Evidence of Neocolonialism in African Trade Relations Essay

Athow Brian and Robert G. Blanton present their study of African trade relations before and after European colonialism in â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † This study is quite important as it is an effort to scientifically assess the colonial trade legacy in a comparative manner. In fact, it is the only research of its kind analyzing trade relations of previously colonized states of Africa between 1938 and 1985. The authors’ goal is to discover whether neocolonialism continues to exist in the previously colonized African states with respect to trade relations. In other words, do the previously colonized African states continue to depend on the colonialists for trade? The underdevelopment of Africa is attributable to many factors, including the fact that it takes economically powerful governments with a strong sense of their goals to empower their people and develop nations. It is a well-known fact that the European colonialists had their own interests at heart. Their mercenary objectives could not accommodate the goal of developing Africa. African states that came to be ruled by Europeans were forced to produce agricultural goods as well as raw materials to meet European demands alone. The â€Å"traditional agricultural economies† of the colonized states of Africa were forced by French and British colonialists to start specializing in cash crops that were solely meant for export. Although the French and British colonialists came to hold significant political power over the African people, the local needs of the latter were utterly disregarded. No wonder, although Africa continues to appear lush green to the human eye, its people suffer from severe hunger. After all, their needs have been disregarded even after independence was attained from the European colonialists. As a matter of fact, the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† found that the African states that were previously colonized by the French continue to have France as their chief trading partner. Similarly, African states that were previously colonized by the British continue to trade with the British in addition to other states that had been colonized by the British. What is more, the trading style of the colonialists continues to be used by the African states that were colonized by the French and the British. French colonies of Africa were under a centralized rule. For this reason, they continue to consider France as their chief trading partner. British rule was decentralized to a large extent. Moreover, the British had already established trade relations between the African colonized states and other nations across the world that had been colonized by the British. These trading patterns continue to this day, which is the reason why the authors of â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† refer to neocolonialism in African trade relations. According to the authors, old habits die hard. Africa continues to suffer from severe poverty because its resources do not support the Africans. Rather, previously colonized African states continue to produce for the French and the British peoples. Africans are dependent on the moneys they receive for the goods they export to France and Britain, in addition to previously colonized British states in other parts of the world. Seeing that Africa appears to be on the losing side of this deal, the article, â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies† calls for massive structural changes in the political and trade patterns applied in Africa today. It would take African governments to develop a strong sense of their goals to achieve economic independence for the Africans – this time having the interests of their own people at heart. Bibliography Brian, Athow, and Robert G. Blanton. â€Å"Colonial Style and Colonial Legacies: Trade Patterns in British and French Africa. † Journal of Third World Studies (Fall 2002). Available from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200210/ai_n9134671. Internet; accessed 27 November 2008.

