MBA in Marketing Admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MBA in Marketing Admission - Essay Example Advertising refers to the various media used to convey your message. Printed advertisement, radio air time, television commercials and the Internet are all part of advertising that conveys your business message to the public." Another definition, which lists more steps of marketing, is listed by bookzonepro.com (n.d.), "this is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to satisfy customers." Since marketing can give a company a competitive advantage, I feel that understanding and knowing the business angles as well as the production techniques for advertising will certainly help my career as a professional. Advertisers appeal to the lusts, desires, and wants of the target market or potential customer. "Target market is the market segment to which a particular product is marketed. It is often defined by age, gender and/or socio-economic grouping," states Wikipedia encyclopedia (2006).

What Makes Art Art Essay Example for Free

What Makes Art Art Essay What makes Art Art? Can Art be de? ned? An ar? st can create anything and put their mark on it and deem it as art. I believe art to be a sculpture, pain? ng, or any piece of crea? ve work that brings enjoyment to the ar? st and an apprecia? on from the beholder. Art allows you to view the world through someone else’s eyes and obtain their perspec? ve on the subject at hand. Art is everywhere around us. It is expressed in many forms and fashions. From railroad car gra? , a formal piece in a museum, a one of a kind piece of jewelry or designer fashion clothing, it is all forms of art. Art can bring out an array of feelings in people. Some pieces of art depict happiness or focus on beauty, which would in turn bring out joyous feelings. Art can also display images or subject lines that are not as pleasant to entertain at ?mes which can allow us to be compelled to a feeling of sadness. Art can be a therapeu? c way to deal with emo? ons. Au? s? c children and people dealing with tragedies can o(en express themselves and deal with emo? ons through art. I really enjoy pain? ng old furniture and giving it a new look, a new life. It tends to remind me that all things in life can be restored and made beau? ful again with some work and determina? on. No ma*er what the circumstances or situa? on it can always be made into something beau? ful. Art seems to always tell a story even though words are never spoken. My concept of art is pain? ngs, sculptures, drawings, or anything that is created or transformed at the hands of the ar? st. I personally tend to enjoy pain? ngs that are of landscapes and nature. I always seem to navigate to the pain? ngs, especially oil, that remind me of ? mes during my childhood. Pain? ngs of a countryside with a barn and rolling hills or a grandfather ? shing with a child on the banks of a pond, takes me back to a â€Å"happy place† in my life. I truly then feel like I am understanding what the ar? st is meaning to depict. Marsh Farm by Darko Topalski is a simple but impressive pain? ng to me as it reminds me of a farmhouse that used to sit on a hill across the ? eld from my childhood home. I ? nd colors to be in0uen? al in bringing out emo? ons when observing a piece of art. I enjoy art that has warm, muted colors as a feel that give that feeling of serenity. I think pain? ngs with warm or vibrant colors tend to depict a much happier and content scene. The content is much more important to me than the formal quali? es. Once again, I like the feeling of being able to connect with the ar? st and feel like he actually painted the picture looking through my eyes. I think for some people the formal quali? es would be more important. That’s the beauty of art, everyone has their own percep? on of the same piece. Art in my opinion is anything that we view and receive enjoyment. It also compels us to appreciate the talent of the ar? st. Art brings out emo? ons as we interpret the story and statement the ar? st is trying to convey.

Free College Essays - The Mood of Othello in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Othello

