People Management and Organisation Development

Executive Summary The introduction of changes in a business is usually related to resistance at lower or higher level. Such risk can be reduced if appropriate measures are taken in advance. In this study, reference is made to an organisation’s effort to implement a change plan in order to secure the benefits of Organisational Development. The above effort of the organisation has led to certain benefits. Still, improvements would be made to the plan so that a long term growth is achieved. It should be noted that the business operate in the fast food industry, a sector which is quite competitive. In UK, where the business is based, the strong competition of the industry has been combined with the market pressures. This means that in order to secure their organisational development the businesses of the industry, including the business under review, should focus on all aspects of organisational change. 1.0 Introduction The appearance of failures in the completion of daily organisational tasks usually indicates the need for reviewing the organisational sectors involved. If such initiative is not taken immediately then the deterioration of organisational performance is not avoided. For ensuring that such phenomena are avoided in their environment businesses can act in advance by developing a flexible strategy, i.e. a strategy that allows to managers an early intervention to organisational problems (Pasmore et al., 2013). In this way, chances for severe losses are limited while the exposure of the organisation to further risks is reduced. Organisational development is a framework that helps managers to face problems by implementing appropriate plans of change. In the literature, organisational development has been described as ‘the process of planned change and improvement of organisations through the application of knowledge of the behavioural sciences’ (Griffin and Moorhead, 2009: 504). The practical implications of organisational development are explored in this paper. Reference is made to a business of the UK fast-food industry. The specific business operates in UK for more than 10 years and it is part of a global chain of fast-food restaurants. Due to severe problems in the organisation’s daily operations the implementation of a plan for change was considered as the only solution. The key aim of this effort was to achieve organisational development within the shortest possible period and within an economy budget. Following this practice would allow the business to keep its performance standardized while organisational development would be in progress. The target set was only partially achieved. Losses were minimized but the cost of the strategy was proved much higher than initially estimated. Being an employee of the business during this period I am able to describe the various phases of organisational development, as occurred in the particular business. A series of factors have negatively affected the progress of the strategy. Still, the benefits gained through the implementation of change cannot be ignored. Drawbacks would need a bit longer, than expected, in order to disappear. 2.0 Organisational development in practice – a case study 2.1 Overview of the UK fast food sector The UK fast food sector is a quite powerful one. In fact, the specific sector is characterized by strong competition and the increased control of multinational brands, such as McDonalds and KFC (Ibis World, 2014). Despite the signs of decreased performance in the near past, the particular sector shows signs of long term growth. So far, the businesses of this sector achieve a growth of 2.5% annually (Ibis World 2014, par.2). Local brands seem to have improved their position while new entrants have become common phenomenon. For the future, the perspectives of the sector have been highlighted as significant. Still, concerns have appeared in regard to critical issues that have been related to industry’s products; reference can be made, as an example, to the concerns developed by governmental and non-governmental organisations in UK for the potential threat of the sector’s products for children’s health (Hardwick, 2014). 2.2 Assessment of the strategy implemented In order to evaluate the appropriateness of the strategy of change implemented in the organisation of the case study it is necessary to present primary this strategy’s parts. Then, an assessment can be produced in regard to this strategy taking into consideration the existing literature but also the benefits and drawbacks of the strategy, as appeared almost immediately after the strategy’s implementation.2.2.1 Key elements of the strategyThe strategy implemented in the business under examination had two parts: a) the first part referred to the introduction of changes in the tasks allocated to the staff; changes were introduced in relation to the duties of all employees, including for the restaurant’s supervisor; b) the second part of the strategy included a training program. All employees in the businesses had to participate in a training program of six weeks. The participation in the program was mandatory for employees. In order to avoid resistance the owner of the business has announced that during the program employees would be paid normally, as being in work. In the context of the program each employee had to spend one hour daily in classroom-based lectures. Also, employees were provided with support material, such as notes and lists with resources for further study. Each Friday employees had to pass a test on the week’s material. The results of the test were checked by a HR consultant. Each second Friday, the consultant had a meeting with employees for discussing their progress. At the end of the program employees passed an evaluation test the results of which were announced to the business owner. These results were combined with the employees’ overall performance, as reported daily in the workplace. Emphasis was given to the potential of employees to respond to their new duties and to achieve self-improvement.2.2.2 Critical assessment of the strategy’s appropriatenessAccording to the literature, organisational dev elopment is a complex framework. Indeed, in practice it has been proved that the above framework can refer either to the structural characteristics of a business or to the communication channels used by employees for responding to the needs of their role (Cummings and Worley, 2014). The major advantage of OD it its potential to be related ‘either to organisational structure or to organisational processes’ (Cummings and Worley, 2014: 3). Brandford and Burke (2005) also agree that OD is quite wide incorporating practices of different elements depending on the skills/ experiences of the managers involved or on the resources available for the implantation of the relevant strategy. On other hand, Yaeger and Sorensen (2009) have supported that organisational development cannot be achieved just by introducing change. Rather, it is necessary to review organisational strategy carefully and to proceed to radical improvements (Yaeger and Sorensen, 2009). In other words, OD should be based on short-term benefits but rather on the long term organisational growth. A similar approach is used by Anderson (2013). The above researcher explains that OD is not just a series of changes on existing business activities. It is rather a framework for transforming organisational practices. Such benefit can be secured only if organisational culture is also reviewed and updated (Anderson, 2013). The value of OD for the improvement of organisational performance is also highlighted in the study of Rothwell et al. (2009). In the above study particular reference is made to the leader’s role in the successful implementation of OD plans. This view is justified by referring to the following fact: in case of strong oppositions towards an OD plan the leader is the person that has to assess the crisis appropriately and to take emergent decisions. If the leader fails to respond effectively in any phase of the plan then the chances for the success of the plan are significantly re duced (Rothwell et al., 2009). The potential practices of managers for developing effective strategies are presented in the graph in Figure 1 (Appendices). According to the above, the strategy of change implemented in the business reviewed in this paper cannot be characterized as fully effective. At a first level, the restaurant’s manager has accepted that he had not experience on such plans. Then, when employees started to have concerns on their replacement during their absence for the seminars no clear answer was given to them. No particular program has been developed for arranging the changing of swifts during the training program. Rather, swift arrangements were made daily, in the beginning of the swift and with reference to the other day. In this way, if an employee would not be able to replace a colleague as a result of an unexpected event, then the staff’s left in the restaurant would not be adequate for covering the tasks required. On the other fact, all employ ees have welcomed the re-distribution of tasks and the arrangement of meetings with the HR consultant. Due to these practices the restaurant’s efforts to promote change have faced minimum resistance from employees. 2.3 Evaluation of how the cooperation of stakeholders has been ensured In the change plan implemented in the business under examination the cooperation of stakeholders has been attempted by using two motives: one monetary and the other non-monetary. Indeed, at a primary level efforts have been made so employees do not feel as suffering losses due to their participation in the OD plan of the organisation. In fact, employees are compensated normally without their participation in the training program to reduce their daily income. Moreover, a non-monetary motive has been used by the employer in order to ensure that employees would not feel as threatened by the change efforts: employees have the chance to discuss with the HR consultant in regard to the changes in their duties but also in regard to their needs and weaknesses as of the tasks assigned to them daily. In this way, the change plan becomes for employees a chance for self-development and not a cause for potential losses. The effectiveness of this approach could be decided by referring to the respon ses of employees to the plan of change but also to their views as of the particular organisational initiative. After the end of the training program a survey was conducted within the business. Employees had to state their view on the OD plan so far and to make suggestions for potential improvements of the plan. The findings of the survey seem to be quite satisfactory: about 73% of employees are convinced for the plan’s necessity while 68% of employees agree that the chosen approaches for promoting change have been appropriate. However, there is also a percentage 32% of employees that would prefer to wait for a particular period of time before developing an opinion for the plan’s effectiveness. The literature developed in this field offers the chance to understand the role of stakeholders in the organisational development but also the need to secure their participation in any organisational change plan. For Grieves (2010) stakeholders would be willing to support the OD of a business only in the following case: that they would be given the chance to share their knowledge/ resources with the organisation. For example, customers would be supportive to an organisation’s effort to improve its services by giving to customers the potential for a feedback (Grieves, 2010). The provision of free Internet within a restaurant so that customers can check the daily menu and state their view on their food on real-time would be another scheme for increasing the customers’ interest towards the business involved. From another point of view, Schabracq (2009) explained that the efforts for securing the stakeholders’ support in a plan of change should be based on criteria of hierarchy: emphasis should be given primarily to the members of the organisation as ‘those who are interested mostly for the organisation’s success’ (Schabracq, 2009: 23). However, Roberts notes that when being in front of a plan of change the employees of a business are likely to react primarily with ‘cynicism and skepticism’ (2014: 58). If checked using the literature mentioned above, the approach of the manager to secure the support of stakeholders can be characterized as successful. However, this view would refer only to a particular category of stakeholders: employees. For other categories, including customers and community valid view could be formulated after a period of time, such as 6 months, and after checking the business performance in practice. For example, if 6 months after the number of customers’ complaints would continue to increase then the alteration of the OD plan of the business would be unavoidable. In other words, the business has emphasized just on its close stakeholders, probably believing that in this way direct benefits could be achieved. For the stakeholders of the business that are outside of the internal organisational environment (Figure 2) the relevant measures would take long to show their benefits, a view that can be considered as partially justified. 3.0 Conclusion The implementation of a change plan in the business under review has been considered as the only way to achieve organisational development (OD). However, the change plan introduced has not been carefully designed. The fact that emphasis has been given to employees can be considered as justified since employees are those directly affected by the organisational performance and those that can mostly prevent the success of such plan (Oswick, 2013). However, the failure of the business to address the needs of other stakeholders can be considered as a major issue (Idris et al., 2014). In addition, signs of improvement of the daily performance of business have appeared but this benefit has been achieved employing higher investment than estimated (Barnard and Stoll, 2010). Of course, the efforts of a business to promote change should not be too dynamic. In this case the chance for the negative responses of the stakeholders is high (Hashim, 2014). In regard to this issue it has been noted tha t the opposition of stakeholders to a change plan is likely to become ‘stronger as the time passes’ (Roberts 2014; 58). For eliminating such risk the managers of GM have preferred to follow Lewin’s plan of change (Figure 3), which highlights the value of slow steps in the implementation of change in each organisation. The manager in the business under examination seemed to have preferred a similar approach. Despite this fact, the alteration of the strategy implemented as certain of its parts would result to the increase of the strategy’s effectiveness. 4.0 Recommendations The strategy of change implemented in the business under review should be improved at the following points: a) customers should be given the chance to evaluate the business performance and to make their recommendations in regard to the progress of change, as applied in the business; for example, a customer-feedback leaflet should be available in the restaurant; b) the website of the restaurant should be appropriately customized so that the following option is available to customers: customers should be given the potential to vote online for the restaurant’s menu, making their choices as their preferences. The results would be evaluated by the firm’s manager on a weekly basis so that drawbacks of the menu are addressed. In other words, customers should be given a more active role in the improvement of organisation’s performance. The specific approach however would require the transformation of the business culture which is more aligned with the interests of its cl osest stakeholders, i.e. its members, a practice that it is not always considered as negative (Schabracq, 2009); c) also, a supervision scheme should be developed for ensuring that the phases of the strategy of change are sufficiently monitored as in all of their elements. This measure would be aligned with the suggestions made by Griffith-Cooper and King (2007) in regard to the importance of control in the organisational change (Figure 4). 5.0 Bibliography Anderson, D., 2013. Organisation Development: The Process of Leading Organisational Change. London: SAGE. Asghar, Z., 2011. New Approach to Strategic Planning: the Impact of Leadership and Culture on Plan Implantation via the three Cs: Cooperation, Collaboration and Coordination. ASBBS Annual Conference: Las Vegas, February 2011, pp.1121-1132. Available at . [Accessed 12 November 2014]. Barnard, M. and Stoll, N., 2010. Organisational Change Management: A rapid literature review. Short Policy Report No 10/01. Bristol Institute of Public Affairs, pp.1-11. Available at . [Accessed 12 November 2014]. Boatright, J.2006. What’s Wrong—and What’s Right— with Stakeholder Management. Journal of Private Enterprise, 21(2), pp.106-131. Boonstra, J., 2008. Dynamics of Organisational Change and Learning. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Bradford, D. and Burke, W., 2005. Reinventing Organisation Development: New Approaches to Change in Organisations. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Conrad, C. and Poole, M., 2012. Strategic Organisational Communication: In a Global Economy. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Cummings, T. and Worley, C., 2014. Organisation Development and Change. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Fairholm, M., 2009. Leadership and Organisational Strategy. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 14(1), pp.1-16. Freedman, A., 2011. Using Action Learning for Organisation Development and Change. OD Practitioner, 43(2), pp.7-13. Griffin, R. and Moorhead, G., 2009. Organisational Behavior: Managing People and Organisations. 9th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Hashim, M., 2014. Organisational change: case study of GM (General Motors). Journal of Business Administration and Management Sciences Research, 3(1), pp.1-5. Hendrickson, S. and Gray, E., 2012. Legitimizing Resistance to Organisational Change: A Social Work Social Justice Perspective. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(5), pp.50-59. Griffith-Cooper, B. and King, K., 2007. The partnership between project management and organisational change: integrating change management with change leadership. Performance Improvement, 46(1), pp.14-20. Idris, K., Adekalu, S. and Genty, K., 2014. Organisation Development and Strategic Intervention for Enterprise Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria. British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 16(11), pp.156-171. Kaplan, R. and Norton, D., 2001. Building a Strategy – Focused Organisation. Ivey Business Journal, May/June 2001. Available at [Accessed 12 November 2014]. Kotter, J. and Schlesinger, L., 2008. Choosing Strategies for Change. Harvard Business Review, July/ August 2008, pp.1-10. Lunenburg, F., 2010. Organisational Development: Implementing Planned Change. International Journal of Management, Business and Administration, 13(1), pp.1-9. Oswick, C., 2013. Reflections: OD or Not OD that is the Question! A Constructivist’s Thoughts on the Changing Nature of Change. Journal of Change Management, 13(4), pp.371-381. Maimunah, I., 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility and its role in community development: An international perspective. The Journal of International Social Research, 2(9), pp.200-209. Nordin, E., 2014. Communicating Organisational Change: Strategies for Communicating Change. The Clute Institute. International Academic Conference, San Antonio, Texas, USA, pp.135-145. Available at . [Accessed 12 November 2014]. Pasmore, W., Woodman, R., Noumair, D. and Shani, A., 2013. Research in Organisational Change and Development. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing. Roberts, G., 2014. Servant Leader Human Resource Management: A Moral and Spiritual Perspective. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Rothwell, W., Stavros, J., Sullivan, R. and Sullivan, A., 2009. Practicing Organisation Development: A Guide for Leading Change. 3rd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Samson, D. and Bevington, T., 2012. Implementing Strategic Change: Managing Processes and Interfaces to Develop a Highly Productive Organisation. London: Kogan Publishers. Schabracq, M., 2009. Changing Organisational Culture: The Change Agent’s Guidebook. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. Wu, M., 2012. Managing Stakeholders: An Integrative Perspective on the Source of Competitive Advantage. Asian Social Science, 8(10), pp.160-172. Yaeger, T. and Sorensen, P., 2009. Strategic Organisation Development: Managing Change for Success. Charlotte: IAP Publishing. Yilmaz, B. and Gunel, O., 2009. The Importance of Strategic Stakeholder Management in Tourism Sector: Research on Probable Applications. TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM, 4(1), pp.97-108.

