The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren - Essay Example It should also be highlighted that this book is not only aimed at a particular Christian denomination, say Protestant or Catholic, rather the author tackles a universal theme that most, if not all, churches can relate to. The book is divided into six major portions. The first part provides an overview on how one should perceive his purpose in life. In this chapter, Warren asserts that what is of utmost importance to human beings as God's creation is to know God's purpose in our lives. In this regard, our greatest achievement is to live for God's glory and purpose. With this, it should be realized that it is important to focus on God and in know His purpose for us. Focusing on ourselves, as what other instructional books suggest, would never reveal this purpose. In the five remaining chapters, Warren discusses the five basic purposes of our lives. The first purpose pertains to our glorifying God by worshipping Him. The type of worship that Warren refers is the one which is motivated by our love, gratitude and delight in God. We are able to glorify God by worshipping Him not only out of duty or obligation but wholeheartedly. The second purpose is to glorify God by loving other believers. ... This means that by becoming like Jesus, believers are able to reach spiritual maturity. Warren points out that in order or us to be like Jesus in our thought, emotion and action, change in character is needed. This may be very difficult considering human nature. Nevertheless, we are called to develop our character for the main purpose of glorifying God. The fourth purpose is related to our responsibility towards our fellowmen. According to Warren, we glorify God by utilizing God-given gifts to serve others. He asserts that God has granted us talents, skills and abilities which should be used not only for personal gain but more so for the benefit of others. The author explains that we are able to serve God by serving others. Such is the pathway to real significance and fulfilling one's purpose here on earth. The book ends with the fifth purpose that sends off readers with a mission. This mission entails glorifying God by telling others about Him. In this regard, we have a mission to evangelize others. Such requires the sharing of the Good News and helping others discover their purpose. Warren puts forth that living with a purpose is the only way to truly live. As such, we should be mindful not only of knowing our purpose but aiding others in discovering theirs as well. Personal Reflection Despite the advent of a culture that focuses on man as an independent entity, the substantial sales of Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life indicates how religion continues to play an important role in our lives. In this book, Warren tackles the main concerns in the aspect of religion, i.e. finding the purpose and meaning of life (Macionis). This may be the root of the worldwide commercial success of

To what extent does the European Union policy of free movement of Essay - 1

To what extent does the European Union policy of free movement of persons discriminates against the non European 'others' - Essay Example ts with open arms2. Economical The second paragraph discuss the economic aspect of the Xenophobic approach of the EU whereby it will talk about the exceptions in the form of the UK and France that threw their doors open to immigrants as a means of enhancing productivity and access to cheap labour for low skilled jobs and as a means to attract the best talent possible for high skilled jobs3. The third paragraph will be a continuation of the ideas in the second paragraph that the approach did pay off for these countries though a certain point was reached in recent years where these countries feel that they can no longer sustain the pace of immigration at the earlier levels4. Social The fourth paragraph will discuss the high levels of immigration into these countries that has resulted in creation of ethnic communities and the rise of ghettos in the UK and France which has added impetus to the anti-immigrant lobby’s drive to restrict immigration as they point to the lack of assimi lation by these communities and the resultant loss of social cohesion5. In the fifth paragraph, we will analyze how the ideas in the fourth paragraph have led to a strong feeling that immigrants are unwelcome because they do not fit in to the culture of the countries to which they immigrate6. The six paragraph will state how further the instances of riots in France in 2005 and more recently in London and other parts of UK have been blamed on the immigrants and their lack of respect for the culture of these countries7. The seventh paragraph will examine how all these trends have resulted in the EU adopting a tough stance on immigration. What adds to the situation is that many countries in the EU do not need low skilled immigrants any longer since they have gone up the economic and technological curve and so there are no low skilled low wage jobs anymore8. This eighth paragraph will examine how further, the proportion of immigrants who apply for these positions is disproportionate to the size of their population which makes these countries look askance at these immigrants9. The ninth paragraph will talk about how, even in the high skilled and high wage category, the growing trend is to hire locals and only when the locals are not available can the employers look for immigrants to fill the positions. This has resulted in laws being mandated that require the employers to justify the need for immigrants to be hired and hence there is a legal aspect to the hiring of immigrants as well10. Political In the tenth paragraph, we will examine the political aspect of the issue whereby, talking of the legal angle, the EU has put in place strict anti immigration policies in place that restrict the number of people who would be accepted into its member countries. This has resulted in the EU closing its doors to asylum seekers and immigrants because of the reasons outlined above11. This eleventh paragraph w

