Monday, September 30, 2019

Evaluation of a groups work Essay

I will be evaluating two groups’ still images, on the subject of fame. The first group I have chosen is Matt, Sally, Elena and Naomi’s group. I liked there still images as I thought they used a good range of levels and had good spatial awareness. For their first still image they had a celebrity in the centre, two people trying to reach over and get autographs, and another person on the floor on her knees, taking pictures of the celebrity. I think this was a good image as it showed the after fame pictures. I liked the fact that Elena playing the celebrity, was in the centre and was the one standing up right, as two people were leant over, trying to get autographs, and the other person was on the floor taking a picture. This showed levels and status, it showed that she was the centre of attention, and the person getting all the attention, whilst the others were at a lower status and have a much lower status in society. We can tell this as they are at lower levels than the person in the middle. The second image displayed good spatial awareness, as each individual thing that was represented had its own space, and it was very clear and easy to see what the meaning of it was. It represented a lifestyle of sex, drugs and fame. In one corner there was two people hugging, in the centre there was a person laying on the floor, and to the other side and slightly to the back was a person reading a newspaper story, of the things going on around her. I think the people were positioned carefully and the levels were also varied. However I think this still image could have been improved slighty, by bringing the person reading the story forwards, so that what she is reading is going on behind her. This would make it clearer that she is reading these things about sex and drugs. The second group I have chosen is Lucy, Laura, Beth and Bens’ group. I liked their still images, as they were both a negative one and a positive one. Their first still image their was one person in the middle, surrounded by paparazzi. This also shows status, as all the paparazzi were bent over at different levels trying to get a picture, it shows that the person in the middle has the most attention, and has the highest status. However the person doesn’t want to be photographed, and is trying to turn away from the cameras. This is an after fame still image, and in my opinion shows that the celebrity, is maybe not ready for fame and is very new in this society. The second still image shows a pro fame image. There is 4 girls in a row striking a pose, it seems like this is a photo from just before they become famous. These two images show contrast, as the first image shows someone who is in the lime light but maybe is not to keen to be, and the second image is the complete opposite with a girl band posing for the camera lapping up all the limelight and absorbing their first few seconds of fame, thinking that they are going to get all the fame and glory.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The AtekPC Project Management Office Essay

The Atek PC Project Management Office Case Study was assigned for this class to provide an overview of the challenges faced by management in the development and deployment of a PMO in an existing company. Based on the case study respond to the questions below incorporating not only the course reading materials, but any outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to cite the authority for any research included in your response. What were the changes in AtekPC’s business environment that caused the company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research, do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? â€Å"One might be cost reduction. Another motivation to get better on projects would be that we have to get more creative, adaptive, and agile in launching new products. â€Å" [1] â€Å"The PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was engaged in dealing with dramatic pressure from larger competitors such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. To compete in a changing industry in which consolidation was occurring, AtekPC had implemented a corporate Planning Office. Recognizing the  role that IT would likely play in enabling AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior vice-president had supported the creation of a PMO within IT. â€Å" [1] Somewhat true but not sufficient Here are some other reasons of why we should have PMO. (of course it cannot represent everything) In mature organizations, the PMO is the focal point for improvement and enhancement in project management through the implementation of the enterprise-oriented functions. Enterprise-oriented functions are intended to bolster the overall capability of the organization for long-range benefits. The enterprise functions will provide the long-term stability and backbone  for the project management success. This mission is met by establishing, and maintaining, a project historical database, by developing and disseminating project management best practices, by providing training in all project management knowledge areas, and by providing visibility for the value of project management to the organization. [2] Distinguish between project-focused and enterprise-oriented duties of a PMO? The specific duties of a PMO were typically divided into two categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented. Project focused responsibilities such as consulting, mentoring, and training were services that enabled the success of individual projects. On the other hand, enterprise responsibilities addressed services that might improve all projects such as portfolio management, PM standards, methods, and tools, and project performance archives. [1] PMO’s are more effective and can better impact the bottom line, when they are operating at the corporate enterprise-wide strategic level, rather than at the departmental level. Departmentally based Project Management offices are successful in their own silos but not accepted outside their span of influence, and therefore, are unable to influence the organization as a whole. This is because many project management offices started off from a grass roots approach. [3] A PMO that is organizationally based versus departmentally based is more likely to get executive support. After all, project management should not be a departmental strategy; it should be an organizational strategy. The Enterprise PMO will oversee the management of all strategically aligned projects. [3] Describe the primary issues faced by AteKPC management under the two organizational models that were under consideration for the PMO. Explain the limitations of each of these models.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Litterature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Litterature - Essay Example Baldwin’s socio-economic, gender, racial, and religious conditions shape a personal-universal writing style, which aims to write for people who establish and develop their identities, using their own frame of references. Cultural Issues and Influences Baldwin’s cultural issues intersect concerns for race, gender, and class, where Harlem is one of the strongest cultural influences on Baldwin. The poverty of his family and neighborhood and the religiosity of his stepfather affected his work aesthetics and style. Gerald Meyer believes that the key to understanding Baldwin’s politics is through analyzing his Harlem roots and culture. While some writers like Langston Hughes saw Harlem as a black Mecca, Baldwin lived in it and remembers it as a ghetto.† Baldwin’s â€Å"The Harlem Ghetto† dispels notions of aesthetic greatness that some writers attribute to it: †¦the buildings are old and in desperate need of repair, the streets are crowded and dirty; there are too many human beings per square mile†¦ All of Harlem is a place pervaded by a sense of congestion, rather like the insistent, maddening, claustrophobic pounding in the skull that comes from trying to breathe in a very small room with all the windows shut.† (39 qtd. in Meyer 274). ... Furthermore, though coming from a low economic status with racial and gender concerns, Baldwin resists being a black fundamentalist or to conform to any label. Instead, he supports diverse views, a devotion which signifies his multiracial and multi-gender politics. He does not want to be seen as a Negro writer or as a gay writer per se (Field 7). In writing for all, nevertheless, critics charged him for having no unifying ideology. Francois Burgess disparages Baldwin’s works as being too broad: â€Å"Alone among Black contemporary writers, Baldwin could not or did not know how to find a central ideology that would give to his work coherence and unity† (Bobia 54 qtd. in Field 7). But this paper believes that Baldwin only writes from what he feels is personally right, which resonate with those who experience or witness the same struggles. Baldwin does not have to conform to the frameworks and labels of others to become the writer that he wants to be. Aside from Harlem, Pa ris shaped Baldwin’s writings through the theme of expatriation. Baldwin leaves America, not only because he is disillusioned with the persecution of his race and gender in the U.S., but more so because he wants to distance himself from these struggles, in order to find his identity, including his writing voice. Price describes Baldwin’s Parisian stopover as a â€Å"liberating experience,† that gives him â€Å"the sanction, if one can accept it, to become oneself† (313 qtd. in Tomlinson 136). Baldwin cannot be himself in a society that attacks him from different sides. The physical distance refreshes him, reminding him of his roles and functions as a writer and as an American. Robert Tomlinson argues that the theme of expatriation in Baldwin’s works

Friday, September 27, 2019

Criminal Justice System of America and Britain Research Paper

Criminal Justice System of America and Britain - Research Paper Example Still, there are many differences and similarities between the judicial systems in these countries. The first difference occurs, when American lawyers are defense attorneys, notwithstanding that they prefer to call themselves â€Å"trial lawyers†. British lawyers name them â€Å"solicitors, representing people’s legal needs and barristers, who take the cases to civil or criminal courts† (Carter, 2001). The differences should be found not at the verbal level, but at much deeper conceptual and historical levels. Similarities and differences between the US and UK legal systems As far as we can see, there can be found a lot of parallels between English Common Law and the American legal system, many differences exist as well. It is relevant to trace the deep historical roots of legal system of these countries, because â€Å"the life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience...the law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries..." (Carter, 2001). There is no Supreme Court in the Great Britain and a government is positioned as a totally separated unity from the legal process. The House of Lords performs a function of the highest justice and represents the â€Å"court of highest appeal†. (Carter, 2001) In America, state courts are separated from federal courts, but in Britain the lowest criminal courts â€Å"Magistrate's Courts† exist.... In England there is Home Secretary, who is responsible for the criminal justice system and Wales and advising the Queen on the royal prerogative of mercy to pardon exercise given to a person who is convicted of a crime. In accordance with the US Constitution, the President has a power of a pardon (of course, this mainly happens on the basis of political considerations about the cases). Therefore, it is evident that legal and judicial systems are more separated from each other in the US. On the basis of the difference of the legal systems in Britain and America, it is clearly seen that the US Constitution is the leading legal document in America. The Judiciary has the control over its own actions and the Executive or Legislative branches can obtrude in this process. Another interesting fact is that the Executive branch is responsible for appointments of federal judges and judges in the Supreme Court. The Congress has a right to either approve or disapprove such kind of appointment. Th erefore, on the basis of these facts the independence of the American judiciary can be questioned. The differences between judicial systems between these two countries occurred after the Revolution, when â€Å"American law became, in some ways, More than less English....The law later needed was not to be found in the colonial past....Only England had a supply that American lawyers could use without translation or transformation." (Knight, 1996) Still, the majority of lawyers and critics claim that the development of the judicial system should be a more dynamical process. In order to accommodate republican versus monarchial system of Britain, America

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Retaining key employees in times of change Coursework