RR communications

Due to the division among departments, the company has been unable o meet reporting requirements for the Serbians Solely Act. It has proved obvious that a shared IT service, which is standardized among all the units, is needed to ensure everything goes well. The first problem we see at OR Communications is that there is a definite lack of centralized and concise IT governance. Currently all of the separate functions of the company have their own individual leadership with no central leadership. For this reason, each of the sections takes actions and makes decisions based only on how it affects their own particular departments.There Is no ordination to ensure that the act of one area does not negatively affect the rest of the firm. This In turn has led to a gallants lack of uniformity across the organization, which Is hurting customer relations. There are unified databases and each section maintains their own set of records; this is causing great frustration among their customers who continually have issues when dealing with more than one area. Much of the division of departments has been caused by a lack of central leadership.The CEO of the firm has failed to unify the department or assert any intro over the individual IT vice presidents. Even though they reported to him, each had acted entirely independently. This continuous failure of leadership has caused the department heads to develop a sense of isolation and self-survival. Even though a new executive UP of IT has been appointed to bring unity to the firm, there has been severe resistance as each department feels It will suffer. The lack of centralized management for so long has caused significant discord between the departments that will take considerable effort to overcome.In Dalton, this company attitude has altered down from the VSP to the middle and lower management creating an overall atmosphere that is dangerously disjointed. Even the suggestion of bringing together the database systems and manageme nt has caused a near mutinous uprising and rejection of leadership. The current managerial atmosphere has been around so long, the attitude of individualism has been deeply embedded in the corporate culture. While, individual thinking is useful to foster innovation and creativity, when the entire organization acts to satisfy only its individual requirements, the firm overall will suffer.Unless this attitude can be overcome, any attempt at bringing unity to the company will fall. From the technical standpoint, OR Communications is suffering from a severely fractured information management system. Every section of the company manuals Its own Individual customer databases, which are In Incompatible formats. If a customer manuals relationships with more then one division, they get bills from each individual area. Customer issues often fail to get causing problems with diminished customer satisfaction. In addition, without a centralized database, full customer information and statistics are impractical to elect.In addition to suffering by not being able to collect detailed records, the company is facing regulatory issues by not being able to provide complete information on the company's activities, and significant resources are being wasted to assemble simple reports. Currently management and associates at OR Communications believe that a collective solution is impossible, and any attempt to do so will cause them to suffer. While it may be true that the initial implementation of such a system will require a significant collective effort, the end result will be well worth it.It is also clear that much of the perspective of management is extremely short sided; projects are selected only based on a very narrow and limited benefit view with no regard for their long-term viability. As more and more systems have been patched together to fulfill immediate gaps, the overall collection of programs has become a cumbersome, inefficient, and unmanageable mess. A truly efficien t system would be one that is all-encompassing and communicates across all facets of the organization to deliver a unified and fully integrated information system that can add real value to the firm.One other major issue at OR Communications is the proliferation of rouge projects completed without oversight or regard for how they will affect the firm. In a large company every project should be examined to determine how it could provide value to the organization before being launched. At OR Communication projects are being launched that benefit only select areas and may in fact be causing a significant negative impact to the rest of the firm. The company currently does not have a steering or operating committee to oversee and exert control over these projects.Without any form of centralized control and provenance, these rouge projects will continue to sabotage the effectiveness of the organization. Lack of common information and enterprise IT strategy has caused several problems for the business and the IT departments of OR communications. Customer service has suffered and customer dissatisfaction has grown. Lack of common information has made it difficult for management to monitor the businesses as a whole. Business units are unable to exchange information and remain unaware of the other divisions' work.There is little sense of how the divisions work together to meet the company's overall goals. The accounting problems make it difficult to present shareholders with accurate financial information, and the system is not cost-effective in any case. Furthermore, each division working at individual level to attain its success makes them rigid and unable to adapt to changing requirements; under these circumstances even the implementation of new technology will be extremely difficult. The organization cannot operate efficiently as a whole or at division levels, and the costs are bound to keep increasing.Analysis: As many annoyed customers can probably agree, being tr ansferred from one apartment of the company to another over and over again to resolve a simple issue is one of the main reasons many companies lose customers. This is certainly an issue at OR Communications. The main cause of the problem seems to be the division of system that rewards individual performance over company profit. The fact that the four CICS refuse to work together and resort to sabotaging the efforts of the others, serves to show that they are more interested in their own selfish financial goals.While the president of the company may have been a visionary and brilliant entrepreneur, he lacked the managerial skills to recognize the need to have a unified commission system which would foster participation in a common goal, and thus a common commission which is interdependent on all four business units would be most beneficial to the company. Unifying IT Resources The most important problem for OR Communications to correct is a significant deficiency of successful inform ation management, reflected by the confused state of their customer information databases.Currently customer data is disbursed in separate databases for each section of the company, so that data from one apartment is not available to another. Thus, customers are forced to maintain relationships with multiple departments and receive billing from each. This separation means that valuable information resources are not being effectively utilized, hurting the firm's productivity and efficiency. To improve the state of information capital at OR Communications, a complete overhaul of the current systems will be necessary, from both an IT and business standpoint. Information represents a vital asset to any company.This can be in the form of customer accounts, sales records, research & development, financial statements, etc. However, in order to realize full benefits, the same information must be readily accessible by all individual units, so that the company can leverage it in the most effi cient manner. The first step to correct the issues at OR Communications is to create a unified data architecture that combines all information resources into a central database that is accessible to all sections of the firm. By providing a centralized database clients will be better served by allowing complete access to customer records throughout the company.This will also improve reporting abilities, lower administrative costs, and rattle increase the value of information resources. To achieve the greatest benefit to the company, OR Communications could consolidate its data from multiple silos into a unified enterprise data warehouse (DEW) (Smalls, 2011). This architecture provides multiple benefits including a single location for all information storage reducing the amount of duplicated efforts. This also greatly improves the integrity of data by providing a ‘single version of the truth' (Smalls, 2011).When data is spread throughout multiple databases, invariable some of it will differ. For example, a customer's address may have been changed in one department but not another. These differences can prove costly to a company. A centralized DEW means that only one record should exist for each customer and reduce data discrepancies. Having such a centralized system would also satisfy customer needs in a more efficient manner and would help to cross-sell products, which in turn would result in higher profits and more profit for the company.By allowing customers to have a single point of contact, and sharing information by standardizing software and databases across he organization, information will flow more freely and readily available thus giving the employees the ability to communicate in real time with accurate data and maximizing customer contact to increase profits. Having a decentralized IT function is business units separated, it keeps pertinent information out of reach of other business units, and thus allows missed opportunities to maximize profi t.Also, the lack of communication among the units creates chaos and disorientation in the organization and gives precedence to individual goals above company goals, which in urn will end up hurting the overall enterprise vision and may even spell the end of the enterprise altogether. Finally, having a decentralized IT function creates customer frustration such as in the case of getting several bills for different products. This frustration may cause the company lost customers and lost profits.Information Stewardship & Information Management Policy The difficulty in implementing this solution is the current state of the databases scattered about the firm; many are in incompatible formats, so that significant effort will need to be invested to bring together all of this data into a single, shared IT arrive system accessible to all. In addition, not all data is equally valuable to each unit. Efficiency necessitates allowing employees access to the information that is most pertinent wit hout inundating the various departments with extraneous details.For this reason, whatever IT solution is implemented must be able to adapt dynamically to the storage and retrieval needs of each department. Another challenge to creating a centralized system is the role of information stewardship. Information stewardship involves the ownership and control of information to reduce discrepancies and redundancies. To maintain the consistency and accuracy of data, information stewards need to be appointed. â€Å"Information stewards are businesspeople. They should be responsible for determining the meaning of information ‘chunks' and their business rules and contextual use.They should be responsible for the accuracy, timeliness, consistency, validity, completeness, and redundancy of information† (Mencken & Smith, 2009, p. 76). A serious challenge to the consolidation of data at OR Communication will be consolidating all of the disparate information from around the firm into a single enterprise data warehouse. It is very keel that there will be duplicate information, conflicting records, incompatible data formats, and other inconsistencies that will not lend themselves to easy integration.However, the reduction in duplicate and conflicting information will be vital to the success of OR Communication. Duplicate data means an increase in administrative work and overhead, and conflicting and inconsistent information means the company is not performing at optimum levels. The reduction of duplicate data, or data duplication â€Å"can improve the performance of virtual systems, reduce network traffic and cut the costs associated with data protection. In addition, duplication allows backup data to be replicated more efficiently to other sites for disaster recovery' (Symantec, 2011).Duplication increases the amount of data a corporate network must process, reducing efficiency and increasing costs. Storage costs increase as the same information may be stored and backed up across multiple databases, again wasting resources. Finally, duplication of data significantly increases the amount of labor required to utilize it in any useful manner. Clearly, OR Communication will need a significant amount of data duplication to create a useful, consolidated enterprise data warehouse.To facilitate the proper stewardship of information, an information management policy needs to be created that information management policy will dictate the rules and guidelines for how information is handled, who is responsible for maintaining and updating it, and outline the policies and practices to do so (Mencken & Smith, 2009). To begin to unravel the data mess at OR Communications they should define an encompassing information management policy that will effectively address the issues of what information is retained, who is responsible for updating it, how it is to be maintained, ND who should have access to it.Critical to the success of this policy will be the inv olvement of management from all functional areas of the company. Each should be given the opportunity to contribute to the policy, and each individual needs should be addressed. In addition, the problem with this solution will be gaining acceptance from the different functional areas of the business. There will obviously be conflicts of ideas and differences of opinion in how the policy should be created and enforced. To improve the effectiveness of the policy it needs to be thoroughly enforced from top management down.This means to gain compliance, OR Communications' CEO needs to set the example and pressure all levels of management below to do the same. Another strategy to encourage the support of the divisional presidents for the shared customer service is by creating awareness that the free information flow would be beneficial for all and would simplify business processes, thus allowing then to increase their bottom line, and thus their bonuses. Finding opportunities to demonstr ate small success would help show the support being given to the divisions.To aid in compliance, a large corporate training program would be initiated to ensure the policy is well known by all associates. Gaining compliance by all of the business areas will be the most difficult part of this solution; the ingrained attitude of self-preservation that exists at OR Communication will be difficult to overcome. However, change is not impossible, but only by dedication of management. The initial implementation period will be the most difficult, and if enforcement waivers the policy may fail.Creating Useful Information from Raw Data One characteristic of an enterprise system is ensuring seamless integration of a Meany's information among all divisions, including financial and accounting Markus, M. L. , & Tania, C. (n. D. ). Hence, to achieve a successful enterprise system, a company must have its IT systems centralized to ensure information runs smoothly and is relevant among all divisions , especially the financial and accounting information. Considering the accounting problems brought up at the final meeting, the company obviously needs to implement a centralized IT function.Moreover, it will be far more expensive to have an enterprise system with a decentralized IT function, which is contrary to the aim of achieving an enterprise system. While a centralized information management system will indeed offer benefits at OR Communication, if there is no way to utilize and interpret that data, it is useless; this is analogous to being data rich and information poor. Just because a company has loads of data does not mean that is fully informed. A company such as OR Communication collects vast quantities of data, but having the resources to convert that into useful information can be an extreme challenge.At OR Communication, they are facing a double-sided robber; they have neither a collective data warehouse, nor do they have any effective information management. Once the problem of centralization has been massive amounts of data is using a metadata repository. A metadata repository functions much like the card catalog of a library; while it does not specifically contain the information, it provides an index of what is available, including the relevant points on what it contains, as well as a pointer to locate the information (Moss & Broodier, 2002).This index provides an extremely valuable resource tool to quickly