Monday, September 30, 2019

Faulty Organizational Behavior in Tyco International Ltd

Most employees travel to and from the workplace each day with the ultimate goal to successfully perform their assigned job according to company standards. These company standards may include agendas, mission statements, professional conduct guidelines and even a code of ethics. How employees choose to follow company standards may govern their overall progress or success. While some may deviate from standards and fail, others may find themselves slipping through cracks unnoticed. Either way, the rules were broken. This paper will examine the failure suffered by Tyco International Ltd where leadership, management, and organizational structures were compromised. Let us start with the aftermath. According to MSNBC (2005), â€Å"Kozlowski and Swartz were accused of giving themselves more than $150 million in illegal bonuses and forgiving loans to themselves, besides manipulating the company’s stock price† (Corporate Scandals, para 14). Clearly, a scandal had hit Tyco International Ltd. Not only did former top executives slip themselves extra money, but they also toyed around with the stock prices. These actions had made the powerful men very wealthy. They also affected the lives of other individuals. During the trial, Kozlowski and Swartz pointed out that unlike WorldCom and Enron, Tyco continued to thrive as a company after the scandal (MSNBC, 2005). While this may have been a valid point, we cannot dismiss the fact that stealing, fraud, and self-indulgence had been present in the company. Now we will examine how the management, leadership, and organizational structure of Tyco International Ltd contributed to this failure. Robbins and Judge (2007) explain how managers coordinate social units of an organization in order to achieve common goals. Management performs several functions in a company that may include: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Robbins & Judge, 2007). As mentioned above, these functions are performed within social units to achieve common goals set by the company. Should deviation occur, it becomes the manager’s responsibility to get the employees back on track. The management at Tyco International Ltd strayed off course. Instead of performing tasks for the greater good of all members of the company, top xecutives allowed self-interest to govern decision-making. While managerial functions may have remained in place, the goals of these functions became malicious. Top executives began to plan, organize, lead and control in a fashion that was not in the best interest of all company members. An important managerial function is leading. â€Å"When managers motivate employees, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts among members, they’re engaging in leading† (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. ). Tyco experienced a lack of honest leadership. While some of the normal leadership was maintained to ensure the overall success of the company, there were areas that were intentionally pointed in the wrong direction. The corrupt executives started to make decisions that resulted in large sums of money directed their way. Stock price adjustment and illegal bonuses represented leadership that was no longer in the best interest of the company. These leaders chose to use power in a self-gratifying way. As a result, Kozlowski and Swartz entered a case that â€Å"exposed the executive’s extravagant lifestyle after they pilfered some $600 million from the company including a $2 million toga party for Kozlowski’s wife on a Mediterranean island and an $18 million Manhattan apartment with a $6,000 shower curtain† (MSNBC, 2005). These men were making decisions that did not reflect the company’s overall goal for success. The unlawful actions represented the misuse of leadership. Tyco International Ltd experienced a disruption in organizational behavior as a result of this scandal. Organizational behavior is concerned with actions of people and how these specific actions and behaviors affect the overall performance of the company (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Kozlowski and Swartz exhibited corrupt behavior and illegal actions for their benefit. Their actions caused a scandal that changed the way that the public and company members viewed Tyco International Ltd. Unethical practices led to fraud, stealing, and eventually perjury (MSNBC, 2005). Overall, these men undermined the values and standards of the company. They were prosecuted and Tyco International Ltd was able to move forward. Today, Tyco International Ltd has an ethical standard in place. According to Verschoor (2006), â€Å"Against a dismal backdrop of corrupted ethics and failed governance, Ed Breen, Tyco chairman and CEO, began the process of ethical reform when he joined the company in the middle of 2002† (p. 15). Tyco now has four core values that include: integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability. These values are listed and explained in the 40-page booklet titled The Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct: Doing the Right Thing (Verschoor, 2006). Employees are urged to report any unethical actions and must remain compliant with all standards. Unlike other businesses faced with scandal, Tyco survived. Managers realized the need for installing strict rules and standards that would require enforcement. As a result, the organizational behavior of Tyco became more stable. New standards make it more difficult for unethical behavior to slip by and cause scandal. Tyco International Ltd turned a negative situation into a learning experience. References MSNBC.  (2005).  Ex-Tyco executives get up to 25 years in prison.  Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9399803/ns/business-corporate_scandals Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Verschoor, C. C. (2006,  April). Tyco: An Ethical Metamorphosis. Strategic Finance, 87(10), 15-16.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Lululemon Business Strategy Essay