Assessment Brief No1 Operations Strategy Business Essay

Assessment Brief No1 Operations Strategy Business Essay There are lots of research and studies about the functions of multinational retail companies in all over the world. All these studies mainly focused on the operations strategy and performance analysis of these big companies. Yet, no studies in this area specifically discussed the operations strategy contributions of small to medium sized companies operating in the retail industry and other industries as well. The main objective of this report is to give an understandable, well structured and interesting management of operations management as it applies in a UK based family owned SME named Azam Super market. The report gives the logical path through the performance of operations management and perceptive of their strategic context. The purpose of this report is to critically analyse and evaluate of the current operations strategy of Azam Super market, with respect to operations typology (4vs). The three methods of analysis utilized in this report include trend, horizontal and vertical analyses as well as current situation like implementation of new changes, issues and organisational performance. Results of case study not only confirmed that the smaller UK retailers have the potential to challenge the big players successfully by utilising the IT facilities, new ideas and possibilities of internet and inventory management, but also provides the selected company owners are not old fashioned and they are ready to utilise the service of information technology such as designing company own website and online shopping etc. Azam super markets organisational performances are above industry averages. In particular, comparative performance is good in medium sized company sector. The most important thing is the company owners are aware of the new trends and the immense opportunities of the implementation of information technology in their business. A review of the academic literature on the obstacles of the functioning of the formulation of competitive role, position and objectives and operations strategies in general and particularly related to retail SMEs, recommended that significant difficulties can be found in implementing operations strategies. The study suggests that performance of operations strategy in an SME should have sizeable impact on operational performance if the progression for implementation is well structured. Introduction Azam Super market is a newly opened family business owned by siblings Jaswindher singh, Pervindher and Hardeep Kaur based in UK. Azam Super market is mainly focuses on grocery, offering a wide variety of Indian food and dairy products. The organisation has got 5 full time employees and 2 part time employees under the administration of Hardeep Kaur, as she looks after administrated related activities. At the mean time Jaswindher singh support the business related activities like marketing and advertising and Pervindher singh responsible for purchasing or approving of goods and services needed by the organisation. Within short span of time Azam super market gained the trust and value of the community around the area and become a strong SME in that particular area. Now business is going up to next level with a constant increase in number of customers. The owners are really busy with business promotion and the increasing number of customer becomes a difficult task for them to satisfy eac h and every customers need and to operate in their traditional way. This report discusses how operations management were selected and then implemented in a small to medium enterprise named Azam Super market. It then goes on to which stage of performance contribution has been reached. Little attention has been paid to the strategy-making processes of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), or to the effectiveness of strategic planning in the SME sector. Planning often fails because of implementation problems often associated with SMEs lack of capability to determine and overcome potential barriers to strategic planning (Ghobadian A O Regan N , Effective Strategic planning in small and medium sized firms, Journal: Management Decision, Volume-40, Number-7, year- 2002, pp 663-671, Online www.emeraldinsight.com ). During this research it is obviously clear that Azam super market owners are not different from strategy making processes of compared to other SMEs, they clearly lack knowledge in information technology that affect the strategic planning of the firm and there is a little attention has been paid to the operations planning of the company. The tremendous growth in the nature of the industry demands to look up into different areas in which the business is operatin g. It has become very clear to accept more long term planning than short term strategy for the long run of the company. In the long run of the business it should become less competitive with its competitors and unable to develop the business until they revolutionize their present business operation of traditional way in the changing global environment. It has become more necessary for Azam Super market to recognize the importance of academic approaches to the operations management. Azam super markets formulation of competitive role, position and objectives Operations management is a management of the way organisation manage all activities directly related to the products and services (Slack et al. 2010 p-2). The term operations management also offered in a selection of areas which includes production and operations management, analysis for production systems and design and engineering of production systems (Shim J K and Siegel J G, 1999 pp 1-4) According to Slack et al (2006 p-8) Operations management has got a vital role in small organisations as it is in large one. Apart from their size, every organisation needs to have and deliver their products and services efficiently and successfully. The most basic function of operations management has to implement new strategies within the organisation. Azam super market is planning to open 2 more retail outlets with in the areas where Asian communities are living together. The owners of the organisation are really passionate about the business and they are now realized the importance of the e commerce and other internet related opportunities to improve the business operations and explore new opportunity in the complex global environment. Innovative ideas, planning and control should increase organisation performance like dependability and flexibility. It definitely leads improved customer service and customer satisfaction. It will help the firm to retain customers in long term. In addition, many researchers argues that the utilize of personal connections, an innovative selling focus, a strong understanding of some characteristics of formal marketing as the key features of what can be termed SME marketing. The main workforce in the SMEs scrutinized emerges to demonstrate normally entrepreneurial behaviour in the absence of founding owners. These characteristics of SME marketing are not well recognized or investigated and subsequently formed the basis of this study (Hill J, Online 1995). A General model of operations management Operations Strategic Objectives The operations competitive role and position Design Operations Strategy Input transformed resources Output Products and services Materials information customers Improvement Input resources Customers Facilities Staff Planning and Control Input transforming resources Environment Source: Kalathummarath A N 2010 in Slack et al., 2004 p-5 Above model clearly shows how it works in an organisation. The main objectives of operations management are to reduce operational cost and to increase organisation performance. In operations strategy 3 basic things are being considered vital such as design, improvement and planning and control. By considering the current set up of Azam Super market it is obvious that hosting website and other online facilities will bring more customers and eventually that gives Azam super market a competitive edge in this industry. The introduction of website and online purchasing or other online services will place organisation in a strong position in their industry. It will also help to increase internal performance of company such as facilities of employees will improve that also affect the performance of the organisation. Hypothetically, operations management is similar in any size of companies. Though, in practice, organizing operations in a small or medium size company has its own set of problems. Small organizations like Azam super market have exactly the same operations management problems as large ones but they can be more problematical to split from the collection of other issues with in the organization. On the other hand, small operations can also have considerable advantages. It means that smaller firms can keep up their viewpoint of excellence amongst everybody in the company and it means that they can respond very rapidly when the market demands it. (Slack et al. 2010 pp 7-11) Operations Typology (4 Vs) Volume: more than average number of customers from a special ethnic group and average number of customers from other ethnic group. Variety: Medium-high since Azam Super market introduce new Indian products that is not available in the UK and also exploring new opportunities by opening 2 other retail outlets and launching of new website. Variation: It purely based on the demand pattern of the customers. For example if customers demand for more traditional Indian foods product in a special occasions like diwali. Ramzan or other religious festivals or special parties or marriage functions it is likely to be higher than normal season. Visibility: High visibility and medium contact skill. Even though, Azam Super market is a new organisation their owners are well experienced in business and their customer contact skills and personnel interactions with the customers and other people should be an asset for the company. The implications of 4vs in Azam super market All these 4Vs operations have implications for the cost of generating the products or services. To some extend position of an operation in the four dimensions is determined by the demand of the market it is serving. However, most of the operations have some discretion in moving themselves on the dimensions. (Slack et al. 2010 p-22) Figure below show the implication of such positioning. Volume High Low Variety High Low Variation High Low Visibility High Low Source: Slack et al. 2010 p-23 Rising demand of Indian foods or SME super market in the UK Financial crisis severely hit the  £3 billion Indian food industry but Indians continued to be hooked on the quality ready meals and other Indian products from super markets or corner stores. Other ethnic group people are also like spicy Indian food so it has got a tremendous potential in UK retail store industry. The industry figures shows that demand for Indian meals or other grocery items increasing rapidly and super market chains are struggling to meet the demands of consumers (Anon, Online, 2009). According to wiki it is estimated that about 2% of total population of UK are Indians or Indian origins. Major cities like London, Birmingham and Leicester consist of big Asian communities it gives SMEs like Azam Super market a great opportunity to expand their business in that particular industry. Operation strategy perspectives Operations strategy concerns the pattern of strategic decision and actions which sets the role, objectives and activities of the operation (Slack et al. 2010, p-62) While, the operations strategy content is about What the key decision areas that need to be addressed in developing an operations strategy are (Slack et. al., 2010, pp 62-63). According to Slack and Lewis Operations strategy is the total outline of decisions which figure out the long term capabilities of any type of operations and their contribution to the overall strategy, through the reconciliation of market requirements with operations resources (Online, Wiki books) The four perspectives on operations strategy Different authors have slightly different opinions about Operations strategy. Operations strategy is undoubtedly part of an organisations total strategy but this topic has slightly different views and definitions. Operations strategy might come out in a top-down or a bottom-up method with look upon to business and corporate strategies. Likewise, an operations strategy can be built up in reaction to market needs or be based on the capacity of its operations resources (Slack and Lewis, 2002). Each perspective places a different emphasis on the nature of the operations strategy process. Below shown chart of 4 perspectives not giving the full picture of what operations strategy is. But together they provide some idea of the pressure which goes to form the content of operations strategy Top-down Perspective What the business wants operations to do What day to day experience suggests operations should do Bottom-up Perspective Operations resources perspective What operations resources can do? Market requirements Perspective What the market position requires operations to do Operations Strategy Source: (Slack et al. 2010, p 65) In the top down perspective shows that what the whole group or business wants to do? In the bottom perspective where operations improvements cumulatively build strategy. Operations strategy involves translating market requirements into operations decisions. Operations strategy involves exploiting the capabilities of operations resources in chosen markets. Source: (Slack et al. 2010, p 65) In this case study about Azam super market a SME, many researches reveals that the IT offers exciting new opportunities for SMEs to develop their customer base into the global environment (Tetteh E Burn F, Online). In order to achieve these advantages in global strategy Azam Super market needs to implement a completely different approach to the strategic planning and management. This will comprises what type of new ideas the management wants to adopt and what parts of the areas in the UK to operate and to open new retail outlets and how to allocate the finance in different areas of business. This case study reveals that Azam super market is going through top-down perspective of operations strategy. According to this perspective, the task for operations would be determined logically from the business strategy. Using five operations performance objectives is one way of articulating the operations task (Slack Lewis, 2002). Azam super market should adopt bottom-up perspective of operations strategy. The bottom-up perspective is one in which the organization learns from its experiences, developing and enhancing its operational capabilities as operations managers try new things out in an almost experimental fashion using their workplaces as a kind of learning laboratory (Slack Lewis, 2002). They already been in the market for some years and got valuable experience from the particular industry. So it has been recommended that to adopt bottom-up perspective of operations strategy. The management in the system is well aware about the opportunities of internet based business. Experience from this industry is a massive advantage for them to take up their business in to next level. The only problem they are facing is Azam super market is targeting mainly a particular ethnic group. It might be a problem for them to develop more areas in future. Operational stage diagnosis Two professors named Hayes and Wheelwright have developed four stage models which should be helpful to evaluate the competitive role and contribution of the operations function of Azam super market. Stage 1 Internal neutrality When evaluate with other stages of operations it is crystal clear that this is the poorest level of contribution by the operations function. This is inward looking and very little positive to donate towards competitive success (Slack et al. 2010, p 63). Stage 2 External neutrality In this second stage this function is least helpful for the companies to instantly get in to the market in first stage, but it could be evaluating itself against the competitors performance and trying to adopt suitable ideas from them. By taking the best ideas and norms of performance from the rest of its industry, it is trying to be externally neutral (Slack et al. 2010, p 63). Stage 3 Internally supportive In stage 3 operations they have almost reached the initial division in their market. They may not be superior to their competitors but they are generally up with the best. The operation is trying to be internally supportive by providing a credible operations strategy (Slack et al. 2010, pp 63-64) Stage 4 Externally supportive In stage 4 companies are one which observes the market operations function as giving the base for its competitive success and operations appear to long term (Slack et al. 2010, p 64). According to these theories, Azam Super market stands in stage 3 operations and they are among the best in that particular segment. . Yet stage 3 operations still aspire to be clearly and unambiguously the very best in the market. They achieve this by gaining a clear view of the companys competitive or strategic goals and supporting it by developing appropriate operations resources. The operation is trying to be internally supportive by providing a credible operations strategy (Slack et. al., 2007). They been in this business for few years and got very good knowledge and experience. But they neither comes up in the top performers category nor in the under performers category. These arguments show that Azam Super market clearly comes in Stage 3 internally supportive operations. Management decision to utilise the opportunities of internet related service and to open new branches with in the selected ethnic majority areas brings them to stage 4 operations. A stage 4 company is one which sees the operations function as providing the foundation for its competitive success. Operations look to the long term. If forecasts likely changes in markets and it develop the operations-based capabilities which will be required to compete in future market conditions. Stage 4 operations are innovative, creative and proactive and are driving the companys strategy by being one step ahead of competitors (Slack et. al., 2007) Conclusion The implementation of Information technology related services operations in SMEs brings them forward in to the global economy and it eventually gives them courage to face the competition from their opponents. Electronic related services and effective organising competence are shaping the competitive performance of SMEs in global economy. The internet has become a vital role in every part of human activities like education, business, advertisement, and communication with massive innovative technologies and ideas of human interactivity. Meantime, SMEs in the UK has increased their operations in internet to expand their business with the help of its global reach. The main findings in this case study are some positive approach from the management to accept and utilise the massive opportunities of internet related services and to open new branches in other areas to develop their business. Some limitations have been faced during the case study: Forecasting statistics are not provided nor do the current economic stability of the organisation. Recommendations Focus on other minority ethnic group ( Mainly Asian community) More focus on chilled or ready meal traditional foods

Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Sum

Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Summer For the Gods The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies â€Å"the timeless debate over science and religion.† (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive â€Å"the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.† (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning. In Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson argues that a more significant battle was waged between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy. Even though the rural fundamentalist majority legally banned teaching evolution i n 1925, the rise of modernism, started long before the trial, raised a critical question for rural Americans: should they publicly impose their religious beliefs upon individuals who believed more and more in science. Larson divides his account into three sections: before, during, and after. The first section carefully exposes the political struggle over individual rights hidden in the debate between science and religion. What emerge are the political views of the two opposing parties: William Jennings Bryan and the ACLU. William Jennings Bryan’s adherence to fundamental Christianity and creationism was only one part of his politics. He also believed that the state had a duty to ... ...e and technology with their religious beliefs. Summer for the Gods profoundly contributes to the scholarship of progressivism. The role of experts, legal reform, majoritarian democracy, modernism, and individual rights were all part of the progressive movement. The Scopes trial is the perfect test case to show how these progressive tenets were not coherently driving toward a single societal goal. William Jennings Bryan could claim to be a progressive as much as the leaders of the ACLU. Religion and science became the sticking points between progressives like Bryan who believed in majority rule and the ACLU whose very adherence to science and experts pushed them to favor individual freedom. While science lost the trial to religion, Larson shows how a fundamental shift to modernism produced the rise of individual rights and the decline of majoritarian democracy. Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Sum Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Summer For the Gods The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies â€Å"the timeless debate over science and religion.† (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive â€Å"the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.† (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning. In Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson argues that a more significant battle was waged between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy. Even though the rural fundamentalist majority legally banned teaching evolution i n 1925, the rise of modernism, started long before the trial, raised a critical question for rural Americans: should they publicly impose their religious beliefs upon individuals who believed more and more in science. Larson divides his account into three sections: before, during, and after. The first section carefully exposes the political struggle over individual rights hidden in the debate between science and religion. What emerge are the political views of the two opposing parties: William Jennings Bryan and the ACLU. William Jennings Bryan’s adherence to fundamental Christianity and creationism was only one part of his politics. He also believed that the state had a duty to ... ...e and technology with their religious beliefs. Summer for the Gods profoundly contributes to the scholarship of progressivism. The role of experts, legal reform, majoritarian democracy, modernism, and individual rights were all part of the progressive movement. The Scopes trial is the perfect test case to show how these progressive tenets were not coherently driving toward a single societal goal. William Jennings Bryan could claim to be a progressive as much as the leaders of the ACLU. Religion and science became the sticking points between progressives like Bryan who believed in majority rule and the ACLU whose very adherence to science and experts pushed them to favor individual freedom. While science lost the trial to religion, Larson shows how a fundamental shift to modernism produced the rise of individual rights and the decline of majoritarian democracy.

