Evaluating Eighteenth Century Poetry Essay

Evaluating eighteenth century poetry is not an easy task. After all, the use of language, the cultural references, and the metaphors used then might be a little too different from what are being used now. As such, it would be necessary to take into account the usage of the language—the construction, the idioms being used then, as well as the different expressions being used then. The following points outline several points in reading, enjoying, and evaluating poetry in the eighteenth century. I. Introduction: The authors who wrote poetry in the eighteenth century should be reviewed briefly so that a student may gain some familiarity to 18th century poetry. II. Historical Context and State of the Art. A brief description of the social situation in the period will also be in order as these would lend color and appearance to the poetic inspirations and situations depicted in the poetry then. III. Literary Devices. In evaluating poetry, the reader should be on the lookout for several literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and personification among others. These would also point to the topics and themes explored then. These literary devices can then be analyzed internally as to their effectiveness in conveying the poem’s message during the period. IV. Â  Language. The language of the eighteenth century is far different from today. As such, it would be necessary to look into the language used, the manner of sentence construction as well as the overall usage and popularity of the language then. Finally, there could also be a way to trace the legacy of these poetry to poetry today.

Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians Essay

Despite the great attention that Black slavery are getting from different groups and individuals, the plight remains as there are some aspects that need to be further scrutinized and observed. Based on available literature, the slavery on Black tribes has been given only given a limited attention and that there has been a very low awareness that there exists slavery in the tribes of the Blacks Americans, including the Cherokee Indians. Southern histories which are supposed to retell the stories of Southern Americans do not provide a clear understanding and a vivid account on the slavery Cherokee nation. There are no available accounts of the complete history of the Cherokees and if there is, it only provides a little space for the discussion of the Cherokees—but nothing substantive, really. The Cherokees are said to be slave owners and regard themselves as a superior tribe. But despite their being slave owners, they treat their slave humanely unlike their white counterparts. The book Red over Black: Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians written by R. Halliburton Jr. basically revolves around this idea and unmasks the unknown facts of slavery in Cherokee Indians. revolves around this issue The author exposed the different aspects of slavery in Cherokees and appears to have exhausted the literature available with regards to the Indian Cherokees. The author made use of historical accounts to present factual thoughts on Indian Cherokee slavery. The book is written in outline form so as to provide the readers a chronological narrative of the facts and data about the Indian Cherokee slavery. The book is written in detail as the author employed a descriptive and narrative style to provide a clearer scenario of what he is trying to relate to his readers. The author presented his perspective in the issue on slavery of Indian Cherokees—or Indians in general. The author related that Indian Cherokees give benefits to their slaves. They even provide training for the development of their slaves. Their slaves are even hired to serve as carpenters, gardeners or other works that they deem in line with the slave’s capacities. After a while, these slaves would be eventually set free. Perhaps, the intended audience of the author is the general public who has little knowledge on the culture and history of Black slavery particularly on the side of the Cherokees. The book could serve as a tool for realization of the intended audience to what the Indian Cherokees has to offer. The book offers a different perspective on slavery. The usual accounts of literature would project slavery as one extremely negative thing—the scenario that slaves are always overworked and unpaid. The book also breaks the stereotypes among Black Americans or Indians. The blacks are always depicted as inferior and powerless, but this book did otherwise. The book, I think, succeeded in persuading me in the thesis presented. Through the author’s analytical narratives and description, he was able to present his points and ideas clearly and effectively. Generally, the book is commendable in its effort to unmask the unexplored part of the American history. It is an attempt in breaking the stereotype of the inferiority of the Blacks. More so, it is an excellent source in presenting another perspective of the American history while upholding the empowerment of the Black Americans. The author, R. Halliburton Jr. , is an author of a number of books pertaining to Black Americans. The usual themes of his book are the discrimination and interesting facts addressing the social plight of the Black Americans. Reference: Halliburton, R. Red over Black: Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977.

Slave Narratives

During the times of slavery many people opposed the thought of forcing someone to do everything they say, to own someone. They believed in the freedom of others and to treat everyone equally. There were many abolitionists and slave narratives who wanted their side of the story to be heard. Aunt Harriet Smith was a black woman from Homestead Texas and Aunt Phoebe Boyd from Dunnsville Virginia, both slave narratives. Aunt Harriet Smith was married to Jim Smith. They white folks killed her husband and she never knew why they would do such a thing, he was an honest man who went to church and always did what he was told (Soul, 2003).During one of her interviews Harriet was asked how long ago she could remember from her slave days, she could remember all the way back when she was thirteen years old. Harriet could successfully remember everyone’s names as well, all the white children, her owner, everyone of the slaves she was around, and people she came into contact with on a regular basis. Her owner had first purchased her grandmother and from then on owned the rest of her family from there on down. One thing she was extremely faithful to was church.They allowed the white people to go to church in the morning and the black people were allowed to go at night. They had a white preacher and he was always telling them to behave themselves. If the black slaves were to act up then the preacher would tell there owners and they would be punished. She believed that there was a God, and he would help them. The slaves were never taught to read and write, the only gossip they had was the stories they heard during church about slaves being mistreated.This was something all the slaves would talk about when they seen each other and were able to communicate and talk. Harriet said that the white people were good to them. Her owner never hurt any of them. Her owner treated her well and whenever her and her family would hear about slaves being mistreated it would shock them. The y felt bad for the slaves that were being abused. At one point in her interview she was asked why she went by Aunt Harriet Smith and she said by putting the word Aunt in front of her name was a sign of respect, and people respected her.During the Civil War, she could remember sitting with her two cousins on the white picket fence just watching the vehicles driving up and down the road. They loved the white picket fence and their owner didn’t care if they say there. They would watch the soldiers all day long walk up and down the road. One of the reasons they loved watching so much because all the soldiers were colored soldiers (Smith, 1941). During the whole interview Aunt Harriet Smith was very optimistic, she always hoped for the best and didn’t really have anything to say that was too negative.Even when she talked about her husband being killed, the only thing she kept talking about was how good of a man he was. She never turned the conversation into a negative one. Aunt Phoebe Boyd was also a slave narrative. She was very fond of the Lord and always believed that something better was coming. Smith, Harriet. â€Å"Voices from the Slavery Days. † The Liberty of Congress. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. . Soul. â€Å"AFRICAN-AMERiCAN SLAVE: Aunt Harriet Smith On Church, Slavery & Punishment. † YouTube. YouTube, 24 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. .

International Trade Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Trade Law - Essay Example The Hague Visby Rules after defining key terms such as 'carrier" (Art.1a), proceeded to define 'contract of carriage' as contract for shipment of goods "covered by a bill of lading or any similar document of title" (Art.1b). It further defined 'carriage of goods' as that period commencing "from the time when the goods are loaded on to the time they are discharged from the ship" (Art.1e). It also limits its coverage only to outgoing shipments from UK and excludes imported or ingoing goods and limits the liabilities of the common carrier. To give muscles and teeth to the provisions of the Hague Visby Rules, the UK Carriage of Goods By Sea Act of 1971 amended in 1992 was enacted (Laryea 2002,p.56). In contrast to the Hague Visby Rules, the Hamburg Rules which was an offshoot of the 1978 UN Convention On The Carriage of Goods By Sea (Yiannopoulos 1995,p.8), widened the liabilities and responsibilities of the carrier over the shipped goods and included in its ambit all carriage of goods whether exports or imports (Gillies & Moens 1998,p.183) as well as contracts for the carriage of goods whether evidenced or not by a bill of lading (Art.2). It also exonerates Of common importance to both the Hague Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules is the extreme importance accorded to a bill of lading. Both emphasise that the bill of lading is the contract between the parties which is enforceable before the courts of law. It is the written acknowledgement of receipt of goods accompanied with the written stipulation that such goods shall be transported by the carrier, on behalf of the shipper, to a consignee at a designated place. A bill of lading must state the "condition of the goods,the date of receipt and or shipment, the leading marks necessary for identification of the goods, the quantity of the goods, the number of packages or pieces, or weight of the goods" (Laryea 2002,p.65). It is important because its contents are deemed as containing all that the parties have agreed and therefore, such bill of lading cannot be varied by parol evidence unless fraud, mistake or ambiguity is adduced. Thus, the carrier may adduce evidence that in fact, the goods h ad already been damaged at the time of shipment and that shipper is thus guilty of fraud by misdeclaration (The Tromp,1921). It is even more important because it empowers the consignee or buyer to obtain delivery from the carrier at destination after presentation of the original bill which is transmitted ahead. (This 'shipped bill of lading' shall be discussed in the latter part of this paper). Another of its importance is that it enables the buyer to sell the goods to a third party while the goods are in transit (Gillies & Moens 1998,p.125) or to transfer

