Personal Philosophy of Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Philosophy of Success - Essay Example After the accomplishment of all activities in plan, an individual can therefore count success by enjoying all what he/she has accomplished. In order to achieve success, an individual must come up with some strategies and plans. These strategies act as guidelines towards the achievement of success. Education is one of the major keys to success. Getting educated provides us with an opportunity to make critical decisions about our lives. It helps us to interact with different people and learn from each other. Education, to a great extend helps us, realize, accept and take full responsibilities of our lives (Rohn and Vic 34). My first strategy of success is to accept and take my responsibility in school. The realization of my responsibilities as a college student will become a good channel to my success. There are several activities that require special attentions within the school. Many of the activities performed in school are full determinants of my success. Reading extensively is my responsibility. This will give me a broader thinking that will enable me to handle difficult situations. It is my responsibility to make adequate preparations for my exams. This includes taking much time to study and revise for my exams. This will enable me to handle assignments with little difficulty and submit them in good time. My second strategy is on time management. In order to be successful in my collage life, I must manage my time properly. In order to achieve this, I will require preparing a timetable for my activities whereby.

Budgetary control Essay Example for Free

Budgetary control Essay Nowadays management’s philosophy revolves around the idea of planning. According to McKinsey (1922), chief executives have come to the realization that today’s task can only be properly fulfilled thanks to the meticulous planning of yesterday. The budgetary control framework has been openly accepted and widespread as a tool for management and overall organisation control. Nonetheless, recent evolutions in the managerial sciences have come to jeopardise the reliability of budgeting as an effective method for the control of performance and organisation. The concern of whether budgeting is in fact an apt tool has created mixed views and debate amongst scholars. This essay will aim to evaluate whether budgetary control is concerned primarily with the control of performance, or if it has of late taken on greater importance especially as a more integrative control mechanism for the organisation. In order to do so it will firstly define the meaning of two fundamental concepts such as budget and budgetary control. Secondly it will evaluate the use of budgetary control as a tool for today’s organization. Thirdly it will follow debates and criticisms on its the effectiveness and use and Lastly it will conclude by assessing to what extent budgetary control has become a more integrative control mechanism for organisations. The work of key specialists in management such as Bhimani, Otley, Van der Stede and McWatters, will be drawn on in order to cover the key issues of the discussion. Before commencing on a discussion of budgetary control, it is immanent to clarify and define the two key terms that will be used in this essay: ‘budget’ and ‘budgetary control’. On the one hand, as defined by Bhimani et al. (2008) â€Å"a budget is a quantitative expression of a proposed plan of action by management for future time period and it is an aid to coordination and implementation of the plan†. On the same line McWatters et al. (2008) highlights the importance of budgets as a planning control system for a company, which ‘translate’ organisational objectives into financial terms. Drury (2009) exemplifies the many different purposes that budgets serve, such as: coordinating activities, conveying various arrangements to different responsibility centres, arranging and controlling operations, motivating employees to attain organisational objectives and assessing the execution of managers. According to Johnson (1996), it was in the 1960s that associations started to highly regard the utilization of budgets as tools for performance measurement and the control of managerial objectives. On the other hand, budgetary control is described by Periasamy (2010) as â€Å"a system of controlling costs which includes the preparation of budgets, coordinating the department and establishing responsibilities, comparing actual performance with the budgeted and acting upon results to achieve maximum profitability†. A similar, yet more formal, definition of budgetary control is given by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of England and Wales (CIMA): â€Å"the establishment of budgets relating to the responsibilities of executives to the requirement of a policy and the continuous comparison of actual with the budgeted results, either to secure by individual actions the objectives of policy or to provide a basis for its revision†. There are two main purposes of budgets which scholars have identified: planning and controlling. The first purpose, which McWatters et al. (2008) discusses, is that budgets have a fundamental role in undertaking planning decisions. In fact, the integration of budgets into a strategic planning of long term and short-term objectives is crucial to the harmony of the project itself. This claim can be explained by Bhimani et al. (2008) who proposes that, budgets provide a more realistic view on the possible outcomes of investments, which consequently leads managers to adjust their strategic goals accordingly. To put it another way, when a company wants to match its potentials suitably with the prospects of the marketplace, it undertakes a strategic analysis to then set several long-run and short-run goals. On this basis a budget is formulated. However, as stated before, once the budget that has been formulated projects a more realistic view on the strategic objectives, these strategic objectives are then readjusted once again. The second purpose that Emmanuel et al. (1990) discusses is to do with budgets as a form of control and a tool for monitoring a company’s performance. McWatters et al. (2008) describe this function by outlining the idea that budgets are frequently used to assign responsibilities by allocating resources to different managers. A budget may be given with more or less flexibility, for example by assigning a large sum of money for ‘advertising’ to be used at the managers discretion, or by highlighting the different ways that this money should be used. The optional flexibility of budgets allows for a company to give the adequate level of responsibility to its employees and thus the organisation is able to maintain a level of control. McWatters et al. (2008) further elaborates on the function of budgeting for control by suggesting that â€Å"the numbers in a budget are also used as goals to motivate organisational members†. This motivational aspect of budgeting can be explained by Bhimani et al (2008) who states that â€Å"the manner in which a budget is administered can adversely impact on the managers’ behaviour†. A manager must believe that the budget is achievable in order to actively attempt to pursue it, Bhimani et al (2008) adds that through the constraints and goals set by budgeting targets, managers are often motivated to â€Å"effect changes in a forceful way†. The way that a budget is formulated, and the demands and pressures that it targets are key in encouraging the right degree of motivation, â€Å"an enterprise can set a difficult to attain budget in an attempt to motivate good performance. This is because, in practice, budgets that are set up to a certain degree of tightness often become stronger motivators† (Bhimani et al. , 2008). A final point to consider with the role of budgetary control is the function that it plays in enhancing communication within a company. Internal coordination between the steps of production , as well as communication among departments are key aspects for a company’s performance. Dury (2009) states that â€Å"the budget serves as a vehicle through which the actions of the different parts of an organisation can be brought together and reconciled into one common plan†. Hence, hierarchical and inter-departmental communication within the organisation is extremely facilitated thanks to the use of budgets. For instance, considering a multinational corporation that, due to its size, has difficulties in communicating between the production department and the sales department, budgets could in this circumstance be the most operational manner of communicating, as they set common goals between different departments. As it is clear form the paragraphs above, the controlling side of budgets play a stronger role than the planning aspect. An example that instead criticise this view can be found in the strategic planning of investments. Maximising performance of a company can be synonymous for maximising the shareholders value. Akintoye (2008) argues that equality in investment decisions are fairly dependent on the solidity of the budgetary control system, which in turn is key to maximise the company’s shareholders value. Therefore, it is arguable that a weak budgetary control system may be the cause of unprofitable investments and consequently may trigger the loss of shareholders value (Akintoye, 2008). There are many examples that reflect this issue, such as one reported by the European Journal of Economics Finance and Administrative Science where the Coca-Cola Company, with the purpose of differentiating production, failed miserably in their investment on food and wine in that the investment rate of return resulted to be beneath their cost of capital. The tremendous loss of money caused by this investment and other failures of this type grab the attention of scholars, raising questions on the salience of the budgetary control system, as well as whether budgets are mainly used to control or plan organisations. Other criticisms towards budgetary control as a main form of performance control, argue instead that the use of budgetary control in performance management has of late taken on greater importance especially as a more integrative control mechanism for the organisation. This stands on the basis of different points of view of the role that motivation and communication play within a company. Bhimani et al. (2008) argues that current speculation concerning budgetary control systems prescribes two inverse perspectives. From one perspective, there is the view that upholds incremental change to budgetary process in terms of interfacing such forms more closely to operational prerequisites, arranging frameworks, expanding the recurrence of plan amendment and the arrangement of rolling budgets. A second perspective supports the abandoning of the budgetary control system as a method of organisational control, and supplanting it with elective systems to empower firms on their adaptability and adjustability. The second perspective arose because of the consequences caused by the conflictual role of budgets between planning and controlling. To summarize; in planning and settling choices, budgets convey specialised information between different departments and hierarchy of the organisation, whereas for control, budgets serve as benchmarks for performance measurement (Otley, 1978). According to McWatters et al. (2008) if too many boundaries are placed into performance targets, then specialised executives will settle down and stop disclosing accurate predictions of prospected occurrences, and instead rely more on budgeted figures, which ease the achievement of the targets. A clear example of this conflict is given by the marketing sector. Salespeople according to McWatters et al. (2008) are usually very specialised and can very well forecast future sales. Their predictions are very important to settle the amount of goods to be produced. Inasmuch budgetary control of sales takes place at the end of the year, and it is used as a tool to evaluate performance. Salespeople are reasonably incentivised to under-forecast future sales in order to assure a positive evaluation of their performance. Nevertheless this behaviour induces the company to have higher production costs, creating counterproductive results. However, this behavioural theory is contrasted by Van der Stede (2000) in his study on the relationship between two consequences of budgetary control: slack creation and managerial short-term orientation. In his experiment he attempts to find the relationship between rigid budgetary control and slack creation, where he defines slack as the action by business unit managers that leads them to â€Å"†¦ exploit their position of superior knowledge about business possibilities vis-a-vis corporate management to get performance targets that are deliberately lower than their best guess forecast about the future† (lukka, 1988). Van der Stede’s (2008) statistical correlation showed in fact that rigid budget control reduced slack. To strengthen his view, Bhimani et al. (2008) states that â€Å"budgeted performance measures can overcome two keys limitations of using past performance as basis for judging actual result†, meaning that, not only budgetary control is a good â€Å"judge† of performance, but it also develops better aspects in comparison to other evaluation techniques. In conclusion, this essay has highlighted the role of budgetary control and it’s functions in terms of planning the organisational control of a company, as well as its role in performance management. Motivation and communication are both key aspects in the management of performance, and both of these functions are met through the system of budgetary control, either by setting achievable incentives, or by providing the necessary requirements to improve communications within a company. Having underlined the role of budgetary control as an enhancer of performance management, it is clear to see how it has become a key mechanism for the integrative control of an organisation. Nonetheless, this essay has outlined some of the key disputes of the reliability and effectiveness of budgetary control as an adequate method of performance management. An example of this is highlighted by the fact that when managers are given strict budgeting figures, they sometimes deem the goals to be too easily achieved, and hence give a lesser input of motivation. Despite the many critics of budgetary control as a tool for the organisation of a company, scholars such as Van der Stede (2000) and Bhimani et al. (2008) have confidently stated that when a budget is set correctly, it can significantly improve an organisations performance, including the integrative function within a company; and is in fact a more effective tool than other existing methods of control.