Lululemon was founded by Chip Wilson who took a commercial yoga class in Vancouver and was immediately drawn in to the concept. After spending many years in the surf, skate, and snowboarding business, he found yoga was performed using cotton clothing and this seemed inappropriate because it neither removed sweat adequately nor did it allow for maximum flexibility. Given his passion and expertise in technical athletic fabrics, he began a movement in yoga clothing where he relied on feedback from yoga instructors to optimize his apparel. Lululemon was founded in 1998 to meet these goals. It opened its first store in November 2000 in Kitsilano, a beach area of Vancouver BC. Beyond getting feedback from instructors on how to improve the performance of the apparel, the firm sought to act as a community hub where people can interact and share the physical and mental aspects of having a healthy lifestyle. 1. What are the key elements of the strategy that Lululemon is pursuing? What generic strategy best fits Lululemon’s strategy? The five key elements are: Grow the company store base in North America The strategic objective was to add new stores to strengthen the company’s presence and then tap into new geographical markets in the Canada and US Increase brand awareness Leveraging the publicity surrounding, the opening of new stores with grass roots marketing programs. This included organizing events and partnering with local fitness coaches. Introduce new product technologies Continue to focus on developing and offering products that incorporate technology enhanced fabrics, and performance features that differentiate Lululemon for its competitor and increase its customer base. Broaden the appeal of Lululemon products This is divided in 3 sections 1. Adding men apparel to the line 2. Expanding to product category to items such as athletic bags, undergarments, sandals, outerwear 3. Adding products suitable additional sports and athletic activities Expand beyond North America Expand their presence in Australia and Japan. Then eventually pursue the Asian and European markets that offer similar, attractive demographics. Distinctive shopping expericance Provide a distinctive in-store shopping experience, complemented by strong ties to fitness instructors, fitness establishments and community events The two biggest strategic adjustments since 2007 had been to drawback from the use of franchising and sell directly to the consumers through the company website. Lululemon fits itself in a differentiated niche strategy 2. Is Lululemon’s strategy effective? Let’s look at the following to determine if the strategy is effective for Lululemon The firm currently has three segments: Corporate-Owned Stores The corporate-owned stores segment includes all sales to customers through corporate-owned stores in North America and Australia. This segment is by far Lululemon’s largest revenue base and will continue to be successful as Lululemon looks to expand its base in 2012 by opening 30 stores in the United States and 2 Ivivva Athletica stores in Canada. Direct To Consumers The Direct to Consumers segment involves Lululemon’s e-commerce website. Which is 10.6 % of revenue (2011) comes from this segment. The idea behind is to shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online channels, Lululemon’s commitment to increasing its presence in e-commerce will help the company expand its customer base and improve brand awareness. Franchise While previously franchise sales were part of their strategy, the company  reported that it will no longer partake in the business and that it had reacquired its four remaining franchise stores during fiscal 2011. SWOT Analysis Strength Trademarked fabrics Community involvement – offered free yoga class on monthly basis Employee training Innovation Style/comfort Multiple green initiatives Quality – products designed to sustain 5 years of intended use while maintaining functional Brand identity Weakness High retail price Narrow product line Quality control/supply chain Marketing targeted to mostly yoga instructors/studios Loss of customer service with increased scale Weak brand recognition Lack of targeting to men Opportunity Expand product line Serve additional market segments Expand into additional geographic markets Increased demand in athletic apparel Fitness craze Threats Increased competition from current large players in the market Copy cats Economy New entrants Risk of banking on niche markets Lululemon only went public five years ago and have not entered any new industries (focusing mostly in the fitness apparel industry). They have done some corporate restructuring shortly after the company was formed, Lululemon  entered into franchise agreements and then a joint venture. The idea behind this was based on growing the brand to meet consumer demand while conserving financial resources. This was a very effective strategy and served Lululemon well in establishing themselves as a multinational company, helping to build on economies of scope, increasing brand awareness and building a larger customer base. In 2011, Lululemon finally repurchased all the franchise organizations and now all of their stores are corporate owned. The ultimate motive for closing out the franchise business was to preserve and maintain control over branding and focus more on e-commerce. We believe this strategy will work well for Lululemon as it preserves its brand image / competitive advantage and st aying competitive in the online market as well. 3. Top Key Issues facing the company needs to focus on are: The analysis shows us that the retail apparel industry is competitive with very low barriers to entry. Lululemon’s success will attract new competitors to the industry and attract interest from existing competitors. Ultimately, this is a competitive industry with limited barriers to entry. The athletic apparel industry is very competitive, with well capitalized rivals such as Nike and Gap, Inc. Lululemon has limited intellectual property in regards to its performance fabrics and manufacturing processes, therefore the quality and innovation components of strategy could easily be replicated. Lululemon’s self reinforcing activities, such as target customer base, tailored products and community based marketing approach make it very challenging for existing retailers to challenge Lululemon in its market from their own store bases. However, there are limited barriers to entry in this industry and Lululemon should expect new competition to try to copy its format This analysis brings us to issues the company is / could face: Increasing Competition Despite occupying a unique niche within the athletic apparel industry, Lululemon has recently gained competitors in recent years. I.e. Big  companies with large market capitals such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor have dominated the athletic apparel industry and keep gaining more ground. With the exception of a commitment to creating innovative products in apparel, these initiatives are in contrast to Lululemon. In order to market its products, Lululemon completely shuns away from print or media advertising and instead focuses on selecting ambassadors within carefully selected markets. As a result, it’s possible for Lululemon’s competitors to achieve and maintain brand awareness and market share more quickly Narrow focus Lululemon is targeted towards sophisticated and educated women who understand importance of active, healthy lifestyle. Under-Armor, Nike, and Adidas are targeted towards men and women of all ages. New Threats Apart from the big name athletic apparel manufacturers, competitors such as Gap’s Athleta brand, Lucy Activewear Inc. and Bebe Stores’ BEBE SPORT collection have emerged as competitors to Lululemon. Price Point and Manufacturing In light of the new and old competitors, Lululemon could be forced to sell their products at lower price thus reducing margins. Plus Lululemon does not own exclusive intellectual property rights to the technology for its products. This makes it easier for current and future competitors to manufacture and sell products with similar performance capabilities and styling. Cross-country differences in demographic, cultural and market conditions. Buyer tastes for a particular product or service sometimes differ substantially from country to country. Sometimes, product designs suitable in one country are inappropriate in another because of differing local standards. Lululemon is operating in an international marketplace and they have to wrestle with whether and how much to customize their products in each different country market to match the tastes and preferences of local buyers or whether to pursue a strategy of offering a mostly standardized product worldwide. For example, the clothing for women offered in the winter  season will be different from Canada to Australia and vise versa. Firstly, Australia gets hardly any snow and while Canada on the other hand, gets majorly hit every winter. Therefore, the running gear and the hoodies offered in both countries will vary because of the temperature and the climate. Making products that are closely matched to local tastes make them more appealing to local buyers, customizing Lululemon’s products country by country may have the effect of raising production and distribution costs due to the greater variety of designs and components, shorter production runs, and the complications of added inventory branding and distribution logistics. The second issue of transnational strategy incorporates elements of both a globalized and localized approach to strategy making. This type of middle ground strategy is called for when there are relatively high needs for local responsiveness as well as appreciable benefits to be realized from standardization. This strategy that Lululemon is trying to apply has its own disadvantages, such as; it is more complex and harder to implement, conflicting goals may be difficult to reconcile and require trade-offs and implementation more costly and time-consuming. All major global companies employ the franchising strategy. With the franchising strategy, the franchisee bears most of the costs and risks of establishing foreign locations; while Lululemon would have to expend only the resources to recruit, train, support, and monitor franchisees. The big problem that Lululemon is facing currently has to bear all costs of stores all around the world. With this, they would have to ensure that they are providing the products at discounted costs but also having to monitor to ensure that their standard for stores and customer service and experience is maintained. 4. Recommendations for management to improve performance / address key issues The recommendations we have for management is to improve performance and address the key issues, are employing a think global and act local strategy (Transnational). They need to ensure that each country does have the required customizations because the demographics, cultural differences and market conditions vary from country to country. They need to ensure that all their locations follow the same guidelines and customer satisfaction guidelines like they have for their primary locations. Price point and Manufacturing Lululemon does not own any intellectual property to the technology of what processes their products. In turn this makes it easy for competitors to imitate their style. Through analysis, a recommendation to solve this issue would be to patent their processing system. This would be beneficial to the company in such ways as; increasing price points, which in turn increases overall profits. It will also allow for a higher competitive advantage, making it difficult for competing company’s to imitate or copy their style. Sponsor Events and Shows Lululemon should sponsor some sort of events to gain publicity and increase brand awareness. Such can be done by organizing yoga events on a grand scale or some sort of sporting event. Not as high scale as done by its competitors (Nike sponsors the PGA Golf and Adidas sponsors FIFA) E.g. Lululemon could organize a yoga event at the Metro Convention Hall, Toronto Expand in Asia and Europe The company should plan to enhance its European and Asia market, recruiting new management talent and initiating an aggressive program to regionalize this business utilizing a consistent brand image throughout Europe and Asia. New Customers Lululemon should find new customers base other than its niche market. A potential target niche would be adding apparel for golf and tennis into its stores. Action Plan to address issues and improve performance The following action plan is the recommended steps we believe would be the appropriate approach to successfully completing these recommendations. Appendix 1 Value Chain Analysis Supply Chain Management 45 different manufacturers, no long-term contracts – can improve quality control and lower costs by decreasing # and agreeing to contracts Operations Tighten inspection and verification processes to ensure another recall does not occur (see-through pants issue) Distribution Facilities only in Vancouver-BC, Sumner, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia Limits Company’s reach Growth in online sales can offset Sales/Marketing Depend on word of mouth and community based marketing – can increase marketing via media (television, magazines, etc.) and other avenues

Saturday, September 28, 2019

HRD 495 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

HRD 495 - Essay Example Media and Social Movements: An exploration of the ‘Green Movement’ in Iran.† In the article, the journalist posts an abstract written by Annabelle Sreberny. The abstract says that the post-election growth of a social movement by the name Green Movement was unexpected by many news agencies. It adds that a critical view into the post-election happening shows how difficult it is has been for Iran to embrace new media (wireless telecommunications) in traditional politics. Annabelle seeks to showcase the poly-media surrounding of young Iranians and explain the developments of Green Movement communication. It can therefore be concluded that wireless communication is vital in sustaining modern social movements. This form of communication is fast and can offer protection of its users from political influence and violation. In this day and age, the internet is highly employed by social media because of its efficiencies such as discreteness, affordability and speed in transferring information. The relationship between wireless telecommunications and social movements should be embraced in today’s word. Kristariley. (2011). Event at McGill this Week – Social Media and Social Movements in the Middle East and North Africa. Montreal: WordPress. Retrieved on 20th November 2011 from the World Wide Web

Friday, September 27, 2019

Biography On Frank Sinatra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biography On Frank Sinatra - Essay Example Sinatra made a demo recording of the song "Our Love" on 18th March 1939 with the band named Frank Mane. The original record was kept in a safe for nearly 60 years by the band leader. Frank Sinatra began his musical career with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey and thereafter became a successful solo artist in the mid-1940s. Together with the James band in July 1939, Frank Sinatra released his first public recorded song. It is popularly known as â€Å"From the Bottom of My Heart".His first album was released in 1946 named, â€Å"The voice of Frank Sinatra†. Frank’s music was dominating charts by the year 1947. Because of his intricate and melodious voice, he soon became an artist of popular music. As every artist has a career chart, so did Frank Sinatra had. The problems with Frank Sinatra lied in his personal affairs, like friendship with the mafia and his interest in women. His interest in women became the cause of his divorce. Together with Frank's failure to serve in the military compile his decline in his personal, as well as his professional life. Overall, Sinatra's first and the only major downfall in music was in 1951 and it lasted for at most three years.As already mentioned, Frank Sinatra’s professional career had gone down by the 1950s. His career revived again in the year 1954. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his outstanding performance in the film â€Å"From Here to Eternity†. He eventually signed a contract with Capitol Records and released many appraised albums.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

In Defense of Prejudice by Jonathan Rauch Essay

In Defense of Prejudice by Jonathan Rauch - Essay Example The essay "In Defense of Prejudice by Jonathan Rauch" discusses the article, written by Jonathan Rauch. He was born 1960 in Phoenix, Arizona. After his graduation from Yale University, Rauch started work at the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina, for the National Journal magazine, and ultimately as a self-employed writer.A criticizer of U.S. government civic policy in general, Rauch has followed homosexual-related subjects as an explicitly homosexual author since 1991, and is a keen supporter of same-sex matrimony. The author, being a Jew and a homosexual has clearly been exposed to bias in the past, which makes his writing-piece all the more influential. The article is not coming from a disgruntled individual on the top of the social ladder, it is written by the kind of individual who believes that hate-crime regulations are meant to safeguard. Rauch initiates by asserting that bias is an inevitable aspect of humankind, that "Homosapiens is a tribal species for whom "us versus them" comes naturally and must be continually pushed back." This intolerant nature he says is accountable for small factions being battered, as what is inexplicable is naturally dreaded, he senses that this nature is an inherent component of civilization, "for as thickheaded and wayward an animal as us, the realistic question is how to make the best of prejudice, not how to eradicate it." So how to make the better and the most of prejudice? Rauch proposes that to disapprove prejudice only makes it stronger., and lashes out against those "crusaders for sweetness and light" whom he tags as "purists." He asserts that in the purist’s effort to eliminate cruel words from general use they have lent a type of "shamanistic" supremacy to them, as however the words could now cause corporal destruction. He quotes a sample of the use of the word "nigger" by Charles Lawrence in 1990; "The experience of being called 'nigger,' 'spic,' 'Jap,' or 'kike' is like receiving a slap in the face," In their benevolent effort to defend the purists have become authoritarian in substance, like the church in its effort to terminate McCarthyites and heretics trying to abolish communalism the purists have gone way too far. The philology used by the purists takes on a terrifyingly acquainted attitude. In his assessment it is not only for ease and parity that prejudice must be demolished, it is for the very protection of the individuals. It advances a whole new logic of earnestness to the purist’