Celebrating new year becomes pop-cultrual celebrity Essay

Celebrating new year becomes pop-cultrual celebrity - Essay Example New Year has now become a worldwide celebration with so much anticipation and expectations put in line to mark the day (Mercer, 26). People all around the world start counting down the New Year day before the clock ticks midnight. They will count all through the last sixty seconds and cheer when the New Year begins. People will tend to hug, jump and wish their friends a â€Å"Happy and prosperous New Year and sing along various songs designed for such a day. New Year is a historical celebration that has become a pop cultural celebration in almost all nations in the world that comprises of so many memories and resolutions taking place on this material day (Mercer, 44). This paper discusses how New Year has become a pop cultural celebration in the world through wide the influence from internet and social media. Celebrations of the New Year has not started recently, the first celebration is dated back to 2000 B.C in Mesopotamia (Mercer, 48). It was marked on mid-March and was celebrated during the time of the vernal equinox. Various ancient cultures also tied a varied of other dates to the seasons. The Egyptian, Persians and Phoenicians made history by celebrating the New Year eve with the fall equinox and on the other hand the Greeks decided to celebrate it during the winter solstice. As stated before, calendars used by various countries determine when the New Year celebrations take place. In the early Roman calendar, New Year was on March date one. Their calendar had just ten months with March being the first month. The calendar was not as the same with what is used today since some month like September and December were the seventh and tenth months respectively. It was during the first celebrations of New Year in Rome that the month of January joined the calendar. The month was not in existence until 700 B.C during the rule of Numa

Writing a critique for an article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writing a critique for an article - Essay Example The author being bilingual had less expertise in English language and had to face difficulty in the public where English was the only communicative medium. The author conveys that being bilingual is definitely not an easy experience when one is less expert in one of the bilingual languages (Thesis). The author in his article is letting the readers know that his siblings spoke Spanish at home and learned English at school. The author here takes initiative to explain the dilemma of Mexican migrants in an America where all spoke English. Author also explains about the new â€Å"bilingual program† which was launched by Government that allowed children to use their family language in school. But he is critical about this provision as he believes it impossible for a child to use any language apart from English in American school environment. In his article (Rodriguez 26) writes that â€Å"It is not possible for a child, any child ever to use, ever to use his family language in school†. Author is explaining about the uneasiness his family felt in American land, but can he not treat it as one of the sacrifice he need to undergo in order to get a quality life in America. Even though being bilingual is a complex phenomenon, after a considerable time, he would have become expert in English which would helped his future tremendously .It is a known fact that there is no gain without pain and this bilingual problem could have taken more lightly by the author. The author explains that in school he was only allowed to Speak English. As author’s family had acquaintance with their relatives he enjoyed the Spanish language only at the comfort of home. He referred to Americans as â€Å"los gringos† which depicts the alienation he felt within the American society. Author narrates to the readers that he was dull in English language and had no confidence of speaking this foreign language. According to (Rodriguez 27) â€Å"My own sound I was unable to hear, but I knew that I spoke English

Game changer Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Game changer - Movie Review Example The call for the need for diverting to renewable energy has been advocated for decades. But it seems as human nature goes, it is the principle of carpe diem or what matters at this moment that counts without consideration for the future. In this scheme of things, it is always the common people along with the viability of nature that is compromised. The video upholds the reality of the conflict between the need to protect the environment along with the health of the people in exchange for the more ephemeral and the voracity for money. The calculations of Terry Engelder in his conservative calculation of finding out the 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and Conrad ‘Dan’ Volz’s calculation of river strontium and barium pollution makes this its central concern. What Engelder was able to stumble upon is at the outset an answer to what seems nothing less than a prayer to an ailing economy. The need for energy, and the country needs lots of it, is easily solved by the natural gas that will be exhumed from the Marcellus Shale. While what Volz was able to calculate posed a threat on the environment and how this affects the health of people, something inversely proportional to the positive effects of Engelder’s discovery.

Strategic Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Models - Essay Example The balanced scorecard includes qualitative insights in addition to quantitative measures like financial statements to give the decision makers a bird's eye view of the past health and also the future course of action of the company. While financial measures like Return on Investment, sales and profit values, continue to be critical, new units like quality measures (warrantee/replacement/return/refund costs), employee skill and satisfaction measures (attrition/training/redeployment cost), future growth measures (R&D costs) are also taken into account. Wells Fargo and company is a diversified financial services company based at San Francisco, California and offers a range of financial products. The company has been termed as one of the safest banks in the world. (The World's Safest Banks 2007, October 2007) Wells Fargo bank used Balanced Score Card to identify its future growth path. Within 3 years of implementing the insights it got from a BSC, it was voted as the best online bank. As a result of the BSC, it increased its customer base by 4.5 times, and also decreased its cost per customer by as much as 22%. Additionally, it was able to add over 750,000 online customers over a 2 year period. (Beiman I. and Johnson J.C., n.d.) The conventional manufacturing strategy model states that there i... (San Francisco, February2001) Wells Fargo bank used Balanced Score Card to identify its future growth path. Within 3 years of implementing the insights it got from a BSC, it was voted as the best online bank. As a result of the BSC, it increased its customer base by 4.5 times, and also decreased its cost per customer by as much as 22%. Additionally, it was able to add over 750,000 online customers over a 2 year period. (Beiman I. and Johnson J.C., n.d.) Strategic Models - 2 Sand Cone Model: (Ferdows & De Meyer) Introduction The conventional manufacturing strategy model states that there is a trade-off among the four basic manufacturing capabilities- Quality, Dependability, Speed and Cost, unless there is slack in any one of the capabilities. However, the Sand Cone model proposed by Ferdows and De Meyer suggests that there is a hierarchical relationship amongst the four given capabilities. While from a short term perspective, advance in one of the capabilities may require the decision maker to trade off any one or more of the capabilities, it is indeed possible to achieve excellence in all the four capabilities in an hierarchical, staged manner. In order to create a long term manufacturing capability, the decision makers should aim to enhance quality of the manufactured items. Once this drive has achieved a set of milestones, the dependability of the manufacturing system has to be taken care of. Once these two capabilities have been assimilated, the next capability requiring attention would be flexibility, or reaction speed. Finally, once these three capabilities have been fixed, the decision makers should strive to achieve cost reduction. If this flow is maintained, it is possible for a

The Rise of Industrial America 1877-1900 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Rise of Industrial America 1877-1900 - Essay Example This was aimed at include the ex-slaves into the nation with all rights and civil liberties of citizens. Precisely, the Republican aim was to end slavery in America and assimilate the blacks into the government, the main issue of contention between the North who pushed for anti slavery and South pushing for its expansion. Southerners believed that restrictions on slavery would infringe the doctrines of states’ privileges, while the North and leaders of the Republican Party treated slavery as a formidable state iniquity. The Southern defenders argued that blacks benefited from slavery leading to further disagreements with the North .2 Consequently, through the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860 and assurance by South Carolina of â€Å"Declaration of the causes of Secession† advanced the tension as the Southern thought he would be anti-slavery and would support Northern welfare. The West Louisiana Purchase expanded the size of United States and opened the We st to America settlement. The United States obtained the Arkansas River valley by expanding east from the Rocky Mountains to Mississippi River according to Louisiana Purchase signed between American and Indian representatives. Immigration Additionally, during these years, about 7, 348, 000 people migrated into the United States. This raised the number of citizens from 49 million in 1800 to 76 million in 1900. The refugees settled all over the country in big numbers except in the South. The migrant fake networks that created how and where they traveled and the type of communities they formed. The reason for the massive migration to the United States was for economic advancement. Land was cheap and wages were equally high as compared to their homelands. Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Development The increase of agricultural lands led to what apparently seems an irony. This is because despite the more farmers in the U.S and the more dynamic they became the smaller was agricul ture’s share of the economy.3 On the other hand, the increase of industrial America, the ascendancy of wage labor, and the growth of cities represented the greatest changes of the period. Of civil war, few Americans had expected fast growth of American industry. Over the past, wage earners in American history had come to be more than the self-employed, and by the 1880s these wage recipients started working in bigger corporations in America. On the other hand, trained workers proved extremely flourishing at maintaining their position through the 1880s, but they had to struggle to do so. The comparatively high wages for trained workers made the proprietors to look for ways to substitute trained with untrained or semi-skilled workers, but mechanization offered the most effective approach for deskilling work and reducing wages.4 Railroads Moreover, the strikes in America were because of railroads. This is because the whole nation appeared to concentrate on the railroads. Furtherm ore, towards the end of 1870 the railroads restored their expansion. Though there was a break in