Retaining key employees in times of change - Coursework Example During such instances, the organization must assess suitable strategies to retain the employees. According to the article, the retention process rarely works if the company uses money only to persuade the employees. Since the retention process is mostly directed towards the high risk employees or the employees that could lead to major impact if they depart, other measures must be undertaken to ensure that the continued working of the organization is guaranteed in spite of the changes. Some changes pose challenges that money alone cannot address. Prior to the transition, the line managers must work together in determining the employees whose retention is critical. Some of the factors considered in determining critical employees in retention include those who exhibit exceptional institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and direct relationships with the management. Specifically, individuals involved in departments such as IT, finance, as well as the administrative sector have uniqu e knowledge concerning organizational systems therefore qualify to be in the retention list. These individuals are usually difficult to replace. Once the list of critical employees is created, the management then prioritizes them according to available retention strategies. This is important since not all individuals would be persuaded using certain incentives such as money. This implies that specific employees have unique requirements and money may not fulfill them.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Film review the film is My Antonia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Film review the film is My Antonia - Essay Example Set in the late nineteenth century Nebraska, the story revolves around the travails of orphan Jimmy Burden, who moves into his grandparents’ (played by Jason Robards and Eva Marie Saint) farm that is located nearby Black Hawk, Nebraska. Young Jimmy is immediately drawn to 15-year neighbor Antonia Shimerda (played by Elina Lowensohn) and they become close friends. Conflict arises when Antonia’s father wants Jimmy to teach her English, whereas Jimmy’s grandfather is concerned about his grandson’s own education. But soon the Shimerda family meets a tragedy and contact with the Burdens is severed as the latter move into town. As the ageing grandparents pool their resources into making their grandson a graduate, Antonia renews her contact with Jimmy as she also now lives in town. The subsequent narrative is about the evolution and endurance of their friendship, which lasts for many years, even as Jimmy takes further strides in his academic and professional life . The relationship between Jimmy and Antonia has a romantic basis to it, but neither of them expresses it in overt ways. The intrusion of the beautiful Lena also disrupts the harmony of their relationship. As Jimmy takes greater interest in Lena, he drifts further apart from Antonia. This element of the relationship adds suspense and intrigue to the narrative and keeps audience interest alive throughout. The adaptation to film comes off well, although some of the smaller characters in the novel do not find space in the shorter film format. Yet, the essence of the novel is fully captured through the strong impression that the character of Antonia makes on the audience. Even as the film moves toward the final denouement, the benevolence and kindness of Antonia lingers on the mind of the discerning viewer, standing as a testament to the film’s overall success. For example, even as she realizes that Jimmy is lost to her, Antonia does not cry foul and neglect her duties toward her family. She carries on bravely and reconstructs her life in a manner fitting the circumstances. When Jimmy eventually meets Antonia toward the end of the film, he finds her living a happy married with children. The film ends upon this note of implicit regard and goodwill for each other. As for the performance given by lead actors, excepting for Elina Lowensohn's stand-out central performance, none of the other actors evince much energy, especially Neil Patrick Harris in the lead role. Even accommodating for the fact that Jimmy Burden is a reserved character in the film, he nowhere nearly capture the emotional turmoil that Cather portrayed so eloquently. One of the larger themes covered by the movie is the disparate treatment meted out to immigrant communities. This is most evident in the ordeals of the Shimerda family in assimilating with the local community in Black Hawk, Nebraska. Willa Cather was a writer of great cultural and social sensitivity. And the film My Antonio successf ully captures the thrust and emphasis of her presentation of American social problems. For example, reviewer Tom Wiener correctly notes in his review article that â€Å"The strongest portrayal in the film is the plight of European immigrants and in particular the young women. As Antonia plaintively says, "Girls like me don't get chances," and although she almost blows what she thinks is her best shot, she does land on her feet--no thanks to the self-absorbed Jimmy. A longer film might

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Food Insecurity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food Insecurity - Essay Example As far as hard statistics go, the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) estimates that over 852 million people in the world struggle from chronic hunger, while a much larger 2 billion faces constant fear of starvation due to poverty (FAO,2003). Being the most basic of necessities, providing easy and affordable access to nutritious food is paramount to stopping deaths due to hunger, malnutrition, and diseases worldwide. While the issue of food insecurity plagues primarily the developing and developed countries, the developed world isn't immune to it altogether. In the United States, 10.9% of the households were food insecure at least some time during the year, of which, 4.0% were very food insecure for some time during the year (United States Department of Agriculture,2007). The states with the highest food insecurity during 2004-06 were Mississippi (18.1%), New Mexico (16.1%), and Texas (15.9%), while North Dakota (6.4%) had the lowest food insecurity. (Household Food Security in the United States, 2006 Food insecurity in United States households is usually recurrent or episodic, but not chronic (unlike that in developing and undeveloped countries). This means that these households faced shortage and anxiety over food for not more than 1 or 2 months, and not the whole year round. Some particular household groups are more susceptible to food insecurity than others, with prevalence of food insecurity much higher than the national average. These groups include households headed by single women (30.4%), and single men (17.0%), Black (21.8%) and Hispanic (19.5%) households. Households with income below the official poverty line had the highest prevalence of food insecurity (36.3%). Of the 12.6 million households with food insecurity, 10.32 million live in metropolitan areas, making the access to a nutritious source of food a non-issue (USDA, 2007). Thus, food insecurity in these metropolitan areas results primarily from poverty or occasional natural causes (such as natural disasters), u nlike undeveloped and developing countries where food availability and not affordability is a major cause of food insecurity. Women, due to their roles in managing family feeding are at heightened risk of food insecurity. Lower levels of education and inequality in terms of employment opportunities, as well as biological factors such as pregnancy and childbirth make single women without spouses especially susceptible to the consequences of food insecurity. The median income of single women over 16 yearsin the United States is $22,097, compared to $32,396 for males (United States Community Survey, 2006). Consequently, households headed by single women also show a much larger deviation in terms of food insecurity than the national average (30.4% compared to the national average of 10.9%). Poor education is one of the primary causes for this deviation, as the median income of single females with less than high school education is $13,255, compared to $49,164 for single females with graduate or professional degrees. Children are another major cause of poverty and the resulting food insecurity in households headed by single women with no spous

Monday, September 23, 2019

Strategic management (GAZPROM) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic management (GAZPROM) - Assignment Example Gazprom products do not only experience high demand in Russia but also in foreign countries. Major factors that have contributed to the high demand of the company products include increased household income in Russia and improved marketing strategies adopted by the company. Based on the large number of employees who have appropriate skills, the company has adequate resources that has enabled it to effectively compete with its main rivals that include Novatek, Northgas, Transneft, Russneft, TNK-BP and Novatek and Rosneft among others. The primary aspects that Gazprom should emulate in its strategic planning include expanding financial allocation that is focused at exploring oil reserves in developing countries as well as differentiation strategies. In this way, the company will not only increase shareholders returns but also it will effectively face off its competitors in the oil industry. To ensure that adequate control of its operations, Gazprom should involve all the stakeholders t hat include the shareholders, employees, Russian government and the marketers. Introduction A strategic analysis of an organization is carried out to examine the various ways through which a firm can achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors in the market. According to Lorenzen (2006) strategic planning is a rhythmic procedure that gives managers a clear view of the firms internal as well as the external environment. Consequently, managers get to a position where the organizations strengths and weaknesses are studied and solutions put into effect to counter the weaknesses that detriment the operations of their businesses. This paper seeks to discuss the environment analysis, structuring and an organization analysis as well as strategic plan of Gazprom, a Russian based company specializing in extraction of natural gas. Environmental analysis Industry analysis Having been established in 1989, Gazprom has various production subsidiaries that include Urengony, Nadvm, Yamburg and Novabrsk. With its major production fields being Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Nadym-Pur-Taz region, the company has significantly led to an expansion of natural oil industry. Due to lack of barriers to enter Russian oil industry, the industry has attracted large number of firms making Russia to be the largest oil producer globally. For example, in 2009 the country produced 494.2 million tons (Edward and Robert, 2009). Key competitors in the Russian oil industry include Surgutneftegaz, Lukoil, Rosneft, Gazprom, Northgas, Transneft, Russneft, TNK-BP and Novatek. Rosneft controls the biggest market share followed by Lukoil, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom. The major customers of the Gazprom come from domestic users. Other customers are based in Europe, CIS countries as well Baltic States (Aarentsen, 2003). Based on the large volume of oil the European countries and other foreign states demands from Russia they have attained a power that significantly controls oil prices at the international market. In order to compete with its rivals, Gazprom has embarked on diversifying its operations to include transmission, processing of gases as well as marketing and distribution of gases. Other activities that the company has adopted include repair of the Unified Gas Supply System and power generation (Fahey and

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Many Teenagers Run Away from Home Essay Example for Free

