narrative family therapy, multigenerational Research Proposal

Compare and contrast narrative family therapy, multigenerational family therapy, experiential family therapy, structural family therapy - Research Proposal Example Narrative therapy s used by Narrative therapist when a person suffers major setbacks due to problems that had a great influence on his present life. This approach is essentially used by the therapist to help the person to describe the different trajectories or stories of their lives to understand how it impacted on their present situation. The person needs to describe his mode of living and the different possibilities associated with them to give the therapist a better advantage of meting out the right treatment. The focal point of the narrative therapy is not to focus on the problem itself, but to project how these problems have influenced and taken their toll on the person. Such an approach is termed as â€Å"externalization† or â€Å"objectification†. The Narrative† approach helps the person to re-frame, re- group or re-author various conversations, values and incidents that have had a powerful influence on them and has created a great impact on their present lives. The Narrative approach enables the person to understand their beliefs, principles and skills in a better light and thereby encourages them to weigh the pros and cons, examine and evaluate themselves and their relationships after a thorough investigation. The primary duty of the therapist is to pose such questions that would encourage the patient to externalize the problem and thereby investigate it to find the right solution. The therapist poses questions that help the person to examine the bitter areas and find alternatives to the problem which had caused all the pain. By talking to the person, the therapist is in a position to help him change the direction of his thoughts and restore some of the values and principles that were lost due to its influence. By the end of the session, the therapist would know clearly, whether there is scope for turning around the problems in a positive manner or if the problems have been too strong and

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Exploring how HR practice can drive the innovation in Abu Dhabi Dissertation

Exploring how HR practice can drive the innovation in Abu Dhabi Education Council - Dissertation Example These factors are important for the EI: motivation among employees, coordination skills, and knowledge sharing and employee empowerment. This study was carried out on an educational organization in UAE named as ADEC. The respondents were the employees of the organization, selected from two specific departments. To accomplish the objective, a survey questionnaire was designed in relation to the factors mentioned above. The sample of 70 employees from the two departments namely, human resource department and the department for policy planning and management were taken. Stratified sampling technique was used to select samples because the purpose was to obtain quick information. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Almighty Allah for His endless blessings and providing me with the much needed courage and inner help especially during this difficult phase of my life. I would like to thank my supervisors and I am highly indebted to them for their constant support and help. Firstly, I would like to thank Mr. / Ms ----. My teacher has been a great source of guidance during this task and helped me to complete this work. ____ has been a constant source of inspiration, very encouraging and supportive at every step of the task. My teacher has been willing to give continuous, timely and quality feedback which is unmatched in my experience. I am obliged to my Department â€Å"--------† from where I completed my Masters studies and attained more advanced knowledge regarding HRM and training. My deep gratitude is extended to -------- for his/her immense support and cooperation which helped me a lot in timely completion of study. Also I am thankful to ------- for her/his generous and tremendous support. My sincere thanks are due to the employees of ADEC working in Abu Dhabi whose cooperation in terms of filling up the questionnaires has made this effort successful. Finally, I would like to thank my family, my parents, friends and siblings for their unconditional love, su pport, prayers and optimism – without you all, I would not be able to reach this destination which I am today. Contents Abstract 2 1.1 Objectives of the Study 11 1.2 Rational of the study 12 2.0 Literature review 12 2.1 Definition of Training 12 2.2 Training process 13 2.3 Learning Theories about Training 14 2.4 Employee Empowerment 15 2.5 Knowledge Sharing 16 2.6 Co-ordination Skills 17 2.7 Employee Motivation 19 2.8 Employee Innovativeness (EI) 20 2.8.1 Definition of Innovativeness 20 2.8.2 Innovativeness and Theory 21 2.8.3 Innovativeness Driving Factors 22 2.8.4 Anti-innovativeness Factors 24 2.9 Conceptual framework 26 2.10 Relationship between Training and Innovativeness (Li, Zhao and Liu, 2006) 27 3.0 Research Methodology 27 3.1 Research Question 27 3.1 Research Method 28 3.2 Research Strategy 29 3.3 Data Collection Sources 30 3.4 Target Population 31 3.5 Sample Design 31 3.6 Sample size 32 3.7 Data Collection Instruments 32 3.7.1 Questionnaire 32 3.8 Fieldwork 33 3.9 Data Analysis 33 3.10 Ethical Consideration 34 3.12 Aadvantages of the Research Method 35 3.13 Disadvantages of the Research Method 35 4.0 Results and Discussion 35 4.2 Training and innovativeness 36 4.3 UAE work culture and its influence on training and innovativeness 37 4.4 Analysis 38 5.0 Conclusion 63 5.1 Organizational Overview 63 5.2 Review of Hypothesis Development 64 5.2 Review of Research Problem and Objective 65 5.3 Explanation 66 6.0 Recommendation 67 6.1 Managerial Implication 69

Monday, August 26, 2019

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Strategic management - Essay Example These kinds of problem weaken the advantage of public transportation and restrict the development of public transport. The urban travel in Indian cities mainly happens by cycling, walking and public transport. Though in the last two decades there have been huge growth rates of cars and two wheelers by 10 % and 15 % respectively in India, the two wheeler ownership remains at 40 – 50 % and car ownership remains low at 3-13 %. This shows that in India the ownership rate of personalised vehicles are low. The same thing is repeated in Delhi where the contribution margin of urban public transport is low. At present in Delhi per 1000 people only 50 persons have cars and per 1000 people 74 individuals have motorcycles. Government of Delhi implemented a number of bus optimization policies but sadly bus did not become the subject of urban transport (Stock, and Lambert, 2001, p. 211). According to a study conducted by urban development ministry at the Centre, in Delhi the availability of public transport is very low i.e. per 1000 persons it is 0.504. The average waiting time for all 517 Delhi Transport Corporation buses is 70 minutes. The reason for such high waiting time was less frequent bus trips in underdeveloped and sparsely populated areas. According to the report only 2,202 buses out of 6,455 in Delhi are made according to urban bus specifications. The report indicates that on an average DTC rolls out 5,185 buses everyday out of total fleet of 6,088 buses. Besides 120 DMRC feeder buses and 247 private operator buses bring the total number of buses running in the city to 5,552. In Delhi there are total 657 routes which are registered with State Transport Authority. The total route length for all the routes including overlapping and suburban routes comes out to be around 16,200 km. But the suburban routes are very less in number and have very little contribution to the total route length. Hence the road network is very low (Chopra and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Agile Software Development Process Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Agile Software Development Process - Coursework Example The paper will explain how the agile development process works based on stand-up meetings, product, and sprint backlogs as well as project charter. In addition, scenarios will be utilized to give examples of techniques such as class diagrams, activity diagrams, and stakeholders. The manifesto for agile software development also known as agile manifesto is a formal proclamation of twelve principles and four key values to help guide people-centric approach and iterative approach to the development of software. Agile software development targets delivery of functional bits of application, keeping codes simple and testing often applications when they are ready. The software was created as an alternative to heavyweight and document-driven software development processes that includes the waterfall approach. The 4 core values of the agile software development emphasize on various issues that include; individuals and interactions over tools and processes, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, working software over comprehensive documentation as well as responding to change over following a plan (Aoyama, 2010). The 12 principles that have been laid down by the agile manifesto have been adapted for managing IT related projects and variety of businesses including business intelligence. They include; customer satisfaction through continuous and early delivery of valuable work, breakdown of big work into smaller components that can be tackled easily, recognising that teams that are self-organized are able to perform work better, providing of motivated individual with support and environment they need and offer them trust to get the job done (Carroll, 2012).