Public Governance in England Essay Example for Free

Public Governance in England Essay Governance can be defined as how local government bodies operate and control structure and processes of local authorities to manage their communities under one umbrella. These local bodies ensure quality service to the people and lead communities in a responsible way (Governance). The role of governance is to give clear directions, facilitate new projects, acts and take steps for any foreseen danger to the community.   Public governance deal with public sector and is kept under constant review. It sets out clear principles for the administration to arrange for public regulation. The treasury report states that UK spending had increased to  £500 by the year 2005 and 2006. Public governance would include policy making and providing quality service to public related issues including housing, sanitary, health, education, sewage and water supply management. Public governance ensures quality services to the citizens and taxpayers.   In public governance there is no combined code or any equivalent code of principles. However, there is an alternative individual codes and guidance that are specifically made for individual specific public bodies.   In 2004 a commission comprising key leaders from public was established by three different institutes, Chartered institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the Office of Public Management (OPM) and Joseph Rowntree foundation. The goal was to establish good governance principles for public services equivalent to Combined Code. These principles would support publicly funded bodies.   The Good Governance Standard For Public was published in 2005 by the commission that addressed issues for the members of public, governing bodies, public services, organizations, governors and those who develop codes for governance (Good Governance Briefing).   The governance of both public and private sector are combined and supervised by the unitary board model. This board is formed by executive and non-executive directors who are responsible for management of daily business and those tasks that are independent of the management respectively. The board functions to monitor both the governance.   The role of the boards of public governance and private governance is somewhat similar, but public sector is more complex. In public governance there is no standard organisational shape and no legislation operate public bodies. That is, public services do not work under any legislative framework instead they have unified boards of independent executive and non-executive directors.   Most non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are exclusively comprised of non-executive directors. Some organizations have both executive and non-executive, while some other operate under one chief executive who is the top level member of the board and there is no other equivalent executive with him (Good Governance Briefing).   Supervisory boards are formed by the members from diverse stakeholders and are much larger than unified boards. Good governance is very important for successful public administration. Public sector failure results from poor governance. However, the poor governance is not just the result of any poor performance in single issue or service (Governance). But poor governance results from a number of factors that when combined pose several problems in the public sector administration. The quality of service by the public governance matters a lot for the people to gain trust in that government. To gain trust from its people public governance must offer quality service and assure them proper security, health, education to live in prosperous society. Loss of public trust is of immense importance for the public government. Once people do not support that government then it can threaten their accomplishment as a strong government.   Public governance must follow good governance policies and its main goal is to have a lot of trust from its people. Public government can have good image by having good support from its people. In forming rules and regulation public government will always keep in mind the facilities for the people of community. Public governance strives for quality service in education and health to its people. Once people choose not to support that government and not to participate in voting or vote against it then it can be fragmented (Governance).   Public government is also responsible for health and sanitary conditions in the community. It is involved in operating public hospitals and is responsible for maintaining high standard of medical treatment, medical services, cleanliness and sanitation of the hospitals. Public run hospitals must have proper healthcare system in order to provide proper health to the community and its people (Stolzenber). It is the responsibly of the governance to adopt strategies to preserve its viable function and also improve its structure to attain high health standards.   Characteristics of public governance must be strong enough to participate in the market-driven economy. The infrastructure of the governance must be efficient and flexible to operate independently of the bureaucratic impediments. Only high standards of governance can lead to successful and prosperous communities.   In public governance some departments have independent lay members and magistrates. These include police authorities. The Local Government Act 2000 developed three different types of political structures to be followed by local authorities. Each local body will develop proposals to adopt any of the three structures either as an executive role or scrutiny role. The council of higher education mainly adopts the executive role.   There are around 450,000 governors in the public service organizations. Every governor is responsible for leading and directing the workforce, organizing their tasks and fulfill their main objectives. They work for the public interest.   References   New Charity Regulation. http://lawreview.kentlaw.edu/articles/80-2/Morris.pdf Stolzenber, Edward A. Governance Change for Public Hospitals. Retrieved from http://www.ache.org/mbership/advtofellow/caserpts/governance99.cfm Governance. Retrieved from http://www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/core/page.do?pageId=1007044