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Summary article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary article - Essay Example The authors, in trying to answer this question conducted a research on the regularly shod athletes in the United States and the endurance athletes of the Rift valley province of Kenya. According to the research, endurance athletes of the Rift Valley province of Kenya, while on the track land on the forefoot before they could bring down their heel. In other instances though, they land with a mid-foot strike or in other instances, though less often, on the rear-foot-strike. On the other hand, regularly shod athletes land on their rear-foot strike, facilitated by the elevated and cushioned heel of the modern shoe. While running, athletes risk injuries occurring in three ways; the rear-foot strike, where the rear foot lands first, injuries from the mid-foot strike which where the heal and the ball of the foot land at the same time and fore-foot strike, where the ball of the foot lands before the heel. While sprinters often FFS, contemporary endurance runners RFS, and as such, they should be willing to endure more body weight with every impact. According to the authors, the design of the modern running shoe makes the RFS running more comfortable as well as minimizing its injuries. The shoe, by having a large heel filled with elastic materials, allows the spread of the impact over more time, thus reducing the injury caused to the runners. With this technology therefore, the authors sought to understand how athletes, before the invention of the running shoe used to hit the ground when running. Their research methodology, which involved the comparison of kinematics on tracks at preferred endurance running speeds, considered individual runners from five groups. Using the age of the runners and their shoe wearing habits, these researchers identified the study population. Among these groups were habitually shod athletes from the USA, endurance athletes from the rift valley province of Kenya, US runners who grew up using the footwear but currently run barefoot or with mini mal footwear, runners who have never won shoes and people who have for most of their lives been shod (Lieberman et al.531). The authors reveal that habitually shod runners who grew up wearing shoes, in most cases when shod RFS, although they predominantly RFS when barefoot on the same hard surfaces. On the other hand, however, individuals who grew up barefoot, or switched to barefoot running, in most cases, FFS followed by heel contact, whether shod or barefoot. Further, barefoot conditions in most cases MFS. As the research established, the cushioned sole of most of the modern running shoes, having a thickset below the heel, is the main contributing factor to the predominance of RFS in shod runners. This shoe elevates runners at least 5 degrees from the ground, and as such, the habitual unshod runners RFS less frequently. Subsequently, the shoes with elevated, cushioned heels facilitate RFS running, as the authors conclude. Further, the authors observe, that due to the differences in kinematic among foot strikes, they generate different forces of collision on the ground. By comparing this impact with the habitually shod and barefoot adult runners, all from the United States, the researchers were able to come up with this conclusion. The research also establishes that contrary to FFS whose impacts during the toe-heel-toe gaits generate ground reaction forces without a transient even when tested on a steel force plate, RFS landings cause larger

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Olympics as a Platform for Political Protests Essay

Olympics as a Platform for Political Protests - Essay Example Some people believe that by using the Olympics as a platform for political issues, they exert pressure upon oppressive governments and such governments may be forced to change their regime. It is a fact that 2008 Olympics to be held in China has sparked lots of debate. The above writer believes that these protests are actually prompting the Chinese government to review their policies towards Tibet. The latter country is fighting for independence and in order to gain international support, there is a need to choose the right movement when all eyes are on the host country. Such people argue that if they were to choose another time like after the Olympics, very few countries will be interested in the problems of China. Also using sporting events as a platform for political issues allows other countries to demonstrate their disdain about the actions of those oppressive regimes. There are also claims that host countries need to foster the image of the Olympics. This means that they need to portray the peace and unity that is synonymous with the event. If a host country has not been doing this, then it can be seen as a form of hypocrisy. The Chinese government has been criticized for its human rights abuses. There have reports about how the Chinese government prevents its citizens from discussing issues about their government. Furthermore, the Chinese government normally discourages most foreigners form discussing their problems claiming that it has nothing to do with them; they believe that they are the only ones with a right to solve their problems. In light of these arguments, it would be quite unfair for such a government to hold the Olympics and claim that they foster the spirit of unity that is synonymous with the torch. (Rice, 2008) Some people believe that protests should be conducted in any platforms a long as there is room to be heard. Furthermore, they believe that sometimes members of the host country may not have the political freedom to do so consequently, the international community needs top help them in this. For instance, there are numerous goods in the US government that come form the Chinese government. But workers in that location have minimal access to basic resources. Most of them are subjected to harsh working conditions and low pay. They cannot complain about this situation because it may bring problems. Consequently, the international community needs to help the Chinese workers by voicing their complaints. These complaints will only be noticed when the country stands to loose something. For instance, if the international countries boycotts the Olympics, then chances are the Chinese government will loose a lot. It may therefore be promoted to change their worker's conditions due to these chang es. Arguments against using the Olympics as a platform for political protests 'Sport is sport and politics is politics. There has never been anyone who has belied the fact that sport is the best way of uniting peoples.' (Brincat, 2008)

Monday, September 23, 2019

Violent Acts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Violent Acts - Essay Example act of violence and torture on the peasant women of his hacienda, and sometimes on his wife, Clara reflects the greater violence afflicted on the people by the military regime after the election. There is a kind of ‘poetic justice’ that Allende seems to have maintained in the depiction of violence in her novel. Colonel Esteban Garcia’s raping and torturing of Alba somehow completes the circle of injustice that Alba’s grandfather had done on Garcia’s grandmother and father. In the first half of the story, Clara’s sister Rosa accidentally dies of poison that was meant for her father. In both the cases, Rosa and Alba suffer for no crime of theirs. They were innocent, just like the hundreds of men, women and children of Chile who were victims of violence and bloodshed in the 70s for no sin of theirs. Though Allende nowhere directly mentions the ‘capital city’ in the novel to be Chile, it is quite understandable from the depiction of f acts and events. Her attitude to violence and its long term consequences is explicit in the writings of Alba, "The day my grandfather tumbled Pancha Garci ­a among the rushes of the riverbank, he added another link to the chain of events that had to complete itself. Afterward the grandson of the woman who was raped repeats the gesture with the granddaughter of the rapist, and perhaps forty years from now my grandson will knock Garci ­as granddaughter down among the rushes, and so on down through the centuries in an unending tale of sorrow, blood, and love." (Allende, 432). Allende’s fear of never-ending violence grapping mankind in the coming years surfaces when she addresses crime as a ‘chain of events’ that will keep on growing bigger and bigger through revenge and retribution. More revenge will lead to more violence which will ultimately bring doom to the entire mankind. So Allende looks to the future with hopes for a violence-free peaceful world when Alba feels like forgiving her torturer at the end. Other

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Health Related Website Eval Form and Nursing Article from Bay College Assignment

Health Related Website Eval Form and Nursing Article from Bay College Library - Assignment Example It provides an opportunity for students to check out issues in the periodic stalks for a week. The article is reliable as it provides reliable and verifiable information. Students do not have to pay any money for accessing information. The article provides quality information that is available for students from home and in campus (Bay College Library: Resource for Nursing, 2012). People can understand evidence based practice by establishing the meaning of this approach and understanding its benefits. Geriatric article explains how evidence based practice can connect gaps between, theory and practice. It is quite unfortunate, as many nurses do not have the skills of incorporating evidenced based nursing in clinical practice. This article explains patient centered approach as an approach used in evidence based nursing as a strategy for improving patience care (Rubin, 2011). The article illustrates that the nursing profession, as a practice should strive to improve patients care (Barker, 2009). Evidence based practice is not only based on research since it includes all forms of research. It is a research practice where nurses use current information to make clinical

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Should Women Be Allowed to Play Against Men in Sports Essay Example for Free

Should Women Be Allowed to Play Against Men in Sports Essay Every sports fan hates to admit the fact that sports are simply business, but it is undeniable that sports are one of the most lucrative businesses in the U. S. Right now the market for womens professional sports is growing rapidly. The best way for womens sporting organizations to promote and sell this market is to align with previously established organizations such as the NBA, NCAA and the USOIC. Although joining with mens organizations is a difficult process that involves compromise, merging with these organizations helps to land big television contracts, gives greater publicity, and brings in endorsements, advertisers and investors. The lack of these benefits was among the key factors in the failure of the ABL. Inversely, these are the reasons for the successes of the WNBA and womens sports in the Olympics. Throughout the history of female athletics merging with male sports organizations has not always been a pleasant experience. In 1982 the AIAW merged with the NCAA, despite the NCAA fighting tooth and nail to try and find ways out of Title IX, an act of Congress that required Universities to provide equal funding for womens athletics. The NCAA did everything they could to stop the equal funding but finally gave in during the 1990s. Right now the NCAA embraces its womens sports programs and has had many women represented on the executive committee roster and even has a committee on womens athletics. Also, the NCAA has worked out television contracts with ESPN, FOX sports and CBS. This has lead to not only coverage of womens sports but publicity. Womens games are talked about on Sports Center and College Hoops Tonight everyday during the season. The addition of the womens to the Olympics did a lot more to promote commercial secures and the advancement of womens The Womens Olympic Games went out of business shortly after the Olympics allowed women to participate. Women lost a lot with this merger at first due to the fact that women were prohibited from many Olympic events that they could have participated in as part of the Womens Olympics. These restrictions werent lifted until 1984. However in the long run co-ed Olympics are beneficial for womens sports. At the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City there was only two sports that USA women did not compete in, ski jumping and the Nordic combined. Female athletes were well represented even though there were a few more male athletes in some events and the television air time was almost equal for both sexes. The ABL never stood a chance against the WNBA. The ABL a independent womens league and the WNBA, a subsidiary of the NBA, played a big part in putting the ABL, a separate womens basketball league out of business. The WNBA could afford to pay players less because the players could receive a lot more publicity and endorsement playing in the WNBA. The ABL made huge mistakes right off the bat. First off there season was from October to March right and competing with the NBA and the college basketball season. Thus it was harder to land large television contracts. The could only get contracts on lower budget cable stations the Black Entertainment Television and some but not much regional coverage on the Sports Channel ( now Fox Sports). In their third and final year they did not renew the contact with BET and Fox Sports would show 16 games, a 61% decrease of games seen on TV . However they did work out a deal with CBS that would show two ABL playoff games. League went under before they could even finish the season. With the help of the NBA the WNBA was able to avoid costly mistakes while using the pervious existing structure of the NBA and its capital to increase the popularity of the WNBA and ensure some financial security. The WNBA had NBA marketers and promoters and big television contracts on NBC, Lifetime and ESPN. The WNBA just this season will be showing a lot more games the ever before. The LA Sparks will receive 22 of their 33 games televised nationally More importantly the WNBA had money behind it, commercial on NBC billboards all over there home cities and their marquee players such as Lisa Leslies were in shoe commercials. The market for womens sports is growing rapidly and a big part of this success is because of these mergers with established organization. These mergers of womens and mens sports can do a lot more for the promotion and the TV coverage then any newly formed league male or female, an example of the is the WNBA and the Olympics. Although the history of these mergers has had a shaky history in the past those days are over. There is a lot of money to be made on womens sports if promoted right and if leagues like the WNBA fail it would be a major set back for womens basketball so why not have the NBA and all its promoter TV contracts and executive expertise behind them.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Impressionism and Cubism | Comparison