Nature Of Employment Relationship In A Large Food Manufacturing Essay

Nature Of Employment Relationship In A Large Food Manufacturing Organization - Essay Example It is the key point of reference for determining the nature and extent of employers' rights and obligations towards their workers. Prospective employees in Food Manufacturing business, whether recently graduated university candidates, transferees from other corporations, or internal candidates, are looking for dissimilar things from their work life than they were a decade before. Today's employees look for balance. Sixty-hour work weeks, comprehensive journey timetables, breakfast meetings, dinner meetings, weekend training and work schedules must be put into standpoint in relation to family life, group of people commitment and pastime. To text this, the four dimensions of the employment relationship were distorted into a solitary Employment Relationships Prcis Scale, using multivariate study to review the sovereign result of this scale on a variety of results (taking into account socio-demographic, labor market and work circumstances factors). Work Satisfaction: Powerful employment relationships are the key determinant of job satisfaction between salaried employees and self-employed persons in Food Manufacturing business. ... Not only does job satisfaction replicate a person's in general excellence of operational existence, it also has been connected to a variety of results significant for employers - counting productivity as well. Skill development and use: Strong employment relationships are linked with the more effectual utilization of human resources. Employees who have powerful employment relationships (contrasting to workers in feeble relationships) have more chances in their job to grow and use their capabilities and talent in Food Manufacturing business. This supports the formation of human capital, which is necessary for both person well-being and a strong economy in such fast growing business. Turnover: Fragile employment relationships in Food Manufacturing business add to turnover, evaluating from which employees looked for a job with an additional employer in the precedent year. Therefore employers encountering staffing and retention challenge contending for aptitude in a tense labor market require paying cautious concentration to employment relationships. Workplace confidence: Workers who have strong employment relationships individually account high-quality morale inside their place of work. Morale is a vital element in humanizing a strong and creative work surroundings in Food Manufacturing business. Absenteeism: Employees in feeble employment relationships account for more absenteeism due to personal sickness or damage than do employees in strong relationships. Absenteeism is expensive to employers, detracts from an individual's worth of life, and decreases national output. Readiness to join a union: Employees in fragile employment relationships are more than twice as probable to want to connect a union as those in strong relationships in Food

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Respond to classmate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Respond to classmate - Essay Example Diversity brings together people with different beliefs and cultures. These people view situations in different perspectives and if brought together, they will make good ethical decisions. If the instructors had employed a check and balance system, the students would have been placed in groups. Moreover, the instructors would have demanded a report on each stage of the processes; hence, ethics violations could have been avoided. I appreciate that I have been able to understand the relationship between ethical decision-making and diversity because it is critical and exists. A combination of the two methods of implementing programs leads to successful teaching. Since realists hold to the traditional scientist values and constructivists on the other hand, implement art and creativity in the science-based disciplines, the science aspects taught are well absorbed by the students. The creativity aspect encompasses modern ways to handle situations (Rainer, 2011). I agree with you because, for the millennials, traditional values demoralize them as they engage in some extra-curricular school activities as well as science-based disciplines (Rainer, 2011). This was evident from few numbers of students that participated in sports as well as school clubs. A new club introduced in the school encompassed designing projects using latest technologies. The students were creative and many projects involved a lot of science technologies as well as engineering. They then converted their free time to designing projects and this way, they perfected their science-based skill s. It is therefore evident that these two methods, when combined together yield better

Friday, August 23, 2019

Economic and political problem affecting counties at the present time Essay

Economic and political problem affecting counties at the present time - Essay Example They are unsure about the political instability which exists at the present. They believe that if the government steps down; their money would be lost so a complete lack of investor confidence exists within the people, which is unfortunate to state the least. The problem has existed because the government is not bringing in any efforts and endeavors to stop these issues as such. People have generally felt bad regarding the indifferent attitude of the government which pays no emphasis on the subject at hand. Rather it gives more benefits to the people who are associated with the political regimes because it wants to enhance its political prowess all this while. There is a dire need to understand how these benefits could be transferred to the economic angles so that more success could be envisaged in the coming times. The manner in which the economic implications come about is something that must be understood within the proper scheme of things. Situation The situation on ground within the country is that the already existent investors are trying their best to pull off their amounts but the restrictions imposed by the government forbid them from doing so. The potential ones are just not entering the country for one reason or the other. Also the political situation of the country is such that the investors have swayed away from the country’s economic zones.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Managing Global Hospitality Essay Example for Free