Disney Motivational Strategy Essay

Walt Disney is quoted as saying â€Å"of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them toward a certain goal† (Disney Dreamer, 2008, 41). It can be said that this management philosophy has contributed to eight decades of business success that has helped the company to become the business conglomerate Walt Disney is today. Co-founded by Walter Elias Disney, the Walt Disney Company today has branched out to various entertainment studios, theme parks, products and other media productions. How did one man’s dream form and manage an enterprise that has established itself as a household name through-out the world?The Walt Disney Company was established in a small office in Los Angeles California in the summer of 1923. Walt Disney moved to California from Kansas City Missouri with hopes of marketing his creative talent in the film industry. Walt had made a short film called â€Å"Alice in Wonderland† that he hoped to use as a pilot film to break into the industry. Partnered with his brother Roy they formed â€Å"Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio† and changed the name to â€Å"Walt Disney Studio† per Roy’s suggestion. Walt’s first break into the entertainment business came when a distributor by the name of M.J. Winkler contracted with the studio on October 16, 1923 to release a series to the public called â€Å"Alice Comedies.† This marked the formal beginnings of the Walt Disney Company (Corporate Disney, 2008). The company started to take off as Walt Disney hired animators to produce Oswald cartoons through his distributor, Mr. Winkler. As money grew tight Walt needed Winkler to provide him with the finances to keep producing his series. It was at this time that Walt found out the distributor was going behind his back to create his own studio using Walt Disney’s animators. Since Winkler owned the distributor rights to the Oswald cartoons there was nothing that Walt could do. It was at this point that Walt Disney vowed that he would own everything that he made (Corporate Disney, 2008). This was the event that led to the creation of the Mickey Mouse cartoons in1928 and the popularity of the Disney name. The company grew gradually despite the financial difficulties the brothers experienced over the years. The Disney brothers did not let this hamper their efforts and soon established themselves as an independent production  company in Hollywood. In the 1930’s Walt Disney was offered $300 to allow a marketer to imprint Mickey Mouse on paper tablets for children. Walt agreed as he truly needed the money. This began the production of Disney consumer products and has led them to be one of the most recognizable media brands in the world today. The war years (1939 to 1945) were financially difficult for the company but Disney did not give up. The studio made educational films for the United States government as well as made animated comedies. After the war the company branched out by concentrating their efforts towards films using people versus cartoon characters. In the 1950s Disney tapped into the television audience with a weekly show that featured past and present Disney film characters. In 1955 Disney was inspired by his children to expand his business ventures by opening up the theme park – Disneyland in Anaheim, California. This business venture was and still is one of Disney’s biggest successes. In the 1970s Disney had a dream to continue to offer family entertainment by developing plans to open up an entertainment and educational complex in Florida. This project became known as Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, Disney did not get to realize the accomplishment of this dream as it was completed after his death. Roy died two month’s after Walt Disney World opened in October of 1971. Despite the deaths of the two Disney brothers the company is still thriving today – not only in the United States but through-out the world. The company continues to expand their business offerings through media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, and consumer products. The Walt Disney Company has seen much financial success as it operates as world-wide entertainment company. Headquartered in Burbank California, Disney employs over 130,000 people. Revenue is generated through the operation of the company’s four segments. These operating segments are: Media Networks (television, radio, and the internet); Studio entertainment (live-action and animated motion pictures, musical recordings and video programming); Consumer products (products and licenses to promote and sell  the Disney characters and other intellectual property); and Parks and Resorts ticket sales, room nights at the hotels, and rentals at the resort properties). Financially, the company has earning stability according to the year-end fillings with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). Positive net income has been reported for the last five years. The Media Networks division appears to be their biggest generator of income for Disney which brings in about 41% of their revenue while the Consumer Products segment produces about 7% of their revenue. Disney’s Parks and Resorts also have been successful revenue generators for the company. In 2007 alone operating income increase 11% from the prior year. According to Robert Iger, president and chief executive officer of Walt Disney Company, the positive financial results are a direct result of â€Å"strong brands, combined with high-quality creative content and our ability to promote and distribute the content across multiple businesses and platforms† this gives Disney â€Å"the unique ability to continue delivering growth and value to our shareholders† (Disney.com, 2007, 2). It can be said that Walt Disney’s ability to foster the spirit of creativity, innovation and excellence still continues to underlie the company’s success they enjoy today. Disney corporations pride is in maintaining the â€Å"magic â€Å"of Disney. Their slogan is the happiest place on earth. Guests from all over the world come and enjoy the magical experience of the imagination of Walt Disney. All of this imagination has created characters and a world of fantasy that is shared in a full day at theme parks. The mission statement that the company has created is to make people happy, all of this through the entertainment values of no cynicism, nurturing, and promulgation of â€Å"wholesome American values† and the creativity of dreams and imagination. The organization structure of Disney involves the board of directors; any decision related to the organization is brainstormed through the directors before the decision is approved by the CEO Bob Iger. Keeping in consideration that Disney Corporation has subsidiaries under them such as Disney Studios, the theme parks in California, Florida, Japan, Paris and Hong Kong; Disney also has Disney consumer products and media networks. All these Disney entities have  different business proposals that require attentive decision making. This is all carefully done with the board of directors. At Disney, â€Å"the bottom line is imagination, our culture is magic and wonder, and required previous work experience: childhood dreams.† Such insightful rhetoric entices employees to put forth their best effort to live up to the self-imposed hype. Disney’s approach to employee motivation and satisfaction is based on Frederick Herzberg’s theory that motivation comes from within the individual, rather than from a policy imposed by the company. Disney provides each of its 130,000 employees world-wide with the opportunity for recognition for achievement, increased responsibility because of performance, opportunity to grow in knowledge, chance for advancement, and improved maintenance items such as wages, off-hour programs and self-development opportunities. Disney is very aware that the only way of meeting customer’s expectations is by delivering the magic through the staff. The culture of quality perfected at Disney’s theme parks could not prevail without employee buy-in. To gain employee acceptance, the concept of show business is promoted as an organizational culture. The employee is not hired for a job, but cast for a role in the show. Hired employees are called cast members, wear costumes not uniforms, and they play before an audience of guests, not a crowd of customers. When they are in a guest environment; they are onstage; when they are in an employee environment, he or she is backstage. Prior to any interview, Disney prescreens applicant by showing prospective employees a video prior to filling out an application. This provides an opportunity to opt out of the hiring process if they do not agree with Disney’s expectations regarding appearance, guidelines, or even having their own transportation. After being selected for a role, cast members spend their first day at Disney University where are taught, amongst Disney traditional values, that their roles are bigger than their jobs. The cast is charged with creating magic moments for its guests. Additionally, cast members are empowered to make the right decision and provide the right behavior for each guest he or she comes into contact with. Empowerment of the Disney cast begins with a service  theme of â€Å"creating happiness† for people. Disney then provides extensive training, ongoing communication, and dependable support systems to help the cast make the right decisions in each guest encounter. Cast members uphold the standards of courtesy, efficiency, safety and show, along with aligning personal values, traits and behavior with those of the organization. Disney has 10 management principles in place that have contributed to the success of the company. These principles are: (1) Make Everyone’s Dreams Come True, (2) You Better Believe It, (3) Never a Customer, Always a Guest, (4) All for One and One for All, (5) Share the Spotlight, (6) Dare to Dare, (7) Practice, Practice, Practice, (8) Make Your Elephant Fly, (9) Capture the Magic with Storyboards, and (10) Give Details Top Billing (Capodagli and Jackson, 1999). Although all these are an integral part of the company, the first, fourth, and seventh principles are significant for employee motivation. â€Å"Make Everyone’s Dream Come True,† outlines the importance of allowing members of the organization to dream and develop his or her creative talents (Capodagli and Jackson, 1999). Disney encourages creativity in all its employees. This encourages participation and is credited with a decreased turnover rate as compared to the industry’s competitors (Capodagli and Jackson, 1999. The fourth principle, â€Å"All for One and One for All,† highlights the importance of teamwork and empowerment of the employees. Teamwork is described as a method of fostering intense loyalty, enthusiasm and commitment. Because the focus at the Disney Company is to make sure that each guest has a memorable and pleasant experience, it doesn’t matter whose â€Å"job† is to pick up a piece of trash. It becomes everyone’s responsibility (Capodagli and Jackson, 1999). The seventh principle, â€Å"Practice, Practice, Practice† outlines the importance of formal and continuous training (Capodagli and Jackson, 1999). Initially, Disney’s initial training programs covered only the very basic essentials to keep operations going. During those early years, the training consisted of a  first-day orientation, with some on-the-job training and a few recreational programs for employees. As Disney began to grow, more emphasis on training and the total employee environment was needed. Disney University’s challenge is to offer employees the finest working environment possible. To meet this challenge Disney training programs had to be executed in an effort to show interest and concern for the growth of the employees and the Disney organization. The name â€Å"Disney University† extends well beyond training and education implications (Cook, 1974). More than training is included at the university. The university feels a responsibility to the whole person; the university helps employees achieve their goals as the organization achieves its goals. A very important responsibility of the Disney University is the preservation of Walt Disney’s motivational philosophies and traditions. The university staff is concerned not only with an employee’s education and development, but also with his or her motivation, morale, communication and physical working atmosphere. The university also provides social and recreational activities for the employee. The Disney web site states: â€Å"The Company has a tradition of innovation and creativity that is the result of hiring and motivating diverse employees with a wide range of talents† (Walt Disney Company, 2008). The Walt Disney Company wants to empower its cast; to do this they start with committed leaders at the top who are willing to set examples. Disney applies the concept of cross servicing during peak hours. During these periods, supervisors and managers set aside their normal duties and help the cast in all other areas of the operation, including; food service, janitorial service, ticketing and guest assistance at all attractions. The cross-servicing concept allows cast members to see management in action and provides an extraordinary opportunity to model good behaviors and appropriate job/people skills. Every year, The Walt Disney Company holds service awards dinners at its theme parks around the world. All the company vice presidents are in attendance, and Disney employees receive plaques, jewelry and other merchandise  depending on their years of service. â€Å"When we hear of an employee doing something special, we bring it to the attention of Michael Eisner and he personally sends them a letter of thanks† (Alonzo, 1994). Every Christmas, the Walt Disney Company opens Disneyland for employees and families only with executives running the park. Disney provides a broad spectrum of recreational, social, cultural and special activities for employees and their families. These activities include sport programs of all types, theater workshops, community services, special employee-only visits to the â€Å"Magic Kingdom,† film festivals and previews, various travel and entertainment programs, and comfortable break and eating areas for employees. Employees are also provided with housing assistance, doctor and dentist referrals, and a variety of merchants who offer discounts to Disney employees (Cook, 1974). Employees (or Cast Members as they are commonly referred to) are afforded a wide range of benefits such as health, dental and life insurance packages. Cast members are also given complimentary theme park passports allowing them to access any of the Disney parks at no charge as well as Cast Member discounts on products and merchandise. Disney associates are also reimbursed for education, receive stock options and are eligible for service awards. Those with children who live near Anaheim or Orlando can take advantage of the childcare centers while they go to work. The many benefits motivate employees and form a good basis for employee retention. Disney incorporates distinctive values in it workplace. Innovation, quality, community, storytelling, optimism and decency are the foreground to its success. These core values resonate in very product Disney produces ensuring the consumer receives the highest quality entertainment product available. In 2006 Disney ranked number one on the BusinessWeek’s â€Å"best places to launch a career† (Disney 2006, Business Week). Disney’s strong on-campus recruiting, solid benefits and collaborative culture helped put the entertainment giant at the head of the Business Week ranking, which identifies top employers for new college graduates. At Disney, life is fun. People who come to enjoy Disney products are having fun and therefore, those providing these products and services should also be having fun – and be in good spirits. It helps motivate the guests to have fun. When the guests have fun they come back; when they come back the company generates revenue. Walt Disney was able to transform his imagination into a living organism that attracts people from all over the world. This business has left a legacy for many generations and is still an attraction that our upcoming generations are looking forward to exhaust and live for their children. Walt Disney was a true genius. He was able to turn fantasies and stories into a booming business that appears will be never ending. Walt Disney recognized that â€Å"whatever we accomplish is due to the combined effort. The organization must be with you or you don’t get it done. In my organization there is respect for every individual, and we all have a keen respect for the public† (Disney Dreamer, 2008, 54) Walt Disney’s management philosophy holds true today. Disney is a model for success. The company’s proven methods for employee motivation leave little if any for improvement. The finely evolved practice of putting associates before profits has yielded abundance in popularity and name recognition for the organization all over the world. For the foreseeable future, it does appear that Walt Disney Company will continue to expand its business and remain profitable. This can be contributed to the ability of management to foster the spirit of employee creativity, innovation, and excellence that continues to underlie all the company’s success. References Alonzo, V. (1994). The more the merrier. Incentive, 168(6), 47. Retrieved February 22, 2008, from MasterFILE Premier database. Capodagli, B. and Jackson, L. (1999). The Disney Way: Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company. McGraw-Hill. Cook, M. (1974). What Can I Do For You?. Training and Development Journal, 28(9), 30. Retrieved February 22, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Corporate Disney. (2008, February). Disney Company History. Retrieved February 16, 2008 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history_1.htmlDisney Dreamer. (2008, February). Walt Disney quotes. Retrieved February 23, 2008 fromhttp://www.disneydreamer.com/walt/quotes.htmDisney Institute. (2008). Retrieved February 22, 2007 fromhttp://www.disneyinstitute.comHerzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (2007). Motivation to Work. Bloomsbury Business Library – Management Library, Retrieved February 23, 2008, from Business Source Complete database. The Walt Disney Company. (2008). Retrieved February 22, 2008 fromhttp://corporate.disney.go.com