Many Teenagers Run Away from Home Essay Each year, many teenagers run away from home. Why do you think are their chief causes? There are many teenagers who run away from their home. Recently the problem of teenagers running away from home is getting more and more serious. This happens in big cities and small towns, and our country is no exception. Each year, many teenagers run away from their families. But it all depends on the person. The main reasons of teenagers’ running away are in surrounding community. The closest people in the world are our family. But if there are some problems in family, then person, especially teenager, who is formed own current psyche, escape from the hopelessness. Nowadays it is very difficult to live with the society around us. Many people try to find a benefit only for themselves, trying to deceive someone in order to satisfy their needs. They deceive each other without thinking that makes a pain and mental injury. There are several reasons why teenagers run away from home, normally these reasons are related to conditions in the families, bad influence of their friends and financial problem. The first cause of running away is conditions in the family. One of the reasons is because they come from broken homes where their parents are divorced. They do not get enough love and care from their parents. As a result, they will go and find love and care elsewhere. Some parents have the habit of quarrelling in front of their children. The children feel ashamed of their parents and cannot stand this kind of environment. In the end they run away from home. Some parents are too strict with their children. They always punished, scold and lecture their children. They also put too much pressure on their children especially in their studies. Actually they should encourage and guide them more instead of putting unrealistic goals on their lives. Most teenagers do not like to be restricted and treated like children. They want to have their own freedom. They like to be creative and learn things for themselves. To overcome the problem, parents should learn how to care and love their children. They need to be sensitive and careful not to do certain things in front of the children. For example, if they have conflicts among themselves, they need to settle it on their own first instead of arguing or quarrelling in front of their children. In many families children are afraid of talking to their parents and asking them for what they want. For this reason the misunderstandings between them grow bigger and bigger. This often ends in a big quarrel. The second reason that leads to run away teenagers from their home is bad influence of their friends. They find their own way of escape by running away from home. They tend to spend their time with their friends than staying at home. That is the beginning of the problem. If they mix with the wrong group of friends, they will get involve with all kinds of wrong activities. For example, under the influence of bad friends, teenagers who escape from home may fall under alcohol dependence. Teenagers abuse alcohol. They seem to be getting a hold of alcohol at a younger and younger age. Since alcohol is used to celebrate and have fun, teens that abuse alcohol most likely has no idea of the affect alcohol and its abuse can have on their bodies. If they find bad friends that influence of them, they begin to offer drinking and in the end teens used to drink and become an alcoholics. Then finish their life in the street. Also teens may become drug addict, which in turn lead to depression and suicide. The most common reason why teenagers use drug is to relieve stress. Many of them have to suffer stress from family condition. One of the explanations is that drugs users have a poor family life. The majority of drug users have had an unhappy childhood which includes cruel punishment and parental neglect. Many teenagers become a fraudster and a thief when the run away from home. Thus the undergrowths, which are associated with bad friends, began to becoming fraudsters or steal on the street. Eventually they are arrested for petty theft and in the future they have no chance to make something of life, because they have a criminal past. The last cause of teenagers running away is financial problem. The most teenagers run away from their house for financial problem in the family. Mendicancy is big problem nowadays, especially in our country. A lot of people standing on the street and ask money. Most of them teenagers, I am sure that they have family and house, but anyway the escape from their home. The main reason it is financial problem. They become a thief and begin to stealing bags, wallets, mobile phones and others valuable things. If someone steals so they can survive or to help other people that are in need then in most cases its alright. To steal just because they didnt want to pay for something even though theyre capable then its wrong. These people should be punished in order to learn that they were wrong for stealing. But these teenagers who have home and family, who must study, help parents, they should not steal. But others teenagers find not good pay jobs, such as water in cheap cafes, cleaner, job in car washing, janitor and so on. They need the money, but they have not opportunity and choice and they have to work in such jobs as these. They have not education and no one can help them with good job. Every teenager who run away from home, have made a bad decision. They got themselves under the pressures that they felt the need to escape from. Instead of facing their problem and solving it, they chose to run from it. When they have the right decision to change some of the things that may be going on in their lives, the pressure lessens, and there is no more need for them to escape. If they learn to solve their problem and their parents will help them to do so, without cursing and impose their goals and solutions, then the escape of teenagers reduced many times. In conclusion, there are so many teenagers who run away from their families. There are many reasons for it, but one solution parents must be more careful, understanding and loving. If parents will pay enough attention to their children, the children answered them reciprocate and they the same as apply to their children in the future. For teenagers is very important parents’ attention, their understanding and advice. Parents should only speak with their child and all this will not happen. I think the main problem of this issue is misunderstood of our parents, because they forget that they also be teenagers, they want fence in all things. But this lead to lies quarrels and finally escapes from home.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Cricket World Cup Essay Example for Free

Cricket World Cup Essay Professional cricket player. Largely considered crickets greatest batsman, Sachin Tendulkar was born April 24, 1973 in Bombay, India, to a middle-class family, the youngest of four children. His father was a professor while his mother worked for a life insurance company. Named after his familys favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman, Tendulkar wasnt a particularly gifted student, but hed always shown himself to be a standout athlete. He was 11 years old when he was given his first cricket bat and his talent in the sport was immediately apparent. At the age of 14 he scored 329 out of a world record stand of 664 in a school match. As his accomplishments grew, he became a sort of cult figure among Bombay schoolboys. After high school Tendulkar enrolled at Kirti College, where his father also taught. The fact that he decided to go to the school where his father worked was of no surprise. Tendulkars family is very close and years after hed achieved stardom and cricket fame, he continued to live next door to his parents. Professional Play Tendulkar made his debut in international competition at 16 with a match against Pakistan in Karachi. He wasted little time matching the expectations surrounding his arrival on the professional field. At the age of 18 he scored a pair of centuries in Australia, then in 1994 racked up a score of 179 in a match against the West Indies. FSachin Tendulkar was born April in Bombay India. Given his first cricket gat at the age Tendulkar was just when he became india youngest Test Cricketer. In he became the firtst Cricketer to score centuries runs in a single innig in Test play. In Tendulkar reched another major milestone, becoming the first player to recortd runs in one-day international play. Early Years Professional cricket player . Largely considerd cricket greatest BGatsman, SachimTendulkar was Born April in Bombay, India to a middle class family, the youngest of four children. His fat her was a professor while his mother worked for a life insurance company, named after his family’s bavourite music Director, Sachin Dev Burman, Tendulkar wasn’t a particularly gifted student, but he’d but he’d always shown himself to be a standout athlete. He was years himself to be a old when he was spot was immediately apparent. At the age of he scored out of a world record stand of in a school match. As his accomplishments gewe, he became a sort of cult figure among Baombay schoolboys. After high school Tendulkar enrolled at Kirit College , whre his father also taugh. The fact that he decided to got to the school where his fat her worked ws of no surprise. Tendulkar’s family is very close and years after he’d achieved stardom and cricket fame, he continued to live next door to his parents. Aprofessional Play Tendulkar made his de but in international competition at with a match against Pakistan in Karachi. He was wasted little time matching the expectations surrounding his arrival on the professional field. At the his arrival on the p rofessional field. At the age of he scored a pair of centuries in Australia, then in racked up a score of in a match aginst the West Indies. ? Tendulkar was just 23 when he was named captain of his countrys team for the 1996 World Cup. While the tournament proved to be a disappointment for his club, Tendulkar did nothing to diminish his own standing as one of the worlds dominant players. He finished out the World Cup as the events top scorer. In India, Tendulkars star shined even brighter. In a country reeling from troubled economic times, the young cricketer was seen as a symbol of hope by his countrymen that better times lay ahead. On national newsweekly went so far as to devote an entire issue to the young cricketer, dubbing him The Last Hero for his home country. His style of play—aggressive and inventive—resonated with the sports fans, as did Tendulkars unassuming off the field living. Even with his increasing wealth, Tendulkar showed humility and refused to flaunt his money. Tendulkars dominance of his sport has continued, even as hes moved well into his thirties. He scored his record-breaking 35th century in Test play in December 2005 in a match against Sri Lanka. In June 2007 he set another mark when he became the first player to record 15,000 runs in one-day international play. In January 2010 he again moved into the record books when became the first batsman to score 13,000 runs in Test play. Just one month later he registered another first, a double century in a match against South Africa. That same year he was named the 2010 International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year. In April 2011 Tendulkar chalked up another milestone when he led India to a World Cup victory, his first in his long career. During the tournament, the batsman again showed why hes one of the sports greatest athletes by becoming the first batsman to score 2,000 runs and six centuries in World How to Cite this Page: Sachin Tendulkar Tendulkar was just when he was named captain of his coutry’s team for the world cup. While the tournament proved to be a di for his club, Tendukar did nothing to diminish his own standing as one of the world’s dominant his own standing as one of the world’s dominant players. He finished out the World Cup as the event’s to p scorer. In India , Tendulkar’s star shined even brighter. In a coutry reeling from troubled economic times , the young cricketer was seen as a symbol of hope by his countrymen that bet ter times lay ahead . On national newsweekly went better times lay ahead. On national newsweekly went so far as to devote and entire issue to the young cricketer dubbing him The Last Hero for his home country His style of play aggressive and inventive resonated with the sport’s fans, as did Tendulkar’s unassuming off the field living Even with his increasing Wealth, Tendulkar showed humility and refused to flaunt his money . Tendulkar’s dominance of his sport has continued, even as he’s moved well into his thirties. He scored his record breaking the century in Test play in December in a match against Sri Lanka. In June he stet another mark when he became the first player to record runs in one day international play  in January he again moved finto the record bookds when became, again moved into the record books when became the first batesman to score runs in Test play. Just one month later he registered another first, a double century in a match against South Aftica. That same year he was named the International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year. In April Tendulkar Chalked up another Milestone when he led india to a World Cup victory , his first in his long career. Duting the tournament, the batsman again showed why he’s one of the sport’s greatest athletes by becoming the first batsman to sxore runs and six enturies in World Cup play.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Management of a Care Facility