Managing Global Hospitality Essay The importance of developing services for a company that deals with hospitality industry is obvious. This is because competition in the hospitality industry is so intense that only providers that can attract customers at appropriate ways can win the market. The situation drives corporations to place lots of advertising to influence customers. Television, urban areas, shopping centers, and corners of the streets, for example, share similar characteristics that they are full of advertising and promotion at various forms such as billboards, running text, large screens and many others. In marketing study, promotion becomes one factor of marketing strategy that influences salability of a product in addition to product, place, and pricing. The mixture of the four components, which often refer to marketing mix, creates opportunity for marketers to design, create, promote, and sell products creatively. In order to describe how the services marketing strategies are applied in a real case, we use the profile of Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd, an Australian-based service company, and further analyze this company by using the M-S model. Concerning the issue, this paper has two objectives as following: ? Evaluating the structure, environment and issues that face international hospitality organizations (Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd) ? Using the non-participant observation method, this paper is to analyze product offering of service products by using Multi-Segment (M-S) model on Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd Tourism, Hotels and Leisure Limited is a global accommodation management company based in Sydney and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since 1985. There are several key business asset of the company, which are: proprietary hotel operating systems, intellectual properties, trade marks and management franchise agreements (‘Golden Tulip Brands’, 2005). Currently, as the company keeps committing to two keys of corporate performances: risk diversification and growth strategy, the company faces several challenges from worldwide tourism and hotel chains companies. Risk Diversification of Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd Currently, the company owned five hotel brands in Asia pacific, which are: Grand Pacific Suites resorts, Pacific International Suites, Apartments Resorts; Golden tulip Hotels, Inns Resorts, Plaza Hotels and Pensione Hotels. The company, together with its affiliates, has more that 435 hotels, in 370 locations across 43 countries in five continents. In Asia Pacific alone the company owned 53 hotels providing up to 4,200 rooms. In Australia, the company recently purchased the Plaza hotels consist of a group of 30 hotels in mid market category (‘THL’, 2005). In hospitality industry, the major risk is to lose customers and cause low occupancy rate, therefore, in performing risk diversification, Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd has conducted a series of business expansion and diversification. For example, the company has just added five new hotels coming in Australasia with the addition of Golden Tulip Airport Hotel, Melbourne (Tourism, Hotels Leisure Limited (THL), 2005). In addition, the company also develops new retention program by introducing Connections, which composes of frequent flyer and other loyalty programs. The programs are valid at 15 international airlines to all Pacific International properties (Tourism, Hotels Leisure Limited (THL), 2005). In order to achieve the objective to perform risk diversification; at least there are two actions that Tourism, Hotels Leisure Limited (THL) can perform as following: ? THL should develop and maintain quality services. For instance, THL conducts a series of workshops that train the company’s managements and employees concerning THL programs and service objectives. This objective to carry out these workshops is to monitor and then maintain the quality of service in all THL facility in order to fulfill customers’ needs ? Use quality assurance tools like Balanced Score Card in order to enable THL in monitoring the company’s financial and operational performance and check whether they still comply with improved customer’s satisfaction. Growth Strategy of Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd The competition in hospitality industry is fierce. The situation encourages corporations in the industry to expand into international market. According to a study, the development in hospitality industry is caused by two factors: MA activities and Market Segmentation. The later, market segmentation, is popular in the industry since it enables a hotel group to expand and strengthen their presence without competing between their own brands in a certain markets. Marriott, Sheraton, Accor, Holiday Inn are examples of hotel groups that maintain vast brands. According to Philip Kotler (2000) in his book Marketing Management, marketing in 21st century shows attractive ways since corporations are encouraged to develop new marketing approaches in order to sustain their growth. Instead of spending millions of dollars on costly market research, corporations simply conduct and improve basic marketing approaches such as establishment of manufacturing facilities near customers’ location, providing comprehensive solutions base on customers’ needs. Concerning the approach, Kotler (2000) says that marketers also develop loyalty programs including building customers’ club, create attractive public relation programs, continuously using customers’ feedback to improve products or services. Concerning services, Wilson (1972), suggests that marketers face huge challenge when marketing a service or intangible product. This is because the more intangible a service is, the greater the difference in the marketing characteristics of the service is. Based on the definition, marketers must pay attention to developing marketing strategies that target customers’ hearts. One recent concept regarding the development of marketing strategy is the service-good analysis . The concept aims at speed up the process of product/service definition in order to quickly produce the proper marketing strategy (Langford, 1997). According to Kurtz and Clow (1997), there are sever al unique characteristics of services, which demand different marketing concerns including intangibility, inseparability, and variability. The intangible nature of the service requires companies to make the service mo/nm, re tangible by stressing tangible cues within promotional efforts. Company image, recommendations and word of mouth are becoming important within marketing services strategy. Moreover, service industry also contains inseparable character, where demand is more sensitive to supply. Under such circumstances, firms must be more carefully match services with existing demands to ensure satisfaction. Concerning the service industry, there is hospitality industry that covers many services including the provision of food and beverages, lodging, transportation and travel, and hotel and resorts. Figure 1 shows Multi-Segment model, which is known as M-S Model. There are in general four quadrants in the model, each consists of four elements: entities (E), Marketer action (M), Buyer Action (B), and Interaction (I). Figure 1: Multi-Segment Model (M-S Model) Source: McColl-Kennedy, J. 2003, Service Marketing: a Managerial Approach, John Wiley and Sons, Australia ? Product Segment The operation of a service company differs from products resulted from a series of production activities. There are several benefits or the tangible product industry that cannot be obtained in the service industry. For example, the benefits of industrialization cannot be generalized to the service industry. Services cannot be produced in advance and stored for future use. However, the concept of marketing services provides a different perspective of that consist of three operational positions, which are cost efficiency, customization and service quality. The process of producing the services also differs from creating a product. Each service is differentiated by complexity of the process and the variability of each step of the process. There are several strategies related to the operations of a service company, some of them are position mapping and blueprinting A service company can benefit from creating position mapping and blueprinting. Both analysis tools will help the company to define its competitors, the intensity of the competition and the direction it heads for (Kurtz and Clow, 1997). To better describe the product segment of Tourism Hotels and Leisure Ltd, below is tabular form of buyer’s perspective on products quadrants.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Service Concept Profiling And The Servqual Model