Impressionism and Cubism | Comparison The art and painting in the human history started contemporary to the primitive age and progressed with the flow of time. Then human societies, possibly tried to record their most important events in the form of art and paintings. As found in Egyptian art, Native Americans, cave paintings of Ajanta and Elora, in Srilanka and many different places all over the world. This kind of paintings got refined in their presentation, technique, context and concept. But the valued subject matter up till late 19th century was historical, religious theme, architectural and portraits of the elite class. Landscape and still life were not getting any credentials. The same was the case with the Academie des Beaux-Art, Paris during the period of Emperor Napoleon III. And until then, art was purely an indoor event of recreating the subject matter with carefully finished images that mirrored really even on close observation. But the young artist from Barbizon school and may other started to think out of the box and started panting outdoors, mainly about landscape, still life and their perception of moments, emphasizing on the play of natural light. They used short broken brush strokes of various color without blending the color or creating a clear and sharp image of the object regard. The blending was left to be done by the viewer and feel the essence of the subject. They were trying to give a snap shot from a big picture, only about the portion. They felt and the way they perceived it. This giving a scope of artist wise variation in paintings of same object matter. They played the color storks in such lucid manner that the color reflection from object to object been depicted very effectively. Wet paints placed on over the other without letting it dry in order to give softer edge also created the vibrant color scheme. They painted in a lighter and brighter manner unlike the previous artisans. They captured the momentary of the contemporary life with the transient variations of the sunlight. And to make it more precious, they even painted in the evening to get proper shadow effects on the canvas. Mostly shadows were painted boldly. But they avoided use of pure black tone and using complementary colors made gray to dark shades and shadows were painted as the blue sky is been reflected on to the surface, which made the paintings more lively and fresh. The open arena also came up very effectively. These paintings when come to the Academie Des Beaux-Art Paris, they faced a strong criticism and rejected by the jury several times. Of this category paintings, by Claude Monet, with name Impression, Sunrise, drew a Humorous criticism from Louis Leroy who called the artist an impressionist. Soon the term gained popularity among the artists and critics. But they were facing continuous rejection from the Academie. In 1863, seeing these works rejected, the Emperor felt, public themselves should judge them. And the salon of the refused or salon des refused was created to display the works. Gradually the openness and capture of a contemporary daily life in the vibrant colorfulness of these paintings that allowed the viewers to sense and feel the picture rather just seeing it, become popular and the art variety got a foothold as impressionism. This opened the door to think freely and more independently and allowed the artist to express their feeling and perception rather than recreating ju st a replica of the reality. impressionism movement existed at around 1860-1880s in France and spread to other parts of Europe and US through exhibitions. Artist of the later period  started to apply their thoughts in every possible way and more freely in successive time frame. The impressionists way inspired the artists of later period to think more independently and innovatively. Artists started using their ability to try different things in all aspects of painting. Whether it is technique, material, or presentation there were many new move. As a result some more art variety came into existence. Prominent among them were Fauvism (1900AD. And lasted beyond 1910AD.), peak years being 1905-1907, Expressionism also came into existence. The unique ability of artist Paul Cà ©zanne to simplify natural forms into basic geometrical shapes like spheres, cylindrical, and cones, gave a new dimension in form presentation. He also tried to break painted surface into multifaceted area points and created a sense of multiple viewpoints available at the same time, same plane. Around this era only (late 19th to early 20th century), the European artists got acquainted with other art forms from Native America, Africa, and Micronesia. These foreign art forms and their style inspired artist like Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Matisse and many others. Picasso, a less famous artist at that time, inspired with Iberian sculpture, African masks and African art; painted in anew style that was actually taking Paul Cà ©zannes idea to a further plane. Since 1907 to 1919, artists like Picasso, Braque, Juan Gris and many others worked on this new form, which later was recognized as Cubism. These cubist artist had revolutionized the visualization method altogether. They were able to put almost all surfaces or view point of a subject matter onto the canvas at the same time, that to arranged in a random geometrical shapes. Initially, during 1908 to 1912, the cubist analyzed the subject matter and reframed them onto the two dimensional plane. They used mostly blue, gray, and ochre, but in a monochromatic scheme, in contrast to the colorful impressionist. Their emphasize was on geometrical forms rather on color scheme to present their subject matter. Picasso and Braque presented the natural world in such a way on canvas that the visual language triggered a complicated meditation to understand and feel. They carried the viewers thinking ability to a much higher plane and a viewer was able to reframe and analyze the picture though multiple viewpoint. Because of the presentation and understanding pattern these works are grouped as Analytical Cubism. Later, the cubists started using different texture, collage material, surface to present a large variety of subject matter. This in turn gave birth to Synthetic Cubism. In Picassos work, the still life with chair-canning in 1911-12, he represented chair-canning by using printed oil cloth. He used oval canvas and a rope framing in it. Pieces of newspaper, sheet music and other items were used as collage to enhance the illusion. This kind of artistic approach was much different than in the period of impressionism when artist were more with the color scheme, light variation, and preferably mono viewpoint capture. And in time frame both Impressionism and Cubism influenced other media as well like music, sculpture, and architecture. Cubism found a better strong hold on the sculpture and architecture whose examples are well distributed in Czech Republic and other part of the world. Thus Impressionism and Cubism, although representing two eminent phases in the European art culture, are very different in their technique, presentation and concept. Yet both the categories are highly influential and revolutionary in the field of art culture that has brought many new possibilities to the artist to express in unique and more meaningful way, till today.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Factors Affecting the Decomposition of Marble Buildings by Acid Rain :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

Factors Affecting the Decomposition of Marble Buildings by Acid Rain Background Acid Rain: Nitrogen acids and sulphur dioxides come out of tall chimneys and vehicles. These go into the air, and air currents carry the gases away, and they react with water vapour and oxygen. This produces H2SO4 (sulphuric acid) and HNO3 (nitric acid). The acids become part of a cloud, and it falls down to earth, as acid rain or snow. This can end up miles away from the original source. The acid rain removes nutrients from soil, so plants can not get to them, so this eventually kills surrounding die. It can also get into lakes and rivers, which can kill fish. The same is true for acid snow as it kills fish in rivers and lakes. Rates of reactions: This is how quick a reaction is, you can find out the rate of a reaction by seeing how much of it is used up in a particular amount of time. You could also measure how much is produced as a result of the reaction in a particular amount of time. Reactions take place because of collisions, the particles (can be atoms, ions or molecules) collide, and a reaction occurs between particles. If there are more collisions, the reaction will be much quicker. But it also depends on whether the collision has enough energy, to be successful. If there is not enough energy, then the collision will be unsuccessful, but if there is, it will be successful, and a reaction will occur. Unsuccessful collisions take place when the activation energy is not reached. The activation energy is the amount of energy needed for a successful collision. There are factors which affect the rate of a reaction, and also if the collisions are successful or not. Temperature rise gives particles more energy, and as thy move around more and much quicker they have collisions. Also it gives particles more energy, so that when they collide the collisions are more successful. Both these things mean that there is a faster reaction rate. But, if temperature decreases there is a slower reaction rate, as there is less energy. If there is larger surface area, it also means that reactions are quicker. The reason for this is that there are more particles exposed to take part in collisions. So the more collisions means, more successful collisions, and a faster reaction rate. If surface area is decreased, then there are fewer exposed particles, therefore a slower reaction rate. Also concentration, affects reaction rate. In gases it is the pressure. If there is a greater concentration, then there are more particles in the same volume.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Critical Interpretation of Hans Kung?s Historical Analysis of the Dev