locate pertinent information. In addition, the metadata repository should be designed with the ability to hook into other systems that are developed to provide information to mother systems as necessary. Establishing this framework now will offer increased benefits as more systems are built off the central repository. Addressing Corporate Culture As seen in OR Communications, lack of common information and enterprise IM strategy can cause several problems to the business and the IT department.OR Communications has encountered serious custo mer service problems, due to lack of common information and enterprise strategy. In addition, lack of common information makes it hard for the overall management to monitor the businesses. Business units are unable to exchange information, and none is aware of the other divisions' work. The company is not in a position to strengthen its brand since no divisions work together. To remedy this, a unification of the firm needs to take place from more than Just an IT standpoint.The disjointed nature of the firm's information assets reflects a deeper separation of the personnel at OR Communications. Departments work for their own ends with naught but passing concern for their effects on the company as a whole. This lack of cohesion manifests itself in the behavior of the CICS, divisional managers, and even the employees, and has resulted in the severe fragmentation of corporate culture. The fragmented IT systems are only a symptom of a much larger problem.Before addressing the IT problems at OR Communications, the underlying culture of the business needs to be transformed. This begins at the very top, with the president of the company and the highest leaders; they need to be the first to set the example, and it is clear their current attitudes have set the company on the disastrous course it is on. Removing the CIO team which has hampered the company's efforts at unification up until now was a good step, but serious considerations now need to be taken to prevent things from getting worse.Other associates could easily see firing the Close as a usurping of departmental sovereignty; however, they need to use this as an opportunity to show that the company can be brought together without sacrificing any of their needs. To capitalize on this opportunity the president and vice president should bring together the next level of management into a council of members to set the direction and ultra of the firm in a way that promotes unity and mutual respect.This council should be responsible for creating and fostering an atmosphere that shows the benefits of the firm functioning as one. They need to prove to the management and associates that their departments will have a say in decisions, and their needs will not be overlooked. To improve the odds of acceptance, the council should be selected from leaders that have proven themselves as examples of good leadership and who are respected in the firm.Key to the success of this council will be keeping everyone n equal footing and ensuring that no one area is given preference over another, needs then others, and sometimes priority will need to be given to one area; however, if this behavior is present from the outset they will receive much resistance from the firm, as this will reinforce existing fears. Once a unity of the firm has been established, people will be more flexible to accept changes after they see the benefits. It will be up to the president and vice president as leaders to maintain these policies and be the example.As demonstrated in previous cases, the president as been lax in demonstrating himself as a leader and this could prove damaging to any such plans to unify the firm. Leadership must begin at the top, and the success or failure of a company often reflects the abilities of its leadership. Implementation Challenges The advantages of a shared IT system eliminate some of the above-mentioned problems. A single centralized and standardized IT operating system will enhance quick decisions across all the departments, since all units will be looking at the same data.Furthermore, with a shared service, customers will not have to visit different databases for the same company; rather, all their queries and purchases can be done from one site that will serve them with all that they need from the company. Another advantage will be easy monitoring of the divisional units?their individual performances as well as their contributions to the whole company. Another advantage for the company will be the ability to monitor financial operations, since all operations will be reflected on one database centrally (Maces, 2010).To implement the shared service strategy, it will be important to seek support of the divisional residents, considering they will be in charge of the units, which are the moneymaking branches. Their willingness to participate in the construction of the shared service will benefit the whole company. The first step to the implementation of this strategy will require assurances that it will benefit the whole company far more than the current system that is facing opposition from not only the customers but also other stakeholders such as the suppliers.In turn, since employees' remuneration is awarded on performance, improved performance for the whole firm will be an added advantage. Since the divisional heads are used to being in control, it is important to remind them that having a shared service will not mean the imposition of decisions from above . Rather, the shared service will make the operations of the whole organization work in harmony for the purpose of easy monitoring customer convenience. They should be included as part of the implementation team, so they can offer input on what they may not want to change.For instance, many are worried they will have to do away with specific projects. Ensuring them that these projects will continue after implementation of the shared arrive would increase their support, as would helping them understand that the new, shared system will enhance the harmony and efficiency of whole organization; eventually they will come to see that their roles will remain mostly the same. Another way to improve the odds of success to a centralized data structure is by appointing a team to oversee the maintenance of the data warehouse from an enterprise level.Ideally the members of this team should be comprised of analysts from the important functional areas of the company. This can help gain buy-in from the many due to the fact that the members of this team have already proven 2011). In addition the benefit of incorporating these individuals is that individual departments will feel that they have representation in the new system, and that their interests are protected. This will increase the potential for global acceptance in the program.Another way to increase compliance with the new systems is to implement an incentive program that would drive associates to achieve the best results. Incentive programs drive people to reach specific targets by offering them tangible rewards beyond their current compensation. At OR Communications, an incentive program could be implemented to increase compliance and adoption of a new centralized system. For example, the company could offer monetary bonuses to departments that lower their operating costs using the new system the most.Another more abstract idea would be to have a small bonus program for departments that offer ideas to enhance the pro ductivity of the system. Many of the departments have complained that a shared system would cause them to be overlooked; however, offering this type of inventive would both encourage them to aka enhancements of the system while simultaneously demonstrating that their opinions count. Positive reinforcement, such as an inventive program, help gain the compliance of the workforce in a much more efficient way then punishment or negative reinforcement.There are governance mechanisms and metrics that can be used to encourage the implementation and use of a shared enterprise data system. The governance that needs to be put in place is the alignment of divisional units with the IT department. The metrics must be aligned with transparency to ensure that IT is in congruence with business operations. The governance mechanism should involve all departments focusing on regulatory issues, risk alleviation and opportunity enhancement.The metrics used should be concerned with making divisional data fit into an enterprise system. These metrics will identify areas of weakness and avenues of improvement. To quote an analogy, â€Å"Rome wasn't built in a day;† and it will take significant time and effort to remedy all the problems at OR Communications. Close governance and metrics will aid in any improvement plan. Recommendation: It is evident that OR Communications need an intervention in its customer service enter.The lack of a centralized customer care center is making it hard to provide unified services to customers. More so, a lot of time is wasted by customers who have to be referred to different department for billing. Customers are forced to have several accounts with the company for each division since each division is held with its independent operations including billing (Smith & Mencken, 2007). This makes it hard for customer care provision. Considering consumer service is very crucial for any business, OR Communications need a centralized customer service cent er.A internalized service center will have many benefits to the whole organization such as cost reduction, time saving, good management of customers' data or information, and customer satisfaction. I recommend a centralized customer service center for OR communications for its advantages as predetermined below. The divisional IT service means having separate audits for every division. Having each division with an individual audit is expensive for the company since several auditors will be needed.Eliminating the divisions will save some costs that would otherwise be used for the services of the auditors at every division. With a single it department, data can be fed means reduced time for audits since with divisions audits have to be put together after each department has completed its audit (Smith & Mencken, 2007). Coordination among the auditors will be efficient since information is collected from one point where all information concerning company accounts is stored.Therefore, hav ing a centralized service center will enhance such operations across the whole organization. In addition, with a centralized customer service center as well as IT, it will ensure information is collected at one point making it easy to access information mongering any department from any point within the company without having to refer to the division in charge. Hence, for the auditors, complying with the set Serbians Solely act will be easy since information about customer billing and accounts of the whole firm will be centralized ensuring accuracy.Having the customer service centralized enhances business operations and processes, ensuring best practices such as timely audits are realized. With data consolidated in one central place, information can be exploited to breed new opportunities for the company. When data is at one place for all the divisions, it is easier to have a broader picture concerning how the divisions can create a new opportunities. Exploiting these opportunities Jointly among the divisions is better than going individually.Moreover, security can be more enhanced with a shared service center since monitoring will be done by one entity. This will further reduce costs associated with having each division taking responsibility of storing and maintaining its own data. Considering that OR communications is currently having several software, consolidating information together for the whole company is hard. Smooth flow of information across departments to ensure easy sharing is vital; not only for the whole company, but for divisions too, considering information consolidation is a fundamental instrument for doing business.Consolidating the IT services to one centralized structure will require removing of service center hardware from each division to one central department that will mitigate risks and have a common structural design as well as policies that are easily reviewable for updating. A common security procedure will reduce risks associated with information breech. Through the same procedures ND practices, the company can reduce file systems redundancy within the organization and enhance efficient document retention as well as reduce costs.Another reason to have one service center is to match the technical capacity of the company with its vision. At the current divisional independence, the divisions exploit their own visions that are not in congruence with the organization's vision and mission. Considering the company's vision is to have a consistent brand across all the divisions, it is necessary to have cross-shared services across all divisions to achieve this vision. The vision can be achieved through cross- sales of all the company services to its customers, as opposed to each department having its selling strategy.Having a shared sales service will serve to reduce the costs incurred when divisions do it individually hence creating a better chance for profit across all departments. Having a central service center will ensure that the overall vision of the company is followed since the central service center will be inclined towards the vision of the whole company. This way, each division can have a chance of benefiting form other divisions, hence the company as a whole (Smith & Mencken, 2007). Having a single are outsourcing majority of their operations to other professional companies for reductions of costs.With independent divisions and IT strategies for each individual division, outsourcing will be quite complicated. Having a central service center to oversee all requests will enhance efficiency as well as value. More so, through the consolidation of IT services and information at one common place will reduce security risks associated with outsourcing services. This will further ensure reliability and security of information. A consolidation of information and IT services will enhance cross-services for customers such as billing (Mencken & Smith, 2011).The company divisions at current cir cumstance hold their information secret from each other, making it a competition within the divisions that raise the problem of billing where customers have to be referred to other divisions for other services. With the consolidated information, customers will only need to visit one department from which other information concerning other divisions can be met. This will improve the perception of their whole company as a brand and the standing of the company can be improved as well as customer satisfaction.There is need for the company to realize that in the current world information is one of the drivers of businesses, which all businesses need to survive. Having each division with its own information center reduces the chances of the company improving in the future since the harmonious climate needed among the divisions for this achievement is minimal. Having stipulated the advantages bound to arise or reasons why a central service center should be achieved, it is important to cons ider how OR can be able to implement this recommendation with ease and least resistance from the divisions.This is the first most likely problem to arise during implementation. Hence, the first step should be generating support form all divisions, which has been quite hard up to now especially from the managers who are self centered and concerned with their earnings that depend on their performance. The managers also have a negative attitude towards merging of information and data among the divisions through one central service. A three-point strategy can be used to gain their support. It includes financial strategy, mitigation of risks associated and compliance to regulation.Financial point can emphasize the advantages the shared service is bound to raise, which will for the benefit of all the divisions and organization as a whole. Risk mitigation will arise from security of information through monitoring by one entity in a standardized way, while regulatory will be concerned with abiding to set accounting rules of the Serbians Solely act which the company has been having problems with (Schwartz, 2007). The next step would be to lay out the vision of the company and show why it cannot be achieved with division of operations among the divisions.This will impart some reasoning among the leaders, and support fore all divisions should be ensured. The main aim is to make everybody in the divisions aware of the role they will play and their stake to ensure thee is compliance and acceptance of the strategy to build a one services center (Mencken & Smith, 2011). One of the problems that could arise after implementation of a shared service center is ease of adoption. Some employees who have been used to the old system will require to be trained how to work harmoniously with a single service center. Many will be required to handle more information concerning not only their divisions, but

