Phenomena of Piracy and Copyright Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phenomena of Piracy and Copyright Laws - Essay Example The Anthill infrastructure proposes an idea in which nesting becomes a vital component. Nest implementation consists of three components which consist of document storage, ant manager, and a gateway agent. In this particular framework, five nests work together as a storage component for these networks and use algorithms. The current model of Anthill enables users engaged in the P2P system to use genetic algorithms that may simplify tasking of specifying the parameters for a query. One of the aspects that were explored with Anthill was to program it in Java since Java is portable is secured. Since Ants are generated by nests in response to requests, each and tries to fulfill the request for which needs to be generated. Anthill is special because it takes care of all low-level details such as communication, security, and scheduling. Developers wishing to experiment with new P2P protocols can concentrate on developing suitable and algorithms using the framework. Bit Torrent is a file distribution system that is heavily used by users for sharing information through bits and pieces. When a file is available using HTTP, the upload costs are atoned by the hosting machine. However, with the advent of a Bit Torrent, multiple users that are downloading a similar file can share that file with each other. This is highly effective as it reduces not only the cost but the lag time in downloading. A unique feature of Bit Torrent interface is the fact that it is very simple to use. Users can easily navigate and launch Bit Torrent using the â€Å"Save As† button. One of the key aspects regarding Bit Torrent is the issue of deployment. Users who want to initiate deployment of a specific torrent by using the extension .torrent on an ordinary web server. The whole essence of Bit Torrent is to enhance the functions of peer sharing.  

Personal Essay about Cause of College Drop-outs

Personal about Cause of College Drop-outs - Essay Example literate as a result of several communal perceptions about education, religious cultures, peer influence, financial status, mental value of education, job status and medical attributed factors and geographical locations. This document focuses on the factors that keep people out of school. School is a place wheel people go to acquire education. Many communities in Africa South America and Asia countries have been left behind development wise because of lack of education value due to the communities’ traditions as well as cultural points of view (Leonhardt, 15). These communities concentrate more on the economic activities that was passed on to them by their forefathers for survival. The communities do not embrace technological changes and its influence to human activities and survival. As a result, many children in these communities drop out of school after the second phase of education curriculum which is the primary school system, to carry on their family businesses. the Bahai community of Lesotho in southern Africa and the Maasai and Samburu communities in Eastern Africa are among the communities where children drop out of school and shift to pastoralism activities. In these communities, pastoralism is the basic act of survival as the communities believe tha t their forefathers survived as a result of pastoralism. ‘Andy Blevins was a student at Radford University who made a big decision big decision in life as a result of financial setbacks but end up regretting in future’(Leonhardt, 15). College dropout boom presents a case that explains the reasons why many college students tend to drop out of school without fully completing the degree or diploma course. Many students in college drop out of school due to the idea that they can as well survive without the college degree certificate. This is the perception that Andy Blevins had when he dropped out of school while pursuing his college degree. Many college students find it normal to drop out of school

The Role of Women During the Crusades

The Role of Women During the Crusades The Crusades were a series of campaigns led by the Catholic Church. It took place in the Holy Land which was taken over by the Muslims. The Catholic Church urged the Catholic countries in Europe to send men and recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The final crusade was the 9th crusade in the Middle East which concluded the entire campaign (Jones vii). After the wars were over many countries were struck with military problems. The effects of the Crusades werent all negative some aspects were positive like the prosperity of economic. Economic was flourishing during this time because all the ships had to pass through Italy. Therefore the entire tradesman came from the Crusades or the Muslims. Therefore the Italian Renaissance was ignited from the effects of the Crusades (Rosenthal, Joel T.). The effects of the Crusades werent only to the men in society, but also to the women. The Crusades created hardship for many common families in Europe and especially Women. Women during this pe riod had to lose their identity as women and go out and fight, they also had to do the role as a father and as the leader of the family, and due to the absence of the husband they took up arts and culture to fill up the missing gap in their lives without their husbands. Women had to go out and fight also in the Crusades to fill up for the dead soldiers. Although women are physically weaker than men they still went out to war. Both sides of the war, Muslim and Christian women both went out to fight. They werent usually the ones fighting out in the battlefield but protected the castle or the base from being attacked. Their effects were being like a defensive wall so that the Muslim soldiers could not overcome a base while the Crusaders were fighting. A problem aroused despite the good job the women were doing. When women appear while looking at men for a long time, the sexual desires of man appear, so the women who were the washer women and the cooks became prostitutes. So after the 2nd crusade the Church prohibited women to go out and help fight in the battles (Crusades-Encyclopedia). During their battles they found out that a major problem with the soldiers was their lack of hygiene. So after the 3rd crusade only washer women were allowed to go to t he battlefield to take care of the lice of the soldiers. The only reason they were allowed to go was because they were very old of age and none of the soldiers had sexual attractions to them (University of Michigan). Women who went to war were not only common women but also royalty. The powerful queen Eleanor of Aquitaine also participated in the war. Even though she was a queen of two countries and despite she was very important in Europe she led 300 female crusaders during the second crusade. The second crusade like the first was a complete failure and the blame went to Eleanor and her women soldiers. The blame was put on her for the supply train she needed to support here soldiers. In reality though, it wasnt her fault but the poor strategies and lack of moral from the men leaders. She was a perfect example of what women could accomplish later in the future (Jones 81). When men from a family went out to the crusades it usually lasted for a couple of years so the women took over the family and accomplished the jobs of the father. When the husband was around it was easy for the women since her jobs were very limited, but when the husband went out to the crusades women decided to send messages to their husbands. During busy times it was highly unlikely that the message would be properly sent so the importance of the women increased greatly. The women had to deal all sorts of problems which arose within the house and in society. Due to the lack of men the women was considered the head, temporarily. When the husband died during battle the wealth and the land would go to the women, therefore socially women became stronger (Free Articles Directory). In those times womens jobs were childbearing, marriage, and housework. Due to the absence of men women became socially active. Royal women for example managed their own courts and solving problems such as knig hts trying to take over the manor using the absence of the husband as an advantage. Despite the gender difference women still fended off men. Peasant women had to do strenuous physical activities to raise and feed the children. The ones who couldnt do these usually left all the material aspects behind and became religious. Due to being a woman they were forbidden from being a priest, so they became spiritual advisers, visionaries, or writers (Rosenthal, Joel T.). This showed that despite the fact that the men werent with them they were able to do things which men could do. This chance became a spark for the women in the renaissance period later in time. Since men were out due to the crusades, women were affected by the absence of the man in the family, to feel the missing gap in life; women took up arts and culture. One aspect of culture was literature. Literature in medieval Europe increased greatly especially in the urban areas. During the medieval times all the books and church scriptures were written in Latin. Therefore women had a chance to learn to read and be educated (Rosenthal, Joel T). To replace the absence of the husbands many women became Trobairitz. A trobairitz is a patroness of literature. They composed lyrics, poems and they recited to the people. They managed to copy books in different languages (Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee) .The second generations of the patronesses of literature were raised as patronesses of art. After teaching art to the second generation the reputation of the women enhanced (University of Michigan). The idea of being a patroness was not only open to normal people but to royalty also. Many queens became patronesses such as Eleanor of Castille. She was a queen in 1290 of England and was an active patroness of vernacular literature. The books she copied and wrote were about romances and bibliographies on saints (Google Docs). Another royalty was Marie de Champagne who was the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was an example of the offspring of many medieval women who raised their kids to be patronesses of the arts and cultures. She managed to write a lot of romance poetry, fables and moral tales (Fidel Fajardo-Acosta). These examples of how women became part of the male dominated society. By studying and learning women became knowledgeable which helped develop the country through culture and arts. The crusades although were bloody wars which killed many lives of the Europeans and the Muslims it helped women develop in a male dominated society. By taking over the manors and lands of the husband they learnt skills which they could never have learnt without the crusades. One of the biggest help the women did to society was taking up arts and literature. By taking these aspects it increased the status of the women, improved the literature and arts of the medieval period. When the men were out fighting women at the bases defended the walls and tended for the sick. Although Europe was a male dominating society and prejudice against women through these effects of the Crusades women became noticeable to society. This was the beginning of equality of men and women. MLA: Jones, Sydney. The Crusades: Biographies. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2005. vii. Print. Women Warriors During the Crusades. Crusades-Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Feb 2010. . Women-article. University of Michigan. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. . Jones, Sydney. The Crusades: Biographies. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2005. 81. Print. The role of women during the Crusades. Free Articles Directory | Submit Articles ArticlesBase.com. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. . Rosenthal, Joel T. Crusades. Microsoft ® Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2007. Trobairitz. Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. . Eleanor of Castille. Google Docs. 3 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. . Marie de France. Fajardo-Acosta.com. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, 2001. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

Main Causes of The Great Depression :: history

Main Causes of The Great Depression The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The maldistribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the maldistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The "roaring twenties" was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929(end note 1). However, the rewards of the "Coolidge Prosperity" of the 1920's were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%(end note 2). That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all(end note 3). Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford provides a striking example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million(end note 4) in the same year that the average personal income was $750(end note 5). By present day standards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,500(end note 6), Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This maldistribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a stupendous 75% increase in per capita disposable income(end note 7). A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period. Main Causes of The Great Depression :: history Main Causes of The Great Depression The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The maldistribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the maldistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The "roaring twenties" was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929(end note 1). However, the rewards of the "Coolidge Prosperity" of the 1920's were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%(end note 2). That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all(end note 3). Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford provides a striking example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million(end note 4) in the same year that the average personal income was $750(end note 5). By present day standards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,500(end note 6), Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This maldistribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a stupendous 75% increase in per capita disposable income(end note 7). A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period.