Service Concept Profiling And The Servqual Model In this assignment I am going to conduct a critique of the following service management ideas, theories, concepts and techniques; specifically with reference to their purpose, application and limitations and with regard to how these service management ideas, theories and techniques may contribute to the development of a successful business: Service concept, Service concept profiling and The SERVQUAL model. Service concept purpose, The service concept has been defined variously throughout the years, Haskett (1986), defines it as the way in which the organisation would like to have its service perceived by its customers, employees, shareholders and lenders, i.e. the organisations business proposition. It has also been defined as the elements of the service care package, this is related to what Collier (1994) named it as customers benefit package, i.e. the things that provide benefit and value to the customer. Another definition of a service concept states that a service concept identifies the proposed nature of the business; it is the service in mind that the organisation wishes to create. The service concept helps the organisation focus on the value that it can provide to customers.(Robert Johnston Graham Clark, 2008, p 461). Application A service concept can be broken down in to three stages, firstly the organising idea, this is the essence of the service bought, or used, by the customer. Secondly, the service experience, this is the customers direct experience of the service process which concerns the way the service provider deals with the customer and finally the service outcome, this is the result for the customer of the service (in particular, the benefits provided, the resulting emotions and assessment of value for money). (Robert Johnston Graham Clark, 2008, p 42). An example of a successful on-going business in terms of ideas, theories, concepts and techniques is a company called Metso, they are global supplier of technology and services to customers in the process industries, including mining construction, pulp and paper, power, oil and gas. Their service concept consists of; performance services, this increases product efficiency, optimises quality and improves environmental performance; availability services, this maximises asset availability and optimises total life-cycle costs of assets and finally engineering services, this helps complete projects on time and within budget, also helps maintain and develop competency of personnel. (Metso automation, 2010) Another example is Alton Towers, Organising idea: A great day out at a theme park. Service experience: exhilarating and entertaining, large car parks range of food outlets, good souvenir shops etc. Service outcome: Lots of rides, Great day out, Full day out etc (Robert Johnston Graham Clark, 2008, p 43) One other example is letsgototurkey.com, they categories their service concept into three parts: firstly, before purchase- this is when the company offers information about the region and property portfolio, provides flight information and pick up service from the airport. Secondly, during purchase- this is when they provide full information about the area and buying procedures, and also organising all procedures such as opening a bank account, translator and preparing all necessary paperwork. Finally, after purchase- assisting with registration of utilities, recommending the best shops around, helping with insurance and applying for a residence permit. Furthermore, the company has another option called property care, in which membership holders can benefit from certain things while they are away such as bills being paid, taxes being paid routine security checks are made and they also deal with relevant companies for insurance, maintenance, engineering etc. (Letsgototurkey.com, 2012) Contribute to the development of a business (benefit) Limitation Service concept profiling Purpose The service concept can also be used as a strategic tool, the service concept profiling tool is simply a diagnostic tool that will help an organisation to analyse its service concept. It is merely a tool that can give an organisation a visual representation of their service concept, by doing this, a service organisation can decide whether they need to change their service concept in view of what the competitors are doing/achieving, so as a tool it can provide a basis for a new service concept. The service concept can be used to create organisational alignment by developing a shared understanding and making it explicit (Robert Johnston Graham Clark, 2008, p 65). Managers can also assess the implications of design changes using capability mapping. Furthermore developing a service concept can create differentiated services and drive strategic advantage. An example of a business using a service concept profiling is 4sl consulting, their profiling method identifies an organisations maturity and effectiveness through; effective management and governance for delivering IT change; service life cycle management from strategy through operations and continuous service improvements; cost transparency for service pricing and charge back. The company finds these results through one-to-one meetings or via workshops, each with a robust and comprehensive assessment method. Service profiling results in an initial set of gaps, issues and constraints prepared alongside an action plan to bring immediate benefits. (4sl consulting, 2012) Application Contribute to the development of a business (benefit) Limitation With regard to limitations with regard to the service concept profiling tool, it is only a tool and as such it is a good starting place and may indicate to an organisation what element of the service concept may need to change, but does not take into consideration external factors such as what is happening in the macroeconomic environment. It also does not take into consideration the change management activities that follow on from changing the service concept. Suggestions Further, I would suggest that it might be critical to get the customer involved in profiling and i am not sure that organisations actually do this. The SERVQUAL model Various service quality models have been developed to measure service quality through firms in many businesses. Due to its relation with customer satisfaction it is very important to review service quality models. Moreover service quality has had a major impact on practitioners, managers and researchers because of its results in customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and company profitability. The most commonly known measuring tool in terms of service quality in the development of a successful business to reach success is an instrument called SERVQUAL. This model was developed by Parasuraman et al (1985; 1988). The research based on this instrument has been used in marketing literature and also used in various industries in terms of the variety of factors which influence and contribute towards the development of a successful business. Along with Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry, these three authors made substantial contribution to the understanding the concept of service quality and the factors that influence it. The SERVQUAL model has been productively used for measuring service quality in many service businesses. It has been used inmany contexts for example, service quality in hospitals, telecommunications, insurance companies etc. They originally identified four gaps in the organisation that can cause quality problems. These quality problems cause a fifth gap, which is difference between customer expectations of service and perceptions of the service actually received. (Jusuf Zekiri, 2011) The SERVQUAL Model has five dimensions which are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. If these dimensions remain constant this will unlock the door to consumer loyalty and provide outstanding levels of quality consumer care service within the service organization. However, not all dimensions are equal due to the fact that some dimensions are more towards the high levels of importance within the service organization as oppose to the other dimensions All dimensions are important to customers, but some more than others. Service providers need to know which are which to avoid majoring in minors. At the same time they cant focus on only one dimension and let the others suffer (Chris Arlen, 2008). An example of a a sector using the SERVQUAL model is Mobile Telecommunication Limitation Conclusion In conclusion These factors, theories and techniques collectively are part of the essential elements in terms of reaching the relevant necessary internal aims and objectives set, which help build, develop and improve an existing successful service organisation.50%of businesses dont survive within the first few years so its absolutely critical that service organisations grow and flourish in exceptional high levels of quality they deliver. Performance targets must be smart, measurable, achievable, realistic and time constrained In regards to the SERVQUAL model, it is an extensively used tool to assess external service quality, it can also be modified to assess the quality of the internal service provided by departments within a company to employees in other departments.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Requirements of a Job Description

Requirements of a Job Description Shari M. Kern Dental Assistant A job description allows an organization to put up boundaries for a purpose and assists as an interaction tool between the employer and the employee to make sure of a clear understanding of expectations. According to Youssef (2015), a job description identifies characteristics of a chore to be done in terms of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities to be fulfilled. A job description has three chief functions. The first component of a job description emphases on key roles and the purpose of the position within the organization (Youssef, 2015). The second component of a job summarizes the job (Youssef, 2015). The third component of a job description gives a detailed list of the functions, tasks, duties, and obligations associated with the business, and the final item is other duties as needed, that communicates the need for flexibility and adaptability. (Youssef, 2015). The following is a sample job description for a Dental Assistant. Position Summary Under the direct oversight of the Dentist, the Dental Assistant will perform a range of responsibilities that will be approved by the Dentist. The Dental Assistant will assist the Dentist with all clinical procedures. The Dental Assistant will abide by current OSHA regulations and guidelines related to infection control and universal precautions. The Dental Assistant will also assist in some front desk responsibilities for the Dental Receptionist. Tasks Prepares dental instruments and materials; cleans and sterilizes instruments. Keeps track of inventory on all dental supplies. Greet patients in the reception area and accompanies patients to the operatory. Reviews patients medical and dental history. Reviews the daily schedule to set up dental trays and instruments. Assists the dentist with all dental procedures, including periodontal charting, taking impressions, and pouring models and other chairside tasks. Keeps track of incoming and outgoing labs. Responsible for keeping operatory stocked with dental supplies. Delivers dental hygiene instruction. Provides any support needed to the front office; pulling charts, filing, answering phones, collecting payments, scheduling appointments. Perform additional duties as delegated by the Dental Office Manager or the Dentist. Tools and Technology The Dental Assistant will be knowledgeable in Dentrix, or other dental software programs. The Dental Assistant will also be familiar with Schick Digital x-rays, Panoramic x-ray, and AED. Knowledge The Dental Assistant is required to be knowledgeable in all matters of the dental office and procedures including dental health issues. Skills and Abilities Takes and reads digital x-rays, including panoramic images (NC x-ray certification required). Certified in CPR (Current CPR certificate required) and is trained in all emergency procedures including AED. (Office defibrillator). Teamwork Creating a safe and effective work environment. Dental health promotion and maintenance. Education Requirements High School Diploma or GED. Minimum of five years experience in a dental office, and have a Certified or Registered Dental Assistant Certificate. Proof of CPR certificate, North Carolina X-ray safety certificate required. Previous Dental Assistant experience in implant placement and Periodontics greatly recommended. There are various methods an organization use to begin the recruitment process to fill an open position. Organizations can find talent internally and outwardly. Internal recruitment can include promoting within, employee referrals, and lateral transfers. Externally recruitment can include advertising, employment and temporary offices, web recruiting, business fairs, college, and universities and so on (Youssef, 2015). For filling a dental assistant position, placing an ad on a career website is the common method that it is utilized to fulfill a spot. Some other method that is usually used is contracting a dental assistant on a temporary basis with the option to hire through a dental agency that is exclusively geared towards dental personnel. Two methods of assessment for a dental position that are commonly used are structured interviews and work sample tests. Structured interviews are interviews that consist of a specific set of questions that are designed to assess critical KSAs that are required for a job. The author also states, Work sample tests consist of tasks or work activities that mirror the tasks that employees are required to perform on the job. Like job knowledge tests, work sample tests should only be used in situations where candidates are expected to know how to perform the tested job tasks prior to job entry (Pulakos, 2005). In conclusion, preparing a job description is vital to an organization to put up boundaries for a role and helps as an interaction between the employer and employee to make sure of a clear understanding of expectations. A task description should be clear, concise and define a specific job function and expectations that gives the potential employee a sense of the priorities involved. It not only offers a readable image of the situation for potential candidates, but is likewise a utilitarian instrument for appraising performance and a critical reference in the consequence of disputes or disciplinary matters.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Bartleby the Scrivener: Catatonic Schizophrenia :: Health, Diseases, Mental Disorder