Human Relations And Privacy And Confidentiality Social Work Essay

Human Relations And Privacy And Confidentiality Social Work Essay (Professional Ethics, n.d., para. 1) states, Ethics are rules and values used in a professional setting. Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise because of the specialist knowledge that professionals attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public. (Professional Ethics, n.d., para. 1) further states the professional carries additional moral responsibilities to those held by the population in general. This is because professionals are capable of making and acting on an informed decision in situations that the general public cannot, because they have not received the relevant training. Most professions use professional ethics, which, are encoded in their code of ethics to internally regulate themselves and preserve the integrity of the profession as well as preventing the exploitation of clients. The codes of ethics are broad guidelines that members are required to convert to the appropriate professional behaviour. Herlihy and Corey (as cited in Corey, Corey and Callanan 2007) suggests that a code of ethics has the following objectives: Educate the professional about sound ethical conduct Provide a mechanism for professional accountability Serve as a catalyst for improving practice Engels, Pope and Vasquez cited in Corey, Corey and Callanan (2007) highlighted that despite these code of ethics the professional will face limitations and problems in striving to be ethically responsible. Limitations cited included: Ethic codes may lack clarity and precision which make assessment of ethical applications difficult A practitioners personal values may conflict with a specific standard within an ethics code The codes may not align with state laws or regulations regarding reporting requirements Ethics codes should be understood and applied within the specific cultural framework) Professional ethics can be subdivided into two levels, namely mandatory ethics and aspirational ethics. Mandatory ethics represents basic ethics, which comply with the minimal standards, while aspirational ethics are the highest standards of thinking and conduct to be sought by the professional (Corey, Corey and Callanan, 2007, p.13). Corey, Corey and Callanan (2007) states Aspiration ethics means that the professional will seek to go further and reflect on the effects their interventions may have on the welfare of their clients. Aspirational ethics have been captured by the American Psychological Association (APA) in the general principles of its codes of ethics. (APA General Guidelines , n.d., par 1) states that compliance with these guidelines are not mandatory or enforceable however they are intended to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession. The principles stated in the APA Ethical Principles Code of Conduct include the following : Beneficence and Non-maleficence This requires the psychologist to strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to ensure they do no harm. In addition, they are to seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact professionally and other affected persons. Fidelity and Responsibility Psychologists are expected to establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work. They should be aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. They should uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm. Integrity-Psychologists should seek to promote accuracy, honesty and truthfulness in the science, teaching and practice of psychology. In these activities psychologists should not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of fact. Justice -Psychologists should recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists. Respect for people rights and dignity-Psychologists should respect the dignity and worth of all people and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and self-determination. Psychologists should be are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision-making. The other component of the APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for psychologist is the Code of Conduct/ Ethical Standards, which are enforceable standards that should guide the actions of the psychologist in their professional lives. The APA has 10 ethical standards and, for the purpose of our discussion, we will focus on three of these namely, competence, human relations and privacy and confidentiality. The three standards cover a broad spectrum of issues, which will be discussed at a summary level. The APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct competence standard requires the Counseling and Consulting Psychologist to only provide services, teach or conduct research only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study or professional experience. Additionally they are expected to continuously undertake efforts to maintain and improve their competence. Finally, they should exercise self-awareness that will reduce the likelihood that they will undertake an activity, which their personal problems could prevent them from performing in a competent manner. Possessing the relevant competencies, maintaining and improving these competences and taking steps to ensure that personal conflicts or problems do not prevent them from properly executing their job is tied into the general principle of beneficence and non maleficence which are aimed at doing what is best for the client. Seeking to prevent personal conflicts a nd problems affecting the working relationship is consistent with the recommendation that Counseling and Consulting Psychologist maintain notes of their feelings resulting from interactions with clients. The counseling psychologist in the therapeutic relationship would maintain process notes, which among other things includes the therapist thoughts, feelings and reactions to clients. The consulting psychologist should keep notes, such as a diary, which details feelings and reactions to members of the client organization system. This self-monitoring should help the psychologist to identify problems during the therapeutic/consultative process that can negatively affect the relationship and therefore take the requisite steps such as getting counseling or terminating to prevent harm to the client. The APA ethical standard on human relations encompasses the avoidance of unfair discrimination of clients, avoiding harm, multiple relationships, use of informed consent, and managing conflict of interest among others. Discussions in this paper will be on avoiding harm, multiple relationships and informed consent. The standard requires the counseling and consulting psychologist to take reasonable steps to avoid harm to clients, organisational client, supervisees and others with whom they work and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable. Seeking to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable bears significance for the consulting psychologist as their interventions and the resulting changes may have an impact on persons unknown. This results from the nature of the consulting relationship, which usually involve three parties, the consultant, the consultee/client system and the client groups served by the consultee (Lowan, 2002, p. 733). Additionally, the APA s tandard states the Counseling and Consulting psychologist should avoid multiple relationships with clients directly or thorough a person closely associated with or related to the client. Lowman, (2002) defines multiple relationships as those situations in which the psychologist functions in more than one professional relationship, as well as those in which the psychologist functions in a professional role and another definitive and intended role. Specific risks associated with such relationships outlined in the code of ethics include loss of objectivity and exploitation of the client by the psychologist (Lowman, 2002, p. 739). The consulting psychologist needs to be aware of the potential harm that can result from their failing to effectively manage relationships within the organization and that it can affect not only those in the dual relationship but also others in the organization (Lowman, 2002, p. 740). The challenges facing consulting psychologists in this regard are special, a s in most instances a dual relationship will exist. Dual relationships in and of themselves are not always bad and they can be considered inevitable however, they need to be managed carefully. If the consultant is hired based on a referral from a member of the consultee system with whom the consultant has a previous social or professional relationship, this can present several issues. These issues includes how the consultants perspective may be affected by information received from this person, expectations that the persons may have in terms of access to or influence on the consultant, how the dual relationship is perceived by other in the organization and is resultant impact on these persons interaction with the consultant.(Lowman, 2002, p.741). The presence of dual or multiple relationships in the therapeutic relationship can create situations in which the client feels they cannot be assertive or take care of themselves. This arises primarily due to the existence or previous exist ence of a therapeutic relationship that creates and uneven balance of power between the therapist and the client. These multiple relationships can include romantic involvement with a previous client after the 2 years stipulated by the standards or the therapist involvement in a business relationship with the client. The avoidance of these dual relationships are advocated for family member and close friends as the increased intimacy can reduce the therapist effectiveness as a professional. The psychologist objectivity and maintenance of professional distance is usually impaired if dual relationships are established. Informed Consent is a particularly important area covered by this ethical standard. Freeman (cited in Lowan 2002) defined informed consent in terms of four essential elements (1) the competence of participants to make rational decisions regarding whether or not to participate; (2) the voluntary nature of participation; (3) access to full information regarding the purposes, potential risks and benefits, and the likely outcomes of participation; and (4) the ability to comprehend relevant information. The Consulting psychologist faces peculiar challenges in obtaining informed consent, as the client is more difficult to identify. The consulting psychologist will rightly identify the organization as the client but the organization is made up of groups of individuals organized in a hierarchical structure that intrinsically carries power differentials. While the consulting psychologist can say that the organization is represented by whom ever contracted them, and these persons may be suppor tive of the consultation, can the same be said of others in the lower levels of the organization. The organization hierarchical structure makes one question whether participation is truly voluntary (Lowman, 2002, p.737). Additionally, contrary to group therapy where all the individuals sign an informed consent, this may not be practical for all the persons that may be involved with the consultative process. A dilemma exists even if the contracting person (organisational representative) signs an informed consent, can it be said to be truly be on behalf of all the persons in the organization? In my opinion, the matter of persons having full information regarding the purposes, potential risks and benefits of the process can also be questioned. Again, full information may be available to top management, but not to all members of the organization. The counseling psychologist is expected to obtaining informed consent from the individuals, families, couples or groups members in the early stages of establishing the therapeutic relationship. Corey, Corey and Callanan state, The main purpose of the informed consent is to increase the chances that the client will become involved, educated and a willing participant in therapy. Informed consent involves providing the client with sufficient information to make informed choices about entering into, and continuing the client/therapist relationship. Providing the client with information, is a way of protecting the clients rights and teaching them about their rights, which encourages the developments of a healthy sense of self and personal power (Corey, Corey Callanan, 2007, p.154). It is important, as it outlines the basis of the relationship and is one of the means of establishing boundaries within the relationship. The APA Privacy and Confidentiality ethical standard states Psychologists have a primary obligation to take reasonable precautions to protect confidential information obtained through or stored in any medium. The importance of confidentiality is emphasized by Bersoff (cited in Lowan 2002) who states except for the ultimate percept -above all, do no harm there is probably no ethical value in psychology that is more inculcated than confidentiality. The psychologist is required to protect the information and to disclose the limitation on that confidentiality as dictated by legal or other requirements. Confidentiality in the organizational setting, poses challenges, such as the number of persons who have legitimate access to the data collected, for example management personnel or committees (Lowman, 2002, p. 738). The consulting psychologist will have to address these limitations openly and seek to establish a collective responsibility with members of the consultee system, which will pr omote a collective approach to the handling of such matters (Lowman, 2002, p. 738). Unlike the counseling psychologist, who deals with clients one to one, by their choice or acts on behalf of a third party, in which case the client is informed and can chose what information to divulge. The consulting psychologist has to work to overcome the perception of possible victimization that less powerful persons within an organization may feel if they disclose certain information. This can prevent the psychologist from obtaining important information, and if it is received, he/she may be faced with an ethical dilemma of how to use the information, taking into consideration how it can affect the individual or the organization. Based on the fore going discussions it is seen that the professional code of ethics is vital for the counseling and consulting psychologist. Professional ethics are a requirement for the profession of psychologist, just as a society cannot exist with rules and laws so psychological profession cannot exist without ethics. The counseling and consulting psychologist needs to know and practice these ethical requirements in their professional practice, failing which, they could be barred from the profession or face legal action. Compliance is required for the profession and for the individual to be economically viable, as the service provided must be of a quality that can be trusted. Professions are built on the trust that the public places in it and if that trust is eroded, it is doomed. Additionally, professional ethics protect the consumers of the service by the establishment of standards and removing some of the personal values or morals, which could be harmful. It has its limitations , as it does not provide ready-made answers for everything, only provide broad guidelines.