Leadership and Management Concepts for Health Professionals Essay

In this essay, leadership will be defined and analysed. A detailed leader profile from my workplace will be developed and described using transformational theory, as this is the most adequate theory to describe the performance, effectiveness and styles used by the leader to achieve the objectives and goals in my workplace. Moreover, the nature of the leader’s role and achievement utilising the theory will be analysed. In addition, transformational theory will be defined and analysed based on different explanations. Leadership is one of the most essential criteria of the nurse manager. It is the process of interaction between the leader and the other staff, influencing them toward workplace goals achievement (Yukl, 1998). Leadership is the ability to provide direction toward preferred future aspirations and aligns the followers toward goals achievement (Kelly-Heidenthal, 2004). Moreover, leadership is viewed as a dynamic interactive process that involves various dimensions, including planning, organising, directing and controlling. The activities of an organised group can be influenced by a process in which the efforts to achieve the goals and tasks are managed by leadership (Roussel, Russell & Swansburg, 2006). Leadership is also defined as inducing individuals or a group to take an action in accordance with the purpose of the leader. Moreover, Roussel, Russell and Swansburg (2006) correctly pointed out that leadership can be explained as a group of individuals who have been inspired by a person to work together toward achieving common goals and missions using appropriate means. A crowd can be transformed into a functioning and useful organisation, and this is a vital component of leadership. Leadership can be formal or informal. As Sullivan and Decker (2004) explain, it can be formal when a nurse manager demonstrates power and authority within a framework of legal approval by the organisation. Leadership can be informal when utilised by a staff member who does not have effective leadership skills, ideas and roles to promote the performance of the work outcomes. Leader’s Profile Mrs. Zahra is a nursing officer who has been working since 1996 in charge of a department in the Armed Forces Hospital, Sultanate of Oman. She is known to everybody in the department and all around the hospital as a friendly person who is intelligent, hardworking, and motivational, a good communicator and a person with a strong personality that inspires others to follow her. In addition, Mrs. Zahra has problem solving skills and extensive experience and knowledge in her speciality as well as in leadership and management. Further, she is a member of the Quality Assurance and Staff Development Committees. As she is in charge of the operating theatres department, she manages the planning and coordination of the operating rooms scheduling system. Moreover, she adjusts the staffing assignments of nursing and ancillary personnel to provide adequate room coverage. Motivation, direction, controlling and evaluation of the staff performance are some of the leader’s responsibilities. Transformational Leadership Transformational theory is the most appropriate theory to describe my leader’s role, nature and achievements. Transformational leadership focuses on how the followers can be motivated, guided and directed to achieve the goals of the work by the leaders (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). Sullivan and Decker (2005) emphasise that generating employees’ commitment to the vision is the goal of transformational leadership. According to Kelly-Heidenthal (2004), ‘transformational leadership is based on the idea of empowering others to engage in pursuing a collective purpose by working together to achieve a vision of a preferred future’. The work of Roussel, Russell and Swansburg (2006) reveals that there are four components of effective and dynamic transformational leadership: management of trust, attention, self and meaning. In management of trust and reliability, decisions based on fairness, honesty and equity that have been made by the transformational leaders will be respected, followed and executed by the nurses. A transformational leader’s judgment is usually consistent and sound. Having vision, goals or a sense of outcomes will lead to achieving the management of attention. Any health care organisation will be defined by how it serves the community and where it is headed in order to achieve its vision statement. Vision means the credible, attractive and realistic future stated for the organisation. Knowing the skills of the staff and how to utilise them effectively is defining the meaning of self. Leaders develop their leadership skills through continuing their education in leadership and management skills so that the burnout and stress facing them will be reduced and controlled. In management of meaning, leaders must inspire commitment in staff by communicating their vision and creating a standardised culture among the staff by using group discussions, meetings, agreements and consensus building in which individual innovation and creativity are well supported. The goals and objectives that are consistent with the vision must be related with the rewards and appraisals for the staff. Moreover, Roussel and Russell (2009) have made clear that in transformational leadership, the achievement of goals that benefits the organisation and the personnel themselves is achieved by empowering the personnel to have a vision about the organisation and to trust the leaders. Transformational leadership can be practiced in hospitals and emergency rooms, as they are unstable and rapidly changing environments. Therefore, leaders in this atmosphere will acknowledge uncertainty, be flexible, motivate, and consider the employees’ values and needs (Roussel & Russell, 2009). In transformational leadership, leaders empower and motivate the staff by involving them in decision-making, which inspires them to be a part of the vision and makes them feel that they are part of the team contributing to the success of the organisation. Leaders inspire the staff by rewarding them for the quality and excellence of the work carried out. As a result, leaders will have staff who demonstrate high quality performance, commitment and job satisfaction Roussel & Russell, 2009). Kelly-Heidenthal (2004) has pointed out that the empowerment and inspiration of the staff leads to high performance and commitment to the organisation through a good relationship between the leaders and the staff. In general, there are certain common characteristics that transformational leaders should have. These are the ability to: instil a sense of capability in staff; offer vision; inspire trust; perform all tasks on time; take risks; manage and take action appropriately during times of crises; and communicate effectively. In the context of a transformational leadership framework, Mrs.  Zahra treats all staff in a friendly way, equally and with perfect communication skills acceptable to all of them. This leads to building a trusting relationship between her and the staff. In addition, the leader involves all the staff in the organisation’s vision and treats each staff member as a part of it. As a result, the self-confidence of the staff is gained and restored. The leader is concerned about the values and needs of her staff as she routinely holds individual meetings with each staff member in her office, asking each one of them about their feelings, needs and problems and tries to address them. Further, she shares many responsibilities and power with the staff; therefore, the staff feel responsible to work harder and more effectively. This causes all staff to be more motivated and work hard to accomplish the goals and tasks of the organisation. The leader holds general meetings with all staff frequently sharing with them decision-making, work strategies and any other new ideas from the staff. Consequently, all staff are inspired to be a part of the team, working hard and effectively for the vision of the organisation. The leader inspires the staff by being a model of a hard working, responsible and motivational person. In doing so, she motivates and stimulates staff performance and commitment to achieve the goals of the organisation. As Mrs. Zahra is a trustworthy and reliable leader. All staff follow her decisions with a sense that she is doing the best for the achievement of the organisation’s tasks. She directs, guides and controls all operating theatres scheduling systems. She delegates and allocates staff to fulfil various functions as a motivation process, which increases the trusting relationship between her and the staff. This leads to increased staff commitment, goals’ achievement and job satisfaction. The leader develops staff knowledge and experience in collaboration with the staff development department by involving them in ongoing job training programs in the Armed Forces Hospital or by sending them for short courses in Oman or nearby countries. Thus, staff will be more knowledgeable, educated, and more capable to carry out the work and tasks effectively and on time. As an example of the leader’s motivation of the staff, she has assigned a monthly reward for one of the staff members who works hard and effectively with high performance. This creates competition amongst the staff to work harder with a high level of performance and commitment to achieve the goals of the organisation. Moreover, this process demonstrates the meaning of inspiration skills and how to motivate the staff positively within the organisation. After all, the organisation’s performance and productivity in general will be increased and delivered with high quality standards. Conclusion Leadership is one of the most important skills in nurse managers. It is a process of interaction between the leader and the staff, influencing them positively toward achieving the goals and tasks of the organisation. Transformational leadership is very effective and is commonly used in hospitals. It is based on ideas of empowering, inspiring and motivating the staff toward working together to achieve the organisation’s goals and vision. A transformational leader who acts as a role model can influence the staff and make them accountable for their own practice, work achievement and staff development (McNaron, 2009, pp. 89-560). Moreover, high levels of competency can be gained by using transformational leadership skills and the quality of patient care outcomes will be improved as a result. Staff development, commitment and job satisfaction can be improved by using transformational leadership skills. These are motivation, inspiration, empowerment, building a trusting relationship between the leader and the staff, sharing power and decision-making and rewarding staff for quality and excellence of job achievement. My leader’s profile has been discussed in detail. As well as her nature, goals and achievements, using transformational leadership theory has been recognised with many similarities between them. She applied transformational leadership skills very effectively and utilised them toward the improvement of staff and the organisation’s productivity in general. I enjoyed working in the operating theatres department with Mrs. Zahra’s leadership and I hope that I will continue working with her for many years to come. I wish the best for my leader and for her to continue in her current leadership style.