Argument for the Social Definition of “Medicate”

Of many terms used to denote the actions taken quickly and casually to mend serious problems, ‘medicate’ is a word extensively applied to such movements. The word has at least two meanings, a direct and indirect one, both joined by a common component of meaning.In both cases, â€Å"to medicate† means â€Å"to apply aid in order to remedy an undesirable condition†. In the direct meaning, â€Å"to medicate† is defined in Free Online Dictionary as â€Å"treat with medicine†. This meaning is widely accepted when the word is used in a general sense to refer to the idea of the process of treating medical illness with substances.In many cases, however, the word â€Å"medicate† takes on an additional meaning when it is used to denote the process in which people try to use medical methods in a random, casual way to solve serious problems. One can try to medicate a serious disease resorting to folk ways to medication, or treat a condition with ma gic or witchcraft.â€Å"To medicate† has become popular in today’s fast-paced society where people are tempted to jump to easy measures to ward off the constantly increasing stream of problems. This effort gave the word an additional connotation of a â€Å"quick fix†.This additional shade of meaning dramatically expanded the original meaning of the word. Now the action signified with â€Å"medicate† no longer needs to refer to those moves that involve medical substance. One can take drugs to medicate a love failure, or get a cup of morning coffee to drive stress away.Carl Eliott in his essay â€Å"Medicate Your Dissent† applies the word to the spreading inclination of many Americans to turn to antidepressants when they want to correct their depressed state. In many situations, antidepressants serve only as a temporary palliative that treat the symptoms, but not the real problem.Medicating one’s problems with antidepressants and tranquilizers , people try to isolate themselves from what really nags at their hearts, shoving the real issues of their lives into distant corners of their minds, striving never to retrieve them from there. This way of medication creates skeletons in cupboards – neglected matters that are pushed away but in reality often never forgotten.When a person tries to resort to medication, the short-term fix does not remove the real problem. It can disappear on its own, but will never retreat in the course of â€Å"medication†. This is the key difference between medication and real treatment. When a person is really treated, the root cause of the problem is addressed, whether successfully or not. In case of medicating, it remains there, triggering setbacks over the long run.Medicating arose in society because of people’s obsession with getting fast results without applying much effort. Medicating is driven by the speed of life that forces people to think of ways to â€Å"deceiveâ₠¬  time, accomplishing a lot in a short while. Spreading their efforts too thin over many things, people do not have the time and strength to attend to many matters seriously.Often, one problem will be addressed with detail while all the rest will be â€Å"medicated† or addressed without much detail. Taking shortcuts in treating medical problems, individuals realize that they can bypass usual ways to remedy their problems. More often than not, they are penalised for their self-confidence.This is why â€Å"medicating† often has disastrous consequences. A person can be assured that everything is going well, and he or she is on the way to recovery, while in fact the disease or other problem is growing into an even bigger one. Temporary solutions can place human mind in a state of blissful unawareness when a person revels about a problem being solved and fosters passivity with regard to real issues.In my experience, the most vivid example of â€Å"medicating† in th e latter sense of the word was a married couple that tried all kinds of short-term solutions to a problem they had. The wife moved to her husband’s place of residence in rural Austria, having lived all her life in the US. Her urban background left her totally unprepared for life in a rural community in a foreign land where she did not know the language and felt that the local residents did not accept her.They tried all kinds of solutions that would temporarily solve the problem – she joined various local clubs, engaged in community life, tried to work as a freelance designer taking orders online.   In the end, like so many people trying to overcome their problems, she took to anti-depressants so as to remove her worries and concerns. Surely, anti-depressants did not save her marriage that ended on the rocks after barely two years of family life, after passionate dating and a honeymoon filled with explosive happiness.Kara (my friend’s name) realized too late th at she should not have entered this relationship at all, for although they were enthusiastic about each other, they were two different people with differing backgrounds, which made family life difficult if not impossible.No matter what she tried when she got to Austria, her inner strength and communication skills were not enough to make her life there not only enjoyable, but even tolerable. Instead, her attempt at medicating her pain over separation with her relatives and her native culture with anti-depressants gave a serious blow to her health as she developed side effects associated with the drugs.Thus, â€Å"to medicate† means to invent short-term solutions to long-term problems. The term is more often used to refer to actions that involve the medical component to them; however, it is also used to denote actions that use other means than medical substances. A person can resort to any means to solve a serious problem, but as long as this action uses an ineffective, yet eas y trick for the resolution of the issue, the action is â€Å"medicating†, and not real treatment. Works CitedElliott, Carl. Medicate Your Dissent. 6 July 2006 .Medicate. Free Online Dictionary. 6 July 2006 .

Critique of Ada and Affirmative Action Paper

Critique of ADA and Affirmative Action Paper The population of the Unites States of America consists of a variety people. Many races, cultures, and beliefs exist in the country. Individuals also vary upon characteristics, genetics, mental capabilities, and social status. The Unites States of America is known as the â€Å"land of the opportunity† (Home of Heroes, 2011) across the world. Individuals travel near and far to join the country. Over the years, many individuals have come to the country. They have established families and became citizens. Other cultures, and even other characteristics, haven’t always been welcome. In the past years, individuals, organizations, educators, and government have discriminated against these minority groups. Minority groups ranked at the bottom when being considered for a job or school. Minority groups were not treated the same as the average population in many organizations and society. Two acts have been imposed to stop the discrimination of these minorities. The imposed acts are known as Affirmative Action and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). This paper defines both imposed acts, past to present. Affirmative Action The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines Affirmative Action as â€Å"positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded. When those steps involve preferential selection—selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity—affirmative action generates intense controversy. † (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2001) The history Affirmative Action has a long history. It was first used in the 1960’s in the Civil Rights Act. In 1965 the President ordered Affirmative Action to be applied to federal contractors (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2001). Imposing Affirmative Action resulted in organization creating quotas. Quotas are known as a â€Å"plan† to allow a specific amount of individuals per minority to be hired or utilized. Due to these quotas, Affirmative Action wasn’t working as expected. It was later determined, quotas are not applicable and defeat the purpose of Affirmative Action. The purpose Affirmative Action has a main purpose to create fairness between minorities and the larger populations. Affirmative Action mandates organizations, schools, and government to consider minority individuals without bias to minority. Minority individuals must receive the same treatment and opportunity as any other individual, who is not in a minority population. Controversy As with many other acts and laws, controversy follows Affirmative Action. Despite the purpose of Affirmative Action, individuals often argue the contents of the action are unconstitutional. Some organization set plans for Affirmative Action and controversy often follows. Many organizations still manage to have quotas, which cause controversy. Controversy seems to be unlimited when concerning Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action may need to be strict to stop controversy, if possible. American Disability Act â€Å"Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. (U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2008) â€Å"The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations. The ADA’s nondiscrimination standards also apply to federal sector employees under section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, and its implementing rules. † (U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2008) ADA defines disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act defines an disabled individual in by three factors. These factors include: * Mental or physical impairment which hinders an individuals’ ability to perform one or more â€Å"major life activities† (U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2008) * Has been diagnosed as having the impairment described * Has been regarded as having the impairment described Organization requirements The Americans with Disability Act requires organizations to follow specific guidelines to be compliant with ADA. Besides, giving disabled individuals equal opportunity to employment and education, the organizations must be functional for disabled. The organizations facility must be accessible. Schedules and work tools may need to be modified to fit disabled individuals. â€Å"An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose anâ€Å"undue hardship† on the operation of the employer’s business. Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications provided by an employer to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities. Accommodations vary depending upon the needs of the individual applicant or employee. † (U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2008) Conclusion United States of America consist of many diverse individuals. Many of these individuals are included in minority groups. Minority groups have been treated poorly in the past. Although mistreatment of minority individual still occurs, specific acts imposed by the government have decreased the statistics. Affirmative Action was imposed to create fair and equal opportunity to minority groups. Affirmative Action includes government and educators. Americans with Disability Acts (ADA) is another act to assist a specific minority, disabled. The ADA creates an equal opportunity for disabled individuals in the areas of work and education. This act covers hiring processes and reasonable accommodations. As the United States population grows, so do minority groups. The government has implemented these acts to give fairness to the growing minorities. The country values equal employee opportunity. References Home of Heroes. (2009-2011). Land of Opportunity. Retrieved from http://www. homeofheroes. com/hallofheroes/2nd_floor/opportunity/index. html Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2001, December 28). Affirmative Action. Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/affirmative-action/ U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission. (2008, September 9). Facts About the Americans with Disability Act. Retrieved from http://www. eeoc. gov/facts/fs-ada. html