Application Paper -- Essays Papers

Application Paper The social penetration theory is a theory composed by Altman and Taylor in which people are compared to onions. This may seem like an absurd comparison, but when explored more deeply it makes quite a bit of sense. The social penetration theory is a description of the multi-layered nature of people's personalities. As the outer skin of an onion is peeled away another layer is found beneath it, and if you remove that layer you will expose another layer, and so forth. The same holds true for people; as we get to know someone better we expose more layers of their personality and hence become closer to the core of the individual, or the private self The outer layers of our personality is the public self, or characteristics that are apparent to people we do not know very well. Some of these characteristics include a person's world view, studies, and tastes (Griffin, 1997, p. 145). Altman and Taylor proceed to say that in order for people to develop close and meaningful relationships penetr ation must occur; this process requires self-disclosure and vulnerability in order to be achieved. People are able to choose who they want to become closer to and to decide how much of their private self they want to expose. According to Sidney Jourard, author of Transparent Self (1980), "You cannot collaborate with another person toward some common end unless you know him. How can you know him, and he you, unless you have engaged in enough mutual disclosure of self to be able anticipate how he will react and what part he will play?" (p. 3). One main reason Jourard says people may be reluctant to self-disclose is that they dread the moral judgment of their friends, family. minister, or the law. This is the same as becoming vulne... ...e amount of penetration that occurs; in any case it would be very interesting to talk about in relation to the social penetration theory. I have definitely enjoyed learning about the social penetration theory and social exchange theory the most. They are very important theories that happen every day with people we know and people we don't know. I believe that they are among the most important theories that need to be used in order to achieve and maintain close, meaningful relationships throughout our lives. In analyzing my own level of penetration with a close friend, I have discovered a little bit more about myself and how prone I am to self-disclose for a potential relationship. Works Cited Griffin, E. (1997). A first look at communication theory. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Jourard, S. (1980). The transparent self. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Ob Final Exam

Answers:- 1. How would you describe Stephen Schwarzman’s personality? Stephen Schwarzman is very detailed and careful person . Much of his decision making is guided by his coaches advice that, â€Å"you’ve got to make your deposits before you can make a withdrawal. † As a consequence is his extremely conscientious and risk averse. According to Personality Dimension, a person who is conscientiousness is dependable, responsible, achievement oriented and persistent. Mistakes, no matter how small, are unacceptable to him and he does not lightly tolerate them at Blackstone.According to Stephen Schwarzman, making an effort and meeting the deadline simply weren’t enough. To put it in Coach Armstrong’s terms, it wasn’t sufficient to make some deposits; he had to be certain that the deposits would cover any withdrawal 100% before made decision or did a deal. He mentioned that inaccurate analysis produces faulty insights and bad decisions; which lead t o losing a tremendous amount of money. He also will insist on more information in order to avoid mistakes if he has uncertain to made decision. . Relative to the concepts you have just read about, what traits and characteristics would describe the â€Å"ideal† Blackstone job candidate? Explain your rationale for selecting each characteristic. A proactive personality and an internal locus of control would be prerequisites. Proactive personality is an action oriented person who shows initiative and perseveres to change things. Proactive people identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs. Feature Article Fin 486 Final ExamWhile internal locus of control is the belief that one controls the events and consequences affecting one’s life. Other factors such as intelligence, including elements of emotional intelligence are also important given the fast paced environment. Intelligence is one of the characteristic that would describe the ideal Blackstone job candidate in order for them to thinking, reasoning and solve the problem in constructive way. Perhaps most important, however, is conscientiousness given Stephen Schwarzman’s intense focus on this characteristic in his own work and business model. . Ranked 1 = most important to 8 = least important, which of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences are most critical to being successful at a major investment company like Blackstone? Explain your ranking. Gardner’s list of multiple intelligences includes linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesth etic intelligence, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalist intelligence.Opinions as to the relative importance of the different facets will vary by student. 1. Linguistic intelligence 2. Logical-mathematical intelligence 3. Interpersonal intelligence 4. Intrapersonal intelligence 5. Naturalist intelligence 6. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence 7. Spatial intelligence 8. Musical intelligence 4. Using Table 5–5 as a guide, how important are the various emotional intelligence competencies for making good investment decisions?Explain. Although student opinions will vary, self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management all would be likely to play roles in the daily work of a Blackstone employee and affect investment decisions. 4. Do you have what it takes to work for someone like Stephen Schwarzman? Explain in terms of the concepts in this chapter. (Answers will depend both on student personalities an d also their levels of self-awareness).