A View Inside The Westboro Baptist Church Essay Example for Free

A View Inside The Westboro Baptist Church Essay ? Unlike most modern religious groups, the Westboro Baptist Church is unique in the fact that the organization doesn’t meet in a modern church setting. Instead, the Westboro Baptist Church meets on Sundays to picket and protest the funerals of people whom they feel have created blasphemous acts against God. This recently included the funeral of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs. In an October 7th cbsnews. com article journalist Edecio Martinez quoted Margie Phelps as posting on twitter, â€Å"He had huge platform†¦gave God no glory and taught sin. This in return yielded a great a greatly deal of responses by media, family, and some other government officials as well. This is the story behind the Westboro Baptist Church and its opposing counterparts. It is first important to understand the dynamics of the Westboro Baptist Church. Known for its fight against the alternative lifestyles of the homosexual community, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church have often times been referred to as the serial protesters and also have been characterized as a hate group. This church is an independent church founded by Fred Phelps in 1955. The group contains 71 members most of which are of Phelps family. Their congregations include picketing and the desecration of the American flag. Theologically speaking they refer to themselves as Calvinist. The church’s view is that most religious groups are Satan worshipers, frauds, and teach lies. They believe that â€Å"God Hates fags† and that it should be a crime. The two most notable groups that Westboro Baptist Church has chosen to picket are homosexuals and celebrities. This organization is without a question unique in its own rights. Since the Westboro Baptist Church popped up on the scene in Nov. 27, 1955, the public has had something to say about them. In efforts to expires the disapproval of the Westboro Baptist Church other groups have met in areas where the church was picketing and turned away from churches protesters. Perhaps one of the most famous counter protests happened after the September 11 attacks. One young man Jared Dailey , stood across from the group and held a sign that displayed, â€Å"NOT today Fred. † Two days later the number shifted from 1 to 86 people standing across from the group. In future protest against the group the slogan that began Dailey used has been popular in use. As a means to counter the Westboro Baptist church organizations such as, The Boston Center for the Arts and an ad-hoc group in Richmond countered the protest by doing pledges and then donating the money to LGBT (Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans-gender) organizational projects. Others have arranged protest and hackers have been known to hack the Westboro batiste Church websites and disable them from the internet. There have been violent actions also against the group. There have been recorded incidents of angry mob attempting to attack the group, a fire near their meeting lace estimated at $10,000 in damage, and also Army Veteran Ryan Newell was arrested with ammo and an attempt on an attack of the group. For the most part the general public objects to the Westboro Baptist Church and their beliefs. Arguments on both sides of the debacle have both taking time out to use the First Amendment in their defense. The Westboro Baptist Church found themselves in hot water when the father of the Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder sued them for defamation of character, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress on June 5,2006. Although the court threw out the defamation and privacy suits due to the First Amendment the trial still went on for other charges. The family argued that even though the first amendment gives an American citizen the right to free speech it still is limited. On the judges mark the first amendment was recited and let it be known that if vulgar, offensive, or shocking statements were made, then that would be grounds of a guilty plea. The Plea was guilty on behalf of Fred and the other members of the Phelps family. The Westboro Baptist Church also took action as well, on July 21,2006; the ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union) of eastern Missouri filed a suit for Shirley L. Phelps-Roper. This suit stated that the Missouri law saying that no one was allowed to picket in front of a church or a funeral an hour before or an hour after was preventing her from utilizing her right to religious liberty and free speech. Although the argument was relevant the courts still shot down the suit stating that â€Å"in individual states and cities the law is interpreted as they see fit because the amendment is vague as to the terms and conditions. The Phelps family continued on still to federal court in hopes of a win. On both sides of the argument each have had valid point that the first amendment protects both sides. As the situation continued, it called for the Supreme Court to step in. The Supreme Court stated that even though they do not agree with the Westboro’s acts they still have to aside with them due to the First Amendment of freedom of speech. The Supreme Court quoted â€Å"that freedom of speech is so central to the nation that it protects cruel and unpopular protests – even, in this case, at the moment of a family’s most profound grief. The Westboro Baptist Church is an organization of people with their own beliefs and opinions. Their religion no matter how extreme it may be is still what they believe to be a religion. Time has shown the world many interpretations of God worshipers, and many interpretations of religion, and the Bible. This is not the first group to have these views and probably won’t be the last. The world is a big place with many different people and it is important to look past the ignorance and see the importance of accepting everyone for who they are like it or not. A View Inside The Westboro Baptist Church. (2017, Jan 23).

The Art of Effective Strategic Leadership Essay

The Art of Effective Strategic Leadership - Essay Example Over the course of studies, we analyzed few case studies about strategic management. These cases along with real life experiences helped the students learn key lessons about strategic leadership. In some cases, it was seen that the management failed to take right decisions on time. The failure to take effective steps within time resulted in catastrophes of various sorts. However, some leaders were able to take hold of the situation accurately and thus became effective strategic leaders. It was found that the leaders who were complying with the rules of strategic leadership used some key strategies. These strategies have been summed up in three key lessons of strategic leadership. The three key lessons are: (1) making realistic decisions, (2) becoming flexible, and, (3) keeping long-term goals in mind. Effective Strategic Leadership- Key Lessons The leaders everywhere face a situation in which they lose their cool and tend to take wrong decisions. The following key lessons would help them learn the basic strategies for taking accurate decisions. Key Lesson 1: Making Realistic Decisions Always look for realistic approaches in dealing with the situation you face. Do not follow idealistic assumptions which appear futile in the face of reality. At times, the leaders tend to look for making idealistic changes in the situation. It is good as far as you are in control of the situation. However, you will need to adopt a practical approach which fits the certain situation to tackle it completely. In the case of the launching of Challenger, the spaceship, the managers were aware of the critical situation they were in. Some of them knew that it could blow up in view of the incompatible temperature surrounded by it at that time. However, the decisions were made in haste not realizing the risk the action involved. They were trying to fulfill the people’s expectations and did not take a realistic approach which resulted in the catastrophe. An example of the realistic a pproach can be seen in Madonna’s case who managed her business career successfully. She did not hold idealistic assumptions and switched roles keeping in view the need of the hour. She had put her own interests aside and met the demands of the time in order to reach to the top of her music career. Key Lesson 2: Becoming Flexible Never try to seem rigid in taking important strategic decisions which involve your opponents. Be flexible in your approach to attain your goals. In some cases, the managers are inclined to get angry on their clients’ demands. They have the responsibility to ensure the organization obtains its goals efficiently. They might adopt a rigid approach to respond to the aggressive demands of the other party. However, it might result in the ending of deal which could have successfully accomplished by being flexible. The disaster of the Challenger could be avoided if the management was appreciative of the engineers’ concern about the risk in the l aunching of this spaceship. However, it was overlooked and rigidity was shown in not stopping the launch till the technical problems got sorted out. After the disaster, NASA took immediate action and researched for two long years to stop the probability of such event in future. The case study of Madonna highlights the approach of flexibility in the life of this queen of pop. She had become a saint, an erotic, a rebel and adopted many

The Eight and the Ashcan School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

The Eight and the Ashcan School - Essay Example It is not only that commercial and residential boundaries of New York changed but perceptions and public views were undergoing rapid changes. It was a favorable milieu for the formation of popular culture. New York was growing in size, its population was diversifying. Many ethnic groups mixed together contributing to creation of new forms of artist expression, reflecting changing social relationships. The early 20th century witnessed a radical change in American painting. This was not a change in attitude toward painting but in attitude toward life. It was a journalist's revolution originating from Philadelphia. New York City with financial growth explosion, office work for women and the sweatshops for immigrants – all these conditions brought young newspaper illustrators to develop their careers as fine artists in New York getting away from the conservative, static art establishment of Philadelphia. The rapidly changing scenes of New York as it is were captured by artists who are better known as "the Eight": Robert Henri, Arthur B. Davies, Maurice Prendergast, Ernest Lawson, William Glackens, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, and George Luks. â€Å"These artists framed a contemporary realism that explored the drama, humor and exoticism of life in the turbulent metropolis.† â€Å"The Ashcan school† which united "the Eight" and a number of other artists took roots in Philadelphia under the leadership of Henri. In Philadelphia, Henri's rebellious nature made him "a catalyst, an enthusiast ...".

Mental Illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Mental Illness - Essay Example Panic attacks usually last for a short duration of time in which a person is subject to stress and overload of anxiety and they have a sudden intensity of that anxiety. A panic attack is characterized by a person having heart palpitations, sweating, trembling and shaking, shortness of breath, a feeling of choking, chest pains, nausea, dizzy and lightheaded sensations, numbing or tingling sensations, a feeling of distance from reality or from oneself, a fear of dying, losing control or going crazy (Panic attack, American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Panic attacks can often lead to panic disorder. This is mental illness that is characterized by a series of panic attacks that a person experiences over a period of time due to anxiety and stress. It is a recurrence of this unexpected panic attacks that create the disorder. Many times it is diagnosed with or without agoraphobia present (Panic disorder with agoraphobia, American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Agoraphobia is the condition in which a sufferer of the panic disorder often begins to have continuous concern that another panic attack will come on. It is the anticipation of going to a certain place where they fear that a panic attack will occur. It is often difficult for people to travel beyond their comfort zones without suffering from severe anxiety. Many people find it hard to go to shopping malls, ride a bus or attend theater or sports performances because of the urge to need to find a quick route to get out so that they do not become embarrassed if they were to have an anxiety attack (Anxiety Disorders Association of America, 2011). Patients are worried that certain situations will cause them to have a panic attack and therefore sometimes start to avoid situations which make them anxious or nervous. They are often afraid to do something as