Medea Monologue Evaluation

The monologue I was given was an extract from the play ‘Medea. I played Medea. My director (Mark) and I started with a read-through of the script, even from the first read-through we decided the main theme was that we wanted to show her need for revenge. We the realised this was from the same play that we watched last year. We used this to come up with that themes needed such as her still being in love with Jason. We used units and objectives to the scene into sections. From different sections we got different units, some parts should show a very vulnerable side then others showed anger and love. We realised this was a script needed different levels of emotion and having the ability to change your emotion very quickly was key. We decided to focus on her unrequited love for her husband (Jason) who divorced and betrayed her. Also the anger that she held towards him because of the betrayal needs to be strong. She needed to be quite hard and strong but vulnerable at some points. Once we had cracked the themes and character personality we started do proper rehearsals. I rehearsed by myself to learn my lines and come up with some ideas on how to perform it. Then in school we tried the different ideas and different ways to say each line changing as we go. I sub-texted each line and brought it in so again we can see what she is really trying to say with each line. This made us change how I said the beginning of the script. We hot-seated with different partners’ and the question really made me think. It made me want to show that she still loved Jason but hated him too. Our class did an exercise when we had to be stuck in a lift with as our character with other characters. This was eye opening too, just how much of a strong facade Medea put on to try and mask her feelings. The set was just a simple chair in the middle of the stage. We wanted simplicity so people could focus on the dialogue. The costume again wasn’t complex but purple velvet toga (because she is a Greek princess); this was to show her royal roots. The rehearsal with Mr. Borrill was what turned it around because he told me what to focus on, what parts are meant too be strong and what parts are meant to show weakness. It definitely helped me develop how I wanted the audience to see Medea in the last few days before the performance. The day of the performance arrived. I used emotional memory to get me into the mood just an hour before and I think this really helped in the believability. I think it is one of my best performances; I felt like I connected with audience and used my projection well. I had just enough tension filled moments and I used the silence well. My main fault is my staging, I should’ve moved around more and that is something we focused on in rehearsal but I think my nerves didn’t want me to move. I used props well, when I used it as a symbol of different things such as one represented Jason. I think it was a very good performance other than the staging. I was proud of myself