A Critical Interpretation of Hans Kung’s Historical Analysis of the Development of the Hierarchical Church   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The beginnings of the Christian church are shrouded in mystery. With the lack of evidence about that time in history, it is hard to draw conclusions of any type. However, the historical analyst, Hans Kung, has written a book to shed some light on the subject. In this book, Kung discusses his opinion on the development of the early church, and its hierarchical structure. In the following paper, I will address two of the chapters of Kung’s book, â€Å"The Beginnings of the Early Church† and â€Å"The Early Catholic Church†. The points that I will focus on are: The makeup and persecution of the early church community and why it was that way, and how, according to Kung, the founders of Catholicism went against how Jesus wanted the church to be governed by establishing a hierarchy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Christian church, according to Kung, began at Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came to the apostles and told them to go out and preach the teachings of Jesus it meant that the apostles could claim an identity separate from Judaism. The majority of the first Christians were Jews from Jerusalem that believed that Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jews in the Hebrew Testament and they believed in the resurrection. â€Å"The earliest Christian community did not want in any way to part company with the Jewish community or nation, but to remain integrated into Judaism.†(P. 13). The differences in the beliefs of the Jews and the Jewish-Christians naturally created a separation in the two groups. When the Christian disciples started going out and preaching their faith to people, the Roman Empire saw them as a threat to their power and decided that Christianity would have to be stopped. Because Christianity and Judaism were one, the two most effective ways to persecute the Christians was to execute their leaders, and to destroy the Jewish places of worship. After the Romans burned the Temple of Jerusalem for the second time, a council of Pharisees decided that the Christians were to be excommunicated from the Jewish temple.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If not for the early connection to the Jewish faith, the Christian religion would never have established as a major religion. The idea of having one God, called monotheism, was too radi... ... what they thought, there would be no extravagance in the lives of the church officials. Likewise, if the church truly believed in what Jesus taught, they would not be shunning the participation of women in the church; rather, they would be embracing all the people that truly wished to participate in the vocation of a priest or any position in the church for that matter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, the early Christian church had its problems in who was accepted into the new faith and why they were persecuted for it. This was because, during the height of the Roman Empire, any group of people that could be dangerous to Roman ideology would not be tolerated, and the Romans would attempt to put a stop to it. These persecutions of the Christians, however, strengthened, not weakened the Christian church to a point that there would be no way to disperse the community of believers. The main reason that the church stayed together like it did was because of the early establishment of a hierarchy, which, while Kung speculates, would not be the way that Jesus would have wanted the church to be governed, worked in establishing the Christian community into a world religion.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Internet Security Enforced Essay

The advent of computers and their related technologies has greatly impacted on everyday personal, academic, and professional lives. The internet has become one of the leading sources of information as many people prefer to access and analyze the information they need from the World Wide Web. The internet has so much information which is very accessible to anyone who has a connected computer, and this includes small children. Teachers, students, and educational institutions have increasingly relied on the internet for learning both inside and outside the context of the classroom. How these technologies are implemented however determines if their application is good (ethical) or not good (unethical). In this essay, the author seeks to explain how technology might be in use to cause good benefits to the society and bad benefits. One major benefit of technology is that it has created efficiency in everyday life. Computers can process large amounts of data with minute precision, and this application is in use by business organizations all over the world (Cohen, 1995). However, the information in the World Wide Web is accessible to many people, and if sufficient security measures are not put in place, this benefit could end up being abused. There is thus a need for software developers, organizations, schools and governments to work together in ensuring that technological systems that protect the integrity, confidentiality and privacy of information posted on the internet is ensured. Many unscrupulous individuals like hackers, cybercriminals and cyber-terrorists are always lurking to seize personal information from the internet with the purpose of orchestrating several types of crime. With the amount of money being paid in the black market for private information, hackers are always on the prowl waiting for an opportunity to cause havoc on academic institutional, governmental and corporate websites (Guangrong, 1998). The information they obtain ends up being used to commit crimes like online fraud, identity theft and espionage. With this unethical usage being a very probable occurrence, very robust security software applications like anti-spyware and anti-viruses must be made so that the integrity of information stored in the internet can be protected. As I stated earlier, as long as the computers available in schools and libraries are connected to the internet, there is no limit to the diversity of information school children can gain access to. Any implementation of technology must be made with the objective of serving the community it targets with benefits. The objective of information technology services in schools is not that school children can access adult material or any other information that can be of bad influence. This is where technology steps in. ffective technologies of combating unethical sites (that is the ones with pornographic material, hate campaigns as well as a variety of other unsuitable content) should be implemented in schools and at homes to protect the innocence of children (Guangrong, 1998) The more the internet technology penetrates, the more teachers and students are finding it a useful tool for teaching and learning (Fung, 1998). The internet sounds and looks pretty simple to anyone who does not reall y understand the technicalities behind it. The use of persuasive technology on the internet is one example of technologies that could lure both teachers and students in orchestrating the practice of unethical activities. Persuasive technology as used in the internet poses a very serious challenge to educational instructors who choose to deliver their services through the internet. There is a very high risk of persuasive technologies being used to intentionally or unintentionally make children submit sensitive information about themselves or their families without knowing the risks they are exposing themselves and their families to. By definition, persuasive technologies are those interactive technologies which are intended to change an individual’s behaviors or attitudes towards specific issues including social, sexual and political beliefs and practices (Ellison, Steinfied, & Lampe, 2007). They can also be used to promote healthy eating habits and awareness on environmental conservation. These are examples of technologies which can be used to promote good use of technology and also bad use as explained below. Intelligence systems designed to monitor the activities of employees as they log in and out of the systems in the workplace constitute a healthy of ethical use of technology since it ensures they effectively use the resources at their disposal for the benefit of their employer and themselves (Cohen, 1995). With social networking sites and chat rooms increasing by the day, employees are developing the tendency to waste a lot of man hours on these sites. Their productivity therefore goes down and the effect is finally transmitted to the economy. Additionally, employees can use office systems to do illegal things like spy on their employers or other entities. If persuasive technologies are put in place to monitor their activities, then there will be less breakage of law and ethics. The same persuasive technologies can be put in place to monitor the movement of employees in service provision stores like supermarkets, restaurants and bars. This could end up ensuring that they stick to etiquette like washing their hands after visiting the washrooms or after getting into contact with other unhygienic practices, but it is unethical since it undermines their dignity and creates distrust. The same applies to companies who require visitors to their websites to submit their personal information before utilizing certain services before using a certain utility, for example downloading a software package or accessing a certain article. Legally, technology can be used to ensure adherence to laws especially those formulated to control the process of conducting or dissipating information on the web. If monitoring software can be installed at internet gateways to track any illegal undertakings being conducted in the web, the culprits can be tracked down and stopped to promote the safety of other internet users. However, this in itself has ethical implications in that every bit of content will have to be checked, and the privacy of information will be compromised albeit by a law enforcing agency. The motive of monitoring agencies may be good, but it may be used to conduct morally unacceptable activities by all or interested parties. Finally, there has been widespread condemnation of censorship, particularly in the case of Google Corporation and the government of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese government stipulates strict censorship of the media including the internet. Not every type of information can be accessed, and this is achieved by the use of inhibitors to the various protocols used to search for and access information. This directly violates the people’s right to information and is therefore not only unethical but also illegal. From these examples, it is evident that the internet and other tools provided for by technology can be used to constitute good and bad use.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Internet Streaming: Replacing Cable and Dish

Joseph Thomas UNV-104 March 27, 2012 Kyle Smock Internet streaming: Replacing cable and dish People are mistaken who believe internet video streaming is a fringe market. Watching television programming through subscription services like cable and dish is becoming increasingly expensive while online video streaming is free or becoming cheaper with more content being added daily. Streaming is â€Å"the process of providing a steady flow of audio or video data so that an Internet user is able to access it as it is transmitted. (Daintith, 2004) In time internet video streaming will replace cable, dish, and over the air broadcasts as the main source of televised programming. It is easy to see that internet streaming is the wave of the future. With more and more people getting online with broadband connections to homes and mobile devices, there is an increasing realization that many are paying too much for cable and dish services when the same programming can be accessed for free or more inexpensively. Snider, 2011) They are also realizing that with video streaming there is no restriction on the time and place they can view the desired programming as long as it is after the original broadcast or in the case of cinematic films, after they are released from theatrical venues; in other words, video on demand. The convenience of â€Å"on demand† programming will allow a busy population to be more productive in other areas of their life when they do not have to schedule a time to watch their favorite shows. Although many shows, particularly live sports are currently being offered free to internet viewers in real time (e. . , ESPN3, NBC Sports, and CBS March Madness on Demand), this just adds to the attraction of video streaming. Clearly then, the entertainment industry is looking closely at the potential of video streaming both as another revenue source and a threat to traditional ad revenues. Hulu Tv is the internet’s leader in providing free premium conte nt to its viewers. â€Å"In addition to original backers NBC Universal and Fox, Hulu works with 150 content providers, including all of the major TV production companies with the exception of CBS, which is aggressively developing TV. com. (O’Leary, 2009) Rating services such as Nielson and comScore are at times at odds with the viewing numbers they are reporting which means gauging the actual numbers of viewers needs revising. Nevertheless, the growth of online viewing is attracting competition for Hulu, and Netflix the leading subscription service providing both films and TV shows. Cable giant Comcast for instance, has launched â€Å"Xfinity Streampix, which will give Comcast video subscribers a selection of older movies and prior-season TV shows that they can watch on TVs and Internet-connected devices. (Schechner, 2012) Admittedly, there are system requirements that need to be met in order to view streaming content on a computer, mobile device, or television set. (Some g ame consoles, such as Xbox360 and Playstation 3, and some Blu-Ray players can also be used. ) And providers may require certain software to be installed. It can be as little as ensuring the latest Adobe Flash Player and a video out jack are available on the receiving device, to proprietary software; e. g. , Netflix to regulate account access or to view content on Veetle. om- a free public streaming website. Peer to peer streaming and live event streaming are also becoming increasing popular. Individuals, small businesses, and large corporations are taking advantage of direct streaming. There are numerous free streaming sites and companies like Primcast that offer a wide variety of sales and technological services. Consequently, more and more consumers are â€Å"cutting the cord† to cable and dish. It only makes sense as budgets remain tight for many families and enterprises, and streaming quality and content continues to improve.A high definition premium cable package can rea ch more than $150 per month in contrast to Netflix’s current price of $7. 99 per month. Add the available free programming on Hulu and other sources and the savvy consumer who chooses to cut the cord could save over $1000 a year. That is a powerful inducement for many who are willing and able to embrace this burgeoning technology. References Daintith, J. (2004). â€Å"streaming. † A Dictionary of Computing. Retrieved from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1O11-streaming. html O’Leary, N. 2009, May 25). Searching for Life on Hulu. Brandweek. 50 (21) Retrieved from http://www. marketingymedios. com/aw/content_display/special-reports/other-reports/e3i15f4e2b3b4a487b3cbb6ddcfb338c9e7 Schechner, S. (2012, February 22). Comcast Takes Aim at Netflix. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970204909104577237321153043092. html Snider, M. (2011, September 12). More Consumers Spurn Cable TV bills. USA Today R etrieved from http://www. usatoday. com/MONEY/usaedition/2011-09-12-Cutcord-0830_CV_U. htm