Analysis of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s The WritePass Journal

Analysis of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s Abstract Analysis of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s ). Even though the company being outsourced to might have had a good reputation in implementing such projects, the lack of involvement by parent company managers in the monitoring and evaluation of the project can affect the attainment of the intended objective (Alexander Walker, 2013). The minimal involvement by Sainsbury’s management in this project explains why it took three years and a change in leadership to realize that the project was not likely to attain its set objectives (Alexander Walker, 2013). Another possible cause, which has also been identified by Double Loop (2013) is that there was insufficient engagement between the company’s CEO and its IT suppliers in projecting the possible key business and IT risks. For this reason, no delivery strategy that could tackle these challenges was promptly designed (Chermack, 2011). This can also be considered as the lack of sufficient preparations by the then CEO (Sir Peter Davis) before the initiation of the project. Insufficient preparation exposes projects to the risk of possible failure and over-expenditure (Kardes et al., 2013). There was also a communication problem, which can be mainly blamed on Sir Peter Davis. Whereas it must have been known to him that the project could probably fail to serve its intended objective, his presentation about the project to the public was that its progress was as planned and that by 2003, it had saved the company  £700 million. Had the issues been frankly and promptly pointed out, necessary measures could have been undertaken to avert the heavy loss that was later incurred (Aula Siira, 2010). Given that this failure was associated with the warehouse automation exercise at Sainsbury’s warehouse automation project, it is also worth noting that the failure might have been partly caused by automation challenges. The fact that automated system failed to operate as it was intended to, indicates that all the inputs in terms of time, money and resources were lost (Kardes et al., 2013). Porter’s Value chain Analysis of the Failure Porters value chain model can be used to identify the primary and supporting activities which contributed to the failure at Sainsbury’s According to Porter (1985), generic value added activities can be divided into two. These are primary activities and support activities. Primary activities comprise of inbound and outbound logistics, sales and marketing, services and operations. Supporting activities, on the other hand, comprise of firm infrastructure, senior management roles, internal culture, procurement, outsourcing and technological developments. The model is represented in the diagram below, in which the functions that contributed to the failure at Sainsbury’s have been marked. Fig. 1: Sainsbury’s value chain components that contributed to the failure in warehouse automation The functions marked in the value chain model above have been identified as the contributors towards the identified failure. They are explained in more detail below: Outbound logistics: in the value chain, outbound logistics are referred to as activities that mainly relate to transference of goods to customers through warehousing. The automation of the warehouse at Sainsbury’s was being done so as to facilitate this primary activity in the organization. The failure of the warehouse automation to effectively take place thus affected the activities in outbound logistics (Zott et al., 2011). Senior management Roles: There was a failure by the senior management, led by the company’s CEO to effectively make an exhaustive plan of the warehouse automation project, which could have identified the potential risks and contributed to the formulation of possible strategies to overcome these challenges (Kardes et al., 2013). Another failure by the management was in terms of their involvement in the implementation of the project, only to identify issues three years after implementation of the project (Double Loop, 2013). Internal Communications: This function refers to how effectively and accurately information is passed within the organizational precinct (Wright, 2012). The failure was due to the miscommunication by the CEO, where he purported that the project was on the right track and had in fact saved the company a reasonable amount of money. This shows that he was either being given the wrong information by the contractor company or he was presenting wrong information about the project. Technology developments:   It has to be acknowledged that the company’s agenda was to improve its service delivery to its customers through technological innovation. However, given that the entire automation project failed to materialize, it can be argued that there was a technological development failure. According to Porter’s (1985) model, technological development comprises of all activities that relate to the processing and management of information. It also involves the activities undertaken in ensuring that the organization keeps up with the latest technological changes. Outsourcing: The IT automation project was undertaken by Accenture, an outsourced IT company, which failed to deliver the intended automation results, and ultimately led to the cancellation of the contract (Double Loop, 2013). Conclusion This paper has presented a case of warehouse automation failure at Sainsbury’s in 2004. With the help of the Porter’s value chain model, several primary and supporting activities that might have contributed to the failure have been identified. The identified primary activities are inbound logistics and outbound logistics. Supporting activities are outsourcing, technology developments, internal communications and senior management roles. The fact that all these activities affected and were also affected by the warehouse automation failure at Sainsbury’s proves that many operational failures or disasters that occur because there is lack of understanding of the whole organization, resulting in problems in the synchronization of different organizational functions. References Alexander, A. Walker, H., 2013. Sustainable supply chain management: towards a systems theory perspective. Dublin: EUROMA conference. Double Loop, 2013. Sainsbury’s Warehouse Automation Project. [Online] Available at:   Ã‚  doubleloopconsulting.com/sainsbury-warehouse-automation   [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Kardes, I., Ozturk, A., Cavusgil, S.T. Cavusgil, E., 2013. Managing global megaprojects: Complexity and risk management. International Business Review, 22(6), pp.905-17. OBrien, L., 2004. Digital disaster. [Online] Available at:   Ã‚  supplymanagement.com/analysis/features/2004/digital-disaster/   [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Porter, M., 1985. Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press. Sainsburys, 2014. About us. [Online] Available at: j-sainsbury.co.uk/about-us/   [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Zott, C., Amit, R. Massa, L., 2011. The business model: recent developments and future research. Journal of Management , 37(4), pp.1019-42. Abdullah, L.M. Verner, J.M., 2012. Analysis and application of an outsourcing risk framework. Journal of Systems and Software, 85(8), pp.1930-52. Aula, P. Siira, K., 2010. Organizational Communication and Conflict Management Systems: A Social Complexity Approach. Nordicom Review, 31, pp.125-41. Chermack, T.J., 2011. Scenario Planning in Organizations. California: Berrett-Koehler. Wright, M., 2012. Gower Handbook of Internal Communication. Burlington: Gower Publishing.

Walt Whitmans Evolution Essays - Brooklyn Eagle, Mystics

Walt Whitman's Evolution Essays - Brooklyn Eagle, Mystics Walt Whitman's Evolution The nursery was a sea of red, newborn faces! I expected to pinpoint you because you are my flesh and blood. I also named you after an exotic flower, so I assumed And my fathers voice would trail sheepishly. To his disappointment, it was a pink name-tag, not a psychic link that enabled him to know which red, newborn face was mine. Like all babies, I was stamped with a name, the first streak of chalk on my spotless slate of identity. Initially, a name is a set of syllables with the sole purpose of marking one face from an another. But later, this practicality (which distinguished me amongst a sea of infants) loses significance because the name begins to hold deeper meanings as one matures. It may even mark individual identities to the point where a mere mention can lead to surmises, fair and unfair. As a result, one can say Benedict Arnold and Traitor easily in the same breath. A name is not a mere utterance by the tongue; because it is categorized (most often by gender and culture), it can forcefully project its own characteristics onto its owners identity. Often, my fifth grade teacher crabbily speculated that her mother was probably drunk when her mother was pregnant. My teachers name was Billy, and her brothers name was Sue, not vice versa. Recognizable connotations in names are important tools for authors to convey literary meanings. For instance, Joe Christmas in William Faulkners Light in August is conspicuous because of his mixed heritage, which is projected by his parchmentcolored skin and his name, which a normal white man does not have. His striking name makes him unique, marking him as a foreigner. However, he chooses not to replace it with his white foster fathers name because the name Christmas identifies him and his mixed heritage. Like Christmas, some people choose names that are significant to their identities. But in my case, my elementary schoolmates took the initiative to choose my nicknames: Infinity Eyeballs and Moron. Needless to say, the former was a reference to my glasses, and the latter was a corruption of Mi Ran. I was stung because they were relevant to my identity; I did wear glasses, and my ethnic name can be mispronounced easily by non-Korean tongues. Thus, I became ashamed of my glasses and nationality. Adults seemed even less adept at pronouncing my name, so I began to dread substitute teachers, especially when they took attendance. Some were brave and tried to pronounce my name, but many just sighed, Sorry, I cant read this name. It is also ironic that my fifth grade teacher thought my name was Mia Ron. My given name became a burden, a source of torment. I was bothered that only Koreans could pronounce my name correctly. After one difficult day at school, I screamed at my father, Why didnt you name me Ann? I love that name because it isnt Korean! With hurt in his eyes, he responded that he named me after the orchid because he admired its wild, singular beauty. But, he softened, When you were a baby, your red, newborn face did not epitomize the orchid. Later, however, he did decide that my name was apt because I require as much love and care as an orchid. For a while, I considered compromising by Westernizing Mi Ran to Marion, but that would be no compromise. It symbolizes shedding some of my Korean culture, a part of my identity. Then, I learned to accept my unique name as a gift. As American culture blended into my identity, I learned to accept how non-Koreans try to pronounce my name. In fact, I began to like being called a variety of names that do belong to me, such as Mirm, Mirin, Mir-Ahn, and not just Mi Ran everyday. When I chose to keep my given name, I retained an aspect of my Korean culture and gained an American one. But most importantly, the mispronunciations actually give me a sense of individuality.