Management of a Care Facility Introduction Managers are tasked to create their organisation’s vision in such a way that it will aide in assuring future stability. This academic paper will discuss how an organisation’s vision is created, communicated and implemented and how this vision will pave the way for conceptualizing its strategic direction in a chosen residential home. The residential home care that was discussed in this paper is a home care that provides older adult services to about 60-70 residents with various geriatric needs. The residential home care is divided into units depending on the needs assessments made on each resident during their admission. There are about four nearby residential home cares providing the same services. The home care is the newest of the four and is gradually gaining recognition within the serviceable area. In its everyday operations, bulk of the employees consists of nurses and health care aides. Major problems faced by the organisation are the shortage of nursing staff along with the need to expand the business due to increase influx of clients being admitted. The vision and its stakeholders An organisational vision is a statement of what the organisation wants to do and hopes to become in the future (Nagelkerk, 2005). In creating a vision, it must first be congruent with mission and philosophy of the organisation and anchored on shared values and beliefs (Polifko-Harris, 2005). At the same time, the vision must be dynamic and motivational to its stakeholders because the vision is said to be meaningful only to those who are involved in its creation (Roussel, 2011; Thamm, 2011; Allen, 2007) A stakeholder is a person or a group that takes strong interest on organisation (Kelly and Tazbir, 2013). In health care industries such as the residential home care, the stakeholders include the patients or clients, nurses, medical practitioners, insurers, administrators, and accrediting bodies (Kelly and Tazbir, 2013). In vision planning, consideration of the stakeholders and fostering a good relationship with them are very crucial as their involvement and engagement in the organisation can bring the vision into reality (Kelly and Tazbir, 2013; Malloch and Porter-O’Grady, 2010). They must be adequately represented as they are expected to support management initiatives and perform certain roles for fulfilling organisational success (Gantz, 2010; Harris et al, 2010). As Sare and Ogilvie (2010) say, nursing is a people-centered profession and thrives in involvement. The more we get to involve people to share in the organisational vision, there is higher likelihood that the visi on will be put to reality. Oftentimes, it is heard that only those in the middle and upper management make decisions and policies for the organisation. However, it is not only them who must be involved in creating the vision. In the chosen health care setting, the stakeholders include the elderly residents and their families, the nursing personnel and other employees, unit managers and supervisors and the board of directors. Feedbacks and perceptions of service users are crucial in service improvements. Thus, satisfaction of the elderly residents and their families must be solicited from them. Moreover, the people working for the company especially the nursing staff who provide direct nursing care must be considered. Nurse leaders need to make the employees committed to the organisation and gain ownership of its goals and objectives so that the vision can be brought to reality (McIntyre and McDonald, 2013). Nurses who are motivated and satisfied in their work are more likely to perform better that contribute t o better patient outcomes (Potter et al, 2014). As mentioned, the home care is now facing a shortage of nursing staff which can affect their level of dedication and work quality (McGilton et al, 2013; Peng et al, 2013). This should be one of the things that must be considered if the management would want to make the nursing staff form a sense of ownership of the vision. Factors that may impact the organisational vision Aside from the stakeholders, there are influential factors that must be paid attention to if the organisation is to create a feasible vision. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors can be assessed using SWOT analysis (Kelly and Tazbir, 2013). These factors that need consideration include the areas of operation, finances, competition, changing needs of clients, technological advances, changing political climate, market conditions, economy, competition, current trends and issues in healthcare (Nagelkerk, 2005). Organisational vision and strategic decision In consideration of the characteristics of the residential home care, its stakeholders and other environmental factors, the created vision is written below: â€Å"Our vision is to be the foremost residential home care for older adults in the community that promotes independence and higher quality of life through excellent and safe nursing care. The next step would be to create the strategic direction for the organisation. In the strategic management process, the strategic direction is the long term goals and objectives of the organisation that outlines the purposes of the organisation and its operational scope (Enz, 2009). It must be anchored on the organisation’s mission and vision statements (Enz, 2009). In consideration of the strategic direction, the organisational competencies will be assessed together with surrounding environmental factors (Wilson, 2005). In developing the strategic direction, answers to the following questions will be sought with the help of the management and key stakeholders: 1) What are the expertise of the home care?; 2) What kind of home care will it be in three or five years?; 3) What type of population will we be serving?; 4) What additional functions or services are we going to provide given the evolving market?; 5) What are the technology requirements given the evolving market?; and 6 ) What changes are taking place in the internal and external market that will affect the home care? (Paley, 1999). Communicating the vision One of the qualities of a highly effective leader is the ability to make the people involved in the organisation understand and remain committed to the vision (Gill, 2011). Continuous and sustainable communication of the vision enables members to be clearly informed of the current status of the organisation and its future directions (Gill, 2011). When properly communicated, shared vision prospers and stakeholders will most likely understand their roles and responsibilities in realising the vision inspite of uncertainties and problems along the way (Papp, 2001). The created vision will be communicated by: 1) finding key persons who will motivate others to listen and be engaged in the vision; 2) setting-up a formal communication team who will disseminate the new vision through advertisements and staff education; 3) including the vision in marketing ads of the home care; 4) place posters containing the vision in strategic locations within the organisation; 5) spark conversations among p eople around about the new vision; 6) create activities such as contests that are themed based on the vision; 7) get other’s feedback and perception of the new vision through personal interviews and group discussions; and 8) use social media and other information-dissemination technology that will keep others informed and reminded of the vision (Center for Creative Leadership, Cartwright and Baldwin, 2011). Right leadership for vision sharing For the organisation to see the fulfillment of its vision, everyone with vested interest in it must work collectively through appropriate leadership and management behaviours. Making everybody feel that they own and share a common vision is a major focus of transformational leadership. According to Bass and Riggio (2006), leaders must appeal to the followers’ sense of self-worth to ensure their commitment and involvement in the entire efforts and activities of the organisation. Transformational leaders motivate their followers to always put their best in what they do, empower them by making them involved in crucial organisational activities, and allow them to expand their potentials and abilities (Bass and Riggio, 2006). Followers are able also to develop a strong sense of identification with the organisation that moves them to working and thinking not just to suffice their self-interests (Hutchinson and Jackson, 2012).In nursing, transformational leadership has been seen as a model of leadership that is enabling, empowering and suitable for nurses to remain committed to excellent and safe care practises (Lievens and Vlerick, 2014; Ross et al, 2014; Schwartz et al, 2011). To embed the vision to the followers, the leaders must employ the four components of transformational leadership. These are idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration (Doody and Doody, 2012; Schwartz et al, 2011). In idealised influence, the leader must be seen by the followers as a role model (Doody and Doody, 2012). The manager of the home care must set an example by ensuring that all personal actions are in accordance with the vision. They must be the frontline communicator of the vision to the staff and be the first person to act when everyone is having difficulty fulfilling the vision (Doody and Doody, 2012). Inspirational motivation must also be applied by encouraging followers to always work to achieve organisational goals and objectives while at the same time achieving their own goals (Bally, 2007). Allowing members to participate in decision and policy-making exemplifies intellectual stimulation (Schwartz et al, 2011) . For example, the nursing staff can be involved in projects and programmes that will be launched to achieve the vision and strategic direction of the home care. Lastly, leaders in the home care must be open to the individual needs of the followers by supporting them in their actions, giving them recognition for their efforts and allowing them to achieve professional growth (Schwartz et al, 2011). Rewards and incentives can be given to those staff who exceptionally performed to achieve the goals set by the home care. They may also be given opportunities for further trainings and in-service education to make them more competent. In turn, these activities can bring about better services and improved patient outcomes. Organisational objectives Organisational objectives are the prescribed actions that will be used to achieve and evaluate organisational goals (Kelly, 2011). Based on the vision, the following are the organisational objectives: Our residential home care aims to: Deliver client-centered and holistic care to our residents Create a therapeutic environment for our clients Provide compassionate, ethical, safe, caring and dependable nursing services Commit ourselves to quality improvement and safety standards Increase the services we provide based on our clients’ changing needs Put the organisation and clients’ needs first before our own interests Respect, value and empower people within the organisation Support individual growth and opportunities Increase stakeholders’ satisfaction Move for organisational stability and viability Strategic planning process Strategic planning is the process of setting the future direction of the organisation through alignment of its mission and vision with its actions to achieve the desired outcomes (Feldman and Alexander, 2012). The strategic planning process that will be done follows Odiorne’s recommendations (as cited in Swansburg, 1996): Gap analysis. This involves identification of the problems of the organisation in order to determine what the organisation wants to do about it in the future. Examining extrinsic factors. Assess outside influences that contribute to the problems identified. Enumerate the critical issues. From a pool of problems identified, select the most pressing issues and those which more likely create a high-impact on the organisation. Ranking the important. Plan according to the most important issues for the organisation. Decide. Decide on the issues by involving all key stakeholders. Time and resource planning. Construct a time frame as to when the objectives should be met. This will also include identifying who will be responsible and the resources that will be needed. Summary and Conclusion Managing an organisation is never an easy task. It gets more difficult as the organisation becomes more complex and the needs of stakeholders continue to rise. Nurse managers and leaders must be able to consider all factors inside and outside of the organisation and every individual who has an interest to it. Leaders and managers must craft a well-defined and shared vision to make everyone involved in the organisation to remain committed and motivated towards fulfilling it. Such work will entail the need to adopt transformational leadership through idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. With the new vision, it is likewise necessary to craft the strategic direction and objectives of the organisation. In doing so, leader-managers must be able to align these to the vision, mission, philosophy, and values of the organisation. When all of these are in place, the organisation can now move to making a strategic plan for the entire organisation.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Physics of Archery Essay -- Shooting Sports Hobbies Papers