Determinants of Effective Leadership

Determinants of Effective Leadership Leadership is the behavior of an individual when he/she is directing the activities of a group towards a shared goal. A leader is seen as someone who sets the paths in an effort to influence people to adhere to those paths. Leadership is an action and not just a position. It can be shown via different people in various situations. A person is not born to be a leader but cultured through the upbringing and environment. A leaders personal characteristics are also vital for the developments and motivations of the organizations. True leaders such as the teachers who illustrated that leadership is an action (teaching and leading the students) and not a position. Touching the lives and affecting the outcome of many different expectations, a teacher is the epitome of a leader. A leader has his or her own style of motivating the people in the organizations. A leader must find the best skills in order to provide directions, motivations and purposes. Effective leaders are flexible. Organizational Leadership Model The effective leadership influence is not the same for everyone. It depends on their ranks in the organization and abilities which are required in leaders. The three basic leadership roles identified: initiation, speech, and management. 1. Initiation Initiation refers to planned decision making on policy formulation or structural change. These vital decisions are the determinants of the organizations culture and mission. 2. Speech Strategic decisions and methods designed for implementation within the establishment. It includes adjusting or adding on to the present structure towards new policy demands. 3. Management Management is putting into practice the policies and measures that are available to maintain the operations of the organization efficiently. These three kinds of Leadership are naturally executed at diverse ranks in the company with different abilities and skills. The top level management would initiate new policies that involve a change in the businesss structure or understanding the companys mission. An understanding of the entire organization, culture, mission, vision and how it correlates with the external parties is mandatory for these top level individuals. They represent the organization and what the business stands for. Understanding the policy decisions and practicing them to the existing organization via utterance or speech is usually made by the intermediate-level managers. They must uphold a two-way point of reference by taking orders from the above management and adapting them for the lower groups of people in the organization. Type of Leadership Process Typical Organizational Level Cognitive (Knowledge) Affective (Emotion) Initiation: Change, creation and elimination of structure Top echelons System perspective Charisma Speech: supplementing and piecing out of structure Intermediate levels: pivotal roles Subsystem perspective: two-way orientation Integration of primary and secondary relations: human relation skills Management: use of existing structure Lower levels Technical knowledge and understanding of system of rules Concern with equity in use of rewards and sanctions EXHIBIT 16.1 Three Leadership Patterns, Their Location in the Organization, and Their Skill Requirements  [2]   The companys policies and procedures will be administered by the Lower-level supervisors. These personnel must possess both the technical knowledge and a clear perception of the organizations rules in order to be successful. They have to continually deal with issues such equity, rewards and punishments in leading others. Leadership plays a crucial role in an organization since it always makes the difference between effective and ineffective organizations. Leadership is when a person manipulates others to perform a task at their own will which they would not normally do. Leadership is a vital process to an organization and it can be deliberated on three different stages; i.e. the individual, group and organization. Analysis at the individual stage: the leadership studies have paid attention on the successful leader personalities. Behaviors of both formal and informal leaders are focused at the group level. The effectiveness of an organization is decided by the relations between the leader, follower and circumstances. The studies have caused an emergence of situational theories or contingency theories of leadership. In Search for Leadership An organized search for leadership qualities first began after the turn of the century. The requirements in selecting and training efficient leaders were emphasized during the World War I and the quarter century between World War l and World War II; numerous studies were made to examine the personal characteristics of good leaders. These studies are usually referred as characteristic studies since the primary goal was to classify the traits and personal characteristics of successful leaders. The diverse methods used to study these leadership traits could possibly be the reason in the irregularities of the results. The manner of studies was not consistent in identifying the leaders. A majority of the studies was in comparing efficient with inefficient leaders or leaders with non-leaders. Some were identified by external observers, others selected by the group by way of recommendation or voting, nominated by observers such as teachers while some were chosen because they are in a leadership status such as student-body president or team captain. The studies were also conflicting in the way they deliberated on the traits. Some traits were measured by mental tests; others relied on viewers to spot the traits they have seen while some depended on the persons to report their own personality traits. The trait studies were quite unsatisfactory as a whole especially since they had hoped to cultivate a measure of leadership that predicted leader effectiveness accurately. The spotlight on the leadership research moved because of the flimsy results, to contingency studies which investigated more than just traits of a leader. Numerous traits formed an important divergence in leadership effectiveness and they interrelated with other conditional variables to stimulate the effectiveness of the leader. Physical Behaviors Physical factors such as height, weight, physique, energy, health, and appearance are also examined in the studies. It was concluded that there is a relationship between the above features and leadership. Apparently leaders have the tendency to be taller, heavier, better fitness, greater physique, higher energy output and more attractive in appearance. For example, executives in insurance companies were taller than policyholders, bishops were taller than clergymen, university presidents were taller than college presidents, sales managers were taller than sales representatives and railway presidents were taller than station agents. However, these types of results were not always reliable and consistent. The results neither are too weak in general and not consistent to be effective in selecting leaders nor are they helpful for training functions since not much can be made to alter most of these physical traits. Intellect It was generally agreed that leaders are more intellectual than non-leaders and the relationship was shown in the various studies. The relationship could probably begin from the reality that leadership functions largely depend upon careful problem solving. All three leadership roles initiation, speech and management necessitate great mental ability. In general, it is safe to assume that leaders are more intelligent than non-leaders but the relationships are small. Many other variables other than intellect inspire leadership effectiveness. It was also suggested that leaders should not be too intelligent than the group because associates who are notably brilliant than others are rarely chosen as leaders since the other members tend to snub them. Individuals with high IQs are inclined to have different sets of vocabulary, networks and aspirations that would create communication and inter-relations problems. Leaders do extremely well generally at school/college/university and score better grades. It is important for effective leadership to know how to do things. Thus general and practical knowledge are essential. Some studies have revealed the positive relationship between general knowledge and leaderships ability. Characteristic Traits Only a partial of the characteristic traits seem to be related to leadership and most are not especially convincing. It was suggested that the average leader is more used to social displays, greater initiative, persistent, knows how to get things done, self-confident, displays greater cooperativeness and adaptability, and possesses greater verbal skills to facilitate communication.  [3]  Leaders were found to be more emotionally mature than non-leaders in the personality integration or emotional adjustment. It can be concluded that personal characteristics are related to leadership. Effective leadership does not depend on a mixture of personality traits only because situational variables are also important since they always decide whether a character was associated with effective leadership either positively or negatively. Leadership must be considered as an interface of three variables: leaders characteristics, subordinates and nature of the task. Many styles of leadership were defined as a result of the studies of leaders behaviors. One of the earlier studies compared three leadership styles: authoritarian democratic and laissez-faire. The finest researches on the styles of leadership are made together at the same time; i.e. The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. The researchers acknowledged two leader behaviors that were similar although the investigations were conducted separately. These two dimensions of leadership have been to form an instrument, called the Managerial Grid  [4]  , that has been used for research and training. Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-faire  [5]  Leadership The diverse political systems in the United States and Germany before World War II inspired studies of leadership which evaluated the effects of three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez faire. In the democratic leadership style, decisions were made by vote of majority; equal participation encouraged; criticism and punishment minimal. In the autocratic leader, the leader made all the decisions and others must follow the set procedures strictly. In the laissez-faire leader, there was minimal actual leadership and others were permitted to work and play as usual without proper directives. Initiating Structure and Consideration The two leadership factors were initiating structure and consideration in which consisted of leadership behaviors associated with organizing and defining the work, the work relationships, and the goals. A leader who has structure assigned people to do specific jobs, expected workers to follow set routines and meet deadlines. The consideration factor is showing friendship, mutual trust, warmth and concern for subordinates. Production-Centered and Employee-Centered Leader Behaviors Production centered behaviors were akin to initiating structure in which leaders would establish targets, gave directives, checked on operations and planned the group Employees work. Centered behaviors were similar to the considerations dimension in which the leader would develop a caring personal relationship with the subordinates and encouraged a two-way communication with them. The relationship between production-centered and employee centered behaviors are found to be independent scopes of leadership. A leader with strong production orientation does not mean that he is disinterested in the employees. Managerial Grid  [6]   A conceptual framework combining a concern for task accomplishment and a concern for people was created by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton called the Managerial Grid. Blake and Mouton assumed that the most effective leadership style is demonstrating both concern for production and concern for people. There are leaders primarily more concerned with accomplishing the production and task not concerned about people. This person wants the job done and schedule followed at all costs. There is also individual who is not concerned whether the group produces anything but concerned more about the members personal needs, interests and inter-personal relationships. An ideal leader wants to meet schedules and get the job done but at the same time is highly concerned about the feelings and interests of the group members. The Managerial Grid  [7]  is popular among managers. It is used extensively as part of a training program to assess their leadership style. However, the effectiveness of the Managerial Grid is not consistently supported. The burden of the situation, expectations of other group members and nature of the work performed interact in complicated ways that call for a variety of leadership styles. The leadership style is not always the most effective. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP The effectiveness of the different leadership styles must be combined with different organizational factors to assess their effect effectiveness. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed a situational leadership model that combined three variables: (1) the amount of guidance and direction (task behavior) a leader gives; (2) the amount of emotional support (relationship behavior) a leader provides; (3) the readiness level (maturity) that follows, exhibit in performing a specific task or function Four potential leadership styles are created by combining different amounts of task and relationship behaviors. S1: Telling Give instructions and supervise performance closely. Suited for followers who are unwilling but of low maturity. S2: Selling Decide and provide opportunity for explanation. Appropriate for followers who are not able but willing. S3: Participating Sharing ideas in making decisions. Suited for followers who are able but not willing. S4: Delegating Responsibility handed over for decisions and performance. Appropriate for groups who are able and willing. Contingency Theory of Leadership The interaction of the leadership style and the situation. Fiedlers major contributions consist of: (l) identifying the leadership orientation of the leader and developing a way to measure it; and (2) identifying three situational factors influencing leadership and developing a method of measuring them. Leader Orientation Leaders were identified as either relationship-oriented or task-oriented. Relationship-oriented: look at others as coworkers and see close interpersonal relations as a requirement for accomplishing the task. Task-oriented: show a strong emotional reaction against people with whom they have difficulty working. Situational favorableness (1) whether the relationships between the leader and the members are good or bad; (2) the task is relatively well planned or not; and (3) the leaders authority is relatively strong or weak. The second most important situational variable was the task structure which was evaluated by judges who examined four aspects of the task structure. Clarity: which the requirements of the job are clearly stated, Multiplicity: which the problems encounter can be solved. Verifiability: which the correctness of the decisions can be ascertained. Specificity: which there are generally more solutions involved in performing the task. Group effectiveness Relationship-oriented leaders excel in situations of intermediate favorableness where concern for the group members is apparently a necessary prerequisite for motivating them to perform well. In these situations, people want to have leaders who care about them. Task-oriented leaders however are more effective when the situation is either very favorable or very unfavorable. impossible situation. Path-Goal Model Directive leadership: subordinates are told what to expected and specific guidance, standards, and schedules of work provided. Supportive leadership: subordinates are treated equally and concern for their well- being, status, and personal needs; develop pleasant interpersonal relationships among the group members. Achievement-oriented leadership: challenging goals are set and subordinates are expected to perform at their highest level, improvement in performance always. Participative leadership: subordinates are consulted on suggestions and ideas in making decisions. Situational factors Situational factors-the characteristics of the follower and environmental factors. Three characteristics of the followers have been identified as significant variables determining the appropriate leadership style: (1). Locus of control: Internal believe their rewards are based on their own effort. External believe their rewards are controlled by external forces. (2). Authoritarianism: an individuals willingness to accept the influence of others. (3). Abilities: The followers ability and experience influence a leader whether they are able to work with an achievement oriented leader or a supportive leader who patiently encourage and instruct them. The path-goal model identifies three environmental factors moderating the effects of leadership styles: the nature of the task, the formal authority system within the organization; and the group norms and dynamics. These environmental factors can influence the effectiveness of different leadership styles in a variety of ways. Normative Decision-Making Model of Leadership The normative decision-making model is a contingency theory of leadership. It does not assume any leadership style as appropriate for all situations. Leaders must develop a range of leadership styles and take on the style that is most appropriate to the situation. Leaders need to know when to consult others and when consultation is a waste of time. Although the leader may serve as the chairman of the group, the leader is simply one of the groups and does not try to influence the group to adopt a particular solution. Criteria for selecting a leadership style. The criteria used for assessing the efficiency of a leadership style: quality and acceptance. The quality of the decision refers to its accuracy and the extent to which it will achieve some objective. The quality of decisions depends on accurate and relevant information Conferring with other group members often provides additional information. Diagnostic decision rules. Managers choose the most autocratic of the styles to save time and minimize costs. If the aim was to further the subordinates personal development, the participative style is selected. In some strategies, the manager decides alone. At times, the manager makes the decision alone after consulting with the subordinates as an advisory group. Comparing the leadership models. All situational leadership models contribute to our understanding of the leadership by emphasizing the effect of external factors on a particular leadership style. Different leadership styles suggest styles that are determined by various situational factors. The models focus on different methods: different situational factors and different criteria for selecting the best style: task-oriented versus relationship-oriented. The four leadership styles: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented The normative decision-making model identifies three leadership styles: autocratic, consultative, and participative. The situational factors influencing the effectiveness of leadership are quite different in each of the models. An important reason for some of this difference is that the normative decision- making model equates leadership with making decisions and looks at only this function of leadership. In addition, the models use rather different criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of leadership. DETERMINANTS OF LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS Although deciding what makes an effective leader seems as if it should be a simple decision, however, individuals who are in the positions of leadership are faced with the practical question of deciding which leadership pattern to adopt. Choosing a Leadership Style One of the most popular models for selecting an appropriate leadership style is one that describes a variety of leadership styles along a continuum from highly autocratic to highly participative at the other. The forces in the situation include the culture of the organization. The successful leader is one who is aware of the situational forces and responds accordingly. Effective leaders must understand themselves, the group, company and social environment. Strategies for Improving Leadership Leaders capacity to reward the behavior of followers should not be overlooked and the ability of the followers responds otherwise. For example, organizations reward managers according to the performance of their group. As a result, the managers of high- performing groups are highly rewarded by the organization. Leaders who were more considerate created greater satisfaction among their subordinates; at the same time, changes in the behavior of the leaders could be caused by the performance of the subordinates. Constraints on leader behavior. Leaders have limited opportunities to influence others. Leadership effectiveness is inhibited by a variety of factors. For example the extent managerial decisions are pre-planned due to structure, technological specifications, laws and the absence of available alternatives. Leadership can also be forced by a variety of organizational factors limiting the leaders capability to either communicate with or to reinforce the behavior of the subordinates. The constraints imposed on leaders include external factors organizational policies, group factors, and individual skills and abilities. External factors. Leaders are constrained in what they can do because of various economic realities and a host of state and federal laws. Leaders who have unskilled followers will have difficulty leading irrespective of their leadership style. The availability of skilled followers is subjected to the external labor market. Organizational policies. The organization may limit a leaders effectiveness by hampering the amount of communication between leaders and followers and restricting the leaders ability to reward or punish followers. Group factors. Created by the dynamics of the group. If the group is highly unified and determined, it can limit the leaders ability to influence the group. Individual skills and abilities. The leaders own skills and abilities may act as constraints since leaders can only possess so much expertise, energy, and power. Some situations may simply require greater skills and abilities than the leader may possibly hope to possess. Substitutes for leadership. While some situations constrain leaders other situations make leadership unnecessary. These variables are referred to as substitute variables because they substitute for leadership either by making the leaders behavior unnecessary or by neutralizing the leaders ability to influence subordinates. Leadership is an extremely important function. It has an enormous influence on the value of groups and organizations. The complexity of the situation, however, may prevent us from knowing in advance which will be the most effective leadership behaviors. SUMMARY 1. Leadership refers to increasing influence which occur when an individual manipulates others to do tasks voluntarily which they would not do otherwise. The basic leadership roles include initiation of policy and structure, speech, and management. A need for leadership within organizations stems from the incompleteness of the organization design and the dynamic nature of the internal and external environments. 2. The studies of leadership were mainly studies on traits that tried to identify the characteristics of effective leaders. The studies focused mainly on physical traits, intellect and characteristic. The results were usually weak and inconsistent although some personal characteristics were always related to leadership. Most studies concluded that the characteristics of the subordinate and the nature of the task were as important as the characteristics of the leader in determining success. 3. Another approach to studying leadership set on leader behaviors; i.e. how leaders actually behave. One of the studies compared three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire. Although democratic leadership produced the greatest satisfaction, autocratic leadership had the highest levels of productivity. 4. Research conducted simultaneously at two universities identified two similar leadership behaviors. At The Ohio State University the researchers labeled these two leader behaviors initiating structure and consideration. At the University of Michigan the same two factors were labeled production-centered and employee-centered leader behaviors. These two leader behaviors appear to identify leadership functions essential to the effectiveness of a group. The two Factors have been used to form a matrix called the Managerial Grid which places a concern for production on one side of the grid and concern for people on the other. The research evidence does not support this conclusion consistently. 5. The unsuccessful research to identify leadership traits or universally superior leader behaviors caused an emergence of development of four situational theories of leadership. The theories suggest that the most effective leadership style depends upon situational variables particularly the characteristics of the group and the nature of the task. 6. A situational leadership model that matched different combinations of task behavior and relationship behavior with the maturity of the followers. As the followers increase, the appropriate leadership style is telling, selling, participating, and finally for highly mature followers, delegating. 7. The most appropriate leadership style was determined by assessing three situational variables: whether the relationships between the leader and the members were good or poor, the task was structured or unstructured, and the power position of the leader was strong or weak. When these three situational variables created an extremely favorable or extremely unfavorable situation, the most effective leadership style was a task-oriented leader. However, where there were intermediate levels of favorableness, a leader with a high concern for interpersonal relationships was more effective in these situations. 8. The path goal model theory is derived from expectancy theory. It suggests that effective leaders must clarify the target paths and increase its attractiveness for followers. Four distinct leadership styles are proposed in the model: directive, supportive achievement-oriented and participative leadership styles. The style most appropriate depends upon two types of situational factors: the characteristics of the follower and characteristics of the environment. Three of the most important follower characteristics include the locus of control, authoritarianism, and personal abilities. The three environmental factors include the nature of the task, the formal authority system within the organization, and the group norms and dynamics. 9. The three leadership styles include autocratic decision making, consultative decision making, and group decision making. The decision titles determining which style is most appropriate include such questions as whether the leader has adequate information to make the decision alone, whether the subordinates will accept the goals of the organization, whether subordinates will accept the decision if they do not participate in making it, and whether the decision will produce a controversial solution. 10. The influence of the group upon the leader should not be overlooked. The relationship between the leader and the group implies a reciprocal influence. Groups have the capacity to influence the behavior of their leaders by responding selectively to specific leader behaviors. The influence of a leader can also be constrained by several external factors, such as organizational policies, group norms, and individual skills and abilities. Other variables have been found to neutralize or substitute for the influence of a leader, such as the skills and abilities of followers and the nature of the task itself. POSITIONING ON LEADERSHIP CRISIS There are many leadership theories. Arthur G. Jago (1982)  [8]  had proposed a framework that organizes leadership theories based on each theorys focus and approach. Focus refers to whether the leadership is seen as a set of traits or actions. There is a universal formula of traits or behavior for an effective leader. However, effective leadership also depends on specific situations. The kinds of behaviors that leaders can actually perform in a group. The two leader behaviors that have been consistently observed including task-related activities, called initiating structure or production-centered activities, and interpersonal relations activities, sometimes called consideration or employee-centered activities. The incremental influence that one individual exerts upon another and that causes the second person to change his or her behavior voluntarily. Three leadership roles include origination of the structure by top-level managers, interpolation or adapting the structure by middle-level managers and administration or implementation of the policies and procedures by lower-level supervisors. I concur with A. Ange on the presence of leadership crisis but I also foresee the resolutions taken and are still being taken to resolve the problem. Many organizations are spending money in sending their employees to be groomed and trained for future growth of the company whereby they are exposed to different methods of management and how to be great leaders. Leaders are born to leaders but in some circumstances, situations and environments also play a huge role in creating a leader. Leaders come and go and new ones are always on the threshold to take over the empty space. The qualities of the leaders and their leadership styles vary but they are vital in the development and motivation processes of the organizations. There is