The Mood of Othello  Ã‚      Othello is a play that evokes many emotions from a reader’s mind. The mood is changing, yet throughout, it demands a lot of contempt for the villain, Iago. Beginning with act one, there is an immediate setting for suspicion which will remain characteristic throughout the whole story. There is a touch of happiness for the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona, which quickly disintegrates with the mighty villains lies and deceit. There is a feeling of empathy for Othello when his extreme, yet falsely founded jealousy causes him to lose his mind, and his beloved wife. The mood is sad and frustrating when poor innocent Desdemona is being punished for a crime she didn’t commit. And at the end there is a slight feeling of satisfaction that Iago’s plan was revealed, yet the mood is overwhelmingly depressing because Othello and Desdemona both suffered severely and died. Iago introduces suspicion in the very first scene. He is discussing how he hates Othello, yet he must feign loyalty for his position. This is already a clue to the reader that Iago cannot be trusted. This feeling of mistrust is vital in the mood of the play because it is most ironic that Othello trusts Iago as much as to murder his own wife. This ironic plot creates a frustrating feeling for the reader which is felt throughout the play. The mood is tense when we find out that Brabantio is angry that Othello has taken his daughter. He i s determined that Othello must have tricked Desdemona into loving him. Othello defends his love for her, and she in turn vows her love for him. This situation of a forbidden relationship is romantic, it makes the reader feel a great deal of respect and happiness for their mutual love. When Iago begins poisoning Othello’s mind with false suspicion of Desdemona’s fidelity, the mood is extremely frustrating. The reader is aware of Iago’s lies, yet Othello is being easily led to believe them. This also evokes anger towards Iago, he is evil in his constant lying, yet he is referred to by Othello as kind and honest. This irony is painful to the reader because it is so blatant. Othello’s extreme jealousy causes the reader a combination of emotions. Jealousy is a very painful emotion, and the reader sympathizes with Othello. Yet, since the reader is aware of the falseness in the roots of the jealousy, they feel a little disgusted by how easily Othello is being tricked.

How Does IEKA Approach Operations Management?