Elementary School Requirements and Qualifications

Elementary School Requirements and Qualifications Becoming a teacher requires compassion, dedication, hard work and a lot of patience. If you want to teach in an elementary school, there are a few basic teacher qualifications that you will have to achieve. Education In order to teach in an elementary school classroom, prospective teachers must first get accepted into an education program and complete a bachelors degree. During this program, students typically are required to take several different courses on a range of topics. These topics may include educational psychology, childrens literature, specific math and methods courses, and classroom field experience. Each education program requires specific classes on how to teach for all the subject areas a teacher would cover. Student Teaching Student teaching is a crucial part of the education program. This is where students are required to gain hands-on experience by logging a specific amount of hours in the classroom. This allows the aspiring teachers to learn how to prepare lesson plans, manage a classroom and get an overall general experience on how it is to teach in a classroom. Licensing and Certification Although the requirements vary from state to state, each state does require that individuals must take and pass a general teaching exam and a content-specific exam on the subject they want to teach. Candidates that want to acquire a teaching license must hold a bachelors degree, have had a background check, and completed the teaching exams. All public schools require teachers to be licensed, but some private schools only require a college degree in order to teach. Background Check To ensure the safety of the children most states require teachers to be fingerprinted and undergo a criminal background check before they will hire a teacher. Continuing Education Once individuals have received a Bachelor of Science or Arts in Education, most go on to receive their Masters degree. A few states require that teachers receive their Masters degree in order to receive their tenure or professional license. This degree also places you in a higher pay scale and can position you in an advanced education role such as a school counselor or administrator. If you choose not to get your Masters degree, then teachers must still complete their continuing education each year. This varies by state and school district and may include seminars, specific training or taking additional college courses. Private Schools All public schools require teachers to be licensed, but some private schools only require a college degree in order to teach. Generally, prospective teachers do not need to meet state standards and have a teaching license in order to teach in a private school. With this said, private school teachers usually do not make as much money as public school teachers. Essential Skills/Duties Elementary school teachers must possess the following skills: Have patienceBe able to collaborate with other teachersExplain new conceptsEngage students in learningManage classroomAdapt lessonsWork with diverse backgroundsBe a leaderCommunicate and interact with parents, teachers, and studentsSolve problems that may ariseFacilitate social relationshipsServe as a role modelSupervise activitiesAttend seminars and meetingsDeliver instruction based on individual needs Getting Ready to Apply for Jobs Once you have completed all of your teacher requirements, you are now ready to start looking for a job. Use the following articles below to help you before you begin your search. Landing Your First Teaching JobDeveloping a Professional Teaching PortfolioBasics of a Teacher Resume

Choose a topic that falls within the time frame of 1945-1964 Essay

Choose a topic that falls within the time frame of 1945-1964 - Essay Example Subsequently, the paper will highlight some of the ways the Jewish population were accepted into American society. Between 1945 and 1960, the United States of America advocated for the survival of the Jews. During this era, world war two had just come to an end and hence an era of human destructiveness was ushered. Only three million Jews were alive in around 1945 out of a total of nine million in 1939. For most of the Jews who were alive during this period, there was no home to go to in Europe1. For the few Jews who attempted to go back to their pre-war homes (Europe), cold hatred, and local ethnic violence awaited them. Between 1945 and 1946, allied forces returned home from war ready to abandon the destructive life they had lived. With this wave came more than half a million Jewish soldiers and marines. The Jews had joined the American forces and fought alongside them during the war. By 1946, they were being referred to as Jewish Americans rather than the more unfriendly term American Jews. The American society commenced accepting the Jewish population in 1945. For example, Miss Myerson was crowned in Atlantic City, New Jersey as Miss America in September 1945. She had Jewish immigrant parents. This gesture implied that the American population was slowly accepting the Jews into their society. 2The era after WWII marked the delineation between what was good and evil. The American nation stood for what was good while fascism, communism and Nazism represented or were considered to be evil. 3The American government commenced on a voyage of destroying anti-Semitic groups between 1946 to 1950. During this exercise, more than 35 anti-Semitic groups in America were banned or shut down. Although some groups remained, they were however pushed to be more receptive to the Jewish population. The stigma associated with being part of the Nazis also helped to reduce

Solid Waste Management Program Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Solid Waste Management Program - Term Paper Example It is commonly believed that solid waste management is a state function. Although the government has the obligation to lead solid waste programs in the country, combined efforts of people, communities, and organizations are necessary to address this issue successfully. Authors like Nemerow et al opine that solid waste management is a complex process that comprises of many technologies and disciplines (177). Solid waste management is not such a big deal in villages because most of the waste materials except plastic wastes can be managed through composting and recycling. However, it is a great challenge for local governments in developing countries as they lack adequate transportation facilities and other equipments. Recently, a concept called integrated solid waste management has been developed for managing municipal solid waste through a number of interrelated activities. Solid Waste Management Programs in the Region of Peel Comprehensive solid waste management programs are being imp lemented in the Region of Peel, City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The region’s solid waste management is based on a ‘5Rs Waste Hierarchy’ where the 5Rs are ‘rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover’ (Region of Peel). First, people must rethink about their waste management practices and try to adopt environmentally-friendly purchase habits. For instance, people may buy rechargeable batteries instead of single use batteries and buy fewer other single use products. Secondly, individuals must try to reduce the waste they generate. For this, it is better to use reusable lunch boxes, travel mugs, and products with less packaging if possible. Third, people have to reuse their products in different ways or to share them with others. To illustrate,... From the above discussion, it is clear that the Region of Peel has developed some well structured practices to address its solid waste management needs. Curbside waste collection, special event waste recycling, waste reuse services are the major activities of the region’s Waste Management Division. Although the region’s solid waste management seems effective, it runs at huge net expenditure and the situation may threaten the operational efficiency of the region in the long run. The situation points to the need of rapid move both in terms of strategies and financial planning. It is recommendable for the Peel Region to adopt advanced waste to energy technologies, for this approach would reduce the costs associated with its operation to a great extent. This paper makes a conclusion that this proposed policy is energy neutral and hence it can promote environmental sustainability in the long run. Waste to energy method would assist the region to increase its revenues and to meet the growing electricity demand in the region. In order to convince the people regarding the necessity of this project, the region’s Waste Management Division must organize public awareness campaigns. Finally, the Peel Region must be vigilant in choosing proper waste to energy technique, because some of those methods like direct combustion can have adverse impacts on the environment. The effective implementation of this project would assist the Waste Management Division to improve its net expenditure level significantly.