Analysis Of External And Internal Environment Marketing Essay

Analysis Of External And Internal Environment Marketing Essay A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships. Every business which starts with the small capital, few members of staff and management, don’t have much branches in other areas, town or country will be called as small businesses. Small businesses often have the vision of expansion, invest more capitalisation as well as profit maximisation. Here I am taking about Fried chicken shop which is necessary to UK people. This fried chicken shop name is western fried chicken. Executive Summary: The marketing plan of Western Fried Chicken focuses on their current positioning and the effects of repositioning themselves by launching Halal Fried Chicken. With its launch, they’d also be in the list of one of the â€Å"Halal† food suppliers in UK. The main idea is to offer Halal fried chicke n in western style as well as with a few amendments in the recipe by making it spicy to make it appealing to its extended target audience i.e. Muslims that reside in United Kingdom. The reason being Muslims prefer a slightly more spicy food than the western food. The repositioning of the brand is targeted towards the extension of its target audience by allowing access to another target group i.e. a profitable population of Muslims from all over the world, living in UK. There is a high tendency of its success as Western Fried Chicken is already liked by its existing target audience and gets good reviews if anyone is a big fan of scrumptious chicken, chips and even juicy burgers. The consumers prefer WFC more than one of its giant competitors i.e. KFC. The Buzz marketing effect would be one of the best and cost free methods of promoting their chicken. The Challenge The food industry is a mammoth industry in UK and since there is a busy lifestyle, people prefer fast food take – away rather than going for fine dining. In order to survive in the food industry where there is cut throat competition with over 1, 000 individual brands and 1,700 outlets, WFC has to offer something exceptional to its existing target audience in order to retain them and also attract new ones by enabling Muslims to be carefree regarding the Halal meat and focus on providing them something according to their preferences and taste. A little effort on consumer research should be put in, in order to know about their preferences and ultimately provide better end results to them and remove chances of consumer disgust. Vision: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To establish a world class brand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To be the leading and fastest growing fast food chain in UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To be synonymous with quality and profitability. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To bring innovative products and business models to customers. Mission: Providing a hot juice burger, hot testy fried wings and chips. Providing a customer nice environment and nice service. Analysis of external and internal environment of the company: EXTERNAL environment:

Reaction paper on the documentary called The corporation Essay

Reaction paper on the documentary called The corporation - Essay Example These are just a few of the mind games businesses use as bait to catch the big fish in a sea of high-potential buying power of consumers today. With this said, understanding what goes into the process of the â€Å"prey-predator† in the business kingdom & how the predator uses temptation to blur the lines between â€Å"needs† and â€Å"wants† is crucial for everyone as consumers to know when to take a bite and when to commit to a non-indulgent fast. The Corporation documentary written by Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott shows they are up to one thing in producing this material – to breach into the politics of the pursuit of power and profit of businesses today. First of the points this documentary has tackled that is worthy of notice would be the difference in the business environment before and today. In the past, all that a business would pursue would be to breakeven from the cost of operating the business and earning beyond that was considered a bonus. However, contemporary businesses today, I believe spend half the time minding their own business and the other half monitoring their competitors’ moves and constantly on the lookout for events that they could use to benefit them. Just like dirty politics as we call it, there are a lot of hidden secrets to the success and downfall of business tycoons. Some of the well-kept secrets that have been revealed by this documentary would be the reality of the bargaining activities of corporations to fight for their rights that human beings alike enjoy, the business hoax against the United States President Franklin Roosevelt, the suppression of a news-worthy story of a television station so they could protect certain parties affiliated to them, and the most trivial among all would be the alleged involvement of IBM in the historical Nazi holocaust that destroyed so many lives (Bakan, J.). Indeed, what can be a matter of just being provided quality products and s ervices for consumers like us could come from controversial undertakings waiting to be avenged. The second point that awakened my cognizance was when the writer of the documentary tagged corporations today as either being a person or a psychopath (Bakan, J.). It was for me automatic to comprehend how corporations are so much like people. They have rights to intellectual property, tangible properties, properties that are backed up by contracts and trusts which a company could always fight for to propel a peaceful and at the same time speedy development of their business. Aside from that, just like people, corporations have certain needs that would smoothly fit Maslow’s hierarchy – Physiological needs that pertains to legal documents, capital, manpower, & goods needed before they could start operating the business; Safety from market-reach-devouring competitors; The need for belongingness in a certain business category, being fully equipped for competition; Achieving utm ost self-esteem by being top of mind of not only one’s chosen target market but including those that are not; And lastly, the highest would be self-actualization where competitors’ moves does not directly affect one’s business performance anymore. However, what is naked to consumers’ eyes would be when corporations start being a psychopath. This could be

Empress elizabeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Empress elizabeth - Essay Example At her tender age, German had a significant influence on Russian economic and political development, which she did not welcome. As such, in 1941, she organized a coup that led to the collapse of the emperor of the time, and capture of the emperor family members, which was a major boost to the Russian economic development transition. By then, Russia was independent from its neighbouring countries based on its treaties. According to Madariaga, â€Å"the  conditions  laid  down  by  treaty  when  the  Baltic  provinces  were  first  annexed  by  Russia  in  1712,  Livonia  and  Estonia  were  allowed  to  maintain  their  own  form  of  administration,  social  structure,  religion  and  language† (8). Since her approach to governance was very different from that of the previous governance, many changes were necessary. As such, when she got to power, she obliterated the cabinet system of governance and replaced it with the senate system. To her, the senate system effectively addressed the needs of a majority of the population and thus was more appealing. Moreover, the previous system of governance had failed to realize good results. ... This is because it empowers the citizens with knowledge to make sound decision on various aspects of life, they encounter. In her part, Elizabeth played a major role in improving the literacy level in Russia. Due to her interest in education, she led to the establishment of the first Russian university. This ensured that people who held various positions had a chance to sharpen their skills and thus improve their efficiency in management. In addition, Elizabeth saw the establishment of the academy of art, which was an investment to the Russian economy, and was facilitated by her extensive interaction with foreign policy. The foreign policy was reinforced by Catherine, her successor. According to Madariaga, â€Å"The  basic  orientation  of  her  foreign  policy  was  laid  down  in  the  treaty  of  alliance  with  Austria  in  1726,  while  friendly  relations  were  maintained  with  Britain  and  Denmark† (11). The acade my of art enhanced art skills and thus provided an avenue for the creation of revenue, for both the citizens and government. This saw Russian became a power hub in the European region and thus gained recognition from other well-established nations of the time. According to Madariaga, â€Å"As  a  result  of  the  union  between  the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia  and  the  Empress   Maria  Theresia  of  Austria  in  1746,  Russia  became  one  of  the  leading  powers  in  the  so ­called  diplomatic  revolution  of  1756,  the  change ­over  from  the  traditional  hostility  between  France  and  Austria  to  an  alliance  between  the  two  countries,  supported  by  Russia,  with  the  aim  of  defeating  and  partitioning  Prussia† (12) Significant economic and political success was realized during the

Senior Project Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Senior Project Team - Essay Example The business plan will provide a foundation upon which future plans can be built with all of the business goals in mind and with a clear direction in which the company can journey. In creating a business plan, the first recommended course of actions is for the company to set on paper the mission of the company. Creating a mission statement allows a company to provide an overall goal through which all other goals can be measured and assessed. The mission statement would include ideas about the values and purposes that the business intends for being in business. This creates a doorway to understanding why the business exists. As business decisions are made, the mission statement creates a centered platform from which those decisions will support the goals that are being set for the company. Taking the time to create a solid mission statement of the business is highly recommended as a first step towards creating a workable business plan that allows for the goals of the company to be ach ieved. Through this mission statement it will be clear when the company is meandering off point, heading towards an outcome that is not really a part of the intended future of the company. It is highly recommended that this be the first step towards creating a more organized set of goals for the company. The important goal that will be achieved through creating the business plan is an organized and ordered set of goals that can be formulated through specified strategies. When a company does not adhere to a set of strategies, eventually it will wander into a trap that will negatively affect their overall performance. Ordered and organized strategies will prevent the company from meandering into a trap that is off mission and outside of the goals that are intended. Strategy is the final step before implementing a plan towards a goal. The goal must be identified with the strategy to meet that goal then created. Through a well organized business plan, the best strategies for a company w ill be revealed and goals can be met in ways that will have wonderful and surprising results. It is not the path towards the goal that should be full of surprises, but the results of meeting the goal so that the best possible outcome can be achieved. In recommending that Can-Go create a business plan, the consultants are looking towards the best possible future for the company as it designs its set of goals and creates strategies through which to meet them. The mission statement will provide the company with a commonly understood meaning so that all the ideas that the employees bring to the table can be assessed and goals can be created towards meeting those ideas that fall into the purpose that has been designated through the mission statement. Once the ideas are assessed and created into goals, tasks can be designed to meet those goals. Goals become the functional outcome of the business plan, creating a framework in which strategy can be set. The one thing that must be remembered in creating a business plan is that it is flexible and will change as the business changes and grows. While a static mission statement is best, the details that surround that mission statement will provide for the expected growth that a company will achieve. The goals of a company will change as expected outcomes are met and new goals are created towards a bigger and