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Sport Trends in the Ymca

There are multiple ways that recent trends in the sport industry are affecting the YMCA. A majority of them would be revolving around the economy and how the YMCA is considered a luxury to the people. Others would be the increase of fitness in the world and sport curiosity and also the elderly still maintaining their healthy lifestyles. The increased popularity of celebrity athletes in the world are leading to an increased popularity in the sport world (Balmer, 2009). The battle against obesity is increasing the number of people who join a fitness club or health organization.Also, many people are beginning to try to find both healthier lifestyles and seeking a balance between work and leisure (Sports, 2007). Lastly, the way that kids are being taught is changing; practices are becoming known as best practices and the kids are learning more of the sport and becoming better (Stephens, 2009). All members of the YMCA consider it as a luxury to their life. They would not die without it an d do not need it to sustain their current life. When the economy is bad so is the amount of memberships that are still active. If a member encounters a financial situation the first thing that would go would be their YMCA membership.Employees at the YMCA know this, â€Å"At Countryside YMCA, we welcome everyone’s involvement by providing financial assistance to subsidize memberships or classes for eligible families or individuals† so they encourage and run a scholarship program (YMCA). This program encourages young people to stay active and fit while still in school. If your parent may not be able to afford you a full time membership as long as you maintain good grades and can prove that you are a full time student then you will be supplied with a membership at next to nothing if not for nothing at all.Another current trend affecting the YMCA would be the new attitudes toward maintaining health and the attitudes of the elderly toward staying active. The YMCA recently h eld their annual Halloween run. This event is a marathon through the mud. Many officials were very concerned with their recent numbers and were in fear that the marathon would be a disaster and they might actually have to cancel the event. They stuck through it and held the event and they had one of the best turnouts they have ever had. It was because of the youth and the elderly banning together to make this event so amazing.The number for the amount of people participating in the event ages 40 and on increased from a meager 15% to an astounding 35%. The number of people participating from the ages of 18 to 40 nearly doubled. With the increase of sport curiosity the YMCA is prospering because they offer a variety of sports. The increased popularity of celebrity athletes is affecting the YMCA extremely. One of the founders of the YMCA was Neil Armstrong and a lot of people sign up just for that reason. As bicycling expands and the popularity of Lance Armstrong grows the YMCA is begi nning to develop into the trend by now offering spinning classes.Also, as the world of mixed martial arts expands they YMCA went from offering just karate classes to offering more diverse classes that people like to watch and want to learn how to do them. It is clearly obvious that there is a major hike in the world obesity rate. Effects from this rises are people wanting to become more active in the fitness area. â€Å"Health Organization, since 1980, the number of obese people in the world has more than doubled and that in 2008, 1. 5 billion people aged 20 years old and older are overweight and 500 million are obese† (Danek, 2011).Since the YMCA maintains a friendly environment where there is a mass amount of different programs offered more people are beginning to go to the YMCA. Next, people have to work longer and harder schedules at work. This is leading them to have no time to go to a gym or enroll in a class that meets on a certain day and time. The YMCA offers an affo rdable place to work out whenever you want to. It is open nearly all day and all areas are open at any point in the day. If a person is having a tough time balancing their business world with their activity world there wouldn’t be a better place than the YMCA for them.Lastly, the way kids are being coached and how practices are ran are becoming more proficient and more focused on the kids overall ability. Coaches are learning they way to manipulate a kid and get their full potential out. This is certainly happening at the YMCA from their basketball games to their baseball games. Kids are being coached a lot better leading to more success in their games. References Balmer, K. (2009). Sport industry trend. Foresight, Retrieved from http://foresight-trendscan. blogspot. com/2009/09/sports-industry-trends. html Danek, K. (2011).Trends and opportunities for small business companies and entrepreneurs in the sports industry. Entreprenuers Week, Retrieved from http://entrepreneurweek . com/business/2011/10/03/trends-and-opportunities-for-small-business-companies-and-entrepreneurs-in-the-sports-industry/ Sports, A. (2007). Industry trends. Retrieved from http://www. amersports. com/about/corporate_structure/our_industry/ Stephens, R. (2009). Top 10 sports/social media trends of 2010. Sports Networker, Retrieved from http://www. sportsnetworker. com/2009/12/24/top-10-sports-social-media-trends-of-2010/ The ymca. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. countrysideymca. org/

Health and Wellness in the Workplace Essay

Thesis Statement: Health and Wellness programs in a workplace can benefit employees by helping them manage their physical and emotional health, reduce stress and provide a reward system program in the workplace. I. Introduction. II. Provide Nutrition Programs A. Manage employees physical & emotional health 1. Provide different seminars to manage different health issues. 2. Create a program that fits your employees concerns in the work environment. III. Promotes employee’s perfect attendance A. Prevent employee’s absenteeism 1. By providing random wellness check 2. Reward employees for perfect attendance in the wellness programs IV. Reduce Stress in Workplace A. Provide breaks to help employees reduce stress 1. Start a group during 15 minutes break to walk 2. Provide a massage therapist once every two weeks to give 15 minutes massages to relief stress. 3. Give a stress management seminar for nutrition and excerising. V. Reward System in the workplace to accomplish Goals A. Provide a reward program to lose weight and stay healthily 1. A support system for employees by offering extra days off for doing the programs. 2. Create a bonus program for employees for reaching health goals. VI. Conclusion. Resources By: Alden, Sharyn, Regroup, Recharge, Credit Union Magazine, Jul 2007, Vol. 73 Issue 7, p 30-35, 6p; Abstract By: Bulk Tran Sporter, Tax credits proposed for employee wellness, Nov. 2007, Vol. 70, Issue 5, p12-12, 1/2p; Abstract By: Shepherd, Leah Carlson, More time to smell the†¦