COMMUNITY PROFILE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

COMMUNITY PROFILE - Essay Example This paper delves into one specific region that has been put on the spot for the threat the people are facing, especially when it comes to the aspect of physical inactivity. It also strives to bring out some of the factors that influence different characteristics of members of this population, and how their health status might be affected due to some of the mentioned factors. Factors that influence their health will also be mentioned, giving rise to the morbidity factors, and the risks to which most of them are exposed. The aim of this paper is to examine some of the behavioral traits that exist in this population, and why the proportion of adults in the region participating in physical activity is low. In so doing, it may be possible to identify factors that may improve these numbers. The population that is under study is London Borough of Hillingdon, where it is believed that the average proportion of individuals who participate in physical activity is less than the average of England. This region is of interest because it is said to be among the greenest cities in the world. This is amazing considering the statistics that show of the inactivity levels displayed in relation to the individuals in this society (DH 2012). One might be forced to think that living in such an environment would make people choose a healthier lifestyle, but studies indicate otherwise. Adults and children are not spending an average of 3 hours a week on physical activity, which should be a cause for alarm. Children alone, on average, should have at least 60 minutes per day of physical activities that help prevent some of the health problems that may arise (Long et al. 2009). Current statistics indicate that at least one in six deaths occurs as a result of physical inactivity, and this ma kes this issue as immense as smoking. It is also interesting to note that this

Is Globalization Beneficial for Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is Globalization Beneficial for Canada - Essay Example China like communist countries earlier visualized globalization as a strategy by capitalist countries to exploit the wealth and resources of other countries. However, the scenario has gradually changed and now most of the countries in the world accept globalization as a blessing rather than a curse. China is the number one exploiter of globalization at present. It is difficult for a country to progress properly with the help of individual capabilities alone. Globalization helps countries to mobilize its resources more effectively with the help of other countries. Collective growth is the major slogan put forward by globalization. Globalization affects almost the entire segments of human life. It affects economic, social, cultural, political and legal aspects of human life. Canada is one country which still keeps some reservations about globalization. Many of the Canadians still believe that globalization may help only rich countries whereas poor countries may not get many benefits ou t of it. In their opinion, globalization may destroy social, cultural, environmental and political values. However, it is an accepted fact that globalization can not only increase the cooperation between countries and but also it can reduce the conflicts between countries. It definitely sounds good that Canadian companies can operate in any part of the world and sell their products anywhere in the world without much barriers because of globalization. Moreover, Canadians may get better products for cheaper prices because of globalization. This paper analyses the pros and cons of globalization and argues that globalization is definitely beneficial to Canada in the long run. Globalization brought many positive political changes in the world. â€Å"Globalization opens up new possibilities for democratic influence on essential common issues which by their nature are about the notion of the nation’s state† (Torres, p.364). According to Lieber and Weisberg (2002), â€Å"Glob alization is a vital step toward both a more stable world and better lives for the people within it"(Lieber and Weisberg, p.274). It should be noted that the totalitarian administrations in countries like Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain are on the verge of destruction because of agitations from the public. Globalization helped people in such countries to realize the extent of oppression they are facing and they started struggle for democracy in their countries. â€Å"Globalization is a multifaceted process and can be characterized as a systematic decline in the barriers to the cross-national flow of products, factors (capital and people), values and ideas†(Kaplinsky, p.46). In countries like America, Britain or Canada, manpower shortage is a big problem whereas in countries like India, China etc skilled manpower is excess. Exchange of workforce and outsourcing like activities help expensive labor oriented countries to exploit cheap labor markets. A work which is costing $ 100 in Canada can be executed in countries like India for $ 50 with the help of outsourcing. Moreover, immigrant communities in Canada always ready to work for cheap wages which help the industries or organizations in Canada to compete effectively in international market. Canadian products cannot reduce the price or compete effectively in the international market if Canadian organizations employ only highly paid locals in their firms. â€Å"Rises in international trade openness have exerted some pressure on policy makers to lower business cost through tax reductions. Tax rate changes improve the international price competitiveness of firms regardless of their level of mobility†(Weiss, p.75). Tax reduction is another major advantage of globalization.

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their Essay

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their organisation. Summarise and evaluate the advantages and disadv - Essay Example Good decision making in an organization is because of good communication between members of the organization a virtue that is determined by the organization’s structure. This essay tries to analyze the different types of organizational structures and gives the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. It also evaluates the different structures to come up with the most preferable structure in terms of ensuring a business’ success. The first type of organization’s structure is a vertical structure. It is a structure whereby the business leaders or managers feature at the top while the bottom features the other employers. This structure can be either centralized or decentralized. For a centralized system, the organization’s members at the center of the structure make most of the decisions while, for a decentralized structure, most of the decisions are made by the members at the ends of the chain of the organization (Mills, 2007: p 54). The main advantage of this structure is its easiness in designating duties to the lower level employees. It forms a chain structure that can be followed without difficulty. The other advantage is that it promotes efficiency in the organization. Equally important is that, it encourages the development of skills and expertise as employees find it easy to go for further learning activities. The disadvantage of this stated structure is that it requires extensive power and effort to maintain order, balance, and power. It also narrows a department’s aims and objectives not to reflect the overall company’s goals (Mills, 2007: p 58). The next type of organizational structure is horizontal structure. This one differs from the vertical structure such that there are few power levels. A single department can oversee a number of activities in the same level without necessarily going to the next level. It has the advantage of giving employers greater freedom hence good turnaround and employee satisfac tion. It can help create competition in the different organizations hence innovation and creativity. There is also easy communication and cooperation between the departments. The disadvantage of this structure is its creation of loose management; the managers have little say over their employers due to tight schedules of meeting targets and finishing work. In addition, this is attributed to managers and workers maintaining a peer-to-peer relationship at the place of work hence no respect for leaders (Mills, 2007: p 89). Following on is the functional structure. In this type of structure, employees and departments are put into groups according to the function they play. The advantage of functional structure entails the help it has in growing specialists; people of the same skills are grouped in the same department. It also helps improve skills of employees, as the poor ones will learn from the better ones since they are grouped in the same department. Grouping skills of the same natu re at one place also helps improve performance. This is mainly through combined efforts of doing a task by many employees. It also boosts employee’s morale, as an employee has to do his best since it is his area of specialization according to the grouping. The main disadvantage of functional structure involves its complicated decision-making and communication processes. Communication between the different departments to enable the completion of a task is difficult since

Crazy Eddie Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Crazy Eddie - Case Study Example Internal auditors are responsible for fraud at Crazy Eddie as they are the ones committing and concealing fraud to both external auditors and the general public (Buchholz, 2011). . The computations above do not indicate any problem at Crazy Eddie. The gross margin ratio of 24%, though it might not be conclusive, shows that the company is operating a healthy business and might be able to service its operating expenses. The inventory turnover ratio too, indicates that the company turnover is high and hence healthy at 482%. 2. There were several barriers to independence at Crazy Eddie. Auditors at Crazy Eddie’s case were not able to detect fraud due high-level fraud cover up from suppliers’ side to its consumers. Fraud occurred on many fronts; liabilities and expenditures, asset valuations, fictitious revenue, disclosures and accounting period differences. Liabilities and expenses were concealed like unpaid bills wouldn’t be declared and paid in the next financial year of held for long periods. Accounting periods would not be cut off at regular intervals in order to add good sales occurring after what should have been a closed book, to inflate revenue falsely. On assets, some were overvalued or the company employed tricks like borrowing the merchandise that would not be paid for immediately. They also used to ship stock from one store to another as auditing was spread out in stores hence double-counting (Knapp, 2013). 3. If I were a partner to audit Crazy Eddie, I would accept to audit this company thoroughly as it was a family entity with all management positions reserved for family members. This was one sign of some weakness as family members can manipulate accounting procedures, and lack of proper conduct can be compromised. Very important too, was the fact that this company was characterized by hype about its success. The crazy hype should be a

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their Essay

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their organisation. Summarise and evaluate the advantages and disadv - Essay Example Good decision making in an organization is because of good communication between members of the organization a virtue that is determined by the organization’s structure. This essay tries to analyze the different types of organizational structures and gives the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. It also evaluates the different structures to come up with the most preferable structure in terms of ensuring a business’ success. The first type of organization’s structure is a vertical structure. It is a structure whereby the business leaders or managers feature at the top while the bottom features the other employers. This structure can be either centralized or decentralized. For a centralized system, the organization’s members at the center of the structure make most of the decisions while, for a decentralized structure, most of the decisions are made by the members at the ends of the chain of the organization (Mills, 2007: p 54). The main advantage of this structure is its easiness in designating duties to the lower level employees. It forms a chain structure that can be followed without difficulty. The other advantage is that it promotes efficiency in the organization. Equally important is that, it encourages the development of skills and expertise as employees find it easy to go for further learning activities. The disadvantage of this stated structure is that it requires extensive power and effort to maintain order, balance, and power. It also narrows a department’s aims and objectives not to reflect the overall company’s goals (Mills, 2007: p 58). The next type of organizational structure is horizontal structure. This one differs from the vertical structure such that there are few power levels. A single department can oversee a number of activities in the same level without necessarily going to the next level. It has the advantage of giving employers greater freedom hence good turnaround and employee satisfac tion. It can help create competition in the different organizations hence innovation and creativity. There is also easy communication and cooperation between the departments. The disadvantage of this structure is its creation of loose management; the managers have little say over their employers due to tight schedules of meeting targets and finishing work. In addition, this is attributed to managers and workers maintaining a peer-to-peer relationship at the place of work hence no respect for leaders (Mills, 2007: p 89). Following on is the functional structure. In this type of structure, employees and departments are put into groups according to the function they play. The advantage of functional structure entails the help it has in growing specialists; people of the same skills are grouped in the same department. It also helps improve skills of employees, as the poor ones will learn from the better ones since they are grouped in the same department. Grouping skills of the same natu re at one place also helps improve performance. This is mainly through combined efforts of doing a task by many employees. It also boosts employee’s morale, as an employee has to do his best since it is his area of specialization according to the grouping. The main disadvantage of functional structure involves its complicated decision-making and communication processes. Communication between the different departments to enable the completion of a task is difficult since