AVA The Talking Elephant Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

AVA The Talking Elephant - Research Paper Example AVA The Talking Elephant is prospective business that seeks to market unique medicine dispensers. The medical dispenser is designed for infants and toddlers. Basically, our product is a plastic elephant toy with a built in medical dispenser. It also makes encouraging sound to motivate the children. The whole idea behind this product is the challenge for parents to give medicine to infants and toddlers. The product is designed to make the medicine giving time tear free and horror free for both the parents and the children. Market research is taken as the best tools to identify the best entry behavior of the business that will enable the business to survive avoid the huge competition. This paper seeks to present the best location for the medicine dispenser business to be located and the rationale for it. The paper will also present how the business will be organized internally. It is also imperative to analyze the external market based on PESTEL analysis to identify factors likely to i nfluence the business. This is done with the intention of making the most appropriate decision required for the success of the business. It is fundamental to our business to determine where or in what specific segment and geographic location our business will be conducted. In this context we defined the babies’ accessories segment and Utah State as a part of our Arenas. With some four million babies born in the U.S. every year (Baby Center Website), the babies’ products market seems a very promoting market to start our business at. Our medicine dispenser puts us in the baby care accessories segment. Statistics show that the global sales in this segment will sum-up a total of 66.8 billion dollars by the end of 2017 (See supporting figure no.5 in appendix). Consequently, it will be easier for us to reach one million dollars as revenue in our first year in business (knowing that our initial investment was

Potential Impacts of Terrorists Aattacks Term Paper - 1

Potential Impacts of Terrorists Aattacks - Term Paper Example The researcher states that the terrorist attack on September 11 has caused enormous devastation to the society. Nevertheless, the administration had taken serious actions to avert such terror campaign performances but it did not handle to put off the terrorist assault. The management did not have retort systems to aware people of the assault. This was quite difficult for the society to avert the attack. The attack of September 11 strained the government to build up ways to put off terrorism actions like cultural profiling and enrichment of safety measures. Communities have opted to oppose terrorism initiatives to avoid the coming terrorism attacks. The community counter terrorism proposal focussed in avoiding any terrorist assault in the society. Terrorist proceedings have become very familiar in the public like bombing. Terrorists have regularly bombed many constructions leading to deaths. The counter-terrorism plan will assist to stop the bombing of many buildings in the district. The programme stated the methods to be used to oppose the terrorist harassment. The attacks of terrorism have unfavourable effects on humanity and on the nation itself. Such attacks lead to have psychological, behavioural, and neurobiological shock to the civilization. Moreover, such terrorist attacks root to have cognitive effects on the community. It also influenced elderly and disabled people. Vivid research has been done to establish the shock of terrorism on kids, aged people and other people in the community. Researchers disagreed that terrorism like other tragedies has caused gloominess among the victims and their families. The sufferers suffer out of huge losses as a result it becomes very difficult for them to come out of the loss and pain and to live again a normal healthy livelihood.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 67

Summary - Essay Example In terms of recruitment, selection is often done on the basis of qualifications and experience of the prospective job candidate in order to establish if he or she is capable of performing the job. Organization can be loosely described as a group of people working together for a common cause or purpose. For instance, a group of people involved in some sort of business can be referred to as an organization because they are somehow organized and they pull their efforts towards the attainment of the desired goals. Usually, people work for different goals such as the need to obtain profit from their operations and these goals can only be achieved if the people involved are organized. In an organization, people have a clear vision and they are aware of the direction to follow in their operations. Interpretation is a term that is used to describe the process where a person tries to explain the meaning of something. For instance, a piece of art or music can have different meanings and people often try to explain these meanings to other people in order for them to fully understand the message that is being conveyed. Thus, interpretation is an attempt to elaborate the meaning of something which can be interpreted in different

God Hates Divorce Essay Example for Free

God Hates Divorce Essay When Adam was alone The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him .Gen.2:18. Under marriage covenant man and woman come together to serve a divine purpose and a role. Man can serve this purpose and role only if they are united and married. The moment they get divorced the unity is destroyed and they fail to serve the divine purpose and role that God wants them to fulfill while they are married and united. God gave a command to the first couple in the Garden of Eden to be fruitful. This command of God only a couple can carry out and the moment they get divorced they fail to carry out this divine command and we have to keep in mind that this command was given to men before their fall and even after the fall men are bound to keep this command. This shows us how important is this command and why God hates divorce so much. The failure to keep the first command affected the whole human race for generation after generations, the failure to keep this second command will also affect the human race generation after generations and even it will cause the mankind to stop be in existence. This is another reason why God hates divorce so much. When men get divorced they forget their first love. Marriage is a love relationship. When man is angry he cannot make a right decision. An angry head cannot evaluate the relationship that was made by a loving heart. Anger makes a man blind and leads him to the bottomless pit and that is divorce. Divorce is the worst hell in this world, the moment anyone falls into it he will be separated from his spouse, children, friends and families and from God. This is the darkest pit that will show no mercy and kindness to its victims. Life will be meaningless and worthless. You will be a creature without hope and future. A lonely man cannot succeed in anything; he is fruitless and useless to God and to society. All the sweet memories turn into bitterness. Then it becomes easier for that person to get into more and more sins as there is no one to show him his fault and give account to for all the wrong doings. Divorce affects our relationship with God, our relationship with one another, our relationship with the children and our relationship with the society. God cannot use a divorce person to reflect His glory and to show His image to His people. That person turns into an instrument of devil. There are so many reasons for all wise and all knowing God to hate divorce. God with His infinite wisdom can see the infinite danger that lies in divorce. Man cannot see the infinite danger that lies in divorce that is why man can take this decision of divorce without much thinking and considerations. God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge gives us the person that will be best suitable for us. We take it granted that suitable means comfortable. Something could be very suitable for us but at the same time it could be very painful and uncomfortable. The spouse you have is always suitable for you because God gave you this spouse. God took this responsibility from the very beginning to give us suitable spouse. The spouse we have is the best teacher for us given by God in our life to teach us something that no one can teach and to make us useful for God and for man. It takes a lot of pain, patience, humility and suffering to learn through our spouses to be more like Jesus Christ and God. Every time my wife gets angry with me or sins against me I ask God what lesson do you have to teach me today. Every time I can see that God has something to teach me through her anger. She does the same thing but I learn so many different lessons, at the beginning I get hurt then I rejoice when I can see what God has to teach me today through her anger. Then I feel very sorry for her because she took so much pain and suffering to teach me a lesson that nobody could teach me. Then I began to thank and praise God for her. We need to see what God wants us to see and to understand what God wants us to understand. God in His sovereignty allows us to go through all the bitter and painful experiences to make us more like Jesus and to draw us nearer to Him and to teach us how God feels when we sin against Him. We need to learn how to bow down to the sovereignty of God and to stop bow down to sin or to give in to sin. God hates the sin of divorce because He does not like separation or division. Divorce is the worst ingratitude towards Gods greatest gift and blessing in our life. The moment we stop giving thanks and praises to God for our spouses we are on the way to be ingratitude for the gift that God by His mercy and kindness gave us. Our Lord Jesus suffered and died on the cross and chose to be separated from God to keep us united with one another and with God. Our Lord Jesus chose to suffer and die to keep us united and one. So we must choose to suffer and die to remain united, one and married for the sake of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Smog Pollution And Problems It Causes Environmental Sciences Essay