“Beowulf” by Seamus Heaney and the Anglo-Saxon poem “Dream of the Rood” Essay

Fealty is one of the greatly-recognized values of the Anglo-Saxon world. Often defined as a type of loyalty or allegiance, fealty plays a more engaging and active role in Seamus Heaneys Beowulf than in the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood because of the way it causes action to be taken. Understanding the use of this Anglo-Saxon value can reveal its importance in Anglo-Saxon life and literature. In Beowulf, the main character Beowulf uses fealty to empower him to perform heroic deeds. This is shown through the actions that he makes: upon hearing of the attacks by Grendel, Beowulf rushes to the aid of Hrothgar, a friend of his father’s. Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, previously killed Heatholaf, a member of the Wulfing tribe. According to Anglo-Saxon terminology and law, a debt or wergild must be paid to the relatives of the victim. Unable to pay this manprice (StudyGuide.org), Ecgtheow fled to avoid war. Hrothgar healed the feud by paying (Line 470) this debt which caused Beowulf’s father to swear fealty to Hrothgar. It is this fealty that his father made that encourages Beowulf to follow up on an old friendship (Line 376) and assist Hrothgar by defeating Grendel. Another example where Beowulf uses fealty to act heroic is the decision to fight the dragon. Although this occurs in the older phase of Beowulf’s life, his loyalty or fealty to the Geats as king of the people (Line 2513) obliges him to defend them, believing that its his duty. Conclusively, the utilization of fealty by Beowulf results in actions being carried out. The Anglo-Saxon value of fealty is also used by other characters in Beowulf to execute intrepid actions. The greatest example of this is the aid shown to Beowulf by Wiglaf during the battle against the dragon. During this battle, Beowulfs sword fails him and hes in need of assistance from the eleven comrades personally chosen for the encounter. However, excluding Wiglaf, that hand-picked troop broke ranks and ran for their lives (Lines 2597-2598). Wiglaf was the only warrior of the band who stood by his lord. In a sign of respect toward the heroic ideal of the Anglo-Saxon world that states that he is obligated to fight for their lord to the death (StudyGuide.org), Wiglaf interferes in the fight and they eventually defeat the dragon. This principle demonstrates how fealty is significant to  Anglo-Saxon life in the way it inspired Wiglaf to aid Beowulf. All in all, fealty is acutely used in Beowulf as a basis to which one could complete actions. In Dream of the Rood, fealty is shown by the cross to Christ but it doesnt play an actual role in the poem because the cross is an inanimate object and cannot use his fealty to protect his lord. In a sense, the fealty in this poem is more idealistic than in Beowulf since the cross has the determination and the eagerness to aid Christ during the crucifixion but he cannot interfere. This willpower is illustrated when Christ was placed on the Cross in preparation for the crucifixion. The cross states that although the ground shakes, it â€Å"dared†¦not against the Lord’s word/ bend or break (Lines 35-36). That provides the notion that the cross has the intention to help Christ because it bending or breaking would hinder Christ; the cross, by announcing that it wouldnt do such a thing verifies its fealty. Therefore, fealty is used in the poem as a concept, not as a reason for action. In conclusion, the application of fealty to the two Anglo-Saxon texts is evident but more significant in one then the other. Still, fealty contributes to both pieces of literature and its complex use exposes why it is so vital to Anglo-Saxon society. Works Cited Glenn, Jonathan A. â€Å"The Dream of the Rood.† University of Central Arkansas. May 2009 . Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition). Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. â€Å"Beowulf – StudyGuide.org.† StudyGuide.org. May 2009 . Works ConsultedDictionary.com. May 2009 .

English Proficiency in the Philippines Essays

English Proficiency in the Philippines Essays English Proficiency in the Philippines Essay English Proficiency in the Philippines Essay Introduction Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a world language, the lingua franca of the modern era, and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and their language was called Englisc from which the words England and English are derived. Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. However, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world, though possibly second to a combination of the Chinese languages (depending on whether or not distinctions in the latter are classified as languages or dialects). Countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica and Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. The Philippine-American connection has undergone considerable changes since then. Today, English the means the Americans used to teach us via the mass media, the arts, social, business and political interaction continues to be a strong thread that binds the two nations. The Spanish language, meanwhile, has been relegated to a college elective and to private gatherings of wealthy clans of Spanish descent. Why has English become so easy to learn and so easy to use in the Philippines? A major reason is that the Americans were once our colonizers and continue to influence our everyday lives in many ways. Another reason is that for most Filipinos, English is not seen as a foreign language. In a country of 60 million people who speak no less than 8 languages, English is a second language. In some areas, English is more popular than our official national language. For a select few, it is even a first language. It is not unusual to see Filipino children responding to and speaking English words long before they learn these in school According to Philippine statistics data released on March 18, 2005-six out of ten persons aged 5 years and over can speak English. Among household population 5 years old and over, 63. 71 percent of them can speak English. NCR (81. 75 percent) was the highest across regions followed by Ilocos Region (73. 75 percent), CAR (70. 99 percent), and Central Luzon (70. 12 percent). The lowest was ARMM (29. 44 percent). On the other hand, there was a relatively higher proportion among females (7. 39 percent) than males (5. 61 percent) with academic degree holder who can speak English. Body Usually, by the time the child enters elementary school, he or she has built a vocabulary of English that includes body parts, names of animals and objects, action verbs, simple adjectives (dirty, good, bad), polite expressions (please, thank you, Im sorry), nursery rhymes, and simple questions (Whats your name? How old are you? ) For most middle and upper class Filipino children, English begins at home with adults who use English or through snatches of English words and phrases heard over the radio and on TV. To the Filipino child or, at least, one who has grown up in a home where English is often heard and spoken, English is not an alien tongue. Filipino children may not understand the nuances of the English language, but its there and its theirs to manipulate. English is familiar and, better yet, user-friendly. Anybody can use it and once you get the hang of it, theres really nothing to it. The fact that the Philippine education system has been using English as a medium of instruction from elementary to university level for decades has also reinforced the notion that English is easy even a child can do it and available. It is a tool for learning and a medium of communication. More than this, English is the language of power and progress. In the Philippines, it is highly valued not only because it is functional and practical and washes over us constantly, but more importantly, because it is an affordable item, a skill that can be used to increase ones position, respectability and marketability. In most cases, the better ones ability to understand and use English, the better ones chances of career advancement. This is true for both extremes of the socio-economic ladder. English is as important to the Harvard-educated Filipino working in Manilas cosmopolitan business district as it is to the overseas contract worker working as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia. In fact, now, more than ever, English is important to the Filipino masses seeking employment abroad. The Filipinos skill and cheap labor are in demand, yes, but so is their command and comprehension of English which makes it easy for foreign employers to tell them what to do. English, after all, is a global language and, luckily some say unluckily Filipinos managed to unravel this code quite early and easily. In recent years, serious questions have been asked about the appropriateness of English as a medium of communication for a people searching for a clear-cut identity. Filipinos are not Americans, our nationalists cried. Why then do we continue to dream their dreams and speak their language? Much as our purists and nationalists wanted to erase all traces of American colonial influence, they knew that the language, rather than the dreams, was less difficult to delete. Or so, they thought. Like the US military bases in the Philippines, English had become a symbol of the subtle but strong dominance of America. It took a strong-willed Philippine Senate and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo to figuratively and literally bury the US bases in ashes. Obliterating English is another matter. Despite presidential orders to require government offices to communicate in our national language, and requiring all schools to use it as a medium of instruction, the campaign to Filipinize our information and communication highways and networks has not met with much enthusiasm or success. Although most Filipinos understand and are literate in the national anguage, it is not their mother tongue. Many of us have little use for it except when travelling to other areas in the country, watching local movies made in Manila, reading comics and tabloids published in Manila, watching local TV programs produced in Manila, and listening to the pronouncements of national officials, most of whom come from the capital region. Filipino, our national language, is 95% Tagalog, a dialect (or language, some scholars insist) spoke n by those who live in Manila and its outlying areas. The rest of the country speak their own dialects or languages and many see the use-Filipino campaign as nothing more than another form of domination by those who reside in the seat of economic and political power. Meanwhile, the education system, long used to English textbooks and instruction, had to scramble for Filipino books and qualified teachers who could speak Filipino. Unfortunately, the government failed to consider the difficulties and the huge amount of money needed in transforming centers of learning from English to Filipino. In a setting where education is one of the lowest budget priorities, where teachers are among the lowest paid professionals, and where the systematic translation of English to Filipino has never been given serious thought or considered important, the shift from English to Filipino ended in confusion and frustration. Perhaps, the best lesson we can learn from that experience is that language grows slowly. It cannot be transplanted and expected to blossom quickly by a mere presidential decree. The English language should be used correctly and proficiently. This does not only include pronouncing the words right but also using the grammar correctly either in speaking or writing. It is true that millions of us Filipinos use the English language, but the question is that are we all using it right? Here in Cagayan de Oro, it could not be denied that the level of education varies from every school. Thus, the degree of learning also differs. The phrase â€Å"nose bleed† has been a subject of ridicule in the city for those who are hesitant to respond in English when conversing. Call center companies have provided jobs for the local Kagayanons and this requires being well versed in the English language. Universities have also produced proficient graduates. But although these factors may seem relevant, it doesn’t conceal the fact that the level of English proficiency in the city is declining. And this is also true to other areas in the country. According to the Philippine Star the findings of a group, which was accredited to administer English proficiency tests that the skill of Filipinos on the language is deteriorating. Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo was commenting on the report from the IDP Education Pty. Ltd. Philippines that showed the average score of Filipinos who took the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) last year was a poor 6. 69 where 7. 0 is the passing score. A made on how English is taught in schools, explained the poor scores in the IELTS. The level in English proficiency was also â€Å"obviously affected by the standards of resources available, especially the textbooks. † Filipinos are exposed to less and less English as programs in the local language now dominate television. The apparent deteriorating quality of teachers teaching English, error-riddled English textbooks and the decreasing English content in public primetime television were seen as the cause of the declining level of English proficiency in the Philippines. The government should address these causes if the country seeks to retain its image as foremost supplier of workers skilled in speaking the English language. A continuous decline in Filipinos’ English proficiency could affect the growth of the call center industry which is providing employment to hundreds of thousands of workers and the chances of Filipinos getting work in other countries. As many countries are demanding higher English scores (in the IELTS), Filipinos may not be able to meet the English requirement and this will have human and economic consequences for the country,† Conclusion There is still hope that the Kagayanons’ proficiency in English will still improve and that if not all at least the majority will come to realize its importance in all fields especially as they advanced in their careers. While other Asian countries are riding the Third Wave, the Filipinos are paddling in opposite directions because many of them are afraid the wave will engulf them and drown their sense of nationhood. While others keep trying to find ways to increase their English proficiency in the light of international relations, global cooperation and rapid developments in computers and telecommunications, we have been engaged in finding a voice we can truly call our own. One day, we may find that voice and speak in unison, but until then, I believe that English can do it for us, too. That is, if we stop thinking of it as a colonial instrument that broke our spirit, but as the code that helped us break through other worlds. Language, they say, is the key to understanding others. What many Filipinos miss is that English can also be used as a key to understanding ourselves. English, after all, does not belong to America. If we accept it with grace and use it with wisdom, it can belong to the rest of the world. Bibliography Avila, Darcas M. et al. Effective Writing. Malabon City: Mutya Publishing House, 2009. Barrameda, Rosalina O. et al. (Eds) Freshman College Composition. Ateneo De Manila University, 1992. Pacasio, Emy M. et al. Basic English for College. Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999. Robles, Felicidad C. Developing English Proficiency in College, Book 2. Quezon City, Philippines: JMC Press, Inc. Vinuya, Remedios V. Santa C. Buri. College English Composition. Makati, Philippines: Grandwater Publications, 2001. The Philippine Star. May 2009