Bank of America Essay Example for Free

Bank of America Essay The apparent problem in the Bank of America case study is that Jen McDonald (head of the Bank of America digital marketing group), and Douglas Brown (senior vice president of mobile product development) received requests to create mobile apps more specific for individual businesses as a way to gain leverage (Supta Herman, 2012). Brown, specifically, was hesitant to add additional mobile app features as he feared it would make the application far too complex. Not only would it prove to be difficult for some users to understand, more features often make applications run more slowly, which could complicate the idea of mobile banking. In addition this could possibly give the customer a more negative experience. To cite the problem specifically, Brown stated â€Å"App complexity has led to some high-profile failures in the market place. This carries a huge risk† (Supta Herman, 2012). Furthermore, Bank of America was provided $20 billion in capital from the United States government during the financial crisis under leadership of CEO Kenneth Lewis (Supta Herman, 2012). Lewis had concerns that certain investors and customers would start to correlate Bank of America with Citigroup, who had previously given up 36% of its ownership to the federal government (Supta Herman, 2012). This resulted in Brian Moynihan (head of consumer and small business banking) taking over as CEO on January 1, 2010 (Supta Herman, 2012). Constraints and available options One of Bank of America’s options was to create different apps to target different groups and market segments, which proved to be somewhat of a risk. Not only was the organization concerned for the customers reaction, Bank of America was also hesitant because mobile apps are costly and in doing so, technology resources would be taken from other essential areas of banking such as online banking and atm machines. At this time customers were not completely trusting in working with their banks, as financial struggles were becoming more and more apparent. In order to give theBank of America the trusted name and customer loyalty it had previously held for so long, executives decided Mobile banking was the right path to take in order to save the company. Analysis and Evaluation The bank of America officially launched their mobile banking application in May of 2007. This included the ability to bank on the customers phones either by application or by accessing the mobile web through their phones browser. Douglas Brown confirmed that the success of the mobile application was astounding as the company gained four million mobile banking customers over the time span of less than three years (Supta Herman, 2012). Because of the high level of success, business managers were eager to update the applications, in an effort to raise the level of functionality even higher. This proved to be a decision that had to be carefully considered by the Bank of America corporate team. Strengths: The Bank of America already holds the title of being one of the most prestigious banks and a leading company in the U. S. Because of their household name, marketing new products prove to be fairly easy; however identifying a product that customers will adopt and figuring out the target market are essential to Bank of America’s success. An additional strength of the mobile banking application was the timing in correlation to the launch of the application and the launch of the iPhone, making Bank of America the first bank to be able to offer a banking application on the iPhone. The most used features of mobile banking came from viewing account balances and viewing transaction details, making debit card holders the most popular users. After the mobile banking launch more customers opened checking accounts in the months of the introduction of mobile banking and did in fact use the application during that time. Weaknesses:  A weakness shown by Bank of America proved to be within technology adoption and which smart phones the mobile applications could be used by. The Bank of America was slow to adopt SMS technology and access to mobile banking was limited. It was only available to those who used online banking with Bank of America, therefore leaving a huge portion of customers out and feeling negatively about the new product. Another weakness in the new mobile application was that it had to be created with more features than competing mobile applications, which added the risk of making the mobile app more complex. Complexity is a weakness when striving to offer a simple and functional upgraded product to customers. Furthermore, the bank was recovering from the financial crisis, which caused a great loss for a company as big as themselves, as customers had to put a curb to their spending. They also feared they damaged their name in asking for $20 billion in federal backing which proved to be a huge mistake. Bank of America did not want to be associated with other banks that had borrowed capital, but in turn were forced to give up a percentage of their company. Opportunities: In analyzing the Kotler Keller text, marketing opportunity is described as a buyer taking interest in something that has the probability to make a profit (Kotler Keller, 2009). The introduction of mobile banking was a huge opportunity that the Bank of America capitalized on. When mobile banking was introduced costs per transaction started at 10 cents and were expected to drop to 3 to 4 cents. ATM costs were already 1. 34 per transaction which provided an advantage to debit card holders with low account balances. They also benefited in that they could easily check their account balance through their phones before making a purchase. The Bank of America capitalized on the opportunity to offer this feature to customers for absolutely no cost. This was a huge plus in gaining additional customers and fans of mobile banking, as other banks had already begun to waive ATM fees during the times of the market dropping. Mobile banking was a way for Bank of America to bounce back after financial crisis and offer users an experience they had never before been exposed to. The novelty of the design and idea would bring trust and value back to the company. Threats: A potential threat of mobile banking was that expanding on apps and adding new features can turn potential customers off because it tends to make banking more complicated throughout the introduction process. Surveys and research also showed that 44% of customers did not see a need or any type of value within mobile banking. When introducing a new product, buyer behavior tends to be very guarded as customers are reluctant to trust a pone application to keep their banking statements and accounts secure at all times. Major competitors are also a threat that the Bank of America faced. Major Banks such as Wellsfargo, Citigroup and PNC, to name a few, also offer mobile banking with virtually the same functions and applications. Mobile banking was also seen as a threat because of the high initial costs, however, from a marketing perspective, if the Bank of America were to pay extra costs to set their mobile applications apart from competing banks, the additional features would be worth the price in customer popularity and satisfaction. Recommendations Because mobile banking has been introduced by so many other banks, the best recommendation would be to create a form of mobile banking that is more secure and user friendly than competing applications. These are the two issues that customers seemed to have the most doubts about, so putting extra emphasis on these areas will surely set the Bank of America apart from others. Another recommendation is to target one particular audience and market to them specifically, therefore making age and stage in the life cycle of great importance. It is likely that the younger generation will be much more open to yet another phone application, as it is the norm for them, and will provide huge ease to another aspect of their lives. This may result in the younger generation taking more initiative when it comes to banking and gaining more responsibility in this aspect of their lives. Phone applications makes it easy to transfer money and to check balances, providing an awareness of your funds 24/7, opposed to only during banking hours. Kotler Keller advices marketers to take the following three steps when marketing a product: 1. Compare it with a product that consumers already know about, making it more comfortable for them to base the purchase off of a past decision (Kotler Keller, 2012). 2. â€Å"†¦The lure of â€Å"free† is almost irresistible† (Kotler Keller, 2012). 3. Consumers often experience the â€Å"optimism bias† or â€Å"positivity illusion. † They tend to overestimate their chances of experiencing a positive outcome and underestimate their chances of experiencing a negative outcome (Kotler Keller, 2012). These steps are recommended to the Bank of America’s target audience in order to raise popularity and awareness of the mobile banking application. In other words, it is essential to understand the meaning of consumer behavior. Kotler Keller define consumer behavior as how individuals come up with ideas and experiences that work to satisfy the customer’s wants and needs. The customer’s desires will be met in that the mobile banking app will be free to current customers, which will already account for a huge part of the appeal. Compared with online banking, which customers are likely to be more familiar with, the target audience will see the mobile app as an easier, faster version of a feature they already value. Furthermore, because of the optimism bias and positivity illusion, customers using this product are more likely to feel it will improve their financial security and well-being. Lessons Learned In the review of the entire Bank of America case study, it is apparent that control was an issue that was brought up as the main concern of the customer in accepting the new application. Customers were weary at first, as they had concerns for the security of their finances and feared they were giving up control of their bank accounts to a mobile application. In retrospect, the customer actually gained more control over their finances as they were able to access them from nearly anywhere in the world. This goes to show how identifying with the customers emotions and providing them with a product that gains their trust and eases their concerns, will make the innovation and the company that much more successful.