The Challenges of Call Centre Restructuring Essay

The Challenges of Call Centre Restructuring - Essay Example Tengo Ltd., an online supplier of notebook computers, established a customer contact centre to deal with customer complaints and inquiries about the company’s products. Recently, the company decided to restructure because the HR director discovered that there is an overstaffing problem at the call centre. This decision has resulted in job losses. This essay analyses the wisdom of the restructuring of the call centre, taking into account the external factor of the labour market and job competition, as well as the components of change management, performance management, effective leadership, and employee motivation. Restructuring the Call Centre Companies are restructuring and job designs are being streamlined. The labour force and production processes have been restructured to cut down expenses, helping companies successfully reduce expenses in reaction to growing competition. The external labour market of call centres is in fact large, composed of a large pool of white-collar workers. The external labour market of call centres is global, national, and local (Butler, 2004, p. 168). Hence, restructuring of the call centre harms many employees. It is essential to be knowledgeable of the external labour market because of the differences in employee characteristics. Different work groups express different beliefs on career growth and motivation. For instance, white-collar employees have a tendency to expand their career outside the limits of a particular company (Liao, Martocchio, & Joshi, 2010, p. 94). This is what happened to Tengo Ltd. It suffered a high rate of turnover because its professionals in the customer department were not satisfied with their jobs anymore. The turnover is primarily caused by the restructuring. Corporate decisions to restructure or initiate change in its internal labour markets are strongly influenced by external labour markets. The external labour markets decide what arrangements of retention, expertise, and wage rate are appropr iate for an organisation (Sharma, 2006, p. 59). Companies, like Tengo Ltd., choose to restructure because they confronted new circumstances or external pressures. The HR director who found out the problem in retaining call centre workers with a profitable nearby call centre was certainly dealing with the new situations of the external labour market. Therefore, organisational processes are mainly determined by the relationship between managerial approach and external labour markets. External labour markets significantly restrict the capacity of strategy. As stated by a manager, â€Å"If you’re not going to be the highest-paying wage base in the area, you will have high turnover† (Kumar, 2010, p. 292). For example, Tengo Ltd, after restructuring, gives the best reward package to Level 3 employees. Hence, it experienced increase in labour turnover among Level 1 and Level 2 employees who handle customer complaints. In terms of job competition, call centres have replaced hu man labour with automated processes. Technology carries with it the possibility of new and easier ways of doing things, while carrying as well the ability to eliminate human labour and separate the worker from his/her fruits of labour. Tengo Ltd., through rationalisation, invested more in new automated computer system to improve response time and quality of customer service. However, along with this investment is an increase in labour turnover because the company tried to reduce its expenses in the training and development of new employees. However, the poor outcomes of the restructuring attempt of Tengo Ltd. cannot be entirely attributed to the external labour markets and job competition. Other factors are involved such as the psychological and sociological responses of employees to

Global Corporate Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global Corporate Strategy - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the emerging markets of India and China have been recorded as the fastest growing nations in terms of consuming higher rates of oil, gas and petrochemical products. In this context, the global energy companies such as British Petroleum (BP), Shell, Mobil, and Total have been highly recognized to involve competitive pricing strategies in order to gain substantial return from their global subsidiaries especially located in the emerging markets. However, the oil and gas companies have also been witnessing numerous issues not only for their competitive business strategies but also for their radical impact on the global ecosystem. In this context, the organizations associated with global oil and gas manufacturing industry must also contend with changing regulatory requirements involving their corporate governance different environmental issues. Emphasising the unabated challenges and opportunities faced by the dominant marketers in global oil and gas industry, the essay tends to carry out an appropriate analysis of the global corporate strategies adopted by BP and other world-class Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical suppliers such as Shell, Mobil, Chevron and Total since 2010 to date. The essay also tends to demonstrate the corporate strategic measures of BP in terms of creating a high-performance culture in the global business locations that enable it to effectively deal with both challenges and opportunities in the global oil and gas industry as well.

Motivation and Happiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation and Happiness - Essay Example This is illustrated in the motive of peer approval which becomes a motive to the individual to the extent that it satisfies his need of belonging and social recognition. There are common implications in the terminology of motivation whether we speak of it as motive, drive, need, impulse, wish, want id or valence. There is the implied existence of a force, of some degree of intensity that activates and arouses behavior. The object or goal of this force defines its direction. Motives may either be physiological or psychological. Physiological motives drive the individual to meet his body needs for food, water, and sleep. A kindergarten child may not be attentive in the class because he is malnourished or he did not eat breakfast. A college student cannot concentrate on the class discussions for he was sleepless the night before. Psychological needs, those that are not basically physiological are more numerous and have more variations depending on the theory that one subscribes to. It is generally accepted that psychological need cannot be separated from physiological needs. The two are interdependent. Each affects the other. Maslow's theory is consistent with the basic objectives of the teaching-learning process in particular and of the educational system in general, that is, to develop the potentials of the learners. The theory states that self-actualization cannot be achieved unless the lower levels of needs are satisfied. Thus, the learners' biological needs must be met. The student must feel that he belongs to the group. He must have self-esteem before he can self-actualize. An atmosphere conducive to the meeting of these needs is important. No fast rules can be stated here. But suffice to say that the teacher's awareness of his pupils' need cannot be overemphasized. His ingenuity to create situations facilitative of self-actualization is thereby challenged. Of course, there are hindrances to this such as big classes that make it difficult for the teacher to recognize individual differences and heavy teaching loads that may take away the teacher from the learners. When man wants to attain happiness and freedom, man has to satisfy his needs and motivation transpires giving the person enough reason to reach for his goals. With the Brave New World, freedom is being discussed in relation to social stratification and social order. Motives, wants and needs and also drives often spoken of interrelatedly may be broken into classifications as physiological and psychological motives. The physiological motives are also referred to as biological, organic, primary or basic. A large part of man's activity is devoted to the maintenance of bodily needs - the need for food, water, air, excretion, sleep, activtity, shelter and sexual needs. These comprise the first stage in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Man is attracted towards states which are pleasant and draws away from stimulations which are unpleasant. Man naturally looks for relationships that are warm and affectionate. During infancy, this need is very often satisfied by loving parents who provide the warm emotional security that will etermine to a large extent, later personal adjustments in life. In Huxley's work, "All members of society are conditioned with the values that the World State idealizes. Children are trained to

Financial and Strategic Planning M2C Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial and Strategic Planning M2C - Essay Example Since Franklin Healthcare is a non-profit making entity, Williams Foundations should not consider profit as the sole criteria of decision making. It should also consider the quality of services provided by the healthcare facility. Moreover it should also scrutinize that whether the money it is contributing for the welfare of the people is actually benefitting the deserving people. Or is the management of the Franklin Healthcare is merely making up the statements and in reality the health status of the people had not improved in the area. In view of this, Williams Foundation should set up an independent audit of the financial statements of the Franklin Healthcare in order to ensure that its financial statements are portraying a true picture of the entity. Once when the Williams Foundation is satisfied with the credibility of the financial statements it should base its decision on the meticulous analyses of the financial statements. Upon the analysis of the income statement it is evident that Franklin Healthcare is on the way of making profit. While its revenue remained steady, its expenses declined in 2011 as compared to 2010. Due to decrease in operating expenses the profit in 2011 rose by 0.02% as compared to the profit of 2010. The reasons cited for the decrease in operating expenses are the lay offs and subsequent reorganization of operating expenses. Another reason for this decline can be the decrease in the number of patients visiting Franklin Healthcare in 2011. As in 2010 almost 500 patients came to the healthcare facility and in 2011 the number plunged to 400. In 2011 the healthcare facility is earning profits and at the same time reorganization of the operating expenses is a sign that the healthcare facility is seriously concerned about the efficient running of the organization. If I base my analysis purely on the given information then I would recommend that Williams Foundation should continue giving