The Physics of Archery There are not many activities out there that relax and soothe me quite like shooting my bow. It is not as simple as it sounds though, just pulling on the string, releasing the string, and watching the arrow fly towards your target. There are a number of aspects that must be taken into consideration when trying to shoot a bow and arrow efficiently, this is where we will get into the physics of archery. There are two main things to consider when looking at archery and the physics concepts behind it. First there is the bow, which basically is a device that uses human force over a distance and converts that into stored Mechanical Potential Energy. The second factor involves that stored Mechanical Energy being converted once again into Kinetic Energy when the string is released, almost all of that Kinetic Energy is transferred into the released arrow. Another way to look at a bow is in respect to a spring, a bow is almost like a spring that is storing energy that is to be transferred into the arrow once the string is released. To realize the amount of force that is applied from the bow we must look at a number of ideas and concepts. For this application we will use only a Recurve bow or a Reflex bow, which basically is a long piece of wood with a rigid handle and two flexible limbs that are â€Å"recurved† away from the archer. Then those limbs are simply pulled back towards the archer by the means of a string or number of strings. There are also a number of other bow concepts we could look at, for instance the compound bow or even the crossbow. The compound bow is similar in design except that it uses cams, pulleys, and mechanical levers to produce a greater amount of stored energy with a less amount o... ...or a smaller size of vanes. So just as I said before, shooting a bow is much more than just simply pulling on the string, letting the string go, and watching your arrow fly towards the target. There is a lot more physics that come into play when shooting than those simple ideas stated in the previous sentence. My only advice to anyone who is interested in shooting a bow and arrow accurately and having fun at the same time would be to practice, practice, practice, and practice! Good luck, be careful, and have fun. Works Cited: Easton, Larry, Basic Concepts of Archery, 1999 Kirkpatrick, Larry; Wheeler, Gerald, Physics A World View, fourth edition. 2001 Ratcliff, Perry; Archers Advantage, 1999 http://www.archersadvantage.com Rees, Gareth, Stortford Archery Club, The Physics of Medieval Archery, 1995 http://www.stortford-archers.org.uk/medieval.com

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Patient with Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder Essay

Index Diagnostic Impressions Medical Conditions Psychosocial Factors Case Conceptualization Assessment Recommendation Treatment Recommendations Works Cited Diagnostic Impressions: Borderline Personality Disorder; R/O Substance Abuse Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder Medical Conditions: Arm and leg lacerations, digestive tract irritation as result of toxic elements ingested, gastric suction, effects of alcohol use, effects of cocaine use, and effects of physical abuse through Ecchymosis Psychosocial Factors: History of physical and verbal abuse, parental disapproval, academic problems, moving to a new country, cultural differences, language differences, withdrawal from peers, and negative comparison to siblings Case Conceptualization: Client, Maria, is a seventeen-year-old Hispanic female presenting with symptoms consistent with Borderline Personality Disorder. The client was pleased with her appearance yet she seemed as if she was on the verge of tears throughout the sessions. Maria reported that her reason for coming to the clinic was due to her hospitalization following the ingestion of Drano, however, after analyzing her case there were numerous precursors and signs that lead toward this suicide attempt. The client and her family immigrated to America from Mexico when she was thirteen-years-old causing a language and cultural barrier between the client and her peers. She does indicate that her father often was dissatisfied with her personal life choices and told her that â€Å"she was nothing.† The clinician believes that these difficulties, in addition to the physical abuse inflicted on her by father, are factors in the client’s development of the disorder. The father influenced Maria to... ...hat the most important function is â€Å"structuring the environment† in a way that reinforces progress and does not continue to cause the negative emotions (Bohus et al., 2010). This could include modifying her peer group to not include those who use substances, having family work with the client to emphasize progress and not failure, and re-involve in activities she withdrew from prior to treatment (Bohus et al., 2010). Works Cited Bell, K. (2012). Anorexia Nervosa. Department of Psychology, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. Bohus, M., Haaf, B., Stiglmayr, C., Pohl, U., Bà ¶hme, R., & Linehan, M. (2010). Evaluation of inpatient Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder — a prospective study. Behaviour Research and Therapy. Butcher, J.N., Hooley, J.M., & Mineka, S. (2013). Abnormal psychology (16th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Promotion Strategies Essay

Did you happen to catch the season finale of â€Å"Friends† on May 6th? â€Å"The exhaustively hyped series finale of â€Å"Friends† drew 52.25 million viewers for its extended 66 minute running time.† A 30-second commercial spot garnered a cool $2 million, costing advertising heavyweights such as Allstate, Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, as well as Walt Disney and Universal Studios a mere four cents a head. For the purpose of this assignment I will characterize mass media’s and telemarketing’s role as part of the promotional mix, who pays for them, and how they are perceived by consumers with regards to their objectivity. I will also explain how traditional Word-of-Mouth works and round up the assignment discussing â€Å"buzz† advertising. First, let’s discuss television mass media’s role in the promotional mix. Mass media’s (television, radio, magazines, etc) role in the promotional mix is advertising. In particular, television commercial advertising is a paid form of non-personal communication. Companies use commercial advertising because it is an effective means of mass-marketing as indicated by the â€Å"Friends† series finale. The objectives to advertising include: informing consumers of a new product, persuading the consumer to remain with or switch to a particular product, or remind consumers of the value of a product or where to locate it. The objective of mass-marketing is to reach out to as many consumers in one fail swoop to create brand awareness, brand interest, brand equity, to obtain competitive advantage, and to increase market share. The advertiser’s ultimate goal is to accomplish the company’s marketing objectives. In regards to advertising, companies use a pull selling strategy, to â€Å"build up consumer demand.† A typical commercial is comprised of the source (the company/distributor/retailer) whose product or service is featured) that encodes the message using symbols such as words, illustrations, or images; the message (the combination of symbols) transmitted to the receiver (consumers) who then decodes the message (hopefully interpreting the message in the same way it was encoded); and feedback (through purchase, attitude change about the product/service, or non-purchase). Finally, noise, plays a role in advertising. With current technology such as TiVO, consumers can  choose to skip past commercial segments. The advertising company, its’ distributor, or its’ retailer pays the network for the commercial air time. If more than one of these pays for the commercial air time it is called cooperative advertising. Using vehicles as an example, either the manufacturer pays for the commercial or the car dealership does. However, in the overall scheme of things, successful commercials can be paid for by consumer purchases. The court of public opinion considers the objectivity of advertising dependent upon the type of message. According to a 1990 survey conducted by the Roper Organization concerning public opinion â€Å"with regard to the content of promotion messages, 60 percent of those surveyed believe ads with money-back guarantees, 57 percent believe ads with products approved by medical or health groups, 38 percent believe ads where comparisons to competitors are made, 29 percent believe ads using hidden-camera interviews, and 25 percent believe ads featuring celebrity endorsements.† While no current data is available, it appears consumers remain skeptical concerning advertising messages. Telemarketing is an example of direct marketing in the promotional mix. However, the court of public opinion indicates displeasure in this type of promotion. One could say the public pays for telemarketers with interrupted dinners and misleading or deceptive telemarketing schemes, but the business or charitable organization that uses this service pays for it in cash. It’s interesting to note that an Eyewitness News investigation in Rock Hill, South Carolina revealed that the South Carolina Police Officers’ Association â€Å"charity raised more than $600,000 in 2002, but spent barely $5,000, or less than one percent, helping police officers and their families.† With telemarketing it is truly a â€Å"Buyer Beware† promotion. Most consumers are probably more skeptical when it comes to this type of promotion than any other. There is the noise factor in this type of promotion as well. The national â€Å"do not call registry,† telephone company telemarketing blocker services, and products such as the Telezapper significantly decreases the telemarketer’s sales. I personally just inform telemarketers I am not  interested in their pitch and to place me on their â€Å"do not call† list. If this doesn’t work, I just hang up. Another promotional technique is word-of-mouth. When consumers communicate their experiences connected to a particular product, they are essentially providing the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer free advertising. Word-of-mouth can accelerate brand recognition. The heart of word-of-mouth marketing is giving consumers something to talk about. An excellent example of successful word-of-mouth is the Atkin’s Diet. I initially read one of Dr. Atkin’s diet books more than 10 years ago. While I do not remember the name of the book, I do recall I never tried his diet because I dreaded giving up on favorites such as pasta. Last year I was struggling to lose the weight I had gained following a thyroidectomy. I was running three to five miles per day, counting calories and fat grams and lost absolutely no weight whatsoever in three months. Then two colleagues of mine began losing considerable weight with very little effort. They told me about the Atkin’s diet and that each had lost more than 20 pounds in a month. I started researching the diet on the web and found other testimonials as well. Hordes of people are devoted to this diet. I began the diet and maintained my exercise routine and lost 30 pounds in eight weeks. The hottest new trend in word-of-mouth marketing appears to be buzz. The buzz marketing described in the BusinessWeek article we were tasked to read appears to be a fad. I don’t consider it an advanced form of word-of-mouth but rather an insidious, deceptive practice. Consumers have a right to feel â€Å"cheated† because these buzz marketers are treating the American consumer as if they were complete idiots. Once American consumers figure it out, and they will, it will be gone the way of the sandwich board. No wonder it is referred to as â€Å"viral marketing.† Too bad doctors don’t have a cure for this virus. In review, I discussed mass media’s role in great detail because it is perhaps the most widely used form of promotion. I focused on television commercial advertising discussing how marketers use commercials to inform, persuade, or remind consumers about a particular product or service. Then I  discussed how the communication process fits into commercial advertising. I followed with a discussion on who pays for commercial advertising and cooperative advertising. Then I provided a survey example to illustrate how consumers view commercials in regards to their objectivity. I also discussed telemarketing as a direct marketing approach to promotion. The next topic was word-of-mouth. I discussed how word-of-mouth is essentially free advertising and the heart to its success of giving consumers something to talk about. I ended this assignment with my view buzz marketing. I feel this is a deceptive promotional tactic that appears to be just a fad. Once consumers recognize how they are being used, it will fade into the sunset. Overall, the promotional mix appears to be a driving factor in a product or service’s success. Works Cited The One Where ‘Friends’ Puts Up Massive Finale Ratings. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88037%7C1%7C,00.html Promotion – Push and Pull Strategies. Tutor2U ®. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 9 May 2004: http://www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_pushpull.asp Evans, Joel R. and Berman, Barry. (1994) â€Å"Marketing,† Sixth Edition. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York, New York. Page 584. Charity Organization Pays Telemarketers Big, Police Little. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 9 May 2004: http://www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/2885811/detail.html Works Referenced How to Establish Promotional Mix. Edward Lowe Organization. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.att.sbresources.com/SBR_template.cfm?docNumber=PL12_3600.htm#under standing Kumar, S. Ramesh. Getting the promotional mix right. The Hindu. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.hinduonnet.com/ct/2002/09/05/stories/2002090500110200.htm Lancaster, Geoff Above- and below-the-line promotion. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.da-group.co.uk/geoff/communications.htm Nucifora, Alf. Keep Up With the Buzz On Buzz Marketing. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.html?t=printable Marketing: Promotion. Tutor2U. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.tutor2u.com/ Pride-Farrell Marketing. Part 5. Promotion Decisions. Integrated Marketing Communications. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.gsm.uci.edu/~rwheeler/2 Promotion and the Promotion Mix: A Part of the Marketing Mix. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.creighton.edu/~hutchens/nps_c_08.html Promotion Answers. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004: http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotonanswers.htm Reed, Keith. (2002) Through the grapevine: PR firms tout ‘buzz’ marketing. New Mexico Business Weekly. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004: http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.html Wegert, Tessa. (2003) Four Online Media Mix Essentials. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 7 May 2004:

Monday, September 16, 2019

Assignment: Leadership and Cost Company Essay

COST Company tried their best to grasp the sophisticated technology, thus the COST Company used highly to training the professionals, like the geologists, geophysicists, and the engineers. The COST Company also trained the skilled and semiskilled labor that run the company’s field operations. On the other hand the professional labor and the skilled labor, the two groups always occurs the clashed. As Martin Bouchard as the present and CEO in the COST Company, and his top goals was to introduce teams as a way of solving the morale and productivity problems at the company’s Alberta field operations site. According to those problems the COST Company hired Algoma Howard, who is a First Nations descendant, to be success in solving teamwork. Howard invited Carlos Debrito as the leader worked for the Alberta pilot program, and Debrito is a long-time employee in the COST Company who was highly respect by the employees in the Alberta Office, and Debrito was looking for one final challenging project before his retiring. There are three functional groups at the Alberta site; they are â€Å"operations† group, the â€Å"below ground† group, and the â€Å"maintenance† group. The â€Å"operation† group included the hourly workers who operated and maintained the equipment; the â€Å"below ground† group, which are the professionals include the engineers, geologists and geophysicists; the â€Å"maintenance† group who are the employees always on call. As the Howard and Debrito were the leaders in the COST Company, they tried their best to solving the morale and productivity problems for the Alberta field operations site. The first step was the â€Å"fireside chats† which is to get the employees together, ask them to give several ideas to solve the problems. As many people join the â€Å"fireside chats† and almost every session came to fisticuffs until Debrito announced someone needed to go out. Moreover, during the next session, Debrito and Howard established the â€Å"rules of engagement† which is better for them to organize. The next step for the Howard and Debrito is to introduce the official â€Å"problem busting† teams, which is the temporary team, and the team members are coming from each of the three functional areas and from various hierarchical levels, and each was assigned a team leader. Their aims are to help the COST Company solving the problems, and after they finishing the work, the team disbanded. Moreover, the problems what they addressed, which within certain cost guidelines and without the management approval. After this the COST Company identified the Colorado office as their next facility, Howard want to introduce her leadership of the cross-functional teams that was successful in the Alberta, however, the employees are all stressful in the Colorado. On the following paragraph, I will focus on what the Howard and Debrito did in the COST Company. 2. 0 Team development stages The role of Algoma Howard and Carlos Debrito in Alberta As we can see from the case, the COST Company hired Algoma Howard, who was the First Nations descendant. He tried his best to develop the teamwork program which is better for the COST Company to improve the productivity as well as the morale at the Calgary facility. Howard was success before by using the teams, he tried his best to bring the people together, and tried his best to coordinate the employees and everything, to let them understand one another’s problems and challenges, and coordinate their effort to achieve the organizational goals. Furthermore, his teamwork idea was success and was implementing at other COST locations after the pilot project. As we can see from the case, Carlos Debrito, he was a long-time COST employee who was highly respected by the other employees in the Alberta office. As he was a skilled and experienced employee, he was looking for a big final project before his retiring. Debrito has served in every possible line and staff position at the COST in his 26 years career timing. He is an experienced leader who knows the problems workers faced on both technical and business, thus Howard invited Debrito as a leader, who served for the Alberta pilot program. Therefore, as we can see the relationship from the Algoma Howard and Carlos Debrito in Alberta sites, Howard as the president in the Alberta pilot program, and Debrito as the leaders who served in every possible line and staff position at the Alberta pilot program. Thus we can say that Algoma Howard and Carlos Debrito are the leaders in the Alberta pilot program, who want to develop the teamwork in the Alberta sites. â€Å"Fireside chats† The first step what the Howard and Debrito decided was to get these different groups talking to each other and share the ideas together; this was the main purpose of the â€Å"fireside chats†. The chats were held in the cafeteria during the late afternoon, and the people who show up the chats have the free coffee/tea and some snake which were all bought by Howard and Debrito. Furthermore, the idea was to give the employees a chance to share the difficulties and unresolved problems in such relaxing time and relaxing places, if the employees get together and share the difficulties and the unresolved problems together, maybe they can solve the difficulties, or share the creativity ideas with the unresolved parts. Initially, there are only two people who attend the â€Å"fireside chats†, gradually, more and more people attended the meetings. At first, the early session was focused on the employees saw their needs, as well as the problems in working with other group. The disadvantage of the early session was that the sessions came to fisticuffs until Debrito announced that somebody had to go out, however, after this session, Howard and Debrito established the guidelines which are the rules of the engagement. Within the six months development, the â€Å"fireside chats† had involved lively problem-solving discussions focus on the three important groups. â€Å"Problem busting† The nest step for Howard and Debrito to introduce was the â€Å"problem busting† teams, which was the temporary team. The temporary team included the members who from each three functional areas as well as from various hierarchical levels, and which were assigned by the team leaders. The training by the team leader was including in team-building, shared-leadership, as well as the creative problems-solving techniques. The team was established for the solving the problems which from the â€Å"fireside chat†, after solving the problems, the teams were disbanded, furthermore, the CEO in the COST announced that the problems addressing by the â€Å"problem busting† team within the certain cost guidelines without seeking management approval. After a year and a half into the team-building program, the entire workforces in the Alberta were empowering to make their owner decisions as well as to select their own leaders. Team development â€Å"Team development creates a captivating atmosphere by encouraging co-operation, teamwork, interdependence and by building trust among team members. † (Motivating, Bonding & Aligning team, 2012) Actually the team goes through five stages of the team development, the each stage present its own challenge and in each stage, the leaders should adapt the challenging and developing the needs of the group. The team development has five stages, which are the forming stage, storming stage, norming stage, performing stage and adjourning stage. On the following paragraph I will talk about each stage, and I will combine the case together to analysis the each stage of the team development, and what the leaders need to do in the stage. First of all, I will show the graph, as we can see: Performing: Cooperation, problem solving Leaders: facilitates task accomplishment Performing: Cooperation, problem solving Leaders: facilitates task accomplishment Storming: Conflict, disagreement Leaders: encourage participation, surfaces differences Storming: Conflict, disagreement Leaders: encourage participation, surfaces differences Norming: Establishment of order and cohesion Leader: helps clarify team roles, norm, and values Norming: Establishment of order and cohesion Leader: helps clarify team roles, norm, and values Adjourning: Task completion Leaders: brings closure, signifies completion Adjourning: Task completion Leaders: brings closure, signifies completion Team development: Forming: Orientation, break the ice. Leaders: facilitates social interchanges Forming: Orientation, break the ice. Leaders: facilitates social interchanges The first stage is the forming stage, â€Å"during this stage, group members maybe anxious and adopt wait-and see attitude, they will be formal towards each other. There would be no clear idea of goals or expectations. Besides, they may not be sure why they are there† (Susan M. Heathfield, 2012) as we can see from the forming stage which is the orientation stage and the members in teams tried their best to getting the acquainted. The members in the team tried their best to know each other and for the friendship possibilities as well as the task orientation. In the forming stage, the team leaders provide time and place for the members to understand each other, to encourage them for the social discussions. The second stage which is storming stage, â€Å"during this stage, team members are eager to get going, conflict can arise as people tend to different ideas of how to accomplish goals. At this time, they notice differences rather than similarities. This leads to some members dropping out mentally physically. (Susan M. Heathfield, 2012) During the storming stage, the members in the team become more assertive in clarifying their roles, thus in this stage, there exist a lot of conflict and disagreement. The members in the team maybe disagree with teams’ goals; maybe disagree with the partners and so on. What the leaders need to do in this stage is to encourage the participation by each member. â€Å"Mem bers should propose ideas, dis agree with one another, and work through the uncertainties and conflicting perceptions about team tasks and goals† (Richard L. Daft, 2012) The third stage is norming stage, â€Å"this stage is when people begin to recognize ways in which they are alike. They realize that they are in this together. Hence, they tend to get more social and may forget their focus in favor of having a good time. This is the time to help with training if applicable. It becomes important to encourage them in order to feel comfortable with each other and with systems. Also, the group needs to stay focus on goal† (Susan M. Heathfield, 2012) As we can see from the norming stage, in this stage the conflict is resolved and the tem is getting harmony and unity emerge, and what the leaders need to do is to help clarifying the teams’ values and norms. The fourth stage is the performance stage, â€Å"this stage is when tea members are trained, competent, as well as able to do their own problem-solving. At this time, ways need to be looked t in order to challenge then as well as develop them. The team is mature now. The members understand their roles and responsibilities. † (Susan M. Heathfield, 2012) during this stage, it is emphasis on solving the problems and accomplishing the assigned task. Members are all committed to the teams’ mission, the members are coordinated with each other for the problems solving. During this stage, the leader should concentrate on the higher task performances. The last stage is the adjourning stage, in this stage we can see that the team has limited task to perform and disbanded eventually. In this stage, it is emphasis on the wrapping up and gearing down. The members in this stage feel heighted emotionality, strong cohesiveness and regret for the teams’ disbandment. During this stage, the leaders should signify the team has disbanded. Combine the COST Company’s case According to the case we can see that the Howard and the Debrito are the leaders in the Alberta pilot program. As we can see that the Howard and Debrito established the â€Å"fireside chats† which is open for the employees, and it is the optional meetings provide for the employees and to getting the acquainted, and to get the different groups together to share the ideas, this is the idea for the â€Å"fireside chats†, and the fireside chats was established in the cafeteria which provide the free coffee, tea and snake for the employees. First of all, the only people who showed up the meeting were the couple of engineers. Thus Debrito and Howards go to a small talk with the couple of the engineers, thus we can see that the first day of meeting was the forming stage of the team development. After the first meeting, the words spread, and gradually, many people attended the meetings, thus the early sessions focused on talking about the each group’s needs, and the problems in other groups. This is also the forming stage in the team development, however, during the one session, there exist the fisticuffs during the meeting, the fisticuffs stopped until the Debrito announced that someone need to get out, therefore, we can see that the â€Å"fireside chat† became the storming stage in the team development which the team occurring the conflict for each other. Furthermore, during the next session, Debrito and Howard establish the â€Å"rules of engagement† which is the guidelines to avoid such conflicts happened in the meeting again, thus we can see that the stage is the norming stage, which is for the leaders to solve the conflict and let them form the norms as well as the values in the company. As we can see that the next step for the Howard and Debrito is to establish the â€Å"problem busting† team which is the temporary teams for solving the problems which was unsolved in the â€Å"fireside chats†, thus we can see that the team was in the performance stage, which is the cooperation, and for the problems solving. Finally, the operation workers suggested that the team members should get rid of the weekly sessions and they could focus on their job, and limited problems for solving. Thus we can see the program already in the last stage which is adjourning stage; the team is facing the disbanded. 3. 