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Drama Assignment

LHE 3253 TEACHING THE LANGUAGE OF DRAMA Assignment 1 Dorothy Ting Siao Wei 153071 Dr. Habsah Bt Hussin Submission date: 19 Oct 2011 THE JEWELS OF THE SHRINE 1. One of the themes of this play is  false relationship  among family members. Quote the part(s) in the play where you can discern this theme. Throughout the play the theme false relationship among family members is seen. Firstly, it is seen in the character of Bassi. Bassi is not related to Okorie at all but is seen to be always around the house attending to Okorie. It is as if she is his wife when she is not at all. She is actually married elsewhere and have kids. This is seen in several parts where she appears. â€Å" Bassi: It is enough, Grandfather. Long talk make you tired. Come, your food is now ready. Okorie: Woman, I cannot eat. When happiness fills your heart, you cannot eat. † From here we see how Bassi would advice Okorie to stop talking and eat his meal. Her tone sounds like a wife who cares for a husband rather than a married woman of a neighbor. â€Å"Bassi (holding him and leading him to sit on the bed): You are excited. You know that whenever you are excited, you begin to forget things. Okorie: That is not my fault. It is old age. Well, but what was I saying? † Here we even see Bassi sending Okorie to bed which could be hardly seen in olden times. Bassi is a married woman with her own husband which she should be putting to bed with rather than a senile old man. But she did and she did in gently like how a wife would. Perhaps there is a sincerity of the treatment she gave but there’s no legit relationship that they have. The other place in the play where false relationship among family members is seen is when Arob and Ojuma started treating Okorie nicely just because they heard something like a great inheritance that they will get if they treat him nicely and bury him with great honour. All of these can be seen in the following excerpts of the play. â€Å"Ojima: At last, poor Grandfather is gone. I wonder if he know that we only played up just to get something from his will. Arob: Well, it didn’t matter to him. He believed us, and that is why he has left his property to us. A few months ago he would rather have thrown it all into the sea. † 2. From the language used by Okorie, Arob and Ojuma in their dialogue, what can you discern about their relationship? Give two factors contributing to the disintegration of family units and children neglecting their filial duties toward their elders. From the language used by Okorie, Arob and Ojuma in their dialogue, it seemed like their relationship is not a good one. Okorie doesn’t even call or refer to his grandsons as his grandsons but people and Arob and Ojuma didn’t speak properly or with respect all the time. In my opinion, one of the factors contributing to the disintegration of family units and children neglecting their filial duties toward their elders is, the lack of proper discipline in the family. As seen in the play, Arob and Ojuma’s father passed away earlier than their grandfather, Okorie. No one disciplined them or brought them up in the proper manner. Okorie might have even spoilt them when they were younger so there was no sense of fear and respect from both of them towards their grandfather. They cannot even see the contribution of their grandfather and appreciate him. They even took everything that is his and sold them to get whatever finances that they could get. They never had anyone to discipline them. The other factor that contributes to their misbehavior is a growing sense of selfishness that comes with the welcoming of modernity. As seen and discussed by Okorie and the stranger at the beginning of the play, it seemed like the society has been getting more and more selfish and cruel that they don’t take care of older people but mistreat them too. With the coming of new technologies, new development that first enters the city, more selfishness prevails and the people are getting crueler. They only think about their own welfare, their own happiness and they just disregard for any other people, even the older people in their own family who are flesh and blood. It seemed like all that does not matter at all anymore. Everything is about their own pleasure and comfort and no one else. MOTHER’S DAY 3. Mrs. Pearson’s difficulty in speaking her mind and communicating the truth with her family had caused her much unhappiness. Quote the part(s) in the Play where you can discern this quality in Mrs. Pearson. There are several parts in the play where Mrs. Pearson depicts her difficulty in speaking her mind and conveying the truth with her family. Firstly is when Mrs. Fitzgerald came to visit her at her house and they were talking casually when the subject of her unhappiness in her home came up. When Mrs. Fitzgerald advised her to be firm and do something about it she became apologetic saying, â€Å"That’s easier said than done. Besides, I’m so fond of them even if they are so thoughtless and selfish. They don’t mean to be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It shows that she does love her family although they are thoughtless and selfish but she gave them too much leeway that they mistreated her by not thinking about her but only themselves. She finds it hard to speak her mind also because she doesn’t like confrontations and she is mighty afraid to make others feel unpleasant. She doesn’t know how to tell them how she felt. She only drops hints to them. This is seen later when she said, â€Å"I – keep dropping a hint†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"†¦ But I do hate any unpleasantness. And it’s so hard to know where to start. I keep making up my mind to have it out with them – but somehow I don’t know how to begin. † It is also pretty obvious from the way she kept having pauses in her speaking and getting embarrassed and sending a sense of hopelessness that she has very low confidence which, I believe contributed in her difficulty in communicating the truth with her family. Even when she talks to Mrs. Fitzgerald, she has lots of pauses as seen, â€Å"Mrs. Fitzgerald – I know you mean well – in fact, I agree with you – but I can’t – and it’s no use you trying to make me. If I promise you I’d really have it out with them, I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise. 4. Discuss effective communication skills that Mrs. Pearson should inculcate in herself to make her family be respectful of her and appreciate her more. Mrs. Pearson needs to learn to speak more confidently and perhaps, be more confident about herself. If she kept bein g not confident about herself, she will not get anywhere. Her lack of confidence shows in her communication and her family, who seemed to consist of stronger personalities will take advantage of her lack of confidence and mistreat her. Mrs. Pearson needs to know her role in the family is a mother and a wife and not a servant and she eeds to realize that she needs to stand firm and strong in her role in the family as a mother and a wife by speaking more with confidence and a sense of authority and eliminate her habit of always being apologetic and trying to explain. This will help her family recognize her as she executes orderliness in her family, establishing boundaries and a sense of respect within her family. Through that, her family will respect her and she will be able to teach and perhaps train them to have proper manners and a sense of respect for people especially towards her. If she is able to establish that, her family will not step all over her and know that she is serious and not one to simply mess with. Mrs. Pearson needs to also speak clearly and directly to her family, to convey her true wishes to them so that they will know what she wants, how she feels and what she wants them to do and they will be able to understand her better and treat her well. She cannot just throw hints at them because in general, a lot of people cannot pick up hints. Only those who are sensitive and does pay attention to little details will pick up hints but these kind of people are rare unless the hints are too obvious to ignore. Mrs. Pearson also needs to eliminate her fear of confrontation and fear of unpleasant atmospheres because confrontations are necessary to convey clear messages and not at all evil. Unpleasant atmospheres cannot be avoided totally also in all relationships as each human are unique, complete with strengths and weaknesses so certain unpleasantness will come naturally once in a while and it is not necessarily bad, just depending on how one deals with it and also the cause of it. A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL 5. In this Play, conflict in the form of argument prevents Lomov from asking Natalia to marry him. Extract sample dialogues from the Play to indicate where the conflicts are. There are two conflicts that happened in the play. Firstly, Lomov got into an argument with Natalia about who owns the meadows when he was trying to propose to her. The argument went as followed: â€Å"LOMOV: †¦ and my property, as you know, adjoins your own. If you will be so good as to remember, my meadows touch your birchwoods. NATALIA: Pardon the interruption. You said â€Å"my meadows† – but are they yours? LOMOV: Yes, they belong to me. NATALIA: What nonsense! The meadows belong to us – not you! LOMOV: No, to me! Now, my dear Natalia Stepanovna! NATALIA: Well, this is certainly news to me. How do they belong to you? LOMOV: How? I am speaking of the meadows lying between your birchwoods and my brick earth. NATALIA: Yes, exactly. They belong to us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lomov and Natalia continued arguing and then a series of things happened and he got chased out of the house and asked to come back again to get engaged to Natalia. Then the second conflict happened when they started talking about hunting and they argued about whose dog is a better dog, Otkatai or Ugadi. The argument went as followed: â€Å"LOMOV: †¦Really? Otkatai is better than Ugadi? What an idea! Otkatai better than Ugadi! NATALIA: Of course he is better. It is true Otkatai is still young; he isn’t full-grown yet, but in the pack or on the leash with two or three, there is no better than he, even- LOMOV: I really beg you rpardon, Natalia Stepanovna, but you quite overlooked the fact that he has a short lower jaw, and a dog with a short lower jaw can’t snap. NATALIA: Short lower jaw? That’s the first time I ever heard that! LOMOV: I assure you, his lower jaw is shorter than the upper. NATALIA: Have you measured it? LOMOV: I have measured it. He is good at running though†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Their argument, yet again, went on for a while and Tschubukov came in and forced them to quickly get engaged. Right after they are engaged, they continued with their arguing. 6. If Natalia and Lomov get married, what should they do to minimize conflicts in their marriage? If Natalia and Lomov get married, they should learn the art of communication. Lomov’s speech seemed too elaborated and containing too much details which are so unnecessary and long. If he learns to communicate clearly and directly while also respecting the other, it would have lessened so much miscommunication. Natalia should also learn to be less sensitive over petty issues. Perhaps the issue of who the meadow belongs to is important for her but she could have expressed her disagreement in a gentler manner without flying off the handle and her opinions could have been easier to be taken in. Both of them should learn how to manage their anger and know ow to discuss issues or difference of opinions in a more civilized manner rather than getting heated up so fast and raising their voice at each other. They need to look at the other’s perspective and try to be more understanding. They could have responded in a more neutral manner and there would not have much conflict. They should also learn to be more selfless and put each other higher than themsel ves. From the way they have argued, they seemed rather selfish, insisting that they themselves are right instead of tolerating each other and they also go to the point of degrading the other’s opinions. They need to learn not to cross the boundary, to respect each other’s opinions and not to put down each other. They also need to work out their differences and look for each other’s similarities. Natalie really wanted to marry Lomov so obviously there is something that she likes about him and the fact that Lomov went to propose to Natalia also indicates that there is attraction. They need to focus on the good points, especially the things they love about each other and always be reminded of that and not let petty arguments get in the way.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Analyze the book Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody - How did Essay