Communication Paper Essay Example for Free

Communication Paper Essay I would like to take this time in welcoming you to this presentation on communication marketing in health care. We will first be identifying different and most common communication used by consumers and health care providers, such as e-mail, a web-based forum, and/or electronic medical records just to name a few. We will also be discussing the benefits to the patients, an aspect relating to the values and importance of maintaining patient confidentiality when using these types of communication, some reasons that these types of communications are an effective way of communicating between consumers and their providers, how these types of communications may differ from others, and lastly, how might media and social networking change communication in health care today and years to come. Now, join with me as we discuss the different types and most common communication used by consumers and their health care providers. Many communication channels are used in healthcare, each with different properties. These channels may be synchronous or asynchronous, mobile or fixed, secure or no secure. Because of this, participants must decide which channel best suits the issue about which they need to communicate. Synchronous channels such as telephones and face-†to-†face meetings allow both parties to communicate at the same time, enabling information to flow freely in real time. Synchronous channels are ideal when discussing time-†sensitive issues and exchanging dense information. It is not always convenient, however, for a patient and physician to schedule time to communicate using synchronous channels because they can lead to delayed care, telephone tag, and frustration—when these channels fail to connect, some healthcare issues remain unaddressed. Yet, generally only pagers and synchronous communications are available for patient-†physician  communication. Asynchronous channels such as email, fax, and blogs enable each party to communicate when it is convenient. These channels may be used safely for issues that are no urgent or time-†sensitive. Because time is not a factor when using asynchronous channels, both patient and clinician can be more reflective in their messaging. Asynchronous channels, however, should not be used for medical emergencies or time-†sensitive issues. Another characteristic of communication channels is whether they are fixed (connected to a wire) or mobile. Thanks to advances in technology, many communication channels that were once fixed are now wireless, such as telephones and text messaging. Presenting new technologies is challenging when dealing with an industry entrenched in using the same telephone, fax, and pager systems for decades. Many problems in healthcare stem from the industry clinging to these outdated methods of communication, without understanding the benefits brought about by newer solutions. For example, electronic pagers, which have been abandoned by most industries, are still the core device for hospital communications. While physicians extensively use a mobile core phone outside the hospital, these phones are often banned from being used inside, despite evidence that in most areas of the hospital this technology is safe. Email is often discouraged for clinical communication for security reasons, and more advanced technologies such as instant messaging, videoconferencing, group teleconferencing, or web-†based collaboration are almost unheard of in clinical care—despite evidence that proves the effectiveness and safety of these technologies in healthcare. While physicians have found newer tools such as email useful, they are typically used only in limited situations and not commonly employed to communicate with patients. The reasons for physicians’ reluctance to use e-†communication with patients include concerns about malpractice litigation, fears of being barraged with emails, and the absence of a model that reimburses them for consulting with patients electronically. Communication in healthcare fails for many reasons: necessary personnel cannot be identified or located; they may not be available or may not respond in a timely manner; or the communication channel of choice may not be well suited to the task at hand— for example, e-†communication such as  email should not be used for time-†sensitive issues such as a patient having a heart attack, or in situations that require a dense exchange of information. Pagers, for instance, are more appropriate for time-†sensitive issues, while telephones, in-†person or videoconferencing meetings, or web-†based collaboration tools are more efficient options for exchanging dense information, such as detailed c ase reports. Because case reports require much discussion among physicians, using email only slows down the discussion process. With the ability to reduce costs, telemedicine has been shown to be such an effective medical practice in several instances that its growth and application in the health care industry have raised greatly. One of the reasons for patient satisfaction with telemedicine is a reduction in waiting time, travel time, and the time involved in arranging appointments. The absence of all these issues can facilitate health communication by eliminating many of the burdens involving in standard health care. There also some challenges to the patient privacy with web-based communication just as in a facility. Because multiple individuals in telemedicine communication, exposure of confidential records to all parties concerned becomes a threat to the privacy of the patient. Additionally, even through medical doctors accept the obligation of maintaining their patients’ privacy rights, the other assisting parties involved in the telemedicine communication may not be held to the same standards (Turner, 2003). As a result of this risk to patients’ privacy rights, telemedicine has struggled to gain acceptance for the legal and medical communities (Sanders Bashshur, 1995). However, again, as time progresses and this issue tackled by the medical and legal communities alike, solutions should be found to eliminate privacy risks to patients. Furthermore, these solutions should generate increased acceptance of telemedicine practices by all parties concerned and, likewise, should alleviate the fear and frequency of breached to patient privacy laws. In conclusion to the communication marketing in health care, we were able to identify the different types of communication such as e-mails, web-based and  medical records. We were able to point out some benefits and different aspects for the patients values and the importance in maintaining the patients confidentiality and the risks of safety in these types of communications. We were also able to understand the reasons as to how these types of communications are effective between the consumers and their providers and how they differ from other forms of communications as well. Thank you for your time and efforts in taking the time to better understand the communication through telemedicine present and future. References: http://www.uapd.com/wp-content/uploads/Telemedicine-Its-Effects-on-Health-Communication.pdf http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/wp/Communication_Healthcare_WP_0724FINAL.pdf