Managing Capability Nandos | Executive Summary

Managing Capability Nandos | Executive Summary This report aims to describe and evaluate capabilities it will use the resource based view to examine them in more detail and the importance of them. After this the report will then evaluate Nandos resources and capabilities and will discuss ways in which these may possibly lead to a competitive advantage. Subsequent to this it will go on to divulge using an assortment of analytical frameworks associated with Nandos to investigate in more detail the competitive advantage they have over their competition. After this it will ascertain how the management of Nandos is able to develop and manage these capabilities. Introduction This report will be based around Nandos the restaurant chain. Nandos whose food, along with wacky advertising campaigns has captured the hearts of thousands of beloved customers. The origins of Nandos can be traced back to South Africa where the first restaurant opened in 1987, with Portuguese style food an ingrained idea within the business; basing their menu around chicken has afforded them the chance to gain a substantial stake in their chosen market. It has had rapid expansion overseas seeing triumph in many of the 25 countries they operate, although it has not been successful everywhere they laid their eggs.(REFERENCE IN HERE) In order to comprehend the strategy as well capabilities the companies possess, it is essential to look at all the pieces of the Nandos puzzle, this report will do this by drawing on real life examples of how Nandos have utilised resources and capabilities, in addition will be using analytical frameworks to support findings and present further understandin g. Resource Based View The resource-based view of strategy conjoins both resources and capabilities together; Grant states that it is the principle foundations of strategy along with correct understanding and implementation of these are a firms key basis to profitability. (Grant 2007) Grant deems it important to distinguish between resources and the capabilities of a firm; resources are, The productive assets owned by the firm whereas capabilities are what the firm can do (Grant 2007). One of the foremost sources of profitability is the competitive advantage in their market. Establishing competitive advantage can be achieved through the development and deployment of resources and capabilities, and thus has become the primary goal for strategy.'(Grant Page 124). Furthermore, Grant affirms that if external environment alters drastically, this in turn could have an effect on the markets an organisation operates in; then the need for a secure basis of internal resources and capabilities becomes of utmost importance an formed within the firm (Grant Book). This strong assortment of resources and capabilities can utilised by the firm to exploit different markets in which these capabilities could complement, instead of allowing the market in which they operate along with customers to control how they should go about doing business, further supporting the significance of competitive advantage in a market, as well as the need to possess this. Resources and Capabilities as a source of Competitive Advantage Resources are defined as the productive assets of a business, these consist of; tangible, intangible and human (knowledge) (Grant, 2007). Resources and Capabilities as Sources of Competitive Advantage Resources are the productive assets, both tangible (such as cash and plant), intangible (technology, reputation culture) and human (skills, capacity for communication and collaboration motivation), in control by the organisation (Grant, 2007). Capabilities are defined as the things a firm can do (2007, p. 130-131), these capabilities are formed by a firms capacity to utilize and deploy their resources for a desired end result Helfat Lieberman (2002 p.135 quoted in Grant 2007). The RBV of competitive advantage is born out of having a capability or resource that has the two following conditions; scarcity relevance. This advantage however is only useful and an advantage if it is durable, hard to imitate and replicate by other firms (Grant, 2007). In Appendix 1 the tangible, intangible and human resources of JnJ have been identified, along with their capabilities, I shall now define what a core and dynamic capability is with some brief examples of JnJs taken from the resources in the table. I shall then go on to show linkages further and ultimately if and how they provide JnJ with a competitive advantage, part 3 will go onto use frameworks to evaluate further if these are in fact sustainable. The nature of competitive adavantage is formed through a cpabilitiy or resource which have two conditions; there relevancy and there scarcity The benefits from these resources and capabilities depend not just on their ability to establish a competitive advantage but also on how long that advantage can be sustained (BOOK 2009). Also it is dependent on how resilient the companys capabilities are; as well as if a rival company can replicate specific capabilities. Figure 1 shows Nandos tangible,intangible and human resources identified, as well as their current capabilities, this report will now analyse what a core and dynamic capability is, including certain relevant examples related to Nandos from Figure 1. After this, I will go onto discuss in depth the linkages and how they may be able to present Nandos with effective advantage over their competition, following on from this, I will then utitlise certain frameworks and analyse and determine whether these are sustainable or not. Grant believes that Capabilities can be defined as either core or distinctive, the differences between the two is; core are the main fundamental capabilities a company must possess to compete in the chosen market, whereas distinctive are the capabilities which spate the company from the competition, giving them a competitive advantage.(Grant 2009) I will now look further into Nandos capabilities with reference to their capabilities in forms of core an distinctive. It is capability that is the essence of superior performance In order for Nandos or any company for that matter, to stay in a position that is both profitable and sustainable is a very hard thing to do. The understanding of their capabilities is imperative, as if they dont understand them then they could find themselves out of the market or even worse out of business. Capabilities are split up into to two different sectiosnScarce capabilities are widely available in their chosen market. If this is the case in Nandos chosen market then there is no real chance of gaining a larger segment of the market, they have to give the customer something new and different. Another factor is the relevance of these capabilities to the company and chosen market, as if they are not giving the target market what they want then they cant stay competitive, for example Nandos is established as a company who solely serve chicken, but whats to say people go and eat at KFC as they just serve chicken as well, its the taste and quality of the food which keeps customers coming back, as well as Nandos unique restaurant experience which is relevant to the market they are in. When we apply this to Nandos they have a specific part of the company that they focus everything around and thats chicken, they only serve chicken on their menu, which in some areas could be beneficial as no other large company is dedicated to that type of menu other than KFC but theres is Kentucky fried chicken and they are a fast food restaurant rather than Nandos established as a restaurant/takeaway so they arent in direct completion in their markets. Conclusion Acquisition of GBK over the last few months Tangible Intangible Human Financial (Cash, securtities, borrowing capacity) Physical (plant, equipment, land, mineral reserves) Technology (patents, copyrights,  trade secrets) Reputation (brands, relationships) Culture Skills/Know-how Capacity for communication and collaboration Motivation Organisational Capabilities Strategy Industry key factors success factors Competitive Advantage Nandos SWOT Analysis Strengths Advantages of proposition? Capabilities? Competitive advantages? USPs (unique selling points)? Resources, Assets, People? Experience, knowledge, data? Financial reserves, likely returns? Marketing reach, distribution, awareness? Innovative aspects? Location and geographical? Price, value, quality? Accreditations, qualifications, certifications? Processes, systems, IT, communications? Cultural, attitudinal, behavioural? Management cover, succession? Weaknesses Disadvantages of proposition? Gaps in capabilities? Lack of competitive strength? Reputation, presence and reach? Financials? Own known vulnerabilities? Timescales, deadlines and pressures? Cashflow, start-up cash-drain? Continuity, supply chain robustness? Effects on core activities, distraction? Reliability of data, plan predictability? Morale, commitment, leadership? Accreditations, etc? Processes and systems, etc? Management cover, succession? Opportunities Market developments? Competitors vulnerabilities? Industry or lifestyle trends? Technology development and innovation? Global influences? New markets, vertical, horizontal? Niche target markets? Geographical, export, import? New USPs? Tactics surprise, major contracts, etc? Business and product development? Information and research? Partnerships, agencies, distribution? Volumes, production, economies? Seasonal, weather, fashion influences? Threats Political effects? Legislative effects? Environmental effects? IT developments? Competitor intentions various? Market demand? New technologies, services, ideas? Vital contracts and partners? Sustaining internal capabilities? Obstacles faced? Insurmountable weaknesses? Loss of key staff? Sustainable financial backing? Economy home, abroad? Seasonality, weather effects?   Department Areas  Finance Return On Investment   Cash Flow   Return on Capital Employed   Financial Results (Quarterly/Yearly) Internal Business Processes  Number of activities per function   Duplicate activities across functions   Process alignment (is the right process in the right department?)   Process bottlenecks   Process automationLearning GrowthIs there the correct level of expertise for the job?   Employee turnover   Job satisfaction   Training/Learning opportunitiesCustomerDelivery performance to customer   Quality performance for customer   Customer satisfaction rate   Customer percentage of market   Customer retention rate   http://www.businessballs.com/balanced_scorecard.htm

Software Piracy in India and the Developed World :: Software Computers Technology Essays

Software Piracy in India and the Developed World Introduction: Software Piracy in India Software is one of the easiest and a very lucrative medium to steal. The copies made are as good as the original software and can be made quickly in large quantities. This makes it very difficult to effectively enforce anti-piracy laws, as the officials cannot raid each and every home in search of illegal copies of copyrighted software. In India, with a population of over 1 billion, effective enforcement of anti-piracy laws is a ponderous task. The government of India possesses neither the will nor the finances to dedicate a chunk of its budget to enforcing copyright infringement laws. Another problem is that to control expenditure of monitoring and convicting such a huge number of offenders is a complicated and time consuming process. Latest figures show that the Personal Computer market in India is rocketing skywards. In the quarter ending December 31st, 2003, 800,000 units were sold. Out of these 55 percent of the computer sales were of regional brands and unbranded systems. It should be noted that not all of these brands conform to software copyright laws as in the United States and Europe, or even in India. By the end of March 2004, an estimated 3 million personal computers are expected to sell. 2 The regional brands are the most responsible for propagating software piracy. In order to sell the computers cheap, pirated versions of software are installed on all machines sold. It can easily be deduced how much loss software piracy will cause the industry in the recent future. The use of illegal or copied versions of software costs the worldwide software industry more than 13 Billion Dollars a year in revenues, out of which 1.96 billion dollars are lost in the US alone, which has a software piracy rate of 23 percent. In some East-Asian, Latin American and European countries, 95 percent of the software used is pirated. So, India is better off but still has a long way to go in the fight against software piracy. India is unarguably one of the software hubs of the world, yet software piracy is rampant in this country. The software piracy rate in India is nearly 65 percent. No illegal activity of this scale can survive unless and until it has the support or involvement of a large number of users. The more concrete manner in which software piracy can be precluded is to pro-actively involve the public in the anti-piracy initiative.

Jebus, king of Jews :: essays research papers

that demands actions, therefore, they often establish guidelines on how to avoid and handle sexual harassment. However, some companies still do not appear to have sexual harassment regulations or at least not publicly accessible ones. One of these companies is Firestone. It seems as though information about the recent tire recall is the only topic that one can access on it’s website or through emails. Nevertheless, an examination of the sexual harassment policies of other companies provides a basis for recommendations. EDS, Electronic Data Systems, serves as a good model in considering which rules are worth implementation. Kevin McFarling, Client Delivery Executive, sums up his company’s attitude toward sexual harassment: â€Å"Sexual harassment is not to be ignored. It is very serious and needs to be treated that way by all employees. It is inexcusable in any environment, let alone a professional one† (McFarling) EDS’s policy on sexual harassment is as follows: EDS does not tolerate sexual harassment or other lawful harassment in the workplace, whether committed by a co-worker, leader, client, contractor, suppliers, or anyone else. Actions, words, jokes or comments that are derogatory and based on any persons gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion or disability will not be tolerated at EDS (Ethics and Business Conduct). In order to create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone affiliated with EDS, tasks and responsibilities have been assigned to all employees, including leaders. These tasks and responsibilities include reporting incidents and adhering to the EDS sexual harassment policy. Leaders have the extra responsibility of educating employees about sexual harassment. EDS also makes sure that training and materials are easily accessible to all employees. These informative materials can be obtained through the EDS Employee Relations and the EDS Office of Ethics and Business Conduct. Other companies should follow the example of EDS in educating their employees so they know that sexual harassment of any kind is not tolerated. Employees should be aware of what exactly constitutes as sexual harassment and avoid any activity that could be considered sexually offensive.