Sending an E-mail Without Proofreading is Like Shooting a Gun Without Aiming

Sending an E-mail Without Proofreading is Like Shooting a Gun Without Aiming Sending an E-mail Without Proofreading is Like Shooting a Gun Without Aiming Sending an E-mail Without Proofreading is Like Shooting a Gun Without Aiming By Mary For most professionals, communicating by e-mail is a part of daily life. E-mail is a very convenient way to communicate basic information to one or more people. Even though most professionals feel that e-mail makes their lives easier, there are also a number of complications related to e-mail usage. When you press send on an e-mail message, you have transmitted what amounts to a permanent written record of your thoughts on a particular subject to another person. The other person is free to read your message, delete your message, or forward your message to any number of other people. As any businesspeople who have ever found themselves in trouble over a little thing like a few shredded documents can tell you, having a permanent written record of your words is no laughing matter. Of course, if your words are riddled with grammatical mistakes, misused words, poorly written sentences, and typographical errors your e-mail messages very well may become laughing matters. Your co-workers may be very entertained by evidence that your writing skills leave something to be desired. It is a fact that people form impressions about your level of intelligence based on how you write. If you send e-mail messages that are full of errors to co-workers and clients, they are likely to form a negative impression of you. Make sure to carefully proofread all e-mail messages before you hit send. Keep in mind that you know where you are sending your e-mail, but you don’t know where it might end up. A misfired e-mail message that is full of mistakes can shatter your reputation. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should AvoidExcited ABOUT, not "for" Capitalizing Titles of People and Groups

How does the legalization of marijuana affect Americas economy and Research Paper

How does the legalization of marijuana affect Americas economy and patients who need marijuana for medical purposes - Research Paper Example This discussion explores ways in which legalization of the drug affects America’s economy and patients who need marijuana for medical purposes through answering the following question. One of the arguments that have been fronted in advocacy for marijuana legalization is the potential economic benefits that the move could offer at macroeconomic level. Bradford (1) reports economic effects that two states in the United States, having legalized marijuana, could benefits. Professional opinions among economists support this. According to estimates, Colorado and Washington are likely to expand their revenues by a total of $ 550 million and estimates from similar sources indicate an annual expansion of the United States economy by about $ 14 billion. Legalizing marijuana and levying fee for dealership is another significant benefit to the government as a source of revenue and this has proved successful in Mendocino county of California. This is good news especially because the nation is facing problems of budget deficit that the additional revenue can remedy. In addition to the direct benefits that legalizing marijuana could offer, it would also reduce government expense s that are associated with enforcement of marijuana laws. According to data from the year 2007, the nation spends as high as $ I billion dollars on incarcerating convicts on marijuana charges and a change in the law would save the expenditure that can be used in other utilities, especially on investment expenditure for economic development. Reports by economists estimate that the government spends about $ 13.7 billion in enforcing current marijuana laws and legalization would save this amount that could be used in funding social or investment projects. The savings also include potential tax revenues that the legalization could derive. Price reduction is another potential economic benefit

Missions to Nicaragura Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Missions to Nicaragura - Research Paper Example Solving the problems faced by the people of Nicaragua as well as improving their life was the main aim of the mission groups. One of the mission groups is a BIMI mission group. The BIMI for Nicaragua is a Baptist international mission group that started its mission work in 1962. The mission group was started by Bob and Sabina Dayton. The main aim of BIMI mission group is to bring together and support missionaries and mission projects that were still going on in Nicaragua (BIMI, 2003). The group supported different mission groups in order for them to be in a position to serve better the people of Nicaragua. Another mission group is Nicaragua mission project which is a Christian movement mission that started in 1960s as a ministry to prisoners. The mission started with the name â€Å"the Christian mission in the jails†, and their founders were Rev Marceline Davila Castillo, a pastor in assemblies of God and Antonio Martinez who belonged to church of Nazarene. The group’s objective is to solve the problems faced by residents of this country by improving their life (Lubensky, 1999). The mission group goals were to build churches in order to spread the gospel and reach to people in all areas in that country. The group aimed at reinforcing ecumenical associations as well as promoting growth of churches as well as their communities. The group is a combination of various organizations such as CEPAD (Evangelical council of Nicaragua), Latin American council of churches, Disciples of Christ, united church of Christ and Christian Pentecostal church of Cuba. It has partnered with worldwide ministries for many years. The mission group started their mission by building churches, building bible schools for the people of Nicaragua and creating children’s programs (Baptist International Missions Inco, 2003). In its mission work, the missionary

The Age of Enlightment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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MG2119 Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MG2119 Marketing Research - Essay Example Moreover, the findings are a comprehensive scrutiny on the various facets of the company that the manager should know to make decisions that will facilitate sustainability. Corporate social responsibilities define the lawful actions that extend some social goodness to the community, business environment and employees. (Palmer, 2012) Programs in social responsibility include actions to make a better environment for the society and stakeholder’s lives in an organization. Most companies are not aware of the accountability factor hence they do not make any significant impact to the societies; essentially, this is because they lack the right strategies and procedures to implement in their systems (Palmer 2012). Most companies fail at achieving sustainability because they lack the necessary curriculums; however, they are those that establish these curriculums but do not effectively implement them. CSR curriculums facilitate meeting of customer’s needs by companies; they improve their esteem by making them feel more worth in the society. These programs also act to the corporation’s advantage since they attract a great number of customers hence increasing the sales. In cases of Insurance policy companies, they increase the number of people that want to be in their hands and these also motivates the company to continue offering better services using the social responsibility programs (Annabel & Deanne, 2011). Social responsibilities act as guidance to how employees and stakeholders behave and conduct themselves in the work place. CSR, merely as laws, facilitate employees’ actions, as individuals or as a group, in different situations like when providing services to customers, when handling corporation assets and when required to execute business-based tasks. Failure to establish the different aspects related to corporate social responsibility is the reason why top-level managers for most companies do not succeed in