Doubt, a Play by John Patrick Shanley

Doubt, a Play by John Patrick Shanley Doubt is a drama written by John Patrick Shanley. It is about a strict nun who believes that a priest has done something terribly inappropriate to one of the students. The Setting of Doubt The play is set in the Bronx, New York in 1964, and takes place mostly in the offices of a Catholic school. Plot Overview Based upon a few circumstantial details and a lot of intuition, the stern nun, Sister Aloysius Beauvier believes that one of the priests at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church and school has been molesting a 12-year-old boy named Donald Muller, the schools only African-American student. Sister Aloysius recruits a young, naive nun (Sister James) to assist her in monitoring the suspicious yet charismatic Father Flynn. She also addresses her concerns to Donalds mother, who, surprisingly, is not horrified or even shocked by the allegations. (Mrs. Muller is more concerned about her son getting into high school and avoiding a beating from his dad.) The play concludes with a one-on-one confrontation between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn as she attempts to get the truth out of the priest. The Character Sister Aloysius: What Does She Believe? This nun is a diligent taskmaster who firmly believes that subjects such as art and dance class are a waste of time. (She doesnt think much of history either.) She contends that good teachers are cold and cunning, creating a bit of fear within the hearts of the students. In some ways, Sister Aloysius might fit the stereotype of the angry Catholic school nun who slaps the hands of students with a ruler. However, playwright John Patrick Shanley reveals his true motives in the plays dedication: This play is dedicated to the many orders of Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to serving others in hospitals, schools, and retirement homes. Though they have been much maligned and ridiculed, who among us has been so generous? In the spirit of the above statement, Sister Aloysius seems so harsh because she ultimately cares about the well-being of the children in her school. She is ever vigilant, as apparent in her discussion with the innocent teacher Sister James; Aloysius seems to know more about the students than the young, naive nun. Eight years before the beginning of the story, Sister Aloysius was responsible for detecting a sexual predator among the priesthood. After she went directly to the monsignor, the abusive priest was removed. (She does not indicate that the priest was arrested.) Now, Sister Aloysius suspects that Father Flynn has made a sexual advance on a 12-year-old boy. She believes that while having a private conversation, Father Flynn gave the boy wine. She doesnt state exactly what she thinks happens next, but the implication is that Father Flynn is a pedophile who must be dealt with immediately. Unfortunately, because she is a woman, she does not have the same level of authority as the priests; so instead of reporting the situation to her superiors (who will probably not listen to her), she reports her suspicions to the boys mother. During the plays finale, Aloysius and Flynn confront one another. She lies, claiming that she has heard about previous incidents from other nuns. In response to her lie/threat, Flynn resigns from the school but obtains a promotion becoming the pastor of a different institution. The Dubious Priest of Doubt The audience learns much about Father Brendan Flynn, yet most of the information is hearsay and conjecture. The early scenes which feature Flynn show him in performance mode. First, he is speaking to his congregation about dealing with a crisis of faith. His second appearance, another monologue, is delivered to the boys on the basketball team he coaches. He gives them instruction about developing a routine on the court and lectures them about their dirty fingernails. Unlike Sister Aloysius, Flynn is moderate in his beliefs about discipline and tradition. For example, Aloysius scorns the idea of secular Christmas songs such as Frosty the Snowman appearing in the churchs pageant; she argues they are about magic and therefore evil. Father Flynn, on the other hand, likes the notion of the church embracing the modern culture so that its leading members can be seen as friends and family, and not just emissaries from Rome. When he is confronted about Donald Muller and the alcohol that was on the boys breath, Father Flynn reluctantly explains that the boy was caught drinking the altar wine. Flynn promised not to punish the boy if no one else found out about the incident and if he promised not to do it again. That answer relieves the naive Sister James, but it does not satisfy Sister Aloysius. During the plays finale, when Sister Aloysius falsely tells him that nuns from other parishes have made incriminating statements, Flynn becomes very emotional. FLYNN: Am I not flesh and blood like you? Or are we just ideas and convictions. I cant say everything. Do you understand? There are things I cant say. Even if you imagine the explanation, Sister, remember there are circumstances beyond your knowledge. Even if you feel certainty, it is an emotion and not a fact. In the spirit of charity, I appeal to you. Some of these phrases, such as There are things I cant say, seem to imply a level of shame and possibly guilt. However, Father Flynn firmly claims, I have not done anything wrong. Ultimately, it is up to the audience to determine guilt or innocence, or whether or not such rulings are even possible, given the sketchy bits of evidence delivered by Shanleys drama. Did Father Flynn Do It? Is Father Flynn a child molester? The audience and readers never know. At its heart, that is the point of John Patrick Shanleys Doubt- the realization that all of our beliefs and convictions are part of a facade we build to protect ourselves. We often choose to believe in things: a persons innocence, a persons guilt, the sanctity of the church, the collective morality of society. However, the playwright argues in his preface, deep down, under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we dont know...anything. But nobodys willing to say that. One thing seems certain by the end of the play: Father Flynn is concealing something. But who isnt?

Summary of the Poem When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be Essays

Summary of the Poem When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be Essays Summary of the Poem When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be Paper Summary of the Poem When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be Paper gleand, garners, full ripend grain. Subtly reinforcing this idea is the alliteration of the key words gleand, garners, and grain, as well as the repetition of r sounds in charactery, rich, garners,ripend, and grain. . A harvest is, obviously, fulfillment in time, the culmination which yields a valued product, as reflected in the grain being full ripend. Abundance is also apparent in the adjectives high-piled and rich. The harvest metaphor contains a paradox (paradox is a characteristic of Keatss poetry and thought): Keats is both the field of grain (his imagination is like the grain to be harvested) and he is the harvester (writer of poetry). In the next quatrain (lines 5-8), he sees the world as full of material he could transform into poetry (his is the magic hand); the material is the beauty of nature (nights starrd face) and the larger meanings he perceives beneath the appearance of nature or physical phenomena (Huge cl oudy symbols) . In the third quatrain (lines 9-12), he turns to love. As the fair creature of an hour, his beloved is short-lived just as, by implication, love is. The quatrain itself parallels the idea of little time, in being only three and a half lines, rather than the usual four lines of a Shakespearean sonnet; the effect of this compression or shortening is of a slight speeding-up of time. Is love as important as, less important than, or more important than poetry for Keats in this poem? Does the fact that he devotes fewer lines to love than to poetry suggest anything about their relative importance to him? The poets concern with time (not enough time to fulfill his poetic gift and love) is supported by the repetition of when at the beginning of each quatrain and by the shortening of the third quatrain. Keats attributes two qualities to love: (1) it has the ability to transform the world for the lovers (faery power), but of course fairies are not real, and their enchantments are an illusion and (2) love involves us with emotion rather than thought (I feel and unreflecting love). Reflecting upon his feelings, which the act of writing this sonnet has involved, Keats achieves some distancing from his own feelings and ordinary life; this distancing enables him to reach a resolution. He thinks about the human solitariness (I stand alone) and human insignificance (the implicit contrast betwen his lone self and the wide world). The shore is a point of contact, the threshold between two worlds or conditions, land and sea; so Keats is crossing a threshold, from his desire for fame and love to accepting their unimportance and ceasing to fear and yearn.