Misery loves company and in Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener", Bartleby exhibits traits of depression and catatonic schizophrenia as defined in the DSM-IV; however the narrator's other employees also show symptoms of catatonia either influenced by Bartleby or by Melville's own mental state. The theme of mental disorder is prominent throughout the text and a close analysis of specific passages in concordance with the DSM-IV will first reveal how Bartleby exemplifies these mental disorders and secondly show to what extent the entire story serves to personify them. Bartleby demonstrates behaviours indicative of depression, the symptoms he has in accordance with the DSM-IV are a loss of interest in activities accompanied by a change in appetite, sleep, and feelings of guilt (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 320). Very shortly after Bartleby begins his work as a Scrivener he is described by the narrator as having done â€Å"nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery†. (Melville, 126) In contrast, Bartleby had previously been described as a very hard worker and this process of doing increasingly less shows how his a diminishing sense of interest both in his work but also of the perception others have of him. It is also noted that included in this lack of interest is a social withdrawal (DSM—IV, 321) which corresponds well to Bartleby in that his workspace becomes known as his â€Å"hermitage†. During small talk which included Bartleby he says that he â€Å"would prefer to be left alone†. (Melville, 120) Bartleby only emerges from his hermitage when called upon and quickly returns when faced with confrontation. His lack of appetite is noticed early where in the narrator notices â€Å"that he never went to dinner†. (Melville, 51) We discover later that he has been eating a bit of ginger-nuts and some morsel of cheese, (Melville, 88) however the narrator suggests that this is a pitiable amount of food and that Bartleby is clearing suffering. In fact his refusal to eat ultimately leads to his death; one might infer that it was a form of suicide as he says that he â€Å"prefers not to dine to-day... [i]t would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners†. (Melville, 235) This implies that Bartleby hadn’t been eating for a long time. Also refusing to eat, Bartleby is shown to very seldom sleep. The narrator mentions that he is â€Å"always there; - first in the morning, continually through the day, and the last at night†, (Melville, 84) he makes his home in the office and the narrator comments that he finally does sleep at the end when he is dead.

The Holocaust :: European Europe History

The Holocaust The Holocaust was the extermination of the Jews and other people whom Hitler considered inferior. It took place from 1933 to 1945. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany led this effort. About 12 million people were murdered, half of them being Jews. When Hitler took over control of Germany, everything changed. Hitler had a very strong prejudice against the Jews. He wanted to create the perfect race of blonde haired blue eyed Germans. His followers, who were the soldiers in the camps, were called Nazis. They enforced all killing that Hitler wanted done. Also, there were many other people involved in this massive genocide. Different people were leading the killing and different groups of people were being killed, not only Jews. For instance, there were many doctors who ran tests on people, but didn't care if the patients were hurt or even killed, which they usually were. All surgeries were performed without any anesthetic. These are just a couple general things that happened durin g the Holocaust. There are so many things that happened in this time period that are impossible to imagine or just are too horrible to think about. The things about the Holocaust that I find the most unnerving are the torture and pain they put the Jews and other groups through. The two main topics I feel are most serious or crucial are the medical experiments and their results and reactions on the patients. Also, the different camps, their strong points and general methods for killing used there. There are three camps that are familiar to me and I hear mentioned the most. They are Dachau, Treblinka, and of course, Auschwitz. The doctor who was most infamous for carrying out horrible experiments was Mengele. Dachau, Treblinka, and Auschwitz were three of the six concentration camps that were used for execution of Jews and other groups considered inferior. At Treblinka, 700,000 to over 1,000,000 people were killed. The gassings at Dachau never went past the experimental stage. They were in no way used as the gas chambers in Auschwitz were. Also, at Dachau, they performed Intense Cooling experiments. A summary of what they did was they'd dress the subject in certain clothes and either put their whole body, to include the brain stem, or only up to the brain stem in water which was from 2.5 to 12 degrees Centigrade. Fatalities only occurred when the brain stem and back of head were also chilled.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Religion in Society Essay -- Essays Papers

Religion in Society Miriam, Deborah and Huldah all are names of prophets from the Bible; they also all happen to be women. There are even two books in the Bible about women, Esther and Ruth. Psalm 68:11 reads, "The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host." With all of this support for women, why are they treated as the inferior sex in the church? The article, â€Å"Women and Gender; Reading the Bible through the Eyes of Women,† states that it is â€Å"crucial that women have the same opportunities and freedom of expression as men in the Church, so that the entire community may benefit from their contribution.† However, many churches do not allow women to play a role in the services, and most do not allow there to be a woman priest or pastor. Lori Beamen points out that fact that, â€Å"Although women frequently do the same work as men, they are denied the authority that accompanies those tasks when performed by men.† Statistics even show that 69.9% of women attend church more often than once a year opposed to 58.2% of men. So how can women put in so much time and do all of this work, and still be denied authority? Even though there are instances in the Bible that support women, many people use the Bible to limit women’s roles in the church and to show women are inferior in general. Some feel that since Adam was created first, and it was Eve who was responsible for the eating of the fruit, men are superior. However, the Women and Gender article notes that â€Å"When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, He did not talk to Adam alone. He addressed the two of them together as two equals, to whom He gave a common task. And that is exactly what partners are: two people who are equ... ...r verse. Paul writes in Galatians 3: 28-29, â€Å"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.† The role of women was enhanced by Christianity and faith in Christ transcends differences and makes all believers one in Christ. Nobody is more superior than the other and if we all remember that, the better the church will function as a whole, no matter if the teachers are male or female. Bibliography African Church Information Service (2003, December 1). â€Å"Women and Gender; Reading the Bible through the Eyes of Women.† AllAfrica, Inc. Beamen, Lori. Introduction. (2004) Sociology of Religion. Wallace, Ruth A. â€Å"The Social Construction of a New Leadership Role: Catholic Women Pastors.† Sociology of Religion, p. 136.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