Beats By Dre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beats By Dre - Essay Example Due to the entry of new players into the market, the level of competition is believed to be on the rise, as manufacturers adopt more aggressive and market cantered marketing approaches to reach out to new customers (Breen, 2014). Beats by Dre is a headphone manufacturing line in the united states that has gained significant prominence due to the promotion and celebrity endorsements that it has acquired in the past. The company own the consumer can access significant patent for audio technologies and some of the music from online music stores. However, as a strategy to reach out to new customers and increase influence in the market, the company has collaborated with a number of companies including HTC and Chrysler (Doyle 2011). In 2014, Apple Inc. acquired the company through a cash and stock deal worth more than $3 billion, one of the largest company acquisitions ever witnessed in the headphone industry. In this report, beats by Dre will be discussed in light of its competitive market strategies and how it performed in the face of emerging small businesses. Porter five force analyses and Ansoff growth matrix will be used to evaluate the performance and prospects for the company (Johnston, 2012). The headphone industry has emerged as one of the most attractive sectors in 2014 due to the emerging interests from music producers, mobile phone companies among others. Though the industry is still emerging from low market recognition, the reputation it has gained in the market demonstrates its great potential and future prospects. A number of small companies have entered the market and they continue to rise above the stiff competition (Akoth, 2014). One such company is beats by Dre, a headphone company that was founded in 2006 by Dry Dre, an American musician. Through a well-coordinated market campaign and market sensitization programs, the company acquired dominance and respect in the industry. This attracted major

Business Models and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Models and Planning - Essay Example With the best motives for the society, they can either run a business or none-profit organizations that would quench their social quest. On the other hand, social media movement refers to the use of social networks to serve the society with all kinds of information. The networks transmit messages about the culture, traditions, politics, beliefs, education and bodies of the society. The messages reflect the values and the force for change of the society. The social media used are Facebook, twitter, YouTube, web pages, blogs, Myspace, newspaper, movies, television, radio, journals, books, magazines and billboards among others. All these social media serve to fuel and propel the social discussions. Also, there are social movements that serve to fight on behave of individuals of the society for their right. The social movements take the form of non-governmental organizations and greatly depend on social media to achieve their part (Roy, William G. 2010. 101-103). The social media movements and social movements see business as the source of the social problems in the world. They do not think how the business could be a catalyst for solutions of the society problems. In regard to social entrepreneurs, they take a business to be a solution for the society problems. They search for a solution for a social- business related problem within the business sectors. They have an insight that the development of the way businesses operate in the society could fix the social-economic problems and open up the door for more opportunities. In fact, the social entrepreneurs have a powerful drive and urge to serve the society. They do not just make money but empower individuals at a personal level and restore balance as well as flow to people in the world through economic, social, environmental and emotional ways. In social entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs put much time to appraise and evaluate

MG2119 Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MG2119 Marketing Research - Essay Example Moreover, the findings are a comprehensive scrutiny on the various facets of the company that the manager should know to make decisions that will facilitate sustainability. Corporate social responsibilities define the lawful actions that extend some social goodness to the community, business environment and employees. (Palmer, 2012) Programs in social responsibility include actions to make a better environment for the society and stakeholder’s lives in an organization. Most companies are not aware of the accountability factor hence they do not make any significant impact to the societies; essentially, this is because they lack the right strategies and procedures to implement in their systems (Palmer 2012). Most companies fail at achieving sustainability because they lack the necessary curriculums; however, they are those that establish these curriculums but do not effectively implement them. CSR curriculums facilitate meeting of customer’s needs by companies; they improve their esteem by making them feel more worth in the society. These programs also act to the corporation’s advantage since they attract a great number of customers hence increasing the sales. In cases of Insurance policy companies, they increase the number of people that want to be in their hands and these also motivates the company to continue offering better services using the social responsibility programs (Annabel & Deanne, 2011). Social responsibilities act as guidance to how employees and stakeholders behave and conduct themselves in the work place. CSR, merely as laws, facilitate employees’ actions, as individuals or as a group, in different situations like when providing services to customers, when handling corporation assets and when required to execute business-based tasks. Failure to establish the different aspects related to corporate social responsibility is the reason why top-level managers for most companies do not succeed in

Business Models and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Models and Planning - Essay Example With the best motives for the society, they can either run a business or none-profit organizations that would quench their social quest. On the other hand, social media movement refers to the use of social networks to serve the society with all kinds of information. The networks transmit messages about the culture, traditions, politics, beliefs, education and bodies of the society. The messages reflect the values and the force for change of the society. The social media used are Facebook, twitter, YouTube, web pages, blogs, Myspace, newspaper, movies, television, radio, journals, books, magazines and billboards among others. All these social media serve to fuel and propel the social discussions. Also, there are social movements that serve to fight on behave of individuals of the society for their right. The social movements take the form of non-governmental organizations and greatly depend on social media to achieve their part (Roy, William G. 2010. 101-103). The social media movements and social movements see business as the source of the social problems in the world. They do not think how the business could be a catalyst for solutions of the society problems. In regard to social entrepreneurs, they take a business to be a solution for the society problems. They search for a solution for a social- business related problem within the business sectors. They have an insight that the development of the way businesses operate in the society could fix the social-economic problems and open up the door for more opportunities. In fact, the social entrepreneurs have a powerful drive and urge to serve the society. They do not just make money but empower individuals at a personal level and restore balance as well as flow to people in the world through economic, social, environmental and emotional ways. In social entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs put much time to appraise and evaluate

The films “Saved Essay Example for Free

The films â€Å"Saved Essay Much ado has been said about religion and how diverse religious practices have been depicted in numerous films. Religion in America reflects no more than simple faith but dwells into the social structure and the meanings of faith in the midst of American culture and society. With film as medium of conveying messages, it is of no shallow signification why this form of art is to be examined in the light of religious portrayal in a number of Hollywood films. This essay shall review the films â€Å"Saved! † (2004), â€Å"Witness†(__), â€Å"The Apostle† (1997), â€Å"Scarlet Letter†(___) and â€Å"Smoke Signals† (1998) in terms of their accuracy and overall attitude towards religious persons and issues. Popular not merely for their cinematic value or production or array of big stars, these movies became controversial for varied social reactions, whether for laudable reason or hyper-critical conviction. â€Å"Witness†: The Struggle for Personal Convictions â€Å"Witness† tells of a modern-day police officer (John Book portrayed by Harrison Ford) who found refuge in the laid back and primitive Amish village in Lancaster County. Wanting to protect a young Amish boy (Samuel, played by Lucas Haas) who witnessed the killing of an undercover policeman in a subway station from the perpetrators, he finds himself immersing in the Amish way of life. He dresses â€Å"plainly†, milks cows, does carpentry, takes the horse-driven buggy, and later falls in love with the child’s mother (Rachel Lapp portrayed by Kelly McGillis). Later he finds out that the killing was brought about by the higher-ups in his department, he was chased and found. Finally, the movie ends with a resolution of the case. The movie was an insight into the remote Amish community focusing on human nature and how it relates to religion. A viewer may see the film on a cultural perspective with the struggle between the Amish-English identity and the multi-cultural facets and differences between the two worlds, with religion and love story only as undertones. However, a closer look would reveal that that so much of religious beliefs and subjects are embedded in the story. The movie opens with a funeral, emphasizing the Amish funeral rites. A person who has not seen the movie nor has any idea of what the movie was about would mistake the movie for a sixteenth century epic. Only later in the subway station scene would the viewer have an idea that the story was set in the 20th century. The juxtaposed modern-dressed passengers to that of the Amish mother and son emphasized the remoteness of the two cultures’ civilization, the Amish seemingly locked in a time space that was the 16th century. The Amish culture and religious practices were clearly identified in the film. Their struggle for â€Å"plainness†, of simple living was progressed in the story. There was the men’s usual trousers and coat with hooks and eyes rather than buttons, the bearded men with shaved upper lips, women dressing the same way with religious caps-these were how the typical Amish looked like. The Amish dressed the same way, believing that dressing the way they do maintains their plainness, the Amish’ guiding principle in their way of life. As the movie progresses, images of horse-driven chariots, the farming activities, the Pennsylvanian German language, the typical Amish houses made of wood with no electricity and television, the barnyards and the corn stocks, the horse-driven farm machines, the water-driven water supply are made evident and persistent in the Amish community. This is how the Amish community looked like and depicted the manner they survived and subsisted while living a wayward life amongst 20th century modernity on its outskirts. The Amish lived a peaceful, contented life in a well-knit community where everyone knew each other and everyone was willing to lend a hand. The religious themes were clearly drawn as well. The gun played an important signification of the Amish-way versus that of the English. To the Amish, the gun was a symbol of immorality. Focus was had in this aspect such that when Samuel sees Book’s gun, Rachel and Eli (Samuel’s grandfather played by Jan Rubes) react in a rather hostile manner: Rachel tells Book that if he should stay he should respect the Amish ways, and Eli renders a heart-to-heart talk with Samuel telling him that â€Å"guns are for the taking of life and outsiders who contend that killing is necessary do not consider the alternatives:† and that by being violent, he â€Å"becomes one of them† referring to the killers in the subway station. Although Book respects their views, he does not necessarily succumb to it. He believed that his gun was necessary to protect himself and others against bad people. The Amish were peaceful people. They do not fall for man’s vices such as hatred and violence. In a scene where an Amish group was being bullied by a group of Englishmen, they were seen unyielding to anger and retaliation, a reaction normal to an English such as Book, an offense he would not let pass. Even jealousy (between Book and another Amish man attracted to Rachel) was not an issue. The film effectively showed the Amish people’s devotion to how they believe God wants them to live their lives. Modern life, as reflected by Book, on the other hand, portrayed loneliness, remoteness and complexity. In a man-eat-man world, Book was a reflection of a typical culture way beyond the Amish ideology. In one frame, one killer policeman was seen washing his hands after killing his victim in the subway bathroom. Relevant to Catholic religion, the washing of the hand signified an attempt to cleanse oneself of sins. This was an irony in the film.