Insect Repellent and Investigatory Project Essay

We make this Project to be used as a Natural Insect Repellant. Aside from it is homemade, its ingredients can only be found in your background. It is not bad for the environment, it is not also bad for your skin if you use into it. For Lemongrass is a plant. Aside from the leaves and the oil are used to make medicine and some people apply lemongrass and its essential oil directly to the skin for headache, stomachache, abdominal pain, and muscle pain. By inhalation, the essential oil of lemongrass is used as aromatherapy for muscle pain. In food and beverages, lemongrass is used as a flavoring. It is also good ingredient in an insect repellant. Lemongrass leaves are also commonly used as â€Å"lemon† flavoring in herbal teas. In manufacturing, lemongrass is used as a fragrance in soaps and cosmetics. Lemongrass is also used in making vitamin A and natural citral. Lemongrass might help prevent the growth of some bacteria and yeast. Lemongrass also contains substances that are thought to relieve pain, reduce fever, stimulate the uterus and  menstrual flow, and have antioxidant properties. Garlic they help control bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast and worm infections. The chemical ajoene found in garlic may help treat fungal skin infections like ringworm and athlete’s foot. Angiotensin II is a protein that helps our blood vessels contract thereby increasing the blood pressure. Allicin in garlic blocks the activity of angiotensin II and helps in reducing blood pressure and such, it is also one of the best ingredients in an insect repellant for it smells strong and bitter that insects will avoid. Garlic is one of the best remedy in toothache, and aside from that it is also the best ingredient in an effective insect repellant. And alcohol can also be an ingredient of an insect repellant. If this four ingredients is combined, sure, they’ll gonna be a good product. A.)Background of the Study As an effective repellant, not only insects will avoid that object, its ingredients are all natural. You can only find it in your backyard. We are not only teaching them how to make an effective repellant, but we are also teaching them to be thrifty, save money and use the natural ingredients in the surroundings. There is a need to avoid the attacks of the destructive insects. B.)Statement of the Problems/Objectives An insect repellant is a solution to the attacks of the insects. Branded repellant has a strong chemical that might affect a person or a thing. There are many plants that can be used as a repellant which is safer. This study aims to answer the following questions: ïÆ'ËœIs that repellant really effective? ïÆ'ËœIs that repellant really natural? ïÆ'ËœIs that repellant cannot harm a person? ïÆ'ËœIs that repellant safe for the environment? C.)Significance of the Study The importance of this repellant is it makes the ant avoid such thing. The

The Lynas Fact Sheet

The Lynas Fact Sheet Note: This Fact Sheet is updated regularly. The last update was made on 2nd June 2011 Rare Earths 1. Despite their name, rare earth elements are relatively plentiful in the earth's crust 2. 3. but are more difficult to mine and extract than many other metals because of their chemical properties and geographical dispersion, making them relatively more expensive to extract. Rare earth metals are used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products including catalytic converters, wind turbines, hybrid car batteries, disk drives, mobile phones, and flat screen displays.Worldwide demand for rare earths is increasing rapidly and is expected to outstrip supply in the future. China currently produces about 97% of the world's supply. Rare Earths & Radioactivity 1. The extraction of rare earths raises a number of environmental and safety concerns 2. 3. 4. because the ore in which rare earths are found are often associated with minerals containing radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium. Health and safety issues that need to be addressed include radiation protection for workers, the public and the environment, the transportation of raw materials nd the management of waste. Human beings are exposed to very small levels of radioactivity in everyday life. Thorium, for example, is naturally present in soil, rocks, ground and surface water, plants and animals in very low concentrations. Ingestion of food and water containing this level of radioactivity does not pose any threat to human health. The radiation exposure limit set by AELB for the public is 1 mSv/year. The annual radiation exposure, in millisieverts (mSv)/year, in a number of daily human activities is as follows: i. Smoking a pack of cigarettes daily 0. 0 mSv ii. Medical or dental x-day 0. 39 mSv iii. Sleeping next to someone for 8 hours 0. 02 mSv iv. Watching television 2 hours daily 0. 01 mSv v. Using a computer terminal 0. 001 mSv (Source: United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 1982, 1993, 2000; United Nations Environment Protection Agency; US Department of Energy; Health Physics Society) The Lynas Project 1. Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Lynas) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lynas Corporation 2. Ltd of Australia . Its business is the production and sale of rare earths and related byproducts.Lynas plans to import rare earth ore from its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia, 3. 4. truck it to the port of Fremantle , send it by container ship to Kuantan, and process it at the Gebeng Industrial Estate in Pahang. At Gebeng, the Lynas plant will extract Rare Earths from the ore for export. Lynas says waste from the extraction process will be used to produce commercially applicable products or stored in safe and secure containers. Lynas says it chose to locate its plant at the Gebeng site because of: i. Its proximity to Kuantan port ii.The availability of gas, water and chemical supplies iii. The availability of skilled workers Manufactur ing License 1. On 22 January 2008, Lynas was granted a manufacturing licence to produce â€Å"rare 2. earth oxides and carbonates† at Gebeng Industrial Estate, Kuantan. The approval was granted subject to a number of conditions, in particular, the need to comply with the provisions of the: i. Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984 ii. Environmental Quality Act 1974. Compliance Requirements 1. The Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984 is administered by the Atomic Energy 2. 3. Licensing Board (AELB).Among other things, the AELB monitors and assesses the radiological impact of the Lynas project through all stages of construction and operation. This includes matters relating to radiation protection (occupational, public and environmental), safety, waste management, transportation, decommissioning and remediation. The Department of Environment (DOE) is the implementing agency for the Environmental Quality Act 1974. The Act governs issues related to the prevention, abatement and control of p ollution and enhancement of the environment (other than radioactive material and radioactive waste).The safety standards and good practice requirements enforced by the two regulatory bodies are similar to or equivalent to those recognised internationally. Compliance status 1. Lynas began planning and construction of its plant at Gebeng Industrial Estate, 2. Pahang soon after obtaining its manufacturing licence. In April 2011, the company announced that construction had reached the 40% stage and was on target for completion by September, 2011. The AELB confirms that Lynas has complied with all health and safety standards required of the company to date.A site licence and a construction licence have been issued accordingly. The next stage in the multi-tiered approval process requires Lynas to apply to the AELB for a pre-operating licence. To date, the company has not made a submission to the AELB for this purpose. Upon receiving a pre-operating licence, the company will then be requir ed to apply for and obtain an operating licence before it can commence full operations. 3. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report on the project was approved by 4. 5. the Department of Environment on 15 February 2008.The Department confirms that Lynas has complied with all requirements of the EIA approval to date. The Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) conducted by the Nuklear Malaysia affirms that operation of the proposed Lynas plant would not pose any radiological risk to workers and members of the public living in the areas surrounding the site beyond what is allowed by the regulatory authorities. Nuklear Malaysia also affirms that the projected radiation exposure levels in the Lynas plant for workers (average of 2 mSv/yr) and members of the public (0. 02 mSv/yr) are within the limits set by AELB. Decision to appoint Independent Panel of International Experts 1. On 22 April, 2011, however, following widespread public concern about the safety of 2. the project, the Go vernment announced a decision to appoint an independent panel of international experts to review all health and safety aspects of the project.Pending completion of this review, the Government also decided that: i. No pre-operating license will be issued to Lynas by AELB. ii. There will be no importation of raw materials for the plant from Australia. ii. A review will be undertaken to ensure that construction of the facility at the site fully complies with national and international safety standards. Independent Panel of International Experts 1. In late April 2011, the Government approached the International Atomic Energy 2. 3. Agency (IAEA) in Vienna , Austria , for assistance to appoint an expert team to: i. Review Lynas' compliance with relevant International Safety Standards and Good Practices, and ii. Provide an independent expert opinion on safety issues, in particular, those relating to radiation safety.The scope of the review included: i. Radiation protection (workplace, publ ic, environment) ii. Safety assessment iii. Waste Management iv. Transportation v. Decommissioning and environmental remediation On 13 May, 2011, the Government announced details of the IAEA-appointed panel. The panel consists of a leader and nine members: four from the IAEA, and five from IAEA member countries. All panel members are recognised experts in their respective 4. 5. 6. 7. disciplines and have knowledge of IAEA standards, in particular, those relating to rare earth processing.Details of individual members of the panel The expert panel began the on-site component of its work on 29 May 2011. During its six-day visit, the panel has scheduled to meet with government officials and representatives of Lynas, and receive representations from members of the public, including residents, community associations, non-governmental organisations and professional bodies. The panel is scheduled to complete its work and submit its report to the Government by 30 June 2011. The Government ha s announced that the report will be made public.