The Objectives Of Human Resources Development

The Objectives Of Human Resources Development The objectives of this report are to look at the Human Resource Management (HRM), Human Resource Planning and Development (HRP D), and Performance of McDonalds restaurant. Furthermore, it explains the human resource management activities, models of human resource management, effectiveness of organisational objectives, performance monitoring of McDonalds restaurant. The human resources of any organisation are the most important resource that is the direct connected between the quality of the workforce and ultimate goals. The human resource department of McDonalds is responsible for right people, right number, right jobs, right time, right cost with right knowledge, skills, experience in the right place and also responsible for training of all staff and keeping evidence on them. It also indicates us what is the usage of human resource management and how does it work in the company. McDonalds fast food restaurant began in America in 1954. It is leading food service retailer around the world with more than 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries serving 47 million customers each day. Moreover, McDonalds is one of the world most well-known and valuable brands and increasing share in the globally. Now it is recognised worldwide establishment and first restaurant in the UK. Today more than 2.6 million people of the UK trust about McDonalds and go to eat due to provide good food with a high standard, quick service and value of money. Task-1 Human Resource Management (HRM) Human resource management is the people management function where organizational function is fulfilled and focuses on the issues related to people for example compensation, performance management, organization development, safety, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration ,training and, etc. As defined by Storey in 1995, HRM is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. Human Resource Management (HRM) Activities Human Resource Management (HRM) deals with the Human feature of an organisation. There are many activities of an organisation to achieve their ultimate goals. To cite an example Recruitment and selection, training and development, human resource planning, provision of contracts, provision of fair treatment, provision of equal opportunities, assessing performance of employees, employee counseling, employee welfare, payment and reward of employees, health and safety, dismissals and redundancy, and etc. I am explaining three of them as below Recruitment and Selection In an organization, a change happens in the level of employees where HR department maintain the requirement of personnel to meet the demand. For effective recruiting, recruitment process can be costly and takes a great deal of time to set up. It includes on what jobs needs, advertising, application, identifying who best meet the criteria, interviewing candidates, finally selecting the best candidate for the post, and etc. McDonalds advertise their job vacancies on their specialized websites and use their own personnel department to recruit staff. Objectives of the Recruitment and Selection The objectives of the recruitment and selection process of human resource management are as below: To identify the most appropriate candidate to fill each post. Keep the cost of selection down Making sure that necessary skills and qualities have been specified and developing a process for identifying them in candidates Make sure that the candidate selected will want the job, and will stay with McDonalds To make the most of the effectiveness of the McDonalds recruitment and selection practices. Achievement of the Recruitment and Selection In the McDonalds, recruiting process is run throughout the year. Like other organisations, McDonalds recruit internally and externally, and they for the most part recruit their managers and Assistant managers internally rather than externally, because it is easier and less training is needed due to the candidate is well known about the job. Just about 50% of McDonalds salaried managers are promoted from within McDonalds. In addition, for preparing the job description, McDonalds describe the job title, department, location, the responsibilities, the job purpose and duties. McDonalds uses the application form with questions which are typical questions, to know what qualification the applicant has, such as knowledge, skills, experience, and etc. Application form fill-up and make the answer of question is the first step for applicant at crew member level. For the recruitment process, Interview is the most crucial part for McDonalds potential employee. From the short listed candidate, McDonalds call for interview with area manager or store manager at their flexible nearest branch. From the face to face interview, interviewers can know about applicants, such as behaves, confidence, knowledge, and basically how the applicants come across as a person. At crew member level, interview is the second step for applicant. At this step, short listed candidates involve selecting a small number of applicants for the next stage. This selecting process will be carried on until the right numbers of candidates are found with the wanted quality. As a result, the recruiting team can be able to distinguish easily the strong applicants from the weak hundreds of applicants. McDonalds inform to the successful candidate over mobile phone or by email within one week. One day, McDonalds arrange an induction for a new employee that may turn him or her into a long term, loyal member of staff. In the McDonalds, the induction process begins even before the candidate is offered the job. Training and Development From the initial training that is called skill training, Employee can know the basic job knowledge of each position and can develop. Moreover, ongoing training program provides a more advanced level of job knowledge and make an economical employee. An ongoing programme of training evaluation enables employees to keep training up to date and according to the demand of the business. McDonalds training and development programme is an important part to the 100% customer satisfaction that the company aims to achieve ultimate goal. Objectives of the Training and Development McDonalds arranges training and development programme for many reasons. For example, training and development programme may be introduced to: Increase job satisfaction and motivate employees, as a result, reducing absenteeism and labour turnover. Reduce wastage and accident rates by gaining a excellent performance across the workforce. Develop the skills of existing employees to cope with labour shortages Establish the most effective and efficient working methods in order to maximize productivity and remain competitive Use of new equipment and the application of new technology. Achievement of the Training and Development We believe that training is the foundation of any success and McDonalds think so. Immediately, training begins with a one-hour orientation in McDonalds. Each branch of McDonalds has its own video player and training room. Stepby step manuals and video tapes are played every detail of the operation. So, McDonalds is dedicated to the training and development of all their employees, providing career opportunities. So, it is an ongoing process of all McDonalds employees it is everyones job, every day. According to the employee position, all employees are to receive induction training followed by a structured development program. After completing the initial training, they are to pass one Observation Check list (OCL) in the particular area with successfully. In McDonalds has 21 days of employment probationary period. During this probationary period, employees performance is to evaluate. For example, standard of work, personal attitude, teamwork, focus of customers, hygiene and etc. After completing the probationary period, they must be achieved a competency rating of satisfactory. If they fail to meet the standards of required of performance, they can be terminated at any time during their probationary period. Human Resource Planning To achieve the McDonalds goals, human resource planning is concerned with getting the right people, using them perfectly, and training and developing them. In order to meet McDonalds aims and objectives successfully, people using are to identify perfectly and effective way and to identify any problem that are likely to occur (such as recruiting the best candidates) and then getting with proper solution. Human Resource Planning (HRP) is the process of ensuring an organisation has the correct staff at the right time, with the right skills and abilities in the right place. Objectives of the Human Resource Planning The aims of Human Resource Planning (HRP) are to create the best use of human resources look forward to the problems with surplus staff build up a well trained and flexible workers decrease organisations dependence on outside recruitment agencies Achievement of the Human Resource Planning Like all other businesses, for daily activities carry out McDonalds need the assistance of staff. All the important number of staff in McDonalds fulfils a key role in its operation. Without sophisticated technology McDonalds would not be successful, for setting up properly human being are responsible. If the manager of McDonalds do not select the potential employees in careful way and do not match against the ability of post that means who are unsuitable, it can create a number of problem, for example poor productivity levels no good feeling among staff job dissatisfaction high absenteeism levels customer complains dismissal replacement For demand of labour, McDonalds analysis its future plans and estimate the levels of activity within McDonalds. As a result, they can predict that the organisation has right number of potential employee with right quality. The external labour market is very important for any organisation because of it can make up of potential employees, locally, regionally, who have the right skills and qualification necessary at any time. For McDonalds, local unemployment figures are very important who give the indication of the general labour availability required at that time. Also, Human resource planning of McDonalds includes searching at how labour is organised within a business or an organisation. Theoretical Models of Human Resource Management Generally, human resource strategy is performance or behaviour based. In addition, employees are a main resource for any service organisation. Organisations which successfully manage change are those which have integrated their policies with their strategies and strategic change process. Johnson Scholes (1992) Exploring Corporate Strategy There are a lot of models associated within an organisation. Such as: The Fombrum, Tichy and Davanna model The Harvard model The Warwick model Guests model and etc Two models are explained among them as below: The Harvard model According to the Harvard Model, HRM polices need to derive from critical analysis of: the demands of the various stakeholders in a business and a number of situational factors Hannagan Tim, 1995 Employees are variable and valuable for any organisation. Moreover, organisations are owned and operated by various employees or people (stakeholders), the task of the management is to balance the returns to every person involved. The Harvard model emphasises on the importance of integration HR policies with business objectives. The Harvard Model is emphasised as the soft approach to HRM, employees like stakeholders of the company. In this model has discussed four areas such as, reward system, employee influences, human resource flow, and work systems, there are also included situational factors such as influence of trade unions, labour market, and laws. These are also relevant to the theory. The effectiveness of the HRM is related to the four Cs with the theory. The four Cs are Commitment, Competence, Congruence and Cost-effectiveness. According to the Harvard theory, employees are an asset rather than a cost. In McDonalds, line managers are responsible for people and store managers are responsible for the day to day running as a mixture of both the hard and soft approach. McDonalds believes that Staffs are an asset for them which are shown by training provision and should provide long term investment for the company. Guests Model Devid Guest has developed his model based on the Harvard model and included four outcomes which has developed into four policy goals Strategy integration Commitment Flexibility Quality Guests (1987) theory, is also included in McDonalds policy, Guest believes the organisation should, aim for high level of commitment from staff, obtain high quality output, continually improve standards, flexibility from staff, no fixed job definitions, working practices and conditions and seek strategic integration through HR policies. In McDonalds, improving standards continuously and flexible working times offering for staff. Line managers of McDonalds accept HRM policies and combine