Multinational Company Bmw Economic Essay

Multinational Company Bmw Economic Essay BMW is the multinational company that I choose for the assignment. BMW is a company that operating in more than 1 country. They are not only operating in their home country (Germany) but they also operate in many countries like: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and etc. Beside that BMW also have manufacture in country like UK, USA, Mexico, South Africa and etc. So BMW is proving as a multinational company. BMW Group is one of the worlds largest premium carmakers and BMW is also the parent of the company of BMW MINI and Rolls-Royce car brands, and, formerly, Rover. BMW headquarters in Munich, Germany. The company slogans in English are The Ultimate Driving Machine and Sheer Driving Pleasure. BMW was founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in October 1913. Automobiles, motorcycles and financial services are three segments that operate by BMW and they manufactured the first passenger car running by hydrogen. BMW manufacturing is plant in Germany, Austria, UK, USA, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and also Vietnam. BMWs main competitors include Acura, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo all of this are consider luxury brands of the car products. Nowadays, BMW is support by 11different types of series which is: BMW C1, BMW 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 series, BMW X3, 5, 6, BMW Z4, BMW M5, BMW M6, and BMW Z4 M. According to the research, shown that there are 2 new divisions for BMW been introduce in October 1, 2007. Which are corporate and brand development will be lead by the director of corporate planning this is focus on the vital for brand management, corporate planning, and strategic implementation BMW. Second, purchasing and supplier network that headed by Dr.Herbert.Diess. The purpose is to reduce the material cost and expenses factor. These are few of the new management strategy that BMW Company is using to operate the c ompany. 15 Sentence of credit crunch in general are stand for credit crunch make it almost impossible to the lender like bank and investor to borrow the money because they become very chary of lending the money to the corporation. They scared of bankruptcies and defaults, which they drive up the price of debt products for borrowers which result in higher rates. The consequence is drag on of recession, which the shrinking of the credit supply wills happens as a result. 2 Credit crunch overall background is starting with the lender like bank are suffering loss because of their previous lending loans, and this make them normally unable and averse to lend the money again to the borrowers. This happen when the borrower in arrears and the properties underlying a defaulted loan and drop in the value. As in this case the borrowers default, the bank can only foreclose on hypothecate and trying to sell this property to compensate the funds they loaned out. Thereby, if the pricing of the house is decreasing, the bank is considered left selling at the cost. The banker capital position is reducing; when they suffer losses which are reduce the amount that they are able to lend out. The lending institutions are requiring keeping down the minimum levels of capital. 3 The reasons that cause to the credit crunch are first: speculation. Many people go to obtain additional loans with very easy terms for instance no initial down payment because it is too easy to gain the credit from the banks so that all of the peoples and investors think that the price will going to increase also. The rapidity increase in property value make investors to jump into the investment with low and no fundamentals. This situation will make the investors to feel that they are missing out and left behind, in case as many investors going to heap up it will cause increasingly unsustainable to the price of property. Next is lack of the regulatory oversight, the distrustful of loans are make by mortgage brokers and bankers, the underwriters who working in the bank are determine whether the ability of the borrowers is there for them to repay the loans and turn a blind eye to what is going on so that the increasing of the profit can see by the loans that they have written. In addit ional, there are others reasons like Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) and subprime loans, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, Historically low interest rates, and as well as politics which happen because many of the politicians going to say that the higher of the rate of the home ownership for Americans is better, but what would happen to the economy from the perspective of those that cant afford their homes when an inevitable slowdown occurred.4 The occurring of the credit crunch will actually affect the economy of a country and company in few ways. First, the banker will actually tighten up the credit for all types of loans and become more caution to lending the loans. So that this directly affects the small businesses peoples that who are depend on the loans and the credit to fund their day to day operation and become illiquid. Next, unemployment rises is one of the ways that will affect a company and country where the businesses are unable to pay for all the immediate bills and so that they also facing the problem that they cannot pay for the employees salary and so that caused the situation like unemployment increasing in nationwide. The bankers and the brokerage firms are hit by this credit crunch. Apart of that a spiraling domino effect occurs, above these two economies effects of the economies crisis can make the economy of a country going down and than affect the whole country economy and if the economy of a country continues to going downward, it will lead to the difficult to stop the cycle. 5 On year 2008, America was affected by the serious economy crisis, and their economy is actually hit really hard by this economy crisis. We can see through the secondary data that done by research show that BMW also hit by 2008 economy crisis. According to (Chris Reiter 2010) BMW and Mercedes this two world largest luxury car makers was only sold a combine 31,000 fewer vehicles last month because of the occurring of economy crisis and cause credit crunch that discourage the power purchasing of consumers. The percentage of sales are also falling down 8.3% to 113.005 cars and sport- utility vehicles from 123,300 vehicles a year earlier by BMW Company whose are also owns the Mini and Rolls-Royce auto brands. Next, Auto sales in US BMW as a biggest market also decrease 32 percent in October of 2008 to the lowest monthly total since January 1991. They look back to their 2008 profile target on November BMW plans to cut production by 65,000 cars and SUVs according to (Chris Reiter 2010). Chris Reiter (2010) states that BMW is involved in the extremely changeling market and the vehicles sales are decreasing for the whole year because of this. As what Ian Robertson who are the Munich-based carmakers sales chief said: in a statement today, reiterating a forecast released Nov. 4. The retail gains made in our growth markets were unable to fully offset declines in Western Europe, Japan and the U.S. Chris Reiter (2010) also states that BMW posted 12% drop in Western Europe, 5% drop in US and the worst is Japan drop 34%. Furthermore, David Gow (2010) states that credit crunch put brakes on BMW 2008 also when US economy goes down turn and BMW reported that a step fall down in first quarter earnings. The son company of BMW Mini and Rolls Royce said that the pre-tax profits spilled 25% to ( £505m), dragged down by increased risk provisions, tighter credit and the strong euro. According to (S. wall, S. Minocha, B. Rees, 2010)[case study 4.2 BMW after Rover], show Rover in Britain worsened and hopeless in early of March 2010 due to the strong pound damaging the exports of Rover. Finally Rover sells to Alchemy. This happened and uproar Britain press and politicians because scaring big number of unemployment in Rover and few supplier are located around the region. Alchemy withdrew from bidding process and sell to Phoenix consortium for  £10. Previous 6 years BMW spent total  £34billion to save Rover but posted big losses. The disposal provoked a political storm in Britain, and BMW bosses were someone parliamentary before this. Britain government furious, Milberg (who took over CEO of BMW in 1999) retorted government slow to get the signals he sent in a phone call before the situation worsened. This criticism infuriated the government again. This shows that government and political mess will also cause a problem to a company. Apart from that, the case stud y also stated that the decreasing and increasing of a currency will also give a huge impact to a company. The pounds became stronger and then give a direct effect to the company and destroy their exports businesses are one of the problem that we can see from the case and this may indirectly lead to the occur of credit crunch as well. 14 David Gow (2010) states BMW a 5.6% rise across its three brands to a record 351,787 despite a 9.1% drop in their biggest market, US. The international financial crisis deteriorates the climate for consumer spending became gloomier, it said, pointing to March 2008 as the peak of the crisis. Before this BMW still expect to beat the last year sales record to 1.5m but the USs economy getting worst and lead to the dropping of the profits. The world largest luxury carmaker BMW have became the victims of the credit crunch on 2008. It took a 236 million euro (S$500 million) charge because of falling prices and rising bad debt in the United States. The move is the provision made of the divinable losses in business area. This move could cause to increased nervousness about the impact of the financial crisis on the economy in Europe, even as most companies report robust first-quarter results. This is what reported by The Financial Times. The Click here to find out more!Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche says that in 2008 may that month the general car sales of US is fall down this year but the growth in emerging in market can expiation it. 6 In addition, research shows that 2008 BMW sons company MINI has declared that axes 800 redundancies in Cowley, Oxford hire prompting protests from unions over a perceived lack of sensitivity towards the rights of agency workers. The redundancy pay will not received by many of the staffs that who have been made the contract through the agency Manpower. At the same time the sales of the luxury cars are drop very ruggedness, so because of that supermini segment has experienced a less severe downturn driven by a consumer shift to smaller and more economical vehicles. Seen from secondary data, clearly we can see the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) January figure, the trend towards the smallest segment the mini or city car segment is growing stronger as the recession deepens, with new car registrations up 40.8% on 2008 figures. At British, Mini was one of the last of the car manufacturers that are continue working through these suffering times, but they are not produce an y cars on that relevant week because of to the significant fall in global demand. Around 20% of these 800 axes redundancies are going to tha manufacture like: Jaguar, Nissan and etc. 7 BMW became the first victim of the credit crunch on 24 of April, that who are the world largest luxury carmaker. BMW took a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬236m ($369m) charge because of falling prices and rising bad debt in the US are showing through the research. But however the pre-tax level is slightly increased compare with last year. 8 The strategy that BMW use to overcome credit crunch are first: that are one of the reason why BMW and Mercedes are teaming up. There are fewer options for OEM (original equipment makers), consolidations of period have gone through by automobile suppliers and this trend is expected to speedup for the next few years. It becomes difficult for the investment capital because credit crunch makes suppliers harder to fund their business. 9 Many organizations are affected by the credit crunch in UK industry and so BMW. But BMW consider one of the successful from them and six awards are goes to BMW and German manufacturer sales rise and new models bring in new customers. Although BMW also affected but they get the award for best small car with the MINI, best small premium car for the 1 Series and best large premium car for the 3 Series. In addition, The 5 Series took the gong for best executive car and the X5 won best SUV and BMW was presented with the Fleet News environmental award for the EfficientDynamics package. 10 Next, BMW also trying to protect himself from credit crunch by helping some of the suppliers. The stronger suppliers are encouraging by BMW to take over weaker supplier in this case and BMW will pay more for the parts, speedup the payment and as well as they will temporary pay higher price for the parts. 11 Apart from that, in UK, during credit crunch the governments are actually asking to help the car manufacture and government helping a litter bit where we just seem it banking sector. According to the research, on that time if the government is still not aware of this problem and the unemployment will become worst and the number of import export within UK and other country will be reduce and shown that UK government will loss  £110 billion revenue and UK  £146.2 billion tax next couple of year if the government despise this case. 12 However, in Malaysia it will still have at least a litter bit effects because of credit crunch but the god strategy need to be prepared to face the credit crunch. According to Briscoe, he believes that the luxury car like BMW needs to have a better positioned for it to growth in the industry when facing difficulty at the economic side. He also said that: There would be an impact but we feel that the volume-based car segment would be more affected than the premium segment. According to him as well in Malaysia market in 2009, was to provide the right car at the right market at the right time. Extra key are they are now focusing on their credit crunch strategy are introduce more diesel powered cars. 13 This are few strategy that BMW done or the place government done to solve the various problem during credit crunch. But actually they are pro and con for every strategy they used and pro and con as well for the helping from the government, it is just depend on each of us to criticize either each of this strategy are falls into pro or con. In my opinion, as the first point I listed above BMW are teaming up with Mercedes, to invest in the suppliers and the next point that BMW are encourage strong supplier to take over weaker suppliers. It is just a good decision I think because it is not a good decision if we just leave our cars part supplier to facing and suffering alone with the credit crunch without any assisting. In the tough time during credit crunch, if we are not helping each other among supplier even competitor we might just die together because of the wrong decision. We can actually helping each other according to our capability like what BMW and the rest done. Next, the ethical issues are very vital for a company. According to (S. wall, S. Minocha, B. Rees, 2010), an organization must make sure that every decision they make, have a conscious ethical content. If it is an internal problem, it maybe about the labour working hours, or their wages problem. When come to the BMW do à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬international business with other country, company must ensure they does not apply their own ethical norms to the foreign country but is conforms to the local customs, and ethical as well as morality enough when making any of the business decision and also during economy crisis. Although the company situation is worse and worried but any decision making by BMW will be ethical enough; example during credit crunch any methods using to solve the credit crunch problem, it must be with ethical.