Standard Based Grading Measures Student Skills

Standard Based Grading Measures Student Skills What does an A on a test or quiz mean to a student? Mastery of skill or mastery of information or content?   Does an F grade mean a student understands none of the material or less than 60% of the material? How is grading used as feedback for academic performance? Currently, in most middle and high schools (grades 7-12), students receive letter grades or numerical grades in subject areas based on points or percentages. These letter or numerical grades are tied to credits for graduation based on Carnegie units, or the number of  hours of contact time with an instructor.   But what does 75% grade on a math assessment tell a student about his or her specific strengths or weaknesses? What  does a B- grade on a literary analysis essay inform a student about how he or she meets skills sets in organization, content, or conventions of writing?   In contrast to letters or percentages, many elementary and intermediate schools have adopted a standards-based grading system, one that uses a 1-to-4 scale. This 1-4 scale breaks down academic subjects into specific skills needed for a content area.   While these elementary and intermediate schools use standards-based grading may vary in their report card terminology, the most common four-part scale denotes a students level of achievement with descriptors such as: Excels or above grade level (4)Proficient or at grade level (3)Approaching proficiency or approaching grade level (2)Well below proficiency or below grade level (1) A standards-based grading system may be called  competency-based,  mastery-based,  outcome-based,  performance-based, or proficiency-based. Regardless of the name used, this form of a grading system is  aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Literacy and in Math, which was established in 2009 and adopted by 42 out of 50 states. Since this adoption, several states have withdrawn from using CCSS in favor of developing their own academic standards. These CCSS standards for literacy and for math were organized in a framework that details specific skills for each grade level in grades K-12. These standards serve as guides for administrators and teachers to develop and implement the curriculum. Each skill in the CCSS has a separate standard, with skill progressions tied to grade levels. Despite the word standard in the CCSS, standards-based grading at the upper-grade levels, grades 7-12, has not been universally adopted. Instead, there is ongoing traditional grading at this level, and most middle and high school use letter grades or percentages based on 100 points. Here is the traditional grade conversion chart: Letter Grade Percentile Standard GPA A+ 97-100 4.0 A 93-96 4.0 A- 90-92 3.7 B+ 87-89 3.3 B 83-86 3.0 B- 80-82 2.7 C+ 77-79 2.3 C 73-76 2.0 C- 70-72 1.7 D+ 67-69 1.3 D 65-66 1.0 F Below 65 0.0 The skill sets outlined in the CCSS for literacy and math can be easily converted  to four point scales, just as they are at the K-6 grade levels. For example, the first reading standard for grade 9-10 states that a student should be able to: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. Under a traditional grading system with letter grades (A-to-F) or percentages, a score on this reading standard may be difficult to interpret. Advocates of standard based grading will ask, for example, what a score of B or 88% tells a student. This letter grade or percentage is less informative about a student’s skill performance and/or subject mastery.  Instead, they argue, a standards-based system would singularly assess a students skill to cite textual evidence for any content area: English, social studies, science, etc. Under a standards-based assessment system, students could be assessed on their skill to cite using a 1-to-4 scale that featured the following descriptors:   Score 4: excels in citing  strong and thorough textual evidence -explicit and inferential OR needs no support;Score 3:  proficient at  citing  strong and thorough textual evidence -explicit and inferential  OR needs minimal support;Score 2:  approaching proficiency at citing  strong and thorough textual evidence -explicit and inferential OR needs moderate support;Score 1:  below proficiency at citing  strong and thorough textual evidence -explicit and inferential OR needs extensive support and/or reteaching. Assessing students on a 1-4 scale  on a particular skill  can provide clear and specific feedback to a student. A standard by standard assessment separates and detail the skills, perhaps on a rubric.  This is less confusing or overwhelming to a student when compared to a combined skills percentage score on 100 point scale. A conversion chart that compares  a traditional grading of an assessment to standards-based graded assessment would look like the following: Letter Grade Standards-Based grade Percentage grade Standard GPA A to A+ Mastery 93-100 4.0 A- to B Proficient 90-83 3.0 to 3.7 C to B- Approaching proficiency 73-82 2.0-2.7 D to C- Below Proficiency 65-72 1.0-1.7 F Below Proficiency Below 65 0.0 Standards-based grading  also allows teachers, students,  and parents to see a grade report that lists overall levels of proficiency on separate skills instead of composite or combined skill scores. With this information, students are better informed in their individual strengths and in their weaknesses as  a standards-based score highlights the skill set(s) or content that need(s) improvement and allows them to target areas for improvement. Furthermore, students would not need to re-do all of a test or assignment if they have demonstrated mastery in some areas. An advocate for standards-based grading is educator and researcher Ken OConnor. In  his chapter,  The Last Frontier: Tackling the Grading Dilemma, in Ahead of the Curve: The Power of Assessment to Transform Teaching and Learning, he notes: Traditional grading practices have promoted the idea of uniformity. The way we are fair is we expect all students do to the same thing in the same amount of time in the same way. We need to move†¦ to the idea that fairness is not uniformity. Fairness is equity of opportunity (p128). OConnor argues that standards-based grading allows for grading differentiation because it  is flexible and can be adjusted up and down as students confront new skills and content. Moreover, no matter where students are in a quarter or semester, a standard based grading system provides students, parents, or other stakeholders an assessment of student understanding in real time. That kind of student understanding may  take place during conferences, such as the ones Jeanetta Jones Miller explained in her article   A Better Grading System: Standards-Based, Student-Centered Assessment in the September 2013 edition of the English Journal. In her description of how standard based grading informs her instruction, Miller writes that it’s important to set up appointments to confer with each student about progress toward mastery of course standards. During the conference, each student receives individual feedback on his or her performance in meeting one or more standards in a content area:   The evaluation conference provides an opportunity for the teacher to make it clear that the student’s strengths and areas for growth are understood and the teacher is proud of the student’s efforts to master the standards that are most challenging. Another benefit to standardized based grading is the separation  of student work habits that are often combined in a grade. At the secondary level, a point penalty for late papers missed homework, and/or uncooperative collaborative behavior is sometimes included in a grade. While these unfortunate social behaviors will not stop with the use of standards-based grading, they may be isolated and given as separate scores  into another category. Of course, deadlines are important, but factoring in behaviors such as turning an assignment in on time or not has the effect of watering down an overall grade. To counter such behaviors, it may be possible to have a student turn in an assignment that still meets a mastery standard but does not meet a set deadline. For example, an essay assignment may still achieve a 4 or exemplary score on skills or content, but the academic behavior skill in turning in a late paper may receive a 1 or below proficiency score. Separating behavior from skills also has the effect of preventing students from receiving the kind of credit that simply completing work and meeting deadlines has had in distorting measures of academic skill.   There are, however, many educators, teachers and administrators alike, who do not see advantages to adopting a standards-based grading system at the secondary level. Their arguments against standards-based grading primarily reflect concerns at the instructional level. They stress that the  transition to a standards-based grading system, even if the school is from one of the 42 states using the CCSS, will require teachers to spend immeasurable amounts of time on extra planning, preparation, and training. In addition, any statewide initiative to move to standards-based learning may be difficult to fund and manage. These concerns may be a reason enough not to adopt standards-based grading. Classroom time can also be a concern for teachers when  students do not reach proficiency on a skill. These students will need reteaching and reassessment placing another demand on curriculum pacing guides. While this reteaching and reassessment by skill does create  additional work for classroom teachers, however, advocates for  standards-based grading note that this process may help teachers to refine their instruction. Rather than add to continuing student confusion or misunderstanding, reteaching may improve later understanding. Perhaps the strongest objection to standards-based grading is based on the concern that standards-based grading might put high school students at a disadvantage when applying to college. Many stakeholders -parents, students teachers, guidance counselors, school administrators-believe that college admissions officers will only evaluate students based on their letter grades or GPA, and that GPA must be in numerical form. Ken OConnor disputes that concern suggesting that secondary schools are in the position to issue both traditional letter or numerical grades and standards-based grades at the same time. â€Å"I think it’s unrealistic in most places to suggest that (GPA or letter grades) are going to go away at the high school level,† O’Connor agrees, but the basis for determining these might be different. He proposes that schools might base their letter-grade system on the percentage of grade-level standards a student meets in that particular subject and that schools can set their own standards based on GPA correlation.   Renowned author and education consultant Jay McTighe  agrees with OConnor, â€Å"You can have letter grades and standards-based grading as long as you clearly define what those (letter-grade) levels mean.† Other concerns are that standards-based grading can mean the loss of class ranking or honor rolls and academic honors. But OConnor points out that high schools and universities confer degrees with highest honors, high honors, and honors and that ranking students to the hundredth of a decimal may not be the best way to prove academic superiority. Several New England states will be at the forefront of this restructuring of grading systems. An article in  The  New England Journal of Higher Education Titled directly addressed the question of college admissions with standard based grading transcripts. The states of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire have all passed legislation to implement proficiency or standards-based grading in their secondary schools.   In support of this initiative, a study in Maine titled Implementation of a Proficiency-Based Diploma System: Early Experiences in Maine  Ã‚  (2014) by Erika K. Stump and David L. Silvernail used a  two-phase, qualitative approach in their research and found: ...that benefits [of proficiency grading] include improved student engagement, greater attention to development of robust interventions systems and more deliberate collective and collaborative professional work. Maine schools are expected to establish a proficiency-based diploma system by 2018. The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and the New England Secondary School Consortium (NESSC) met in 2016 with admissions leaders from highly selective New England colleges and universities and discussion was the subject of an article How Selective Colleges and Universities Evaluate Proficiency-Based High School Transcripts (April 2016) by Erika  Blauth and Sarah Hadjian. The discussion revealed that college admissions officers are less concerned with grade percentages  and more concerned that grades must always be based on clearly specified learning criteria.   They also noted that: Overwhelmingly, these admissions leaders indicate that students with proficiency-based transcripts will not be disadvantaged in the highly selective admissions process. Moreover, according to some admissions leaders, features of the proficiency-based transcript model shared with the group provide important information for institutions seeking not just high-performing academics, but engaged, lifelong learners. A review of the information on standards-based grading at the secondary level shows that implementation will require careful planning, dedication, and follow through for all stakeholders. The benefits for students, however, could be worth the considerable effort.

Hans Bellmers intentions and its portrayal of surrealism ideas Essay - 1

Hans Bellmers intentions and its portrayal of surrealism ideas - Essay Example The essay "Hans Bellmer’s intentions and its portrayal of surrealism ideas" explores Hans Bellmer. Hans was just a mere draftsman for a company that he worked for until 1926. Later on, he initiated his own doll project. It was aimed at opposing the fascism that was prevalent in Germany under the Nazi party. This doll expressed ideas of surrealism in the way that it was made. It represented by unconventional poses and mutated forms. The unconventional poses and the mutated forms were the creative intentions of Hans’s that expressed ideas of surrealism. His first doll explicitly sexualized as a female doll representing a young girl incorporated the usage of ball joint in its structure. He wrote a book in 1934 named the ‘The Doll’ on which he took the surreal picture of ten of his original doll prototypes. His dolls were 56 inches tall and had a unique torso that was made by using flax fiber, plaster, and glue. It also consisted of a mask-like head that was si mply constructed using the same material as the torso. The doll’s eyes were made of glass and its legs form dowel rods or broomsticks. This combination was made complete by having differentiated legs joints and lengths. One leg was a club-like foot made of wood and the other one was encased in a plaster shell that gave it a more naturalistic appearance. This ultimately gave his work on these dolls a surreal perspective since they were generated from his unconscious mind and seemed increasingly irrational. This was to those who were not keen participants.