Smog Pollution And Problems It Causes Environmental Sciences Essay Smog pollution is a major problem that this planet is suffering from everyday. It has affected our homes, weather, and health. It is a very dangerous situation for us if we do not do anything about it. Smog pollution is caused by chemicals, automobiles, factories and corporations. The greatest thing we can do as a society is try to find a way to help prevent and stop smog pollution. If the people on this planet do not do anything to stop smog pollution we are going to have a BIG problem and it will hurt us in the future. We need a plan and we need to put a stop to smog pollution. The American Lung Association (ALA) has been trying to find ways to help stop and prevent smog pollution from hurting us and the environment. If we can just do our part and find a way to prevent this problem from getting any bigger, it will benefit us all. We all have heard of smog pollution, but do we really know what it is. Smog pollution has many causes that can be hazardous and dangerous to our health and well being. The term smog pollution is also known as photochemical smog. It is formed by the interaction with sunlight with different types of chemicals in earths atmosphere (Oblack). The main component of smog pollution or photochemical pollution is ozone. Ozone is in the earths stratosphere, which the shields the earth from dangerous UV radiation from the sun. The problem with ozone is when it touches down on the earths surface it can be very dangerous and can cause serious health problems for people on the planet (Oblack). The ground level ozone is made by the emissions of automobiles that put nitrogen oxide into the air, which is caused by the vehicles exhaust fumes (Oblack). The organic components from the fumes combined with the ozone and fume evaporation that combines with sunlight, causes smog pollution on the planet (Oblack). Many people try to find ways to help avoid smog in a more planet friendly environment, so some people use substitutes for their everyday use. There is just one problem with that, and that is the sun. Many people dont understand that sunlight and warm climates cause pollution. For example, places like California, Florida, and Arizona and even North America are some of the most polluted places in the country (Oblack). Another problem that causes an increase in smog pollution is the increased usage of fossil fuels for industrial, heating, and of course transportation purposes (All that smog). Also, cutting down, burning trees, and disposing of agricultural and organic waste can also lead to emissions of smog pollution and harmful problems for the planet (All that Smog). Sunlight mixed with different types of dangerous chemicals (se condary pollution) also makes it difficult to stop smog pollution from occurring on the surface of the planet (All that Smog), which creates another big problem. Climate is a major factor for the cause of smog pollution. Many places in the world can try to be more environmental friendly to help save our planet. Some people ride bicycles instead of driving cars. Other people try to reduce their use of using fire to warm themselves. The only problem that these people cannot get away from is something that they cannot control, and that is the sun. California is ranked in the top 10 most polluted areas in the United States. Ozone pollution that is caused by the sun has a major affect on this planet. Smog and air pollution is having a serious impact on the environment and can condemn all ecosystems (seirraclub). The reason why the sun causes so many problems is because the ozone layer that is supposed to protect planet earth is practically destroyed. Without the protection, the sun is able to shine radiation onto the planet and is the main reason for many health issues that people go through every day. Issues like skin cancer, radiation poisoning, and sun burn are having fatal affects on people. This type of pollution not only harms humans, but it can also harm wild life and the environment. Smog can harm different plants, which can lead to damaging consequences. Because the plants are damaged, it makes it hard for plants to make and save food for themselves in their living environment (seirraclub). In addition, the sun and smog can destroy leaves and plants it would make many of the plants vulnerable to getting diseases. And, they cannot defend themselves from different types of bugs and insects that can cause a huge decrease in plant life (seirraclub). Smog pollution is a yearly problem for places like Texas, Georgia, Florida, and many other southern and sunny parts of the world, but there is also a big increase in smog pollution in the summer (seirraclub). This is caused by strong sunlight that burns the earths surface. However, the one thing that is helping smog pollution is all of the problems that are on this planet. A ll of the power plants, automobile emissions, industrial, and chemical vapors are other causes of pollution (seirraclub). Climate changes are part of the problem as well. Within the months of June, July, and August, it makes it harder to try and control the smog pollution, due to the sun. This planet has gone through billions of years of evolution. It survived dinosaurs, the ice age, and the black plague, but because of smog pollution this planet might not be able to survive this new attack. A major problem smog pollution is causing is health concerns for the public. Smog pollution is affecting human health because it is making it harder to breathe the smog induced air. Because of this and sun radiation, this is resulting in many fatalities, including skin and lung cancer. Peoples lungs and hearts can be dangerously affected by smog and air pollution (Oblack). Many people are still skeptical about smog pollution, but one thing that is known is long term exposure can result in dangerous and even fatal heath affects to people (Oblack). Some of the long term affects caused by exposure to smog pollution are problems breathing, coughing, wheezing, pneumonia, bronchitis, inflammation of the pulmonarys, lung cancer, heart problems, asthma like symptoms, pre mature aging of lungs, and last, but not least, death (Oblack). Smog pollution, even in small doses, can be very dangerous and harmful to all people. The American Lung Association estimated that 48 percent of people in the w orld live with very high levels of smog (seirraclub). Even though exposure to smog is dangerous, there are three types of people who can be severely damaged from smog, which include children, the elderly, and people with respiratory problems (seirraclub). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the Air Quality Index which lets you check the air density and pollution level around your areas (seirraclub). Furthermore, The Department of Motor vehicles have been trying to develop a plan to reduce vehicle emission and try to improve on air quality for the planet and help save the planet (Malone). The DMV has also been trying to encourage the residents of the United States to help stop smog. They are trying to do their part by asking people to report anyone who has visible exhaust coming out of their automobiles (Malone). If we can all do our fair share and help support this plan we can be able to help stop smog pollution. In all, smog pollution is a major concern for our environment and this planet. If we do not find a way to try and stop smog pollution, we will have many more health problems. Fortunately, there are people who are trying to find ways to stop smog pollution. Many people who are trying to create plans that can help bring this planet back to a healthier state. In 1996, smoking vehicle program was passed that stated that anyone who sees smoking exhaust coming from cars, trucks, or any other motor vehicles were to voluntarily report it to the authorities as a way of preventing polluted air (Malone). It is also there to help educate people about smog pollution and what they can do to help stop it (Malone). The American Lung Association (ALA) also came up with certain help to bring attention to the issue of smog pollution. They advised people to pay more attention to the Air Quality Index (AQI) around their area. They tried to educate people about Ozone action days and how not to ignore them . Finally, ALA attempted to help people get familiar with how smog adversely affects their health (Oblack). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) takes it upon them to check evidence every five years to see whether or not the situation of smog pollution has changed for better or worse (seirraclub). It is very simple to stop smog pollution. We can all use our cars, trucks, and motorcycles, sparingly. We all must try to do our fair share and we must be able to bring awareness to how dangerous the sun can really be. We need to fight back against smog. If we do not do anything about it, this planet and everything on it will suffer. Group against Smog and Pollution (GASP) is a non-profit citizens group in Southwestern Pennsylvania working for a healthy, sustainable environment. GASP was founded in 1969, with a group of volunteers who were worried about air quality issues here in Pennsylvania. GASP has been a diligent watchdog, educator, litigator, and policy-maker on many environment al issues, with a focus on air quality in the Pittsburgh region. Their objective is to teach and enlighten the public about pollution and its remedies. Their Mission Statement is will act to obtain for the residents of Western Pennsylvania clean air, water, and land in order to create a healthy, sustainable environment and quality of life to which we are entitled (Groups against Smog and Pollution.) Obviously GASP is doing their part, but what are we doing as individuals to help?

Flannery O8217Conner and Grotesque Characters :: essays papers

Flannery O8217Conner and Grotesque Characters Flannery O’Conner and Grotesque Characters One of the most interesting characteristics of Flannery O’Conners writing is her penchant for creating characters with physical or mental disabilities. Though critics sometimes unkindly labeled her a maker of grotesques, this talent for creating flawed characters served her well. In fact, though termed grotesque, O’Conners use of vivid visual imagery when describing people and their shortcomings is the technique that makes her work most realistic. O’Conner herself once remarked that â€Å"anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it will be called realistic.† In O’Conners â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own† the villain is a one armed hobo named Tom T. Shiftlet. Using his gift of gab and the promise of â€Å"fixing the place up.† He manages to take up on the remote farm of an old woman named Lucynell Crater and her mentally retarded and completely deaf daughter â€Å"Lucynell Crater†. The old woman quickly decides that despite his handicap she would like to make Tom her son in law. His goal soon became, fix up the old car he was sleeping in and hightail it out of there with the car and some of the old womans money in his pocket. On the pretense that he would need it for a honeymoon trip, he convinces the old woman to fix the car and give him some cash. The story ends with him marrying the retarded daughter, leaving with her on a honeymoon trip, then abandoning her in a rundown diner on the side of the road. â€Å"Good Country People† is a story about Joy Hopewell, a very well educated young woman living in the rural south. Joy lost a leg in a hunting accident when she was ten and since then had been forced to wear a wooden replacement. She also had a weak heart and it was this affliction that forced her to remain amongst these â€Å"good country people† whom she considered to be intellectual inferiors. Though she had great confidence in her intelligence she had very little self-esteem. Joys’ handicap made her feel ugly, so ugly that much to her mothers’ dismay, she had her name legally changed to the ugliest one she could think of, Hulga. One day a traveling bible salesman named Manley Pointer made a sales call and ended up having dinner with the family.