HBS Marriott Case

Marriott Corporation has three divisions – lodging, contract services and restaurants – with dissimilar operations. The company uses three separate hurdle rates for the three divisions to value the proposed projects. It is believed that this strategy is more appropriate that using a single firm-wide discount rate because the operations of the three divisions differ drastically. However, the company has to ensure that the company uses an appropriate discount rate for each division. Therefore, we calculate the appropriate cost of capital for Marriott as well as for each of the three divisions. A detailed analysis is presented about the appropriate calculation inputs for each of the three divisions and various assumptions, made while performing the calculations, are justified. 1) Are the four components of Marriott's financial strategy consistent with its growth objective? The first component of the strategy is to manage rather than own the hotel properties. This objective mitigates the investment needed to launch new hotels, as the general partner is not required to make significant investments. Although it may be argued that such a strategy could decrease the profit margins, the growth prospects are certainly easily achievable because of less limitation on the resources required. The second objective is an important characteristic of modern corporate finance. It believed that focusing on maximizing shareholder value should be the underlying aim of every corporation, leading to stable growth and healthy profits. With regard to the third objective, Miller and Modigliani claimed that the use of debt, in the presence of corporate taxes, could increase the value of a company through the value added by debt tax shield. In modern finance, it is commonly believed that debt can increase the value of a corporation. However, a company should be careful about high debt levels because of the distress costs associated with high debt. As stated by Marriott, a corporation should aim to optimize its debt at the most beneficial level. The repurchase of undervalued shares might not always be consistent with the growth objective. The repurchase program could make sense if the shares are believed to be highly undervalued and the company does not have more attractive investment opportunities to utilize its cash. However, the strategy could also hinder growth if the company is foregoing highly profitable investment opportunities in order to take advantage of slight under pricing in its shares. 2) How does Marriott use its estimate of its cost of capital? Does this make sense? Marriot evaluates its investment opportunities using the discounted cash flow approach, which requires an estimate of the cost of capital. Technically, the cost of capital for each investment should be commensurate with the amount of risk inherent within the investment. Thereby, if a company has ten different prospective investments, it could have ten different cost of capital estimates for the investments. However, it is impractical for companies to estimate a separate cost of capital for each investment opportunity. Usually, a company operates in a uniform line of business and has investment opportunities with similar risks. Therefore, it is normal for companies to use a single firm-wide cost of capital. However, companies with multiple divisions often use separate cost of capitals for the divisions because each division has separate operations and risks. Marriott Corporation has three separate divisions and employs three separate hurdle rates – one for each division. This treatment is consistent with theory as long as the hurdle rates adequately compensates for the risk inherent in each division’s investment and risk does not vary significantly across investments within a division. ) What is the weighted average cost of capital for Marriott Corporation as a whole? What risk-free rate and risk premium do you use to calculate the cost of equity? How do you measure Marriott's cost of debt? There is no agreed-upon measure of riskfree rate that investors could use. In fact, the available riskfree interest rate could be argued to change with changes in business cycles and economic policies. In t he US, the rate offered by US Treasury securities is often deemed riskfree because of the negligible default risk. However, there is a disagreement regarding the maturity of the treasury security that should be used as a proxy for riskfree rate. Since Marriott is seeking to optimize its debt at a long-term stable level, it is believed that the maturity of the company’s debt will be long. Therefore, the 10-year Treasury bond seems to be an appropriate measure of riskfree rate. The cost of debt is calculated by adding the specified risk premium to the selected riskfree rate. The cost of equity can be calculated using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). The market risk premium is an important constituent of the CAPM. The market risk premium estimates the premium for the excess risk taken by market participants. Investors can earn a certain degree of return – the riskfree rate – without taking any risk. Therefore, the riskfree rate should be subtracted from the market return to calculate the market risk premium – the extra return that investors earn by taking risk. We already have an estimate of the riskfree rate that can be used for Marriott. Therefore, the market risk premium can be calculated by estimating the appropriate market return. The proxy for market return is usually a national stock index such as the S&P500 for US companies. In contrast to the Treasury bond market, where the yields provide an estimate of the future returns on the security, there is no consensus estimate on the future expected return on the stock market. Therefore, historical averages of stock returns are typically used to estimate the future expected return on the market. We use biggest available period – 1926 to 1987 – to estimate the average historical market risk premium. The information about riskfree rate and the market risk premium can be combined with equity beta of Marriott (provided in the case study) to calculate to cost of equity of the company. Once we have the respective costs of debt and equity, the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is simply their average – weighted using the target proportion of debt provided in the case study. The calculations in the attached spreadsheet show that the WACC for Marriott is 10. 39%. 4) What type of investments would you value using Marriott's cost of capital? The cost of capital estimates the riskiness of an average investment within the company. If an investment under consideration by Marriott has more risk than the average investment risk, the cost of capital would understate the risk and overstate the value of investment. On the other hand, if an investment has less risk than the average investment risk, the cost of capital would overstate the risk and understate the value of investment. Therefore, the cost of capital is only appropriate for valuing investments, which closely resemble the typical investments carried out by Marriot Corporation. If an investment has a different amount of risk than the typical investment in Marriott, the company should strive to calculate the cost of capital that is consistent with the investment in question. One way of estimating the appropriate cost of capital would be to look at the comparable companies where that particular investment would be a typical investment. For example, an investment in sports equipment could be evaluated by looking at the cost of capital used by a sports club that uses similar equipment. ) If Marriott used a single hurdle rate for evaluating projects in each of its divisions, what would happen to the company over time? Marriott has three separate divisions with dissimilar operations. The firm-wide cost of capital is probably a weighted average of the three individual costs of capital commensurate with each of the three divisions. While the firm-wide cost of capital might be a good measure of the risk of an average investment undertaken by the company, it is proba bly not a good measure of the investment risk inherent in each division’s average project. If the company continues to use a single discount rate for each of its three divisions, the project cash flows of the division with more than average risk would be overstated, while the project cash flows of division with less than average risk would be understated. Therefore, division with more than average risk would start accepting projects that would have been otherwise rejected if a more appropriate higher discount rate were used. On the other hand, the division with less than average risk would start rejecting projects that would have been accepted if a more appropriate lower discount rate were used. In short, the more risky division would accept negative NPV projects, while the less risky division would reject positive NPV projects. 6) What are the costs of capital for the lodging and restaurant divisions of Marriott? The division wise calculations of the cost of capital are shown in the attached spreadsheet. The weighted average costs of capital for the lodging and restaurant divisions are 9. 76% and 13. 32% respectively. It is important to note that the discount rates differ because certain inputs in the calculations are dissimilar. The most significant differences are in riskfree rates, asset betas, and debt proportions. a) What risk-free rate and market risk premium do you use in calculating the cost of equity capital for each division? How do you choose these numbers? There is no full consensus of which proxy for riskfree rate should be used. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that the maturity of the riskfree rate proxy should match the purpose for which the rate is utilized. It is mentioned that the lodging division has more long-term assets, while assets of restaurant division are short-term in nature. Therefore, one-year riskfree rate has been employed in the restaurant division, whereas a higher ten-year rate has been utilized in the lodging division. On the other hand, the market risk premium for both divisions is the same as the market risk premium previously used for the whole company. Although the asset betas for the divisions have been calculated using the past five years data, it is believed that a larger pool of data should be used to estimate the market risk premium because the recent volatility in the markets might distort results. ) Did you use arithmetic or geometric averages to measure rates of returns? The arithmetic mean adds the annual historical risk premiums and averages the results, while the geometric mean is equal to the compounded annual risk premium. In professional practice, both these methods of calculating average historical risk premiums are regularly employed. However, there is a major statistical difference between the two approaches. Geometric mean is a compounded average of risk premiums and is, therefore, a good predictor of the risk premium over multiple future time-periods. On the other hand, arithmetic mean is the best predictor of risk premium for the forthcoming time-period. In other words, arithmetic mean would be better at predicting the risk premium for the next year, while geometric mean would be superior at predicting the average risk premium over the next few years combined. In this case, we are calculating the risk premium for the purposes of using it in the CAPM model. The CAPM is a single period model, which estimates the cost of equity over a specified time interval. Therefore, the arithmetic mean might be a better method in this context. ) How do you measure the cost of debt for each division? Should the cost of debt differ across divisions? The rationale for using different riskfree rates for the division has already been explained in the preceding section. The case study also provides different levels of risk premiums that should be added to the riskfree rate to calculate the total cost of debt. It could be argued that the company only p ays a single cost of debt, and there is no need to calculate separate cost of debt for each division. However, each division has separate financial leverage, different sales, and a unique ability to cover its debt obligations. Therefore, each division’s debt should also be rated separately for more accurate capital budgeting. d) How do you measure the beta of each division? The betas for the divisions have been calculated using the pure play approach. Under this approach, the equity betas for companies, comparable to each division, are unlevered in accordance with the respective leverage. The resulting asset betas are then averaged to obtain an estimate of the asset beta for each division. Subsequently, the respective asset beta for each division is relevered, using the target debt ratio for the division, to obtain the equity beta. ) What is the cost of capital for Marriott's contract services division? How can you estimate its cost of equity when there are no publicly traded comparables? The beta for contract services division cannot be obtained directly because there are publicly traded comparable companies, which could have been used to employ the pure play approach. However, we do have informati on about the asset beta of the overall company as well as the asset betas for the remaining two divisions. Theoretically, the overall asset beta for Marriott should be a weighted average of the individual asset betas for the three divisions. The weights can be calculated using the information about identifiable assets in each division. Thereby, the only unknown in the equation is contract services division’s asset beta, which can be obtained through basic arithmetic. Subsequently, the asset beta can be levered using the target debt proportion to obtain the equity beta, which can be used is the CAPM equation to calculate the cost of equity for contract services division. The WACC for the division is simply the weighted average of its cost of equity and cost of debt. The calculations in the attached spreadsheet estimate the cost of capital to be 8. 4%. 8) Marriott also considered using the hurdle rates to determine incentive compensation. How do we link this with the Economic Value Added (EVA) approach? The objective of any company’s management should be to maximize the shareholder wealth. Shareholder wealth increases when a company consistently produces positive economic value. In this context, economic valu e added is measured as the excess operating profits over the dollar cost of capital. In mathematical terms, economic value added equals net operating profits after tax minus the product of cost of capital and capital employed (dollar amount of WACC). The concept of economic value added is closely linked to the concept of net present value (NPV) calculated using the hurdle rates. Specifically, a positive NPV project will generate positive EVA, while a negative NPV project will generate negative EVA. Therefore, if a company only accept positive NPV projects, calculated using the appropriate hurdle rates, it will generate positive EVA on the profits generated from these projects. Therefore, a manager’s compensation could be linked to the amount of positive net present value that the manager generates through new investments.