0 member roles and leadership approach Member roles In the team there are two types of roles one is task specialist and the other is the socio- emotional, the two roles are different, they focus on different part. First of all we can see that the specialist role in the team which is focus on the task accomplishment by the human needs. On the other hand, we can see that socio-emotional role in a team which is focus on the people’s emotion needs. Task specialist is an employee who is assigned to the development of valid and reliable tasks for other people working for one and the same organization. † (Glossary, 2012) as we can see that the task specialist who focus on the task accomplishment over the people’s needs, thus the â€Å"task specialist knows and understand task management standard, performance measure, and assessment practices required for identifying and developing tasks descriptions and for use by dedicated human resources† (Glossary, 2012) there are several behaviors which display the task specialist. First of all, the task specialists are the persons who always propose the new solutions for solving the team problems, which is so called initiate ideas. Secondly, the task specialists are the persons who provide the opinions on the task accomplishment, also give the fair chances to others’ suggestions. Thirdly, the task specialists are the persons who always seeking the information which is asking for the task-reverent facts. Fourthly, the task specialists are the persons who get a various ideas of the problems at hand, and summary them together, that is so called summarize. Last but not at least, the task specialists are the persons who encourage the team into action when the teams’ interest dropped. â€Å"Socio-emotional is a process that consists of variations that occur in an individual’s personality, emotions and relationships with others during one’s lifetime; Socio-emotional role team members devote their time and nergy to supporting the emotional needs of team members and to maintaining the team as a social unit† (Santrock, 2007) the people who adopt the socio-emotional role are the person who support the team members’ needs over the task accomplishment. There are several behaviors which are for the socio-emotional display. First of all, the socio-emotional roles are the persons who are warm and well to receipt the others’ ideas, and also forth others to m ake the contribution for the team. Secondly, the socio-emotional roles are the persons who are well for harmonize the groups’ conflict, as well as help the teams to achieve the agreement. Thirdly, the socio-emotional roles are the persons who help the team reduce the tension; they help the team to reduce the tensional environment, like telling the jokes. Fourthly, the socio-emotional roles are the persons who always go along with the team, and always agree the team members’ ideas, that’s we called follow. Last but not at least, the socio-emotional roles are the persons who always shift their own opinions which are better for maintain the teams’ harmony. In the COST Company’s case (Carlos Debrito) As we can see from the COST Company’s case, Carlos Debrito who is a long-time COST employee who is highly respected by the employees in the Alberta office and he was also looking for the final project before his retiring and Algoma Howard invited the Debrito as a leader for the Alberta pilot program. Debrito did a lot of things to help the Howard to achieve the goals, as far as I am concerned, Carlos Debrito displays the task specialist as well as the socio-emotional roles. As we can see from the case, that Debrito tried his best to help the Howard to achieve the goals which is to solving the morale as well as the problems of productivity. Thus Debrito established the â€Å"fireside chats† and also established the â€Å"problem busting† team, which helped the Company to achieve its goals, according to this situation; we can see that Debrito is the task specialist, who help the team to realize the task accomplishment, and he always proposed the solutions which is â€Å"fireside chats† and â€Å"problem busting† team, to help the team solve the problems. Furthermore, he always was seeking the information for the relevant task which is better for the team to solving the problems, and Debrito always encourage his members when their interests are dropped. Moreover, we can see that after the â€Å"fireside chats†, we can see that Debrito always helped the team to summarize the relevant ideas and summarize the perspectives for the organization. On the other hand, we can see form the case that, Debrito displays the socio-emotional roles in the team, and he supports the team members’ emotional needs. As we can see from the case, that Debrito find several ways for the team to solve the conflict between the labor and the professionals, moreover, Debrito tried his best to make the compromise which shift his opinions to maintain the harmony of the team. Thus we can say that Debrito display both task specialist roles as well as the socio-emotional roles, Debrito not only achieve the organizational goals, but also do a lot of things to consider the team members’ emotional needs. Leadership approach â€Å"participative leadership is a style of leadership that involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies for reach those goals† (wiseGEEK, 2012)as we can see that the participative leadership which is the leadership approach required all the members join the team to solving the problems as well as making the decisions together. As we can see from the COST Company’s case, which the Algoma Howard and the Carlos Debrito tried their best to achieve their goals. The goals of the COST Company are to solving the morale as well as to solving the productivity problems. Thus Howard and Debrito established the â€Å"fireside chats†, which is for the optimal meeting provided for the employees to understand them each other. At the first time, there are only two people join the meeting, Howard and Debrito established a small chatting with them and talk to them. After the first meeting finished many people know the meeting and want to join the meeting, thus gradually many people join the meeting, and the meeting becoming very important in a team. As we can see that the meetings are very important in the organization, and many people join the meetings. Furthermore, we can see that during the meeting many team members share the ideas each other, and talk to each other with the departments’ needs, making the decisions together, and solving the problems together. During this process we can see that the leaders using the participative leadership approach to help the organization to achieve their goals. Situational leadership is a leadership style that has been developed and studied by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. The situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager of an organization must adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence. † (Small Business, 2012)As we can see th at the situational leadership approach is the leadership style which depends on the situation, it is focus on the situations as well as the development of the company and the members in the company As we can see from the COST Company case, in this case we can see that the Howard and Debrito using the â€Å"fireside chat† to help the employees understand each other as well as share the ideas for each other, however, when the â€Å"fireside chat† are famous in the organization, there exist some conflicts between the member, thus according to this situation, Debrito establishes the â€Å"rules of the engagement† which include the guidelines that to let the employees obey the rules for the meeting. Furthermore, during the â€Å"fireside chat† developing, Debrito established another team which is â€Å"problem busting† team. This team is established for solving the problems which discovered the in â€Å"fireside chat†, thus according to this situation we can see that leaders who is according to the situations of the organizational development. Furthermore, as we can see that, as the â€Å"fireside chat† developed, and after this the members find the information is limited to share and the employees have limited problems to share, according to this situation, the leaders reduce the frequency of the â€Å"fireside chat† times. Thus we can say that the leaders who is Howard and Debrito are using the situational leadership approach as well as the participative leadership approach, which ask the members to join the â€Å"fireside chat† and share the ideas each other, and the leaders also adjust the leadership style according to the development of the â€Å"fireside chat† as well as the members’ emotions. Do you agree the project will succeed or not? As far as I am concerned I disagree with Algoma Howard that just has a Carlos Debrito in the Colorado project. As we can see from the case, Carlos Debrito is the employee who worked in the Alberta office in the COST Company, and he is respected by the employees in the COST Company, as we can see from the case he served in every possible line and staff position at COST Company, thus he know the COST Company well, for the each possible line and the staff’s position. Furthermore, as we can see from the case, that he understand the problems what the staffs facing now, and the technical problems that the company facing now, thus he is an skilled as well as the experienced employees in the Alberta office in the COST Company. Furthermore, he worked 26 years old in the Alberta office in the COST Company, and he knows the COST Company well. Moreover, as we can see from the case, Howard invited Debrito as the leaders in the Alberta project, and during the project, he point many methods to help the organization to achieve the goals, as well as to help them solving the conflict between the labors and the professionals. Although Debrito know how to solve the problems during the Alberta offices, Debrito know how to solve the conflict between labors and professions, and he has ability, he has knowledge and he a skilled as well as experienced employees and leaders. When happened in the Colorado the situations are different, as Debrito worked just in the Alberta office, and he do many researches on the Alberta office, and although he understand the problems of the employees, but he do not know the details in the Colorado office, thus if Howard just has Debrito in the Colorado project, as far as I am concerned it is not enough. The best way for the Howard is to invite the leaders who understand the Colorado project well, and combine the leader with Debrito together to solving the problems and help the COST Company solving the problems as well as achieving the goals. . 0 Conclusion: work team effectiveness What is team effectiveness? â€Å"Team effectiveness refers to the system of getting people in a company or institution to work together effectively. The idea behind team effectiveness is that a group of people working together can achieve much more than if the individuals of the team were working on their own. † (WiseGEEK, 2012) As we ca n see that it is better for the company to achieve the team working effectiveness, if the companies make the team effectiveness, they can solve the problems effectively and they can achieve the goals effectively as well. There are several ways for the organization to testing their team effectiveness, on the following paragraph I will focus on the methods what to testing the team effectiveness as well as give some recommendations for the COST Company to develop their team effectiveness. First of all, is the right mix skill, â€Å"team effectiveness depends in part on bringing together people who have different skills that somehow complement each other. † (WiseGEEK, 2012) as we can see that it is important for the company to bringing all the skilled, experienced together in a team to help the company solving to problems as well as to help them achieving the goals. Thus as we can see from the COST Company, when the Howard became the CEO in the Alberta office, he invited Debrito as a leader in the Alterta’s project, and Alberta is the employee who respect by the employees and he is the skilled people and experienced people. Moreover, as far as I am concerned, the COST Company should invite more skilled and experienced people, who can help the COST Company solving the problems as well as to help them achieve the goals. The second is the right motivation, â€Å"team effectiveness is directly linked to the interest that the group has on the project. If the job is too easy or too difficult, or if the rewards for achieving the end result do not seem worth the effort, the team may end up working half-heartedly in the project. † (WiseGEEK, 2012) As we can see that the motivations are very important to the team, if the team leaders always do the motivations for the employees, the employees will worked well and will help the organization solving the problems as well as to achieving the goals. Thus in the CSOT Company, the leaders in the organization should do a lot of things to do the motivations for the employees, make sure every employees are happy working in the organization, and to improve their working effectively. Last but not at least, â€Å"is the ability to solve conflicts without compromising the quality of the project, the team work has one major downfall. Sometimes groups end up making decisions they know are not in the best interest of the project, just so they can keep the process moving. Conflict is innate to any work done in group, and should be taken as part of the challenge rather than as something to be avoided by compromising. †(WiseGEEK, 2012) as we can see that if want make the team effectiveness, the organization has to solving the problems of conflict, as we can see from the COST Company, in Alberta project, the leaders tried their best to solving the conflict between the labors and the professionals. Moreover, as far as I am concerned, the team has to solve more conflict between the labors. All in all, the organization want to make the team effectiveness, they must organize the skilled person together, and to provide the motivation for the employees, moreover, to solve the conflict in the organization. If the organization establishes the effectiveness team, they can solve the problems as well as to achieving the organization goals. Bibliography 1. Susan M. Heathfield (2012) what are the stages of team development [Online] Available at: http://humanresources. about. com/od/teambuilding/f/team_stages. htm (Accessed date: 15th Nov, 2012) 2. MSG (2012) Team Development- meaning, stages and forming an effective team [Online] Available at: http://www. managementstudyguide. com/team-development. htm (Accessed date: 15th Nov, 2012) 3. Center for Management & Organization effectiveness (2012) Team Development & Team Building [Online] Available at: http://www. cmoe. com/team-development. htm (Accessed date: 15th Nov, 2012) 4. Harvard Business Review (2012) Choose the right leadership approach [Online] available at: http://business. time. com/2012/07/27/choose-the-right-leadership-approach/ (Accessed date: 15th, 2012) . JoomlArt (2012) Five Approaches to Leadership [Online] Available at: http://www. roxburghmissionalnet. com/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=139:five-approaches&catid=45:leadership&Itemid=89 (Accessed date: 15th Nov, 2012) 6. WISEGEEK (2012) what is Team Effectiveness? [Online] Available at: http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-team-effectiveness. htm#lbss (Accessed date: 15th N ov, 2012) 7. Mind Tool Ltd (2012) Team Effectiveness Assessment [Online] Available at: http://www. mindtools. com/pages/article/newTMM_84. htm (Accessed date: 15th Nov, 2012)