History of Fireworks :: Design and Technology

History of Fireworks The birthplace of fireworks is generally recognized as China. It is said that a Chinese cook accidently mixed three common kitchen ingredients (black powder): Potassium nitrate or salt petre, sulphur and charcoal and lighted it. The result was colourful flames. The cook also noticed that if the mixture was burned when enclosed in the hollow of a bamboo shoot, there was a tremendous explosion. The first application of this technology was for entertainment. Slowly the theory took roots that this loud sound was perfect to chase away evil spirits and to celebrate weddings, victories in battles, eclipses of moon and religious ceremonies. Once the recipe for black powder was perfected, they found that it was easily used as rocket fuel, and they made hand carved wooden rockets in the shape of a dgoran, in the sixth century. These rockets shot rocket powered arrows from their mouth, and were used against the Mongol invaders of 1279. The principle behind these rockets is still used in rocket powered fireworks today. From China the fireworks moved on to the West, through adventurous explorers. Legend has it that Marco Polo brought this new accidental invention to the West from one of his many trips to China and other eastern countries. Thus the knowledge of making fireworks spread west, through Arabia in the seventh century. The Arabs called the rockets Chinese arrows. The earliest recorded use of gunpowder in England, and probably the western world, is by the Franciscan monk Roger Bacon. He was born in Ilminster in Somerset in 1214 and lived, as a master of languages, maths, optics and alchemy to 1294. He recorded his experiments with a mixture which was very inadequate by todays standards but was recognisable as gunpowder. His formula was very low in saltpetre because there was no natural source available, but it contained the other two essential ingredients: charcoal and sulphur. In 1242 he wrote: "...if you light it you will get thunder and lightening if you know the trick", Fireworks as such probably arrived in the 14th century, brought back from the East by Crusaders, and they rapidly became a form of international entertainment. The first recorded fireworks in England were at the wedding of Henry VII in 1486. They became very popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare mentions them and they were so much enjoyed by the Queen herself that she created a "Fire Master of England". James II was so pleased with his coronation display that he knighted his firemaster. King Charles V as well had a great liking for fireworks. He had many 'fireworkers' in his staff. History of Fireworks :: Design and Technology History of Fireworks The birthplace of fireworks is generally recognized as China. It is said that a Chinese cook accidently mixed three common kitchen ingredients (black powder): Potassium nitrate or salt petre, sulphur and charcoal and lighted it. The result was colourful flames. The cook also noticed that if the mixture was burned when enclosed in the hollow of a bamboo shoot, there was a tremendous explosion. The first application of this technology was for entertainment. Slowly the theory took roots that this loud sound was perfect to chase away evil spirits and to celebrate weddings, victories in battles, eclipses of moon and religious ceremonies. Once the recipe for black powder was perfected, they found that it was easily used as rocket fuel, and they made hand carved wooden rockets in the shape of a dgoran, in the sixth century. These rockets shot rocket powered arrows from their mouth, and were used against the Mongol invaders of 1279. The principle behind these rockets is still used in rocket powered fireworks today. From China the fireworks moved on to the West, through adventurous explorers. Legend has it that Marco Polo brought this new accidental invention to the West from one of his many trips to China and other eastern countries. Thus the knowledge of making fireworks spread west, through Arabia in the seventh century. The Arabs called the rockets Chinese arrows. The earliest recorded use of gunpowder in England, and probably the western world, is by the Franciscan monk Roger Bacon. He was born in Ilminster in Somerset in 1214 and lived, as a master of languages, maths, optics and alchemy to 1294. He recorded his experiments with a mixture which was very inadequate by todays standards but was recognisable as gunpowder. His formula was very low in saltpetre because there was no natural source available, but it contained the other two essential ingredients: charcoal and sulphur. In 1242 he wrote: "...if you light it you will get thunder and lightening if you know the trick", Fireworks as such probably arrived in the 14th century, brought back from the East by Crusaders, and they rapidly became a form of international entertainment. The first recorded fireworks in England were at the wedding of Henry VII in 1486. They became very popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare mentions them and they were so much enjoyed by the Queen herself that she created a "Fire Master of England". James II was so pleased with his coronation display that he knighted his firemaster. King Charles V as well had a great liking for fireworks. He had many 'fireworkers' in his staff.

The Ahmanson Ranch Development :: Ventura Country Environmental Essays

The Ahmanson Ranch Development It all started back in 1989 when Home Savings of America announced to build a giant new community consisting of 3,050 homes, two schools, two hotels, two golf courses and 400,000 square feet of commercial and industrial areas on the 5,400-acre Ahmanson Ranch located at the eastern end of Ventura county, adjacent to Los Angeles County. Even though the Ahmanson Ranch has been owned by Home Savings of America since 1963, the nature remained undisturbed all these past years. The ranch has become one of the important habitats for barely surviving native organisms including threatened or endangered species. For this and other important reasons, an organization, Friends of Ahmanson Ranch, was formed to stop the development with the support from other environmental organizations, local legislatures, politicians and public. Almost seven years have passed since the beginning of this issue, but the conflict still remain unsolved. What is interesting about this issue is the diversity in the reas on which the Friends of Ahmanson Ranch claims for protecting the Ahmanson Ranch from development. They point out a variety of reason, and they are not necessarily environmental opinion. First, the reasons of opposition starts from visible things such as plants and living organisms. President of the Native Plant Society San Gabriel Chapter, Melanie Baer, states that the wild grassland ecosystem of Agoura Hills located in the Ahmanson Ranch provides an important habitat for almost-extinct native plant species called Purple needle-grass, or Stipa pulchra. She also suggests that the mitigation of this plant will not be successful due to its difficulty and poor peripheral environment, such as golf course, of the mitigation site. Similaly, Dr. Barbara J. Collins, professor of biology at California Lutheran University, argues that the environmental impact report prepared for the development was inadequate and she points out the importance of the oak savannah along a North-facing slope of Lakey Mesa in the Ahmanson Ranch. According to her opinion, these oak trees are about 200 to 300 years old valley oaks and they are very sensitive species. A large portion of these oaks wi ll be removed, and the remaining will most likely not survive the environmental changes they will go through due to its sensitive nature. In addition, these plants create crucial habitat for other living organisms such as birds, mammals, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles. Some of them are even listed in the Federal and State endangered and threatened species lists.

Industrial Production and Capitalism Drivers of Social Change

Industrial Production and Capitalism: Drivers of social change in history Ho Xin Qian Louise In this essay, I will illustrate why industrial production and capitalism were major causes of social change in history by stating three main arguments. Firstly, I put forth the case that industrial production and capitalism have changed the role and nature of markets in history. In doing this, I trace how the market has become the central system of social coordination via market instruments, encompassing even the elements of industry like land, labor and money.In exemplification, I explain how industrial capitalism has brought about the rise of mass production and mass markets, enabling the market system to expand its influence. Secondly, I will illustrate how industrial capitalism has changed the social relations of production, as well as the social organization of work, resulting in class struggle and socio-economic stratification in history. Lastly, I touch on the changes in norms and cul ture within institutions due to industrial production and capitalism.For the purpose of this paper, I define industrial production as production brought about by mechanized technology and industrious labor in centralized locations. Capitalism is defined as a system of profit making commerce made possible by the usage of money, decentralized circulation of capital and the market exchange of commodities. I use the term industrial capitalism to denote the amalgamation of both forces. The Role and Nature of Markets in History It is my contention that industrial production has changed the role and nature of markets in history, placing it in the centre of society and economy.It is true that industrial capitalism presupposes the existence of a market system. However, the market system was never the dominant system of social control until the development of isolated markets by mercantilist means, and subsequently the transnational interaction and proliferation of markets into a market econo my, brought about by industrialization in the 18thC. It is due to this transcendence of boundaries and displacement of market activity that gives rise to the â€Å"market† as an abstract mechanism.According to Polyani, before the rise of markets, the society organizes itself via systems of redistribution, house-holding and reciprocity, of which operates on non-economic motives like social prestige and kinship (Polyani 1944: 46-58). After the rise of markets with long distance and local trade, markets have started to take on a more important role in providing necessities; however, they did not function for a majority of the population, who were still dependent upon common exchange and subsistence systems.Thereafter, mercantilism created isolated national markets which consolidated local economic activity and increased trade. However, it was not until the Industrial Revolution in the mid 18thC that the market system became the main driver of social change across different count ries through the creation of mass markets. The industrial revolution has brought about new forms of technology and power, transformed modes of production and created factories as centralized locations for mechanized production to take place.Mass production techniques like specialization, standardization, time-discipline, rational capital accounting and centralization allow for production costs to decrease with volume, thus generating a high amount of output, providing goods more cheaply than one could have done outside of the factory. As a result, people buy their essentials from these mass markets rather than produce by themselves. Also, they produce solely for the market, deriving income to purchase other goods in the circulation of commodities.Moreover, with industrial capitalism, the market mechanism has also come to allocate factors of production such as land, labor and money, which according to Polyani were not real commodities, but merely have exchange value because they beco me privately owned by use of legal contracts and sales (Polyani 1944: 68-76). Since then, mass markets have come to synchronize most economic activities like consumption, production, distribution and even finance in the most efficient fashion (Swedberg 2005:238-240).These markets become far reaching and displaced in light of industrial capitalism because of communicative and transport technology, the mobility of money and relations of free trade, which re-defined the notion of markets from a place to an abstract network of actors across national boundaries. Also, the nature of markets has changed from being state-controlled to being self-regulating. The market system becomes the center of economic and social life as it coordinates most economic activities not by state regulation but by economic instruments like the price mechanism, supply and demand aggregates.Social Relations of Production and Organization of Work Industrial capitalism has, with the change in material means of prod uction, brought about a change in the social relations of production and organization of work. In capitalistic societies, instead of directly interacting with nature in production, human beings depend on each other by exchanging their assets in place of producing for subsistence. Hence, they inevitably enter into social relations of production between those who own the means of production (capitalist) and those who do not but are economically compelled to sell their labor power (worker) for wages.In the circulation of capital, surplus value can be derived from the difference between capital invested and capital retrieved because capital (such as land, factory and machinery), only when combined with labor, transforms products to sell for higher exchange values, thereby generating surplus value and profit. This circulation of capital is durable because capitalists aim to invest their capital to make even more profits while workers can only increase their wages by working harder or by investing in their skills.Since then, the relationship between capitalists have become increasingly competitive due to the drive for profits while the worker-capitalist relation has replaced family (sexual division of labor) as the primary relation of production. According to Marx, as the ownership of means of production is exclusive and alienable, the society becomes separated into two distinct classes – the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletarian (or worker), where between them is a relationship of domination and exploitation.Marx observed that the capitalists tend to exploit the workers by privately appropriating the surplus value produced by the workers, giving them much less than the use value of their time and effort invested in production (Marx 1848: 23). Also, the exploitation goes further by manifesting itself in the working conditions of factories, where workers were forced to work for long hours and children were also engaged as child labor. The exploitation a nd domination over workers exists because of the profit motive of decreasing costs and increasing revenue, as well as the fact that workers have less argaining power over their jobs than their employers. Capitalism has also re-defined the social organization of work by the formation of labor markets and complex division of labor. Prior to the onset of industrial capitalism, work was just defined as any effortful activity which attributes use value to commodities. However, with industrial capitalism, the formation of labor markets constituting workers, employers, jobs and networks is possible, and they function to allocate labor resources and allow capitalists to negotiate labor price and working conditions.Here, there is a clear demarcation of what is considered paid â€Å"work† and what lies outside of the labor market in the informal economy. Within the labor market, the exchange value of labor depends on the quantity and quality of labor, which denotes different labor proc esses and skills. The differentiation in wages is due to the complex division of labor brought about by industrial capitalism.Unlike the simple division of labor, where society is categorized into different occupations as in craftmanship, the capitalistic industry has a tendency to control and divide the mass production process into many simple tasks which all unskilled workers are capable of accomplishing. Workers are subdivided into different capabilities and made to specialize in simple tasks to be able to perform quickly and productively. This organization of work greatly improves the efficiency of the system, bringing costs down with more units of production.As seen in the Fordist model of mass production, workers as such are being â€Å"deskilled† and made interchangeable to the extent that they can be fired or hired according to production requirements (Womack 1990: 19-46). Thus, the market value of such menial labor is very low as opposed to professions (doctors) and skilled labor (technicians). The way work is being socially organized into skilled and unskilled labor has thus brought about socio-economic stratification in production relations. Marx has criticized this form of organization as being â€Å"alienating†, especially for the menial workers.As workers are being made interchangeable by the subdivided nature of production process, their labor is being looked upon only as a commodity, at their employer’s disposal. The worker loses control over his produce, the work process and his ability to creatively express himself. Moreover, their menial labor becomes cheapened in the process of unemployment and labor surplus. On the other hand, professionals are able to safeguard their interests by exclusive job administration channels, keeping their wages high due to marketable specialized knowledge.As a result, socio-economic stratification has also become defined by consumption relations such as occupational prestige and status group s. Norms and Culture Lastly, it is clear that industrial capitalism has brought about important changes in norms and culture. Most explicitly, industrial capitalism has changed the culture of work in the society. Prior to this time, work was characterized by disparate tasks that one is required to do in the day, and is oriented to what is necessary to be attended to. There is little divide between work and life.In industrial-capitalistic societies, work is characterized by a series of jobs which need to be synchronized in terms of sequence and speed. Time-discipline is important for work in the capitalist economies because productivity and time are highly correlated (Thompson 1967, 60:61). People are expected to use time allocated for work efficiently and solely for work. As the stimulus for work has changed from subsistence to wage incentives, there is potential of increasing wages by putting in more effort put into work.Thus, as competition for jobs and within jobs increase, peopl e are pushed to work harder and longer in their jobs. Also, in the 18thC, industrial capitalism has led to the trend of rapid urbanization due to rural urban migration and international migration in seek of factory jobs. This has led to a major restructuration of society within countries like England, where the working class poor tend to congregate near the city centre for employment and the more affluent middle class tend to decentralize away from these city centers, where living conditions are bad.The result is a case of socio-economic polarization within cities, where differences in standards of living are stark between gated communities and urban slums. In all, industrial capitalism tend to generate disparate levels of wealth and poverty amongst the working and capitalist classes. Lastly, industrial capitalism is likely to produce changes in habits and lifestyle which are oriented towards the market. The culture of consumerism is prevalent in many industrial and post-industrial societies, brought about by both producers and consumers.Producers aim to increase the capital return from their investment by either catering to existing needs or by creating new needs and wants. With the use of marketing strategies and production technology, they are able to sell their products at a high profit margin. Consumers, on the other hand, are faced with the proliferation of goods and services available at competitive prices. With the wages they have earned, they are able to afford more goods at a lower price. In all, this paper contends that industrial production and capitalism are major drivers of social change in three ways.Firstly, industrial capitalism has changed the role and nature of markets in history, from an auxiliary mechanism to the main instrument of social coordination. Secondly, industrial capitalism has revolutionized the social relations of production, from humanity’s struggle with nature to dependency on each other. It has also changed the social organization of work, by re-defining what is work and by organizing work into skilled and non-skilled categories with varying consequences. Thirdly, industrial capitalism has influenced the norms and culture of society through â€Å"industriousness†, urbanization and consumerism. (1991 Words)