The Knot Essay Example for Free

The Knot Essay According to Sahlman, the success of entrepreneurial ventures, such as The Knot, is dependent on four critical success factors, namely the people, the opportunity, the deal and the context. Each of these factors is dynamic and the entrepreneur must constantly reevaluate and adjust the four factors to create value. People The category people include the key players of the entrepreneurial venture. Within this category, the strengths and weaknesses and the experience of the people involved is critical. The entrepreneur has to determine if something is missing in the team, thus if people should be added or replaced. The Knot’s management team consists of four ex New York University’s Film School students. All of them are experienced entrepreneurs. First, Liu and Roney are co-founders of the CD-ROM development company RunTime Inc. Pervious, Liu was an experienced manager and Roney spent six years as creative director and editor. Second, Wolfson and Fassino are founders of the Digital Media Division for Margeotes Fertitta + Partners. Before, Wolfson was founder of a creative production company and Fassino has experience in the advertising industry. The two different companies successfully collaborated at the Sotheby’s project. The four partners emphasize the potential of their collective experience and know-how, including management, advertising, the creative industry and production. They found Element Studios in 1995 to capitalize their abilities. After the acquisition of Bridal Search, Russ and Becky Casenhiser were added to the management team. Both of them were successful entrepreneurs as well. Russ developed the industry’s largest, searchable database and Becky procured and maintained relationships with all the manufacturers. Especially their experience in retail was valuable when the business model developed further. After all, the team of The Knot consists of capable people with experience in multiple disciplines who complement each other. However, when entering the gift registry business, in which inventory management and delivery arrangements would be crucial, there is a need for people with experience in logistics. Experienced people could be recruited as employees or entrepreneurs in this industry could be added to the management team. The opportunity The characteristics of the opportunity are critical for the success of the venture as well as for the way the entrepreneur should respond to a certain opportunity. Characteristics of the opportunity include the nature and the possibility to replicate by competitors. The task of the entrepreneur is to determine if the opportunity should be exploited immediately and to set eventually milestones to assess the success of the project. Element was founded with the aim to realize a successful media business, however, there was no focus on a certain opportunity before the company was founded. The management team started looking for an opportunity and was attracted by the high advertising revenue in the wedding industry. They found an opportunity in the lack of a fresh competitor and the possibility to differentiate by building an online business foundation. Besides the possibility to differentiate, the online business foundation required a lower investment. Thus, the initial business model consisted of creating an online medium that attracts visitors and generates advertising revenue. The Knot’s team formulated their initial goals as ‘becoming a full-service online wedding resource and a recognizable brand in the industry’. The initial investment is relatively low compared to the potential revenue with an advertising market of $168 million and a limited number of competitors. Since the idea is easy to copy by potential competitors, it was important to exploit the idea immediately to gain first mover advantage. The initial business model was complemented in stages. With the launch of The Knot’s own web site in May 1997, they entered the retail market via The Knot Gift Shop. Their first venture in retail started with the sale of cameras, but other products were quickly added. In June 2007, after the acquisition of Bridal Search, The Knot could offer the only comprehensive online database of wedding dresses to its customers. As a result, advertising revenue increased. After successful development of The Knot’s current business activities, Liu focused on the bridal registry business. This business has enormous potential since it represents half of all wedding-related revenue. The process of the development of a comprehensive list of gifts by soon-to-be-weds that had to be purchased by wedding guests was ready for an online solution. Moreover, characteristics of the registry business encompassed the opportunity to efficiently organize delivery arrangements with manufacturers. In turn, this would allow The Knot to maintain more control over its brand, pricing and merchandising. Since the listing of products and services did not require inventory to be held, this would enable effective management of The Knot’s balance sheet. Although the model for gift registry is already in a later stage of development, it is important to exploit immediately since competitors have had capital investments already. Deals The opportunity has to be structured by different deals. These deals include considerations such as incentives and contingencies and the choice between financing instruments and financers. The entrepreneur should aim to motivate all players according to their input and create stakeholders that increase the probability of success. By joining the Greenhouse program of American Online (AOL), The Knot aimed to garner a substantial proportion of the online wedding consumer market. Besides initial investments, AOL could be seen as a strategic partner with a developing online consumer base. AOL invested in return for warrants up to 45% of The Knot’s equity, 20% of the revenue from advertising on the AOL property and a percentage of advertising revenue from The Knot’s own web site. In addition, Bridal Search was acquired for 10. 000 shares of common stock, while they had the opportunity to earn up to an additional 32. 857 shares. This potential bonus could be referred to as an extra motivation to perform. The context Contextual issues can change the nature of the opportunity. Issues include current and potential competitors, the government and economic conditions and trends. The entrepreneur should attempt to forecast contextual movements and benefit from these changes. The competitive context of The Knot before the exploitation of the opportunity was characterized by three magazines, with an average of 40 years of experience in the industry and strong relationships with advertiser. There was a change that the deeply entrenched magazines would renounce moving to the internet since they feared cannibalization of their existing businesses. This changed the nature of the opportunity in a way that it was an extra motivation to launch an online business. The Knot’s performance To reach their goals, The Knot put effort to optimize their services and build brand awareness. First, the provision of value-added services to users, such as information about travelling, wedding planning and fashion, resulted in development of a strong user community. Further, from the early beginning, The Knot targeted potential partners to build awareness of the brand, resulting in The Knot’s Registry Partner Program with nationwide key players. The first offline brand building effort was implemented in August 2007 by signing a three-book deal with Bantam Doubleday. In addition, they agreed to co-produce a television program entitled Wedding for the Real World to promote online services and books. The usefulness of performance metrics significantly differs for startups in comparison with established companies. Although startups are diverse, they share some common characteristics that affect the use of financial metrics. To illustrate, revenues are small or non-existing and the establishment of a business generally result in significant operating losses. Therefore, financial metrics such as the income statement, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows provide little usable information. However, the information in these financial metrics regarding predicted years could be used to calculated performance measures, such as return on investment (ROI) and return on assets (ROA). Instead, to gauge the performance of a startup company like The Knot’s, other financial and non-financial metrics are used. First, it is important to measure the ability of the company to generate revenue at an early stage. The Knot managed to generate significant revenue at an early stage. After their initial appearance on AOL, The Knot generated over $ 25. 000 of advertising revenue. Later, after the acquisition of Bridal Search, three deals representing $ 750. 000 in advertising revenue were signed. Second, the period that a company can survive without raising additional capital is an useful measure for startups. The ‘burn rate’ is referred to as the money spend by a company each month. The number of months that a company has to raise additional capital is calculated by dividing the amount of cash reserves by the burn rate. Since The Knot only has enough money to coffer its operation for three months by November 1997, the need to raise capital is very urgent. This can be explained by their initial focus on gaining market share instead of becoming profitable. This strategy is particularly common for ‘dot-com’ companies. Besides financial metrics, non-financial metrics are important to measure the performance of startups. Non-financial metrics for e-commerce companies include for instance retained customers. However, for the wedding industry, this metrics are not applicable since customers are not expected to return after their first number of product and service purchases. Other measures that are applicable to The Knot are web metrics such as total page views and total unique visitors. Concerning this measures, The Knot performed above expectance with an increase in unique visitors of their AOL page from 65. 000 to 260. 000 in seven months. In addition, after launching their own Web site, they realized 2. 7 million page views. To conclude, The Knot has managed to gain attention at an early stage from potential customers, this resulted in advertising income. The company has a relatively high burn rate as compared with their current liabilities; this leads to an urgent need for additional capital investors since they can coffer their operating expenses for just three months. The need for additional funding As predicted by the life-cycle of a VC fund, which predicts focus on investment in the first four to five years, The Knot needs further funding in their current phase. First, there is a need for cash to invest in the development of The Knot brand and build out the technological infrastructure to capitalize Knot’s current momentum in the race for scale economies. On a more practical level, capital is needed to fund the payroll and pay for day-to-day operating expenses. Second, The Knot needs funding to develop the gift registry business. The need for quick funding rose due to developments on the competitive front. The Knot’s current business activities were targeted by competition form online businesses that had recently launched web sites. Furthermore, Internet Gift Registries, which would be a competitor of The Knot after entering the gift registry business, had recently received funding from a private investor. Financial advisors agreed that The Knot is an attractive investment and recommended The Knot’s management team to raise as much capital as possible. After all, the management team and its financial advisors agreed that The Knot would seek $10 million in exchange for Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. This proceeds will be used to develop its registry service and to accelerate marketing and promotion of its online services. Valuation of the company In order to give a fair estimate of the value of The Knot, a combination of both the NPV method and the Market approach method is used. The use of the NPV method is possible because this is not a completely new company and it has a track record to evaluate. Also, in the business plan The Knot presented, they give extensive predictions for future performance and cash flows. The NPV method alone would not be enough since these numbers are still only a prediction. Even though these predictions were made by an external company, helping to make them more reliable and independent than when The Knot had made them, they are still not hard numbers. Combining the results of the NPV with a comprehensive Market analysis, in which both market potential will be measured and comparable companies, the multiples, will be analyzed, will give an accurate estimate of the value of The Knot. Using only the market approach would also not suffice since the relatively new nature of the business (registry online) makes it hard to find other companies to effectively compare with The Knot. The asset valuation approach is not used because, given the nature of internet companies, there would be little tangible assets to value. Since intangible assets are a lot harder to value this would not give an accurate value for The Knot (2). The multiplication method is not used because The Knot is currently still not at break-even, which makes it near impossible to calculate. Also, since the prediction show a very sharp estimated increase in revenues after the capital injection, the multiplication method could be very far off the true value of the firm and ergo not be a reliable method to determine the value (2). To conclude, the average between the NPV method and the market approach will give the most reliable value estimate for The Knot. Potential investors The Knot is looking for an investment of $10 million to develop brand image and develop their registry business. However, the urgent need for investment due to the forecasted ‘fume’ in January 1998 needs to be taken into account. This leads to disqualification of the strategic partnership option because The Knot would be in a very week place at the negotiation table because of time pressure. Besides this, a partner for a new business venture would probably not be hard to find, but finding a partner who is willing to pay for the operational cost for the other activities of The Knot as well, would seem much more unlikely. Finally, forming partnership takes time and time is something The Knot does not have. Choosing between angel investors and VC’s comes down to the nature of these investment entities. Angel investors are usually less risk averse but they tend to focus on invest in new start-ups and their investments are relatively lower compared to a VC (1). A VC usually invests in a later point of the start up and invests larger sums of money (1). Looking at these characteristics of both these entities, it seems clear that going for a VC would be the best option. If the valuation of The Knot comes out favorably, it would cover the more risk averse nature of the VC and justify a sizable investment of 10 million. There are drawbacks of using a VC, namely they most likely will want to exercise a lot of control over The Knot’s business, more so than angel investors. However, engagement of the VC can have a positive affect on the development of capabilities as well. Looking at the time constraints and the amount of needed cash this seems unavoidable. Therefore, capital investment by a VC would be the best option to meet the needs on The Knot.

Jekyll and Hyde: Drug Addiction

Jekyll and Hyde: Drug Addiction The first stage of Dr. Henry Jekylls addiction is In Robert Louis Stevensons nineteenth century novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, addiction is a very important undertone. Stevenson writes It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I fell in slavery. I had but to drink the cup, to doff at once the body of the noted professor, and to assume, like a thick cloak, that of Edward Hyde (Stevenson 109). In other words, Dr. Henry Jekyll concocts a very strong potion in his laboratory and drinks it. As a result of his drinking the potion, he transforms into the evil Mr. Hyde. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll clearly shows all the classic signs of being a drug addict: experimentation, denial, attempt to quit and abuse. Ultimately, his self-destructive behavior becomes so severe that it leads him to commit murder; and eventually, to take his own life. Experimentation. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson notes late one accursed night, I compounded the elements, watched them boil and smoke together in the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, with a strange glow of courage, drank the potion (Stevenson 106). This description refers to the doctor willingly concocting his strong potion. His initial purpose for cooking up and testing the drug is very well- meaning. Jekyll simply wants to rid his evil self from his good self. Despite the fact that his intentions are good, his experimentation begins his path towards addiction and isolation. Dr. Jekylls experimentation with psychoactive chemicals is similar to how contemporary addicts drink or use drugs to deal with problems in their lives. Denial is the second stage of Dr. Jekylls addiction. This defense mechanism is commonly used by addicts to avoid facing the uncomfortable reality of their problem. Jekylls denial first comes up at his dinner party when Utterson comments that he is becoming increasingly informed about Hyde. Jekyll says, it is not as bad as that; and just to put your good heart at rest, I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be rid of Hyde (Stevenson 58). This quote from Jekyll is the speech of a person with a drug problem. His response is very similar to how todays addicts claim that they can stop using when they want to. This is not to say that it isnt possible, but it is very difficult for an addict to quit on their own. Furthermore, Jekyll also insists that Utterson be at ease about Hyde. Jekyll asserts this is a private matter and I beg of you to let it sleep (Stevenson 58). Jekyll convinces others that he and Hyde are two separate entities when in fact they are one. This denial of Jekyll is a sign that he is becoming an addict. Similar to other addicts, Jekyll has an unsuccessful attempt at stopping his drug use. For several months, Jekyll is back to his friendly ways. He begins to become sociable again and appears to be back to his old self: a new life began for Dr. Jekyll. He came out of his seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once more their familiar guest and entertainer (Stevenson 71). This quote refers to Jekylls noticeable change in attitude when his drug use is ceased. Things seem to be as if they were in the old days for the doctor. However, as is often the case with addiction, his antisocial behavior returns just as quickly as it had left. His drug use begins again as he refuses visitors and becomes extremely secluded: On the 12th, and again on the 14th, the door was shut against the lawyer. `The doctor was again confined to the house`, Poole said, `and saw no one` (Stevenson 72). This quote is from Jekylls butler and refers to his noticing the changes in behavior of his master. These changes by Jekyll drive the butler to join forces with Utterson to find out what is going on with Jekyll. Jekylls attempt at quitting is another sign that he is becoming an addict. Abuse is the next stage of Jekylls addiction. Drug abuse refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. Due to the fact that he enjoys the effects of the drug, Jekyll begins to abuse it: I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; wither I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. (Stevenson107) This description refers to the sensations that Jekyll is feeling when he drinks his potion. It vividly details how the chemical makes him feel. Consider heroin, for example. Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive and very dangerous drug. Those who have never used the substance cant begin to understand why a person would risk their own life for such a drug. However, people addicted to heroin use any means possible to get the drug and their primary purpose in life becomes seeking heroin. My point is this: the reason that people use heroin or any drug is because the drug makes a person feel extremely good. Similarly, Jekyll also enjoys the pleasure that his potion gives him. Jekyll notes that it begins taking longer for Hyde to wear off as he spends more time recovering from the drugs effects. Because he enjoys becoming a different person, Jekylls abuse worsens. Jekylls continued abuse of his chemical causes serious changes in his personality. He begins behaving in unusually cruel and inhumane ways. For example, Enfield witnesses Hyde in motion: and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the childs body and left her screaming on the ground (40). This quote describes Mr. Hyde brutally trampling a young girl and then disappearing into a door on the street. What is more important, it demonstrates that Jekyll is not a man who is right in mind or spirit. Jekyll begins requiring more of his drug than he has previously: since then I had been obliged on more than one occasion to double, and once, with infinite risk of death, to treble the amount (Stevenson 113). To put it another way, this quote by Jekyll refers to his increasing the amount of his drug because he has built up a tolerance to the drug. Just as important, Jekyll the quote shows Jekyll admitting that his drug abuse could cost him his life. It becomes apparent that Jekyll is not only addicted to the drug, but is also addicted to transforming into the secretive Hyde. Eventually, his addiction leads him to murder a young man. Finally, when he realizes that he can no longer return back to Jekyll, and will forever be Mr. Hyde, he takes his own life. Henry Jekylls maladaptive behavior throughout the novel indicates that he is a man suffering from an addiction. His self- destruction points to the fact that he is powerless over his potion. As a result, Jekylls experimentation, denial and abuse eventually lead to addiction. As a result, Hyde gradually takes over the doctor to the point where he can no longer return back to Jekyll. Because of this, Jekyll commits suicide. Utterson and Poole find the body of Hyde wearing Jekylls clothes. They also find a letter that Jekyll has written to Utterson explaining the whole mystery. My conclusion, then, is that Dr. Jekyll is a drug addict.