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Death of a Salesman- Essay-Reflection Essay

In Death of Salesman, the conflicts that the characters face through out in the play, can be interpreted as reflections of the problems in America’s society today. The majority, if not all of these problems can be traced back to Willy Loman as the source. Willy Loman’s longing to be successful (either actually through himself or through his sons) was the origin of all the other problems, and was the reason he could not control himself and he ruined his life and his family. The most obvious societal problem face in the play is greed. Willy’s obsession with having money is a perfect symbol of the larges part of society, the part whose lives revolve around acquiring money, and having â€Å"the best†. The people have unrealistic expectations just like Willy. In Act 1, Willy is hallucinating about his brother Ben and he says, â€Å"The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he’s rich!† (41). Willy and countless people in today’s society, have unrealistic expectations, and are never honestly satisfied. They are willing to do anything to get to the top, even if it means hurting others, and most of the time they are left with nothing. Just like Willy in the garden, muttering, â€Å"Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground†; because they have done nothing substantial with their lives and have not â€Å"planted† anything (122). They used all their time concerned with money and neglected to invest in anything concrete, like real love, and having a family. They have no real lives outside of materialistic things, just like Willy. Willy’s constant disregard for others and their lives is another example of a problem America’s society faces being represented in the play. In today’s society, it is seen as expectable to push others down, and put your self first. In Death of a Salesman, Willy does this constantly when it comes time to be honest and care for his family. Willy’s actions greatly affected his family, and were the reason for many of Biff, Happy and Linda’s problems. When he was fired, Willy said, â€Å"I was fired and I am looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the woman has waited and suffered†(107). Willy, like many people with any sort of conscience today, feels bad and wants to tell Linda that he was fired (something that will  drastically effect his entire family, especially considering their already pending financial problems), but this want is smothered by his need to have â€Å"good news†. This want is essentially just a ploy to make him feel better about himself, so once again Willy puts Linda second to his own needs, which is really the reason for all the waiting and suffering she had to do. This disregard, is also obvious in today’s society, one person’s actions can affect the whole community. Like in the case of all the terrible decisions George Bush. George Bush made decisions for the country, that were not for the common good, but his good, and now America is left picking up the pieces now that he’s gone. Many people argue that a major problem with the order of today’s society is that people no longer respect their elders. Arthur Miller, obviously saw this occurring even in the 1950 when he wrote the book. Willy raised Biff and Happy, putting all in hopes, dreams and inhabitations into them. But when they were old enough no to have to depend on them anymore, they walked away from him. Linda even acknowledges it and says, â€Å"It sounds old fashioned and silly but I tell you he put his whole life into you and you’ve turned your backs on him†(60). Biff and Happy used their father to become who they were, but when he needed them to live, they walked away from him. This is even more obvious of the problems faced today when looked at as if Willy represents all the older people in our society. The elderly are looked down upon, are thought to be crazy, and have their jobs, license and overall most real concessions, taken away for no reason other than age. We discriminat e against people who should be our equals and treated with respect. Peer pressure, is not just something that effects school aged children on the playground. Adults are pressured every day by, family, friends, co-workers into doing things that do not necessarily want to do. This is a tremendous problem in society because most of the time when people are doing something they do not want to do they are going to be upset. This feeling of being upset, usually leads to emotions that are more drastic such as being stressed and just completely lost and unhappy. Willy’s pressure on the Biff and Happy is the perfect example of this pressure to do things you normally would not do. Willy constantly says through out the play, â€Å"the man who makes  an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want†, this pressure to be well liked is what pushed Biff to neglect his school work and Happy to only care about pleasing woman and his father (30). Willy always pushed the boys to have and to be the greatest at everything they did. But in the end Willy’s pressure pushed the boys to make reckless decisions and made them feel like they could never do enough to please their father. Biff took to stealing and even admits that his father’s pressure got to him in Act 2 when he says, â€Å"I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody!† (131). Pressure can sometimes be positive, like when it pressure pushes you to give your best effort, and sometimes negative, like when it causes you to conform excessively. As in the case of Happy, who by the end of the play, even after his father kills himself is determined to follow in Willy’s foot steps and even says, â€Å"It’s the only dream you can have – to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him† (139). The biggest complaint that is heard from adults about today’s youth is the constant feeling of entitlement. Even when unjustified. Willy’s outlook on his life is a perfect example on teen’s unjustified feelings of entitlement in today’s culture. In the scene where he goes to talk to Howard about his job, Willy says, â€Å"You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away-a man is not a piece of fruit.† (82). Willy feels that Howard (the son of the father who had formerly promised Willy that he would be rewarded for his service to the company) has gone back on the word of his father by forgetting the salesman in his golden years, throwing away the peel after eating the orange, so to speak. But what Willy does not realize is that Howard owes him nothing, and neither did his father. Anything people do out of kindness is simply that, kindness. Students sometimes think that just because they received a good mark in a class that it will automatically be the same the next quarter, and aren’t always willing to do the work needed to earn the grade. But what Willy and countless others don’t realize is that no one is owed anything. During and argument Willy has with his son, Biff makes the comment, â€Å"Pop! I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you!† This infuriates Willy who counterattacks, â€Å"I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are  Biff Loman!† (132). Seen through Willy and people thought the world, entitlement is an illusion that blinds our work/life ethic and us. Death of a Salesman shows both family and societiatal conflicts; however, these conflicts are definitely more powerful when looked at as societal problems .It forces you to evaluate the ethics and principles of the culture we live in. and how they eventually reflect the things we truly hold important. However the reflection is not just the problems, but also all the damage that results from making those the most valued things. Death of a Salesman is a disheartening play but it is an honest reflection of our society. Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: 1949. Print.