Case Study Report LVMH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Case Study Report LVMH - Essay Example The detail analysis shows that the firm cannot be beaten despite the tough competition and hence promises a bright future. Thus the report essentially points out the strategic position of the firm and its present and future prospects. The world’s largest luxury commodity retail group, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) functions on the basis of four parameters viz. its product line, pattern of distribution, style of communicating its product offerings to large number of consumers and its price points. The luxury goods group renders greater impact on the first three activities for which the stress rendered by charging high prices gets mediated. Louis Vuitton had used its distribution and communication styles to lure huge groups of customers to its beautifully ordained stores spread along the region. Furthermore, the company spends a lot on advertising activities to create mass awareness of its products and shops. The price strategy followed by Louis Vuitton helps the company earn a huge margin of around 40 to 45 percent. A comparison drawn on the revenue margins of other luxury brand companies reflects that Louis Vuitton stands far ahead in the race. The world-renowned luxury goods brand states that the max imum number of consumers belongs to the middle level groups while the rich elites constitute only a niche segment. However, Louis Vuitton observes that owing to the event of recession the structure of consumer spending has countered a radical change. The consumers of the luxury goods retail chain who were not price sensitive previously became highly aware of the changing economic situation. This resulted in a huge drop of sales of such luxury commodities, which came to be observed as objects of lesser importance. Owing to the change in the market condition brought about by recession the company felt the need to redesign its products to focus on their basic usage parameters rather than making it gaudy. Thus, the price of the

Different Aspects Of Journeys Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Different Aspects Of Journeys - Research Paper Example Furthermore, Frost’s poem mainly describes the options of the speaker in taking one road over the other, thus, the focus is more on the roads themselves or the journey itself. On the other hand, Welty’s short story is more focused on the character of Phoenix, and how the journey she is taking is simply a means to show her qualities, convictions, and characteristics as a person. This paper will explore the different ways by which these two pieces tackled the topic of taking a journey. The poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, tells of the speaker who happens to chance upon a fork in the road in the woods. The two roads that lay before him are both littered with untrodden leaves until finally, the speaker chooses one of the roads telling himself that someday he will take the other, though of this, he is also doubtful. The speaker further goes on to say that someday, he will be reporting about how his journey turned out to be. On the other hand, the short story â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty talks about the journey of the main character, Phoenix, a very old woman who went on a trek to get medicines for her sick grandson. In this journey, she encounters and overcomes many challenges and trials that are representative of the challenges that she faces in society as a â€Å"colored† woman. Frost’s poem takes the form of rhyming quintains of iambic tetrameter. That is, it contains stanzas, four to be exact, of five lines each, consisting of four metrical feet (Hengreaves), with the ABAAB rhyming scheme. The metrical length of the poem is relatively shorter than most poems while the number of lines per stanza is longer. Thus, even this form of Frost’s poem is already an indication of what the poem wants to convey, which is nonconformity.

Research Design and Case Study (Was Iraq War Handled Effectively) Assignment

Research Design and Case Study (Was Iraq War Handled Effectively) - Assignment Example Additionally, it offers the chance to examine the outcomes of the choices chosen by the U.S and its allies during and after the invasion and even after the evacuation of U.S troops from Iraq. Other factors include the decisions of the new regime to marginalize the Sunnis and the inefficiencies of the institutions of Iraq to handle matters of the nation. The adoption of a case study will enable me to offer an analysis of both content and from a historical perspective. In addition, a case study offers the opportunity for structuring any future research on this topic while also providing a foundation for other researchers to further their knowledge on this topic and a chance to offer additional insight and information. A case study is the ideal research design technique because it is particularly helpful in analyzing institutions and structuring policy. The analytical approach to be adopted is the congruence method based on typical conditions. The use of congruence analysis is the most appropriate approach because it places emphasis on formulating conclusions that are relevant to the goals of the study and because it enhances objectivity and reliability of the research. The case study chosen is â€Å"Wars of Decline: Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya† because it offers an opportunity to clearly investigate the factors listed above and is able to comprehensively explain the occurrence of a number of factors that are responsible for the mismanagement of the Iraq War. â€Å"The Wars of Decline: Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya† provides an opportunity for the analysis of the management of the Iraq War. It provides a chance to analyze underlying factors that may have caused the mismanagement of the Iraq War. The Iraq War was as a response to the 9/11 bombings in Washington and New York by Al Qaeda militants. Al Qaeda had been responsible for a number of attacks

Immigration to the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Immigration to the United States - Essay Example Rather than live as de facto slaves on European estates they moved to America where they could be free. There were clear implications for America, but often obscured ones for Europe too. Another important point that Handlin makes in Chapter 1 involves the process of what can only be called natural selection. The passage from Europe to America was a harsh one. Only the stronger survived it. He writes that the features that allowed for success were more than physical; the ability to adapt mentally and socially were vital. Also in Chapter 1, Bodnar takes issue with the notion that immigrants had a monolithic approach to adapting to the new American life. Every individual and family found their own path. Some called themselves Americans right away and embraced the American capitalist ethic. Others spent generations finding their place. Similarly, as is explained dramatically in Chapter 2, Africa changed too because of â€Å"immigration† to America. Coastal Africans were abducted a nd sailed far across the sea to other lands. It is hard to know due to the dearth of information how this effected these African communities, but the consequences must surely have been devastating.

Company Evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Company Evaluation - Assignment Example Secondly, Miller stated that the fact the site is accessible worldwide has made it the most popular online site in the world where different people from different corners of the world can interact. The third key competence of facebook is its active research and development department, which has continually offered the site with new features that, makes social interaction more interesting. Lastly, the multilingual capability of facebook means non-English speakers can also utilise the social site (40-45). The value and mission of facebook is to simple enable people to connect with friends across that world and this value and mission statement help shape the planning function in the company, since every plan should always be applicable and beneficial to different users across the world. Therefore, the statement helps planners within the company to approach their task with a global approach. The main internal factors of facebook that will influence the business in the future are its research and development, and marketing. Through, continued research and development, the company will be able to remain at the top of competition and it will provide users with a variety of functional features for social interaction. Additionally, through aggressive marketing campaigns across the world the company will be able to attract many users and stay on top of the competition. One of the external factors that can influence the business in the future is heightened competition from other online social sites that are continually coming up and therefore, pose a threat to facebook’s market

Immigration to the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Immigration to the United States - Essay Example Rather than live as de facto slaves on European estates they moved to America where they could be free. There were clear implications for America, but often obscured ones for Europe too. Another important point that Handlin makes in Chapter 1 involves the process of what can only be called natural selection. The passage from Europe to America was a harsh one. Only the stronger survived it. He writes that the features that allowed for success were more than physical; the ability to adapt mentally and socially were vital. Also in Chapter 1, Bodnar takes issue with the notion that immigrants had a monolithic approach to adapting to the new American life. Every individual and family found their own path. Some called themselves Americans right away and embraced the American capitalist ethic. Others spent generations finding their place. Similarly, as is explained dramatically in Chapter 2, Africa changed too because of â€Å"immigration† to America. Coastal Africans were abducted a nd sailed far across the sea to other lands. It is hard to know due to the dearth of information how this effected these African communities, but the consequences must surely have been devastating.

I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life Theological Study Essay Example for Free

I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life Theological Study Essay Jesus answered, â€Å"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. â€Å" When examining a Biblical verse, it is important to understand the historical context in which it’s written. Originally recorded by John, Son of Zebedee, whose main purpose in writing his Gospel can be found in John 20:31, â€Å"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. , is Jesus’ declaration â€Å"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me†. The passage of John 14:6 is part of an extensive conversation that Jesus had with his disciples during the â€Å"Last Supper† on the eve of the Passover Feast. Immediately preceding the statement, we read that Judas has been identified as the betrayer of Jesus and that Peter will deny Jesus three times before sunrise. Jesus has just advised his followers that he will be leaving them soon and He is attempting to comfort them. This one statement which focuses on the four thoughts, â€Å"way, truth, life, and coming to the Father†, is in essence a â€Å"recipe† for Christianity and completely fulfills the prophesy of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament. In examining the first word â€Å"way†, we find numerous accounts of The Way in the New Testament. The Way was a term used within the Jewish community to identify the â€Å"sect† of Jesus- the true Israel- as opposed to the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Zealots. We can see an example of this usage by Paul in the text of Acts 24:14, â€Å"However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are also Old Testament accounts such as in Isaiah 35:8 which speaks of the joy of the Redeemed, â€Å"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. † Jesus is the Way. He is the only way to Salvation; He is the only way the Father. Looking at the second word, â€Å"truth†, we can obtain a direct definition from the Expository Dictionary, in which the Greek translation means the â€Å"truth of God†. We can find many references to the word truth in the Bible. John 14:16-17, 1 John 4:6, and 2 John 2 contain multiple references to the Spirit of Truth and John 15:26 declares â€Å"When the Counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me†. In John 14: 9, Jesus says â€Å"†¦ Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. And in verse 11, He says â€Å"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The Truth is Jesus is the Christ- the Son of God, the personification of God, and part of the Trinity. Life, the third main word in the verse refers to Eternal Life. This is affirmed in various biblical verses such as John 3:16 â€Å"For God so loved the world that he gave his o ne and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life†. There are also several verses such as in John 5:40 and Acts 3:15 where Jesus is referred to as the Author of Life. In John 1:1-5 we can find the Prime Author idea expanded upon with â€Å"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it†. I do not believe it was an accident that Jesus was crucified in conjunction with the Passover Festival. Jesus became our sacrificial lamb and shed his blood so that the judgement of death would â€Å"pass over† us and allow us to obtain salvation.