Analyze the book Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody - How did the system of discrimination work, and why was it so har - Essay Example Moody’s particular contribution to this important subject is to bring out the emotional and personal effects of this system of discrimination on the poorest people and spell out the awful consequences that followed any attempts at resistance against the overwhelming power of the white and racist ruling minority in Mississippi. The economic situation of the protagonist Anne’s family is very bad. The passages describing the various successive family homes, for example, detail the very basic conditions in a matter of fact way, showing how absolutely normal it was for African families to share one room, or even on occasion one bed (Moody, 13). Features such as wallpaper fastened on to the walls with tacks (Moody, 3), or a concern for economy in statements such as â€Å"Stop using up all that soap!† (Moody, 35) appear extreme to modern readers, because these small luxuries are taken for granted by the vast majority of American citizens today. The fact that an eight ye ar old is left in charge of younger siblings, while both parents work long hours in the fields is evidence also that conditions for share-cropping farmers were not much better than those which were endured by African Americans under the old rules of slavery. Grinding poverty is the daily normality for this group of people, and it saps their strength, taking away the desire and ultimately also the ability to find a better way of life. Anne’s mother, for example, struggles every day of her life to provide even these fundamental necessities for her children and this explains her attitude of dejection and hopelessness throughout the book. Anne, as a young child, longs for a more spirited resistance, but does not appreciate the weight of economic responsibility that keeps a mother tied to a succession of demeaning and low paid jobs. These harsh conditions are described without negative comment in the opening pages of the book, but as the child grows older and encounters the luxuri ous bedrooms and bathrooms that white people such as the Johnsons have, a note of envy and indignation appears. It is bad enough to suffer deprivation and hunger, but the proximity of a whole other world that is physically nearby but economically out of reach makes the situation even worse. Prejudice and power are certainly factors in the maintenance of a segregated society in Mississippi, but one the most powerful forces that sustained the system of discrimination was widespread and unrelenting poverty. Social differences in the novel are partly defined by the economic factors mentioned above, but also very much influenced by race. The book shows how a child growing up in the segregated South has difficulty in understanding the labels that categorize people into different racial groups. The young Anne cannot figure out, for example, why two of her uncles who look exactly like all the white people, cannot be classified as white. Her mother’s answer â€Å"Cause they mama ainà ¢â‚¬â„¢t white† (Moody, 36) appears illogical to the child, who naturally looks for visual signals in the color of skin, eyes and hair that a person has. By adopting the innocent and questioning attitude of a child, the author cleverly points out the inherently illogical and arbitrary nature of the social hierarchy. The reader is forced to

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Final Project Statistics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final - Statistics Project Example It is the researcher’s belief that other data sets (particularly those about student aid) must be utilized to find out how government budget can affect enrollment in college or universities in the country. In an op-ed piece written by Jeff Madrick (2004), he said â€Å"higher education†¦will cure just about anything, from globalization and outsourcing to technological change and income inequality†. This view is of course subscribed to by many organizations and are calling for increased budget for education and other related programs. In fact, the University of Washington has published a report (University of Washington, 2011) showing the importance of financing higher education so as to ensure that the state of Washington will continue to allot budget for the university’s operations. Through government funding, the universities can maintain the excellence and access to research, hence continuing to enrich communities. To answer the questions above, we will use data on education from the National Data Book (US Census Bureau, 2011). Data from 2003-2008 will be used in this study. Because we want to determine the effect of government expenditure to enrollment in higher education, all figures presented focused only on public colleges and universities. We will use regression analysis in determining the trends in college enrollment, charges and expenditures in higher education institutions, as well as discovering the relationship between government funding and college enrollment while descriptive statistics will be used to describe the sample further. Table 1 below shows that between 2000 to 2009, about 66% of all high school completers enrolled in college. Meanwhile, average enrollment in all higher education institutions slightly exceeded the 17,000,000 mark. Average annual tuition fee and in the US between the years 2000 to 2009 was at $3,443 while dormitories cost $3,251.20 on the average. School expenditures

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Guarani and Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Guarani and Nationalism - Essay Example The country seemed to understand the idea of nationalism being among the first in West collectively. Apart from the nationalism, the country was long ago associated with industrialization, urbanization and modernization due to proper understanding of nationalism at an earlier stage. At the beginning of times in Paraguay, there was widespread racial mixing and contact with limited immigration trends, political isolation and geographic trends that produced a remarkable homogeneous population. These factors prevented the creation of the society that is stratified or the rise of the Spanish-speaking group. Geography and race together with the history repeatedly led to growth of the ethnic and language identity aspects to the foreground of the political life of the nation fostering and fueling the sense of distinctiveness that has not abated at backyard and intrigued and attracted the scholars from abroad. The Paraguay’s identification within its territorial integrity and linguistic patrimony is not recent. The background of the identification dates back to the countrys quest for its independence and the self-governance thereafter. This aspect was intensified by the onslaughts that suffered at the time of the War of the Chaco and the Triple Alliance that brought an abiding appreciation and espousal of its distinctive language and heritage. This allegiance culminated in the year of 1967 when Guarani was then declared the national language of Paraguay. Since then Joan Rubin the time when he did the pioneering work it has been assumed that Paraguay is the most bilingual nation in the world and by far its bilingualism is non-volatile rather than a shifting one (Ethnicity and Nationalism (second edition), 2010). The concomitant with the above phenomenon the two languages are supposed to be predominantly infused with positive effect. The Guarani language is

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Persuasive Messages Letter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Persuasive Messages Letter - Assignment Example These schools are a testament to the effectiveness of our simulation programs as educational tools and prove that we deserve our ranking as the premier business educational tool worldwide. Having come from the education sector myself, I believe that we can offer your students the kind of learning experience that cannot be offered by our competitors. I assure you that you will find our information valuable. Please, allow me to offer your office a free review copy of Capstone Business Simulation, our own simulation program. Discover for yourself what the likes of GE, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar, Allstate, and Samsung already know. You will not be under any obligation to purchase the Capstone Business Simulation Program even after the evaluation period of the software has expired. Your copy of the software will be in the mail the minute I receive your mailing address. As the CEO of Capsim Management Solutions, I give you my word that all of your contact information shall remain confidential and will not be shared with any third parties. Feel free to call us during regular business hours from Monday - Friday for clarification of any questions or concerns you may have. You may also contact us in order to request for your school name removal from our mailing list if that what you so

Monday, September 9, 2019

Alternatives of Monetary System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Alternatives of Monetary System - Case Study Example Such systems are vulnerable to inflation since there are no clear regulations on supply of exchange commodities (McEachern, 2012). Furthermore, the system would be subject to â€Å"double coincident of wants† whereby buyers not only search for commodities that they want but also people who are ready to accept their commodity. Valuable commodities such as precious metals would also be used as a medium of exchange in countries with broken monetary systems. Communities in the affected countries can also designate certain products to replace money. Such products would be selected according to their portability and availability. Preferred commodities should be portable, scarce, and relatively durable. In the case of a prison environment, cigarettes were the preferred currency due to their scarcity and portability. Virtual money can also be used in place of local currency. In a world supported by technology, virtual money can provide a suitable medium of exchange if the system is ad ministered by independent bodies (Bade, & Michael, 2002). Postage stamps can also be used as a currency since they have currency value printed on them. Thus, the choice for a medium of exchange would depend on the concerned society and the immediate economic/monetary  needs.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Are humans born with a conscience will send assignment sheet for 300 Research Proposal

Are humans born with a conscience will send assignment sheet for 300 level english class - persuave writing - Research Proposal Example What he is saying is that many theologians believe that some people are born with the capacity to be good, and others aren’t. Paul doesn’t agree with this assessment. He believes that we all have the capacity to be good, because God gave it to us. While he also believes that â€Å"one must love to do good and avoid evil,† (120) the fact is that whether we choose the right road has nothing to do with the fact that God’s grace has given us all the possibility to always choose good. Paul added, â€Å"Conscience is not an infallible judge; it can make mistakes† (121). This is obviously true. The Bible teaches us that none are perfect, and that all fall short of God’s glory. Still, Paul maintains that the important thing is to know the difference in what we choose, and what we have the ability to choose. While it is clear to Paul that we have, innately, all we need to make good decisions, we still need to study the Bible, and attend, church as a c ompass to keep us headed in the right direction. In Lois Walker’s â€Å"Religion Gives Meaning to Life,† Walker writes about a similar belief. It is her opinion that who we are is determined at the time of our births. She writes, â€Å"We are not the products of chance† (626). Walker’s essay is in response to an atheist who claims that people only need to practice being responsible to know the right thing to do. According to Walker, the atheist proclaimed, â€Å"We don’t need a big Daddy in the sky. We need to grow up and become our own parents† (624). While we do need to know how to govern ourselves, we do, also, need our Father in heaven. Walker is states that she believes in the theistic philosophy that holds, â€Å"The universe is suffused in goodness and that good will win out over evil† (627). God’s purpose, according to Walker, is to give us a continuous reason to want to behave. If God can give his son

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Marketing Challenges of Walker and Company Essay

Marketing Challenges of Walker and Company - Essay Example In addition, the company has scattered its business to the publication of several topics, which cost lots of time and money. Moreover, the multiplicity of topics was not productive; rather, it was putting the profit margin into grave jeopardy. Efforts, being made in the wrong direction due to inadequate strategic plan, kept the company away from turning into a multinational brand even it had been working in multiple disciplines. The new president called an urgent meeting of the board of directors and decided to cut short the expenses for keeping the ball of the publishing business rolling. It was also announced at the meeting that the list of topics being published through its platform must be shortened in order to broaden the concentration of limited material for the extension of the business ventures. Though it helped the company come out of problems, yet the destination appeared to be far from the present state of affairs. As a consultant of the company, it is my obligation to point out the weak areas of the company as well as indicate the aspects that could generate profit for the company, so that it could come out of financial embarrassments on the one hand, and could make sound progress with the passage of time on the other. The purpose of the present study includes the exploration of various business avenues and internal operational methodology in order to run the business affairs of the company on smooth track. I have worked on Ramsey’s profit plan for children book line, on the basis of financial measures including trend analysis, annual sales growth, profit percentage, average unit sales, return-on-assets, ROI and operating expenses in order to escape low-profit volume for the future years to come. I also intend to present some suggestions regarding the topics that are most important in market point of view. In addition, I strongly recommend the sorting out of the profit and loss volume o f every material, so that the most profitable items could be focused upon.