Significance of Feet in Plato’s Symposium Essay -- Philosophy Religion

The Significance of Feet in Plato’s Symposium Plato’s Symposium presents an account of the party given at the house of Agathon, where Socrates and Alcibiades are in attendance. The men at the party take turns eulogizing the god Eros. In Agathon’s eulogy, he describes Eros as a soft and tender being. When Socrates speaks, however, he makes a correction of his host’s account, by saying the soft and tender thing is the beloved, and not the lover, as Agathon would have it. When Alcibiades enters the party toward the end of the dialogue, he complains that Socrates is deceiving Agathon. Alcibiades was once the lover of Socrates, and if he knows anything about his beloved, it is that Socrates is a tough man who can drink without getting drunk and wander the streets of Athens day in and day out without shoes to protect his feet. Though it may seem preposterous that feet matter in a dialogue about love, throughout the Symposium, the condition of the character’s feet helps determine who is the lover and who is the beloved, and furthermore, that those who run away from love in shame are cowardly and those who stand still are noble. Alcibiades could love Socrates for the very reason that he is tough and unwavering. At the beginning of the dialogue, when Socrates is on his way to Agathon’s house he "retreat[s] to a neighbor’s porch and stands there, and when [Agathon] call[s] him, he is unwilling to come in" (236).1 Though Agathon and the other men want Socrates to join them, Aristodemus who is "most in love with Socrates at the time" says: " No, no, leave him alone. That is something of a habit with him. Sometimes he moves off and stands stock still wherever he happens to be" (236). Aristodemus shows respect and admiration for... ...that Socrates would never be so weak as to run off or "wander about in distraction" (282) as Alcibiades did when he loved Socrates. Socrates is therefore remarking on the absurdity of his own statement. Throughout the dialogue, the condition of the character’s feet helps determine who is the lover and who is the beloved, just as the tendency to stand firm or to run away helps determine who is noble and who is base. Socrates is noble and firm, as Alcibiades "takes off in headlong flight." And, Socrates is beloved by Alcibiades and Aristodemus for his steadfastness, but tries to be tender before Agathon to win his love as well. Alcibiades assertion that Socrates is deceitful is correct: and Socrates does try to get all the beauties for himself. Work Cited 1. Plato, Symposium, in The Dialogues of Plato, trans. Seth Benardete (New York: Bantam Books, 1986).

Leadership Essay -- Synergistic Leadership Theory

Introduction According to Northouse (2009), leadership is a concept of multi-dimensional facets inclusive of skill, ability, inherent qualities, behaviors, and relationships. All or some of these dimensions may be observed in an individual that possesses leadership potential in different combinations and can be recognized when intent to make a change in an organization is for the greater good (2009). Even with good intentions and desires for positive changes, pathways to leadership can be locked with long periods of time and laborious experiences. The male gender, White males in particular and majority in the United States, have dominated the field of leadership therefore creating psychological barriers that excellence, potential, and aptitude enviably are tied to the male- gender (Jackson, Engstron, & Emmers-Sommer, 2007). Many explorations and developments allure to leadership theories centered around White male-gender prototypes, establishing ideologies ostensible to that same race and gender, signifying status and power, and mentioning minimal influences aspired by females and minorities. The speculations thereof have caused females and minorities to experienced delayed or non-existent advancements in managerial of leadership roles (2007). Recent literature more readily discusses cues that are suggestive of race and male-oriented ideologies of leadership as data depicts possibilities for setting apart females or minorities that may have potential and creditability for top leadership positions. Two articles, The Synergistic Leadership Theory (SLT), (Irby, Brown, Duffy, and Trautman, 2001) and the White Standard: Racial Bias in Leader Categorization (Rosette, and Phillips, 2008) probe female and minority presence ... ...ng from predispositions about behaviors. Subtle aversive racism derived from negative stereotypes continues to lay biases among female and minorities. Leadership prototypes that refer to being White as being â€Å"the† stereotypical characteristic nevertheless existent and lay constructs that affect minorities and not mentioned in these investigation, female minorities. To many instances occur in leadership where individuals in power set the organization’s culture or create biases that undermine the acceptance of leadership potential and follower 7 support. Research that ignores leadership traits, values, behaviors, abilities, and skills establishes, to the contrary, data based on traditional beliefs about any group not excluding the aged, female minorities, and others, is soaked in attitudes given by the majority and questionable.