Methods And Preferences Of Learning Styles Education Essay

Learning manner can be defined as the different methods and penchants used by scholars in the procedure of larning. Individual acquisition manner and techniques abound in such a manner that learners discover that they have a peculiar acquisition manner with small or no usage of the other manners. It is besides possible for a scholar to develop ability in less dominant acquisition manners with regard to an activity with small or no usage of his/her predominant larning manner. Hence, we can once and for all state that the best manner to larn depends on the individual ‘s ability to detect his/her ain larning manner with regard to the activity involved. The VAK theoretical account is the brief signifier of the Visual-Auditory-Kinaesthetic acquisition manners theoretical account. Harmonizing to this theoretical account, most people possess a dominant learning manner ; nevertheless some people may hold an equally balanced blend and mixed of the three acquisition manners. The VAK theoretical account is every bit depicted below: Ocular: Visual perception and Reading Ocular scholars learn best by watching a presentation, looking at artworks, or reading. These scholars will instead prefer largely images and spacial apprehension than listening to an account. An illustration of learning activity that suits this learning manner is presentation. Auditory: Listening and Speaking Auditory scholars would instead prefer listening to things being explained than reading about them. Declaiming information out loud and holding music in the background may be a common survey method, as other noises may go a distraction ensuing in a demand for a comparatively quiet topographic point. An illustration of learning activity that suits this learning manner is talking. Kinesthetic: Touch and Doing. This learning manner is besides referred to as ‘Physical ‘ , or ‘Tactile ‘ , or ‘Touchy-Feely ‘ . These scholars process information best through â€Å" hands-on † experience. They prefer â€Å" action-doing † activities instead than the â€Å" sit still † activities. An illustration of learning activity that suits this learning manner is experiential. It is worthwhile to observe that if there is a mismatch between the pupil ‘s learning manner and the instructor ‘s instruction manner the pupil will decidedly non understand what he/she is being taught ; which can finally take to hapless classs and low ego regard on the portion of the pupil. Based on the aforesaid grounds, the instructor is expected to integrate a assortment of different learning acquisition manners into his/her lesson program in order to do the lesson all inclusive and enable them to larn more efficaciously. Differentiation is defined as the act by which teachers/trainers utilizing a scope of different attacks and resources to suit the different persons in the schoolrooms. The best manner to run into student ‘s different acquisition demands is to present the course of study in a figure of different ways ; to distinguish the vehicle by which the accomplishments, cognition and constructs arrive, every bit good as showing a scope of undertakings. The ground for making this is because it ensures the maximal sum of pupil engagement, i.e. student planning, pupil appraisal and pupil determination devising. Examples of activities that are appropriate to the three identified acquisition manners are as follows: Ocular: Using highlighter pens to footnote work. Auditory: Introducing new words through linguistic communication games. Kinesthetic: By supplying chances for scholars to make things. Functional accomplishments are practical accomplishments in English, Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) . These practical accomplishments which include employability, personal and developmental accomplishments are expected to be completed by Learners set abouting the 14-19 Diplomas as portion of their chief acquisition because they would shortly be used as replacing for the current accomplishments demand in apprenticeships. The makings with regard to these accomplishments have been developed up to level 2. The importance of these practical accomplishments can non be overemphasized as they are designed to let persons to work independently, efficaciously and confidently. Implanting functional accomplishments involves adding the three functional accomplishments to a specific country to be taught so that scholars can larn the particular topic in inquiry and besides at the same time develop their reading, spelling, composing, arithmetic, basic math, ICT etc. Implanting functional accomplishments need merely be at the degree of the scholars and the topic. Below are a few ways of by and large implanting functional accomplishments: Not accepting written work with hapless spelling or grammar. Offer support if necessary. Give scholars worksheets to rehearse any slippery maths Promote them to utilize your class as a ground to upgrade their IT skills It is expected that any lesson program by the teacher/trainer should hold these three different elements of functional accomplishments embedded in them. I will utilize a faculty in my specialist country ( ICT ) called Customer support proviso for IT Professionals as an illustration. The help desk client support faculty is a Flat 3 City & A ; Guilds class that teaches learners how to manage client complain and support questions in a professional mode. It is an ICT class and the scenario involves scholars working for a Support company. It consists of three chief undertakings and two bomber undertakings. Undertaking A: Learners are to react to 10 different electronic mails from clients either kicking about the support services or bespeaking for aid from the help desk. They besides have to utilize database package to log all the calls they deal with on the help desk. Embedded functional Skills in Task A: Literacy and ICT. The scholars have to write/compose a professional electronic mail response to ailments or petition which MUST be grammatically right. They besides use Microsoft entree to log the calls in a database. Undertaking B: Learners will work with a dataset on Microsoft Excel. They are to analyze the informations and so compose a study on their analysis. Their study MUST incorporate mathematical diagrams such as Pie charts, saloon charts and graphs. Embedded functional accomplishments in Task B: MATHS ( NUMERACY ) making pie charts, saloon charts, graphs AND LITERACY composing a study. Task C: Learners MUST make a press release that illustrates how to decide common support jobs. The instructions in the press release MUST be grammatically right and easy to understand and so distributed to clients. Learners besides do a short talk presentation for clients. The presentation must be based on a common support mistake. Embedded functional accomplishments in Task C: LITERACY i.e. developing a press release and carry oning a one on one presentation session. There are many other faculties similar to the one discussed above in my specialist country. These faculties are embedded with all the functional accomplishments and are designed non merely to measure the scholar ‘s degree of functional accomplishments but besides to assist them develop the needful accomplishments in employment and life. COMPLETED WORKSHEET IDENTIFYING EMBEDDED FUNCTIONAL SKILLS IN A PTLLS SESSION Keys/Basic Skills development Communication / Literacy Information Communication Technology Application of Number / Numeracy Wider Key Skills

Global Warming Synthesis

In modern society, global warming is one of the most serious problems causing unrest all over the world. Global warming has been blamed for a host of recent worldwide issues, such as an increase in the number and severity of hurricanes, higher temperatures and droughts, and various other environmental changes. Thus, countermeasures to cope with the aggravating global warming are urgent questions in the present day.To deal with the problem of global warming, many nations and organizations are making policies and implementing them in various fields. But there are some key issues that leaders should consider when making policies to solve global warming; the practicality and morality of the policies. When dealing with global warming, the practicality of policies is one of the most important and fundamental issues. Yet the policies are useless if they cannot be implemented.As we have limited resources, we should choose to maximize our resources by comparing the benefits and costs of each policy. In other words, the balancing global warming and other problems should be set appropriately. (Source D) Too much burden on economic development lessens the possibility of carrying out the policies. Furthermore, the actual effectiveness is a critical factor when making global warming policies. Thus, the countermeasure to global warming is in a state of emergency.But according to Maslin Mark, the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol are far below the threshold diminution necessary to â€Å"prevent major climatic change. † (Source E) In other words, the makers of the Kyoto Protocol should have been considered the actual effect precisely to produce satisfactory results. Therefore, leaders should consider the economic practicality and the extent of expected effect when making policies that may affect global warming. Policies that may affect global warming should also consider moral and ethical aspects.

Demand and Price Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Demand and Price - Essay Example The other consumers of corn have to resort to other alternatives that are relatively cheaper in the market. Biofuels are a product from corn and oilseeds; thus, the producers of biofuels have to substitute the input of the two raw materials for the optimization of profits. Thus, the producer faces the choices to incur a higher cost of production, reduce the output or increase the consumption of oilseed for production. The crop farmer benefits from higher returns and responds by increasing the production of corn (Dalton, 2009). The vertical axis shows the input of oilseed while the horizontal shows the corn input. The aim of the producing company is to maximize profit (Dalton, 2009). The point R we have the isocost line meeting with the isoquant. This combination of corn and oilseed will yield the company maximum output minimizing on cost which is the objective of the company. An increase in the demand of biofuels will mean that the company has to move to a higher output level. This w ill need an increase in the inputs, which are corn and oil seed. How developments in agricultural and conversion technology might influence the impacts identified in above The developments in agriculture aimed at production of more corn will lead to increase the supply of corn in the market. The increase in supply is likely to cause a decrease in the price of corn. However, with the advancing technologies of conversion coming into operation a wider range of materials will be usable for production of bio fuels (Bhamra et al., 2010). This will further, ease the burden of bio fuels production on corn. The price of corn would establish a new equilibrium with the demand that now will be. DI indicates the demand of corn. Pe and Qe show the equilibrium price and quantity. The production of biofuel using corn as a raw material causes an increase in the demand of corn, thus the demand curve shift shown by the arrows (Dalton, 2009). Consider the result below. The demand for more biofuels stim ulates a higher demand for corn (Gupta & Ayhan, 2010). The demand curve shifts to D2 and a new equilibrium at the point J. The effects of increased competition between participants in the market on the impacts identified above. The competition will result to a higher demand of corn. The crop farmers will expand production in order to feed the new market. This will mean changes in the farming practices and patterns. These changes necessitate farmers to use irrigation. The use of irrigation will cause a strain on water resources available. There will be a need to expand to potion of land used in corn cultivation yet limited space provides a challenge. The crop farmers will start cultivating of marginal lands, which are highly erodible (Gupta & Ayhan, 2010). The farmers will intensify the use of chemical inputs to increase crop yield. This will negatively affect the soil. This is because the increased use of fertilizers will lead to contamination of runoff and nutrient leaching. Howeve r, the level of damage will depend on management practices employed by farmers. Increase the level of cultivation may lead to high levels of erosion. This will further, affect the quality of water in the region. These damages will be presenting the problems of environment sustainability (Gupta & Ayhan, 2010). Cultivation of marginal lands and expansion of land under crop production is a threat to wildlife resources. The cultivation leads to destruction and clearing of vegetation,

Reflection on Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection on Film - Movie Review Example One of the key functions of the movie was to depict a current reflective model has several aims for the young nurses to be successful. Â  The current model aims to meet the aspirations of the modern medical healthcare services by increasing the recruitment of nurses. One of the most critical components for these young medical professional is to put them in an environment in which they can enhance their skill base and competences with the hosptial’s development progress. More focus is emphasized on training while increasing the staff morale in midst of adversities. Furthermore, the goal was to escalate the interpersonal communications of these students in order for them to communicate with their patients. It is evident that patients and the hospitals want to have this symbiotic relationship in which habits of trust and confidentiality are solidified. The movie focused on organizational methods and education offers many incentives for its members. First and foremost, it allows nurses to have mentors and create a solid foundation of network that will allow its members to have a connection for recruitment purposes. Another incentive to join this organization is the fact that it implements a model that should be developed for nursing students should be simple in order to facilitate the process. It should consist of peer collaboration, discussion, research and testing along with shadowing a medical professional. These steps are vital because they solidify the foundation of core competencies along with remedying deficiencies. Needs were assessed based on quantified manner. In essence, research was based on the assessment and further investigation that the patients condition was severe. Additionally, much of the emphasis was based on patient-nurse relationship, which was depicted consistently throughout the movie. Reflect practice was another common theme in this movie as reflective practice becomes an