Friday, August 16, 2019

How to Invest Money

The money is not the most important thing in life, but sometimes is really necessary, how to spend it sometimes could be a difficult work, some people are great spenders, others spend the money carefully, but in life, we always have the necessity to spend it, in a lot of difference ways, in my case, i am not a big spender, I am a thrifty person, i take a lot of care in how I spend my money, because in fact, i do not work yet, it is my parents money so i have to think a lot of how i use it. I always try to save money for the future, we all never know when we would need it, in this moment of my life I spend the majority of my money in clothes, shoes, make up, food and things like that but all the time i am looking for supplies and discounts because i think i a very smart way to save money. I do not like to buy a lot of things, i prefer to use my money in traveling, going out with my friends and family, knowing new places or doing interesting things, because the material things are gonna stand with you just for a while, but memories are forever. If I win the lottery, I will do a lot of things. First of all I will put all the money in a bank account, and hire someone who helps me to manage my money, the i will discuss with my parents how to spend all that money because i know the have a lot of experience and will give me the best advice. I will by a beautiful house at the beach, with a big pool, in which i can invite all my family and friends and have fun, and another important thing, i will travel all the world!!! , know the most beautiful places in the world, France, England, Australia, etc, learn about their cultures and history, and make one of my dreams came true, go to the snow. I think that a smart way to spend money is to invest, so i will invest in properties, etc. Another thing I would do with all that money would be have my own business, buy a big house for my parents at the mountains, a study in a great University. In fact if i have more money left, i will use it all in charities, and to help people in all over the world, like orphaned children, help hospitals, poor people, etc, and of course help my best friends. I think the money is always going to be necessary but we decide how to make it important in our lives.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Narrative Essay. A Day of Mixed Happiness and Sadness Essay

Do you think that it’s unbelievable to feel happy and sad at the same time? Actually, it is really possible to feel these two feelings inasmuch since it is something that happened to me five years ago when I graduated from college. I was happy because it was my graduation party, but I was sad because we my classmates and me – would go our separate ways again after four years of being in a close-knit relationship. . First of all, as I had gotten up earlier than usual and prepared myself for the party, I arrived at college early. Of course I was really happy at that time and I took a seat next to my classmates, my friends. After a little time, as our classmates, guests and our teachers arrived at the large hall, the party began with the reciting of some Quranic verses, and the welcoming speech. Then we listened to the speeches of the rector of the university – University of Aden, the dean of the faculty of Education-Aden and the graduates’ valedictorian. After that we enjoyed some celebratory sections of the party, such as watching a play and listening to some popular and pleasant songs performed by some students. The official party of our graduation ended up with announcing the names of the honor students and distributing certificates of appraisal at the finale at the time at which we heard the call to Al-Dhuhr prayer. Then, after prayer everyone in our group was ready for the special party of our group – group two – at the college campus. It had been agreed the day before by the group students to bring lunch, cake and drinks. So we began to eat those delicious homemade meals and then moved to have some cakes, and sweets as one real family. When everybody had finished eating, the group party started pleasantly with remembering and discussing our college memories and stories with hearts full of nostalgia longing to return to those sweet past days and moments. Lastly, despite the concealed feelings of sadness and nostalgia, we had some moments of fun and amusement when some of our female classmates brought some humorous evaluations they had prepared about the personalities of most of us. But as we began to talk about our farewell and asked each other to write down some memorable notes in their notebooks as well, feelings got triggered until some eyes filled with tears and the hearts of all became full of mixed happiness and sadness, hopes and disappointments and also waves of nostalgia for the beloved past and storms of longing for the hoped future. To conclude, of course, on our significant date of graduation, we separated as it was the farewell day, but we made our way of communicating with each other by creating a group on â€Å"Facebook† with the same name of our study group. And we learned a lot throughout this experience, such as â€Å"whomever you like, some day you will be parted from† and we knew that this is the mores of life, which has its advantages and disadvantages in our points of view. Finally, my graduation party was so exciting because I graduated from college; on the other hand, that day was one of the saddest days of my life as a result of separating us after four years of brotherhood, intimacy, friendship and closeness.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Advantages and Disadvantages of Democracy Essay