Film and the Emirates: When will the Arabs take the chance?

Why do we need to set our films in United Arab Emirates? Such a simple question but with a vague answer. No matter how much we try to understand and analyze it, maybe we will have a hard time figuring out why there is a need to go in a place where almost everything is prohibited but in the end, this question will not be raised unless we don’t understand what the situation is in United Arab Emirates and how good their film industry goes. Seeking how good the industry in the Emirates is not as hard as it seems but the way they see film does not seem to be in a good way. Perhaps they have been concerned with their personal feelings and not with what will attract the foreign people in their land. Although the government was only trying to protect their country from controversies and unjust exposure, they were not making things easier for the producers and film makers who wanted to portray reality. Apparently, there were no such good movies in the Arabs. Not that they produce ugly films but because they limit themselves from the great possibilities and stories which will make a big hit in their film industry. They don't see the possibility of having big hit movies but they also seem to mislead people from reality. Since the government does not allow political plots nor do they want controversial stories, they choose the foreign films that they want the people to see carefully and once they weren’t satisfied in a single shot because of either a controversial topic or maybe because the makers showed the country in a poor way. They tend to give a scrutinizingly critic every foreign film, aligning everything with their goal of giving a good impression to the people. Attempts to have a better film industry Despite of the current situation of film in the Emirates, there were few attempts that shows how good films were in the Emirates. They seldom consider film as a way of making their industry better but at this point, the Emirates is ready to finally open their doors if we will consider their moves as of the moment. In June 2008, a digital film archive of the Emirates history was seen by the people. Although much of these films were documentaries about the history of the Emirates, this step showed that they were indeed ready for a revamp and change in their film industry. In present, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage was asked to develop a film commission with an order to promote Abu Dhabi as a film location. These attempts to open the doors for foreign films were great steps to have a better film industry and to promote the country as well but if people mislead their real intention, they might blew everything away and end up with nothing but just Emirates, their people and their film industry. Foreign Films Shot in the Emirates: Censorship and Defense In the last four years, Emirates allowed at least two foreign films to be shot in Abu Dhabi. After the shoot, the Emirates government carefully analyzed Syriana and The Kingdom to the extent that several scenes were deleted from the original film. This kind of censorship that the authority made spoiled the whole story but as their defense, they just don't want to Abu Dhabi to be depicted poorly since they were actually working on tourism as of the moment. The question we have right now, is Emirates ready for opening its doors to the world film industry? Maybe not, maybe yes. The two films shot in Abu Dhabi in the last four years showed that there was indeed a strong will to start opening their doors for the foreign film industry. Closing the doors once more? Perhaps there was no reason for us to worry more about the film industry of the United Arab Emirates because they were surely having good movies with them because of the hard work of the people who wanted development and changes but in this case, what we were trying to work out is the realization that they need to open their doors more to let the foreign people see what is good inside their country. Despite of their attempts to do this, their beliefs still goes in the way. Promoting their land as a location for foreign films do not need strict censorship most of the time. In present, they were trying to attract foreign film makers not trying to place negative impression on them. If they want foreign film industry in their land, perhaps they are in need of considering reality and not mischiefs. In what they were trying to do, United Arab Emirates was really close in closing their doors from the people. Films weren't made to deceive people. It was a way to make people see what is reality.

Gerard Manley Hopkins Essay

The Windhover, by Gerard Manley Hopkins is a poem about the essence of natural things. This poem describes the relationship of human beings to the natural world as the poet is addressing God through the bird. It is praising him for all the marvellous things He has created and that humans can enjoy. The poem consists in three verses. In the first verse, the poet describes the power of the bird as it is portrayed as the master of heavens. This verse captures the movement of the bird in the sky. It starts with â€Å"I caught this morning mornings minion† that gives the feeling that the bird is a servant of the sky and it is the morning because it is a good time for hunting. Hopkins puts words together like â€Å"dapple dawn-drawn† to portray multi-images as here where the bird is drawn in the sky. Also, the alliteration here produces the effect of the bird’s movement in the air and the intensity of the poem’s feeling. The author writes that the bird is â€Å"striding high there† and this produces the image that the bird is taking huge steps in the air. The bird also â€Å"rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing† showing his power and control with â€Å"ecstasy†. The bird has control over the wind. The rhythm in this verse is very slow, yet steady. This verse consists in very long sentences that convey the effect that the bird is circling the air; with long movements it also reflects the poets feelings. This verse gives as the feeling that he poet has searched very well the words to describe his feelings but at the same time describing the bird. He searches for words that sound as they are written for example â€Å"sweeps smooth†. The second verse consists only of three lines explaining how the bird spots its pray and here, the beauty of the bird is more accentuated when the author uses â€Å"Brute beauty† to describe how beautiful the bird is, even when it is hunting. The word â€Å"brute† has an impact on the readers because this word means violent, wild, but here, the author uses it to emphasize that the beauty is a different kind of beauty; that it is a magnificent beauty, so marvellous and magnificent that there is no better word to describe it than brute. The poem reaches to the climax when the bird spots the pray and the author writes â€Å"here buckle! † as if warning us for action. To be prepared. From now on, the rhythm is more steady with lots of comas and faster than the first verse. This gives us the effect that the bird is now descending towards its pray. At the end of this verse, the author addresses to God as â€Å"Oh my chevalier! † and this is to thank Him for creating such marvellous things as the bird, full of â€Å"Brute beauty† so that humans can enjoy, even though it is only by watching them. When the author addresses to God, the rhythm changes. This matches the ecstasy of the bird in his own physical mastery of the sky. The last verse consists also in three lines, and here, the relationship of human beings to the natural world is also portrayed. This verse is more as a pronouncement. Here the author stops speaking about the bird and makes us realise how God’s beauty of creation is in everything, even in things where there is no apparent beauty. This is achieved also when Hopkins starts talking about how the â€Å"shi er pli d† makes even ploughing beautiful and how â€Å"blue-bleak embers† are also beautiful. In conclusion, I think that Hopkins decides to first start talking about the Windhover and about its â€Å"Brute beauty† to then compare it to the beauty found in every thing of creation. He relates human being to the beauty of nature because the beauty found in nature comes from human’s sacrifice. The words on Hopkins poem impact me because they make me realise how lucky we are to be part of creation and enjoy the beauty there is from Christ’s sacrifice.