Coming into Language by Jimmy Santiago Baca :: Coming into Language

Is it possible to make vital life changes to become a better person at heart? Who’s the one that can help you? The only person that will get you up on your feet is yourself, and you have to believe deeply to make those changes. In this essay there are many main points that are being brought across to explain the problems and wisdom that arose from Baca’s life as an inmate. It talks about how he was grown up into an adult and the tragedies that he had to face in order to become one. Later I fallow steps that lead to the purpose and rhetorical appeals of Baca’s essay. The purpose dealt with the cause and effect piece and problem/ solution structure. For this specific essay that I read it is based on the effects of language and its values. I happened to read the essay called, â€Å"Coming into Language,† by a convict named Jimmy Santiago Baca. He was born in 1952 as an Apache Indian with a Chicano relation. Ever since Jim was a young individual he has been in and out of jail and roamed the streets before knowing the basics of right and wrong. From an early age he didn’t ever get a chance to read or understand writings. Because of his poor upbringing he wasn’t able to gain access to knowledge, and did not know that dropping out of the 9th grade could hurt the rest of his life. In the essay, Baca mainly focused on writing the essay to explain his values and beliefs. I believe that Baca wanted to bring his thoughts across to the Chicano decent and to other jail inmates who didn’t understand their upbringings as well. There is clear reasoning for this, stated in the essay it mentions when Baca started sh owing the Chicano’s and other prisoners, they too were building an interest. The main purpose of this essay is to show that people can change and make a difference. From a person who was given nothing, and dealt with misery for his first half of his life was able to learn to read and write (then later on learned to write poems.) In Baca’s writing style for this piece was a cause/effect and problem/solution. Throughout his writing he mentions how he wasn’t the smartest person, and didn’t even learn the importance of schooling.

Edgar Allan Poe :: essays research papers

What Goes Around Comes Around In his story â€Å"The Black Cat,† Edgar Allan Poe dramatizes his experience with madness, and challenges the readers suspension of disbelief by using imagery in describing the plot and characters. Poe uses foreshadowing to describe the scenes of sanity versus insanity. He writes â€Å"for the most wild yet homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor illicit belief. Yet mad I am not- and surely do I not dream,† alerts the reader about a forthcoming story that will test the boundaries of reality and fiction. The author asserts his belief of the activities described in the story when he states â€Å"to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburden my soul†(80). Poe describes his affectionate temperament of his character when he writes â€Å"my tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions†(80). He also characterizes his animal friends as â€Å"unselfish† and their love as â€Å"self-sacrificing† illustrating to the readers his devotion to them for their companionship. The author uses foreshadowing in the statement â€Å"we had birds, goldfish, a fine dog, a rabbit, a small monkey, and a cat†(80). The use of italics hints to the reader of upcoming events about the cat that peaks interest and anticipation. Poe also describes a touch foreshadowing and suspension of disbelief when he illustrates his wives response to the cat when he writes â€Å"all black cats are witches in disguise, not that she was ever serious upon this point-and I mention the matter at all for no better reason than it happened, just now, to be remembered†(80). Poe expresses his early attachment to the cat and dramatizes the character changes he experiences when he writes â€Å"our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character-through instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance-had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse†(81). He warns the reader of new events in a cynical tone and implies the beginning of the madness he denies. Poe first illustrates this madness when he uses imagery to describe the brutal scene with the cat when he writes â€Å"I took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!† The author describes his emotional and physical state of being during the unthinkable act as â€Å"I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity†(81). He describes the

Creative Art Therapy: Essay -- essays papers

Creative Art Therapy: Creative art therapy is a technique that implements theory of three major schools of thought: PSYCHODYNAMIC HUMANISTIC BEHAVIORISM „Y Uses: Therapists use this implementation of theory and introduce this technique to the client at the appropriate time to facilitate creativity, personal growth, and therapeutic change. PSYCHDYNAMIC Creative art therapy can be used as a medium to capture hidden impulses, and emotions. This technique also helps to explore unconscious secret desires and fears. Jung ¡Ã‚ ¦s regard for imagination and creativity as one of the major forces of healing. Jung also introduced therapist to the role of active participant in the creative endeavor. Free association „ « HUMANISTIC „ « Creative therapy helps client move towards self-discovery. The client sees self emerge through the development process. (Positive self regard) „ « Art therapy can be used to help the client feel more relaxed in the therapeutic setting. (self disclosure) „ « This technique can be used as an  ¡Ã‚ §active listening ¡Ã‚ ¨ tool to help client express emotions or feelings that can not be verbally expressed. „ « Art therapy encourages the client to view themselves as individuals. „Y BEHAVIORISM „Y Art therapy can be used to modify maladaptive behaviors. „Y True art therapist may have a great deal of difficulty with the above because this approach may be viewed as conforming as opposed to individualization and creativity. „Y (For this purpose, I will not spend much time on this approach) Focus Population of creative art therapy: All; depending on the specific technique being used. Who are art therapists? „Y Art teachers „Y Psychotherapist „Y Psychologist „Y Creative specialist „Y Social workers „Y Psychiatrists Do I have to be artistic? „h No, the therapist does not have to be artist. Artistic ability is not the focus of art therapy. Art students who practice art therapy are sometimes considered possible liabilities because they may be more artistic than the client and the possibility of critiquing the clients work. „h Creative art therapy is not about what the finished product looks like, but what it represents in the form of expression.(the client ¡Ã‚ ¦s) Important to note: „h Exhibition of client ¡Ã‚ ¦s artwork for others to see with out written consent is an invasion of the client ¡Ã‚ ¦s privacy! Æ’Ã ¡ Some E... .... Function:Information gathering Child, adult „h Kinetic family drawing ¡Xclient uses paper, pencils, crayons to draw a picture of a family doing some thing together. (Rapport builder, gather information about other family member. Client verbalizes where he or she fits in the family.) „h Scribble drawings ¡Xtherapist and client take turns drawing scribble while other verbalizes an image. (Builds rapport, becomes a transitional project) „h House plan ¡XTherapist either uses dollhouse or draws a house plan. Client draws or positions family of dolls in areas of the home. (Information gathering. Awareness of roles and relatedness to family and environment) Function: Family or group therapy „h Murals or collages ¡Xtherapist provides pictures, magazines, paper, glue, scissors, markers, etc. Therapist also chooses a relevant topic. The group of family work as individuals and as a group to convey a feeling or message through the artwork. (issues are open) Function: Past becoming present Geriatrics „h Treasured objects ¡Xclient is asked to bring in most precious possessions. Sharing of meaning and related experiences to the objects. (Self  ¡Vdisclosure building trust, active listening)