The term ‘democracy’, like many other political terms, was first discovered in Ancient Greece. It consists of two short words: ‘demos’ which means either ‘a citizen in a particular city-state’ or ‘the lower orders’, and ‘kratos’ which means either ‘rule’ or ‘power’ – but these two are not of the same meaning. The original meaning of democracy is the rule by the poor or by the rabble. Aristotle had a clear argument stating that a rich majority would not be able to govern fairly (Arblater, 2002). This essay aims to identify advantages of modern democracy-based governments, such as equality for men and women, free press and media and totalitarianism as well as provide criticism in terms of the two systems. Democracy has become the subject of various debates, with the supporters claiming that it is the most appropriate form of government nowadays because it guarantees constitutional rights for people. Moreover, democracy can create a positive structure for economic development as it provides free trade relationships between countries. The main purposes of democracy are presented in the way of core constitutional rights, such as a right to vote, equality of rights for men and women, freedom of speech and expression and, last but not least, personal sovereignty. All these elements are required for the modern society. For this reason, a democratic government aims to meet these requirements in order to satisfy its people. A governmental structure based on the principles of democracy, which is established well enough in the Western countries and Europe, has been developing for more than four centuries and has been absorbing and leaving essential requirements, for instance constitutional rights for all citizens, for further evolution of democracy. Today, democratic countries, for example Great Britain, provide sovereignty to all citizens regardless of their religion, race or social status. The main way of providing population with the elements required for a democracy is a straight dialogue between the government and people and apprehending the latter’s needs and desires. (Arblaster, 2002) Furthermore, press and media is one of the most important aspects of the modern democracy. However, there are still some countries with a democratic status but with issues in this particular field. These areas are partly or totally controlled by governmental agencies and authorities. The leading position in the non-democratic behavior is held by the Arab countries. The information released by Freedom House in October 2010 demonstrates that the closure of the Nichane newspaper, one of the most open-minded Arabic language weeklies, was another strong blow to the freedom of press in Morocco. The main reason for the closure was a systematic multi-year boycott as a result of controversial reports about the company run by the Moroccan Royal family, Omnium Nord-African Group. The Freedom of Expression Officer at Freedom House, has emphasized the issue in this area by saying that: â€Å"Authorities are increasingly using economic manipulation to punish and intimidate independent or critical media†. Currently, the impacts of democracy play an integral role in active economy. Aspects such as private property, competition, and fair market – which are guaranteed to the society in democratic countries today – create stable economic markets. Additionally, democracy makes trade and market relationships between countries easier in comparison to communistic countries, for example China, where regulations on export and import are still much stricter (Zuzovski, 1998). After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the way Czech Republic managed to recreate from the situation in a quick and positive manner is a great example of economical benefits in democracy-based states. The principal changes, like privatization of businesses, liquidation of monopolized external trade and regulation of the market prices took place in Czech Republic between 1989 and 1992. Moreover, willingness to open the door to investments from abroad in Czech Republic led to redevelopment of industries and infrastructures in just 20 years. Thus, for example, United States have been investing in to Czech Republic economy since 2008 and in 2011 a contribution worth $5. 41 billion was made. These investments have hepled in support of infrastructure and industry within the country, and allowed the Czech Republic to become one of the strongest economics in Western Europe (U. S. Departament of State, 2012). An example like this could make a nation more faithful in democracy-based government structures. However, opponents argue that total democracy can face issues like fascism and discrimination purely because some people might think that it is in their right to divide people by race, nationality or religion. In addition, the opponents claim that an alternative political structure for democracy can be totalitarianism, which establishes a society with paper-based democracy but no dignity of an individual rights in practice. Totalitarianism has been cited as totally opposite system to democracy. The supporters claim that totalitarianism creates an ideally structured government and society. The philosophy of totalitarianism simply rejects the independence of an individual and instead substitutes it with the notion of collectivity. It only targets needs and interests of the society as a whole. However, the totalitarian regime controls private lives of people, which includes belief, tastes, and many other parts of the life. In the times of the Soviet Union, private life of all citizens was totally controlled by the governmental agencies. The rights of the people were complied, but only on paper and not in practice. However, in reality, citizens’ dignity was hijacked. Salient features of Soviet Union society was illusory and fictitious nature of the represented world. Members of some social groups had privileges, but members of other groups did not have a right to a passport, to walk on particular streets, or to use holiday resorts (Todorov, 2003). In addition, Todorov (2003) argues that the totalitarianism in post-communist Commonwealth of Independant States republics led to corrupt political institutions, and it had ravaged the economy, the environment and human souls. To demonstrate corruption rate in one of post-communist countries, Holmes (2009) claims that in the first decade after collapse of the Soviet Union, the corruption rate in Russian reached 2. 7 per cent. Moreover, there have been widespread concerns that democracy might have influenced people’s behavior towards each other. This might be based on difference and unequal treatment in terms of race, gender or ethnicity. U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n. d. ) reported statistics, which claims that in the beginning of 21st century race discrimination was 36. %, however in 2011 this figure decreased for almost one per cent and became 34. 5%. Furthermore, the fact Benhabib (1996) suggests that the discrimination rate in the United States has decreased in the past ten years, and it works because of the positive treatment of people regardless of their gender, race, background or ethnic identity within the country. However, the core definition of democracy, which was mentioned above, sometimes cannot be used as a plain and uncompleted term. One of the problems is the relation between the idea and reality. The contemporary reality sometimes does not correspond with the idea of the classic notions of democracy. For instance, does the fact that the government is elected by the people mean that the system is a democratic one? Thus, when Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, he did it through a constitutional process, as the leader of the Nazi party, who gained 43. 9% at Reichstag. Few people could complain about legitimacy of the German elections in 1933 but yet not many would be able to describe the Third Reich as a democratic governor. Arblaster (2002) argues that the best remedy for this might be to revise the concept of democracy itself to suit it to real modern society. In addition, Arblaster (2002) suggests that society should not follow these mistakes, committed in the past. Moreover, Modern democracy is, in fact, capitalistic. It is rule of the capitalists. Electioneering is carried out with money. The rich candidates purchase votes. Might of economic power rules over the whole process. The net result is that we get plutocracy under the garb of democracy-democracy in name and form, plutocracy in reality. It cares a fig for the common man. The rich hold the media and use it for their own benefit. Big business houses influence dailies and use these dailies for creating public opinion to their favour. Influence of moneyed people over politics is probably clear in England, America and India. Consequently, communists don’t accept it democracy at all. Socialist democracy is democracy in the right sense of the term because the welfare of the labour class and farming community can be safeguarded properly only under socialist democracy. (Tusha Jupta, 2012) In conclusion, for reasons identified and described above, democracy should be viewed as a prosperous and useful way of governing a country because it is also relatively peaceful for co-existence of individuals, society as a whole, and the government. In comparison to totalitarianism, democracy has significant positive factors, such as economic structure, easier trade relationships, constitutional rights, which in totalitarian countries are stricter and more limited. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out that democracy still has problems that need to be addressed, especially the ones in press and media sector.