them into strategic plans, staff changing roles are allowing within the organisation. Acknowledged as culture, every organisation has different values, ideas and beliefs that affect the way they operate. According to Handy, there are four types of culture; Power, Role, Task and Person. McDonalds culture combines two of these. Top management of McDonalds reflects power culture that makes the overall decisions and allowing rapid response to decisions. Other one is the task culture. In McDonalds, the overall aim of the organisation is task orientated and focussing on team culture, and powerful communication between all levels of staff. McDonalds has integrated the contingency approach by considering the environment culture. Contingency approach suggests that different problems and situation require different solution, for making a sound solution, need both internal and external influences fit together. Also, this approach influences promotions of staff that comes from the company means McDonalds restaurant. It is very helpful for the staff and staffs are offered appraisals that means increasing job opportunities for staff. Task-2 Human Resource Planning and Development For a company, human resource planning is the recognition of the future labour requirements needed and how these requirements are going to be met. Human resource planning is the process by which a company ensures that it has the right number and kind of staffs, at the right time in the right place for which they are economically most useful for a company. The use of human resource planning is a big deal for any organisation. For employee develop, human resource development (HRD) is the framework. By which, employees can develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human resource development includes many opportunities such as employee training for developing them, performance management and development, mentoring, series planning, key employee identification, organization development and etc. Human Resource Planning Model Best Practice Model Best Practice HRM is the idea that a particular bundle of HR practices has the potential to contribute to improved attitudes and behaviours, lower levels of absenteeism and labour turnover, and higher level of productivity, quality and customer service, ultimately generating higher organisational performance and profitability. Marchington Wilkinson (2002) Components of best practice include employment security and internal promotion, selective hiring and firing, extensive training, learning and development, employee involvement and voice, high compensation upon organisational performance, reduction of status differentials, etc. (Marchington Willinson, 2002; Hughes Julia M, 2002 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol.14 No.5) Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Practice Model In McDonalds, more than 40% of senior managers have been promoted on the inside and not hired from outside directly. In the kitchen of the McDonalds restaurant, crewmembers are started their career by working at the smallest possible level of the chain of command. So, they carry out learning, training and development programs on a regular basis and lengthily which is reflected in their HR activities. McDonalds also offers high level of employment security. By implementing valuable and variable human resource activities, employee have been successful in developing dedicated and competent labour force who bring quality and customer satisfaction. By the recent market situation of McDonalds, employers can be observed easily what the condition of them is. On the other hand, according to the best practice model, employers can take long term view of strategy. In addition, from the view of personal experience, it is observed that the lowest level staffs (who work in the kitchen) generally do not have awareness of the strategy of the organisation. Also, some companys strategy is different. To cite an example, the lowest level staff of ASDA , they can give suggestion for the organisation. Their opinion senior management level can be considered or received. In additional, reward of the employee is totally appraisal based not on performance based. From the above discussion, it can be said that McDonalds is practising many components of the best practice model but do not implement full best practice model. Best-Fit (Contingency) Model There are three different models are defined under contingency as below (1) Business Life Cycle, (2) Strategy/Structure, and (3) Business Strategies (1) Business Life Cycle It includes four stages of organisational development for example, start-up, growth, maturity, and decline. This model also includes some human resource functions such as recruitment and selection, reward and benefit, staff training and improvement, employee relationships and etc with business life cycle stages. Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Business Life Cycle) If McDonalds, want to open a new branch still today anywhere in the world, continue recruitment all around the year. (HR department, Headquarters, McDonalds) As seen earlier, Training and development has been practiced regularly and comprehensively. According to the Best fit model, during the growth stage, McDonalds recruit sufficient members and run through effective management and organisational growth. To match with HR function of an organisation, McDonalds always try to control labour costs, maintaining staff peace and getting better productivity during maturity stage. It is very difficult to say exactly that McDonalds is in which stage of Business Life Cycle but they are mature and growing at particular rate. (2) Strategy/structure Miles and Snow (1984; Cited in Bratton and Gold, 1999) identified four modes of strategic orientations: Defenders, Prospectors, Analysers, and Reactors. Defenders companies have limited product line and the management focus on getting better the efficiency of their existing operations. HR practices in defenders include extensive and long-term focus, well defined career ladders, clear grading structures, employee share ownership, well-established HR function, etc. Prospectors are companies with fairly broad product lines that focus on product innovation and market opportunities. It is right performance standards and expectations (Bratton and Gold, 1999) Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Strategy/structure) By extensive training and development, McDonalds corporate strategy and issue want to improve their efficiency and always running to take the product into new markets. So, it can be said that McDonalds is followed the combination of Defenders and Prospectors. (3) Business Strategies (This model is based upon Porters competitive advantage model) Michael Porters (1980; cited in Bratton and Gold, 1999) formulated a framework that describes three competitive strategies: low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy. In a differentiation strategy, managers try to distinguish their services and products-such as brand image or quality. In this way, value is added to the product and reflected in the product price. (Purcell, 1999 Human Resource management Journal Vol.9 No.3) Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Business Strategies) By distinguishing McDonalds brand and providing quality of food and service around the world, McDonalds has achieved their present position. They have standard recruitment methods and policies, and highly focussed training and learning, reward system for staff remuneration. In McDonalds, line management function is very close with HR function, which has come from their HR strategy and activities. So, from the above discussion, it can be said that McDonalds is following differentiation strategy. Basic Human Resource Planning Model Recruit skilled workers Develop technical training programs Transfer managers from other facilities Recruiting and training programs feasible Transfers infeasible because of lack of managers with right skills Human Resource programs are made according to the organizational objectives and strategies require for achieving human resource goals. Moreover, human resource objectives are directly associated to the organizational objective and planning. To open a new branch of any company, Human Resource department need to think about production staffs, line managers, business manager, technical staffs and etc. Workforces are valuable for implementing the new product line, factory, distribution system, and achieving organizational goads. Effectiveness in achieving organizational objectives to human resource planning model HR department of McDonalds recruit skilled workers, develop technical training programs, and transfer managers from other facilities with right skills. They develop training programs regularly and broadly which are reflected in their activities. Although, employee hire is too costly from outside, sometimes, McDonalds hires the recruit managers from outside. After gaining most of things, McDonalds develop new objectives and new strategic plan for achieving ultimate goals. It involves forecasting outcome of various HR programs for employee flowing into, all the way through and out a variety of job classifications. They determine how existing program and added program or combination of program will be done and need to no capability of combining program. If HR department of McDonalds do not find practicable human resource program, they must change strategic plans. They are researched internal, external, and demand forecasting information. Such as, internal forecasting information- organizational features, productivity, promotion, demotion, transfer, turnover, and external forecasting information- external labor market aspects, controllable company factors and demand forecasting information- organizational strategic plans, size of organization, organizational design, employee support, and managerial support etc. Task-3 Performance management For the successful practices of people management, performance management is a holistic process which bringing together many elements of the organizational function. It includes particular learning and development, and gives an overview of employee status. Performance management is establishing a culture where individual and groups get responsibility for continuous development of business process and their own contributions, skill and behavior. Performance management is about interrelationships and improving the quality of relationship between manager and individual, between manager and teams, between members of teams, and etc. So, McDonalds believe that it is a joint process, not a one off-event, not just managers, apply to all employees. Therefore, McDonalds business manager can make clear what they look forward to individual and teams to do. For example, how they should be managed and what they need to do their jobs. Human Resource performance monitoring McDonalds follows the ongoing performance management for employees. For example, setting goals, monitoring the employees accomplishment of those goads, contributing feedback with the employees, evaluating the employees performance, rewarding performance or firing the employee. Performance management includes frequent activities to establish organisational aims to achieve those goad more effectively and efficiently. McDonalds believe that the best approach to accomplish value for money is to monitor the performance levels of staff and want to reduce wasteful actions. Effective Human Resource Performance By monitoring improvement, departmental managers or business managers can assess the efficiency of employees and determine which ones are meeting the terms of their agreement and contributing to McDonalds success. McDonalds monitoring is the quality of work being produced that is one of the features and the efficiency levels within departments. Employees performance helps the manager to know how they have been getting better in their business with the employees. For the future, it is an employee roadmap which increases job satisfaction. McDonalds think that it can help to develop their talent pool, support potential assessment and succession planning. Suggest ways to make improvements Sometimes, we see that poor performance lead to dismissal. If without checking, wastefulness is allowed to continue, staff will lose interest, motivation will be concentrated and no encouragement to produce good quality products or services. If the employees know that what jobs are doing, how they are doing, employees will be happier. If they know that they are doing good jobs, thats recognized, generally, they will keep on to do a good work and may make well every effort to do more. Otherwise, if they do not get people feedback, they are not doing good job, company cannot expect them to be either satisfied or productive. From the view of the company, if staffs are inefficient, customers will not return to McDonalds for repeat purchase due to many complaints and uncompleted responsibilities will push up costs to a very high figure. So, need to inform them according to responsibility.