Armani

ARMANI INTRODUCTION: Giorgio Armani, 74, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Armani Group and sole share holder of Giorgio Armani, one of the world’s leading fashion and lifestyle design houses, with 5,000 direct employees, 13 factories, and a direct network of 500 exclusive retail stores in 46 countries worldwide. Under Mr. Armani’s direction, Giorgio Armani, today stands as one of the few remaining independent, privately-owned companies in its sector, with a proven business strategy that has capitalised on the worldwide power and potential of the Armani brand name. Born on July 11, 1934, Giorgio Armani grew up with his sister and brother in the northern Italian town of Piacenza. In 1957, following two years of study in medicine at the University of Piacenza, Giorgio Armani decided to leave in order to pursue his interest in fashion, accepting a job as a merchandiser at Milan’s well-known department store, La Rinascente. Thereafter, Mr. Armani worked as a fashion designer for Nino Cerruti, and then as a freelance designer for various companies, an experience that resulted in an exceptionally rich and varied evolution of his style. After several years of working as a freelance designer, Mr. Armani was ready to devote his energy to his own label and followed his partner Sergio Galeotti’s suggestion that they open a company together. On July 24, 1975, the two business partners founded Giorgio Armani S. p. A. and launched a men’s and women’s ready-to-wear line. There are many products under the name of Armani such as Giorgio Armani, Giorgio Armani Prive, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ | Armani Jeans, A/X Armani Exchange, Armani Teen, Armani Junior, Armani Baby, and Armani Casa home interiors, offering a choice of lifestyles to the marketplace. In beginning the products were sold under the name of Giorgio Armani i. e. (GA) and later on the company diversified it business in Armani Jeans, Emporio Armani. The company’s product range includes women’s and men’s Clothing, Shoes and Bags, Watches, Eyewear, Jewellery, Fragrances and Cosmetics, Home Furnishings, Cell Phones. The Armani Group now also come with the Armani Hotels and Resorts under an agreement with Emaar Properties in May 2005. Recently Armani is also sponsoring for England Football team with their sports and casual dresses which is also a part of their marketing. SWOT ANALYSIS OF ARMANI Strengths: ?Topmost brand in the fashion industry ?Range of products are sold under the brand name which has been created over the years ? Commitment to customer satisfaction and comfort. Weakness: ?Price is on the higher side which caters only to the elite class. ?They are losing customers who are price conscious and opt for the competitors products Opportunities: ?A large part of the Asian continent where Armani can penetrate into. ?Brand name created can be used to diversify into different sectors of business one of such initiative taken is to enter the hospitality industry. Threats: ?Entry barriers in certain countries have stopped Armani from entering into a potential market which can act as cash cows for the company. ?Competitors like FCUK, Christian Dior, Diesel, Gucci etc are entering the fashion market in a great way. MARKETING MIX PRODUCT: Product is anything that can be offered to market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that can satisfy wants or needs. Armani is one of the well known brands in the world with various products under its name. Different products are sold under different name. Because of the high earnings from Clothing sector (i. e. STAR) it has become possible for them to invest capital in different sectors. The group has such high standard brand name that all products in which ever they have invested have proved Stars for them. The Company now produces not only clothes but shoes, sunglasses, under garments, other accessories etc. And recently they have also signed agreement with Emaar properties for Armani Hotels & Resorts and their 1st hotel will be available for Public from year 2009 in Dubai and almost all the rooms are booked till May 2010. The current name and fame for brand was possible only because of Giorgio Armani marketing and promotional strategy. PRICE Price is the amount money charged o the product or service or the sum of values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service. Armani has always catered to high class consumers who are fashion savvy. Their price range has always been on the higher side creating a niche in the fashion industry. They have not compromised on the price in their business tenure and always have been a status symbol for the consumers using them PLACE It is a network made up of the company, supplier, distributors and customers who â€Å"partner† with each other to improve the performance of the entire system. Armani has concentrated on its channel partners to sell their products. They have their stores in almost all the major shopping malls across in more than 46 countries. PROMOTION Promotional Mix is one of the activities to promote the goods in the market and attracting the customers to buy his brand products. The key functions of promotion of goods is through Advertising, Sales promotion, Visual merchandising, Public relations. Armani adopted various strategies to make his brand famous. In 1980’s there was sudden change in fashion industry. The demand for fashionable goods was high. And this was the time when this brand came into existence with various varieties of products. Armani used the reputed personalities or super stars and model to promote his goods. He made promotional schemes offers to get his products well known. Armani also arranged campaigns to promote his products and make it well known in peoples eyes. Advertising: Giorgio Armani uses the cognitive consistency approach to its advertising. The idea that things should be simple and consistent is the reasoning behind this theory. The need for Ego Gratification comes out in the advertisement – where it is directed at consumers whom have the need to go beyond a high self-worth and into the highest form of egocentrism. Additionally, the need for a Sense of Power comes through in the imagery used and the rough looking style of the product. The sense of mysteriousness can be associated with power. Armani deeply concentrated on the Advertising media for his brand promotion. He kept on giving ads in Newspapers, Television, Radio, Magazines etc. This is done to create awareness about their new range of products that are launched in the market. He used Superstars like David & Victoria Beckham, Tom Cruise have been roped in to promote his brands. Sales Promotion: Armani also used Sales promotion strategy; they gave huge discounts on their products the goods were sold at lower rates. Offers like buy 1 get 1 free. Lucky Draw system. E. g. If you buy for more than ? 200 you can meet your favourite celebrities or free trips, because of which customers were attracted more. Public Relations: Public relation is concerned with company’s various publics by obtaining favourable publicity building up a good corporate image and handling and heading off unfavourable rumours, stories and events. Giorgio Armani is going to dress the England football team. The prominent designer was picked for the job by team captain David Beckham and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. Armani is going to create two separate outfits each – one formal, the other smart-casual – for the squad of 26. The outfits cost GBP 3,500 for each player but Armani will reportedly do it for free as he will benefit from the publicity. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is direct communications with carefully targeted individual customers to both obtain and immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationship. Armani promotes its products online and you can even buy various products through the internet. You can buy the products from anywhere in the world and the products are delivered at your doorstep. This helps in keeping contact with their loyal consumers. Personal Selling This is the personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationship. Personal selling comes in form of Fashion shows to Armani where a range of their products is displayed and sold. BCG Matrix for Armani Armani falls into the STAR category of the BCG Matrix. Over a period of time Armani enjoys high growth and high market share. Being in this category they can invest their profits generated into their subsidiary business units who are the cash cows. The best example would be Armani venturing into the hospitality industry and coming up with a hotel and simply the hotel being booked till 2010. COMPETITION: Though Armani has established itself into the fashion world and other range of products sold under their brand name, there is a lot of competition coming up. French Connection, Gucci, Christian Dior are storming the market with different range of products with variety of price range. With the current economic crisis, retail outlets like Marks & Spencers, Debenhams are offering their products at a discount as never seen before. Armani will have to review their strategy, to maintain their competitive advantage over the competitors. CONCLUSION Today as Armani business is spread all over the world it is diversifying its business in different sectors also. There are many promotions made by Armani today like Seasonal goods to attract new customers and old customers in every seasonal change. Gifts for small children on purchasing of Armani Junior are specially produced for them. Variety of clothes for men’s and women’s with new latest designs. Overall the image of luxury of the brand is maintained and becomes more persuasive by using language, which promotes feelings and emotions of masculinity and mysteriousness. The colors of the advertisements already do an excellent job of keeping mystery in the minds of the readers by using black/white photos and rich, and bold colors. Reasoning from comparison is used throughout these advertisements. The message is: if you use our products or wear our clothing, you will be popular, beautiful, successful, etc. http://ezinearticles. com/? Giorgio-Armani:-A-Persuasive-Campaign&id=24792 Giorgio Armani: A Persuasive Campaign By Scott Fish