The main purpose of this paper is to focus on the how IKEA Company approached its operation management. Particularly, it covers the following: how the company establish and manage customer requirements, secondly how does these customers requirements used for the company’s product and services, then, third covers the operational systems and processes it used in its operation, fourth consists of capacity planning, process layout, and product services/scheduling, inventory and projects were managed in the organization.And, lastly is on why and how monitoring and evaluation of operation were carried out by the company. This paper also provides empirical findings and application of relevant theories that will help readers to really understand how the company operates and what relevant theories it applies. Introduction In most companies these days whether it is local or multinational companies, they are always faced with big challenges.Challenges those are sometimes insurmountable t o overcome like continuing to be innovative or problems related to cost. These are two of the most common challenges that company continuously faced, but these problems may also be overcome only if the company operates in a way that it focus mainly in its main strength and at the same time focusing on the right market, where they would know that they have the advantage.In this paper with IKEA Company as the main focus, it will give us exactly how typical multinational companies manage to operates. It will include such processes like customer requirements, operations management, monitoring projects and other theories and processes applied in actual operation. This paper also provides some important empirical findings that will help to support the theories and actual strategies applied by the company.Historical Background of IKEA Company. It was not so long after the company founder INGVAR KAMPRAD born in 1926 and just 17 years later after that year, where at a very young age when ING VAR registered the first IKEA Company and this was in July 28, 1943. Actually, the name of the company IKEA stands for (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd). Couple of years later, the company had its first advertisement through a local newspaper, and then through aggressiveness in the business, Ingvar launched its first fine and modern line of furniture in 1948.Followed by launching of IKEA’s catalogue and first furniture showroom in Sweden in 1951 and 1953 respectively. Four years later, the true concept of the company’s creation of well designed furniture at a very low price started in 1955 and three years later it was the world’s first IKEA store opened. From those early years the company started to grow and number of co-workers and that started to be seen by the company in 1958 and a year after that was the introduction of the company’s self assembly furniture.But, since the company want to make sure that they offered not only low price items, they sta rted to find ways on how quality will be implemented. That is why by 1961, the company started to implement quality testing in all its products. Then the company sees opportunity to expand and by 1963, the company launched their first IKEA store outside Sweden and this is in Norway. Then from their on the company started to grow and stores outside increases and it was first penetrated in the European region.And by the company reaching the 90’s, the company became design oriented which is needed in order to compete, but still the main concept and vision of the company to lower the price and at the same time quality is not out of the plan and it continuously been the advantage of the company. Like in 1997 specifically was the year for children, where the company has developed numerous products for kids and still innovative design continuous to work for the company. And by 2003, through its donations has helped a Swedish hospital to build â€Å"The Kaprad House† which pri marily facilitates for cancer patients. How does the organization establish customer requirements? Establishing customer requirements maybe is one of the most important factors for success for any company in the world and whether it is local or multinational business. The main reason is that it mainly focuses on how a company develops the right product. It may very simple to say that it may only be about how the company interviews or provide questionnaires or even conducting surveys just to know the important and appropriate requirement of the customers. The IKEA Concept, 2007. But, actually it is more than that and it takes a lot of effort in performing such activity. That is also the problem with come companies, they would think that establishing customer requirement is easy as like asking them when they visit the shops, stores or even sometimes paying some formal visits does not answers all these and in fact there are customers that would only accomplish survey forms out of persi stence by some crews or managers of the shops.And the problem started as when the company started to rely on these requirements and apply some strategies on it, seeing it as the real problem and from there irrelevant solutions were applied and that only adds problem or worsen the problem of the company. In theory, it is said that establishing customer needs or requirements are mainly the job of the marketing department of the company and these group also knows that requirements of customers may come from different aspects in the business.Like one of the aspect is that requirements may come from the attitude of the customer towards the product which is shaped by the experienced by the product itself, like take for instance a product that is known for ore than 2 decades and the customers are well used to it, this means that the attitude of the customers towards that product and the years of experience of the product itself plays a big factor in understanding the requirement of its cus tomers.Secondly it can also be brought about by the opinions or claims of other customers, which is sometimes can also help the company in understanding the need of their customers, but this can only be applicable to products or services that were introduced positively at first, because there are some new or old products that are not well recognized and these products on the other hand are obviously hard to analyzed its customer needs. But there are some more aggressive ways on how to deal with customer requirements and this is through direct selling, these type of business has the greater advantage against the others most of the time.The reason is that they directly work with the customers and the business units are the ones asking what they need and from there, the direct seller provides what best fit to their needs. Lastly is that company relies on advertising, this happens when the company introduce new product to the market or sometimes before they introduce to the market by ju st letting them aware of the product that will be soon launched. From the result of public acceptance based from the popularity ratings of the advertisement, the company would then based it and later used it as a basis for customer requirement.But the latter is sometimes dangerous and drastic because sometimes the company maybe mislead on the popularity of the advertisement which sometimes does not reflect on the actual sales of the product. Other theory that needs to be well followed in order to accomplish better requirement gathering is that company must understand that there are three important factors that need to be considered in establishing requirement of customers and these are in the form of questions: †¢Who buys the product? †¢What they actually buy? And most importantly, how they buy? And these three questions can also directly address the important concern of customer satisfaction. Like in terms of who buys it, this pertains to the type of customer that would p ossibly and those who will definitely buy the product. For customers that will definitely buy the product, there should be a separate strategy that will be applied to them like may be giving them some small perks like through discounts maybe enough since these customers are considered the loyal ones.While for those customers that are potential and have the probability of buying the product, strategy may be more aggressive like giving them discounts or even focusing on designs or even giving additional perks for buyers may also be used to strategize new and potential customers. Secondly, focusing on what the customers actually buy is one question that companies must look into in establishing requirements. In this question, the main focus is on closely understanding what the customers really like; these can be brought about by latest trends or specific needs for specific type of customers.For most company’s the latter seems to be easily been addressed by companies as they can e asily study such requirements, but what is hard for companies to anticipate are the trends that may come and for companies they only compete by who among them can be the first one to introduce that trend to the market. But sometimes these does not give any assurance on them, what makes it more lasting impact is on how the company the company provide not only just the trend but also quality and in terms of price in order for customers to really appreciate the product itself.Lastly in terms of how they buy, this pertains to how accessible and availability of the product t the customers. This is also been a big factor in establishing requirements because there are times that products have the best quality and the price is within the budget, but due to availability of stocks and availability to the customers, it became a driving force for customer not to buy the product and instead they would settle to change their preference and that becomes the problem of some companies.This means tha t consistencies is always a challenge as well, companies should always remember that if they offer such quality and sure to be a hit product for their customers, it does not stop there and the company itself should be prepared and be able to be up for the challenge to produce as many products as it can in order to address the demand for the product or services that they offer. That is why it is also important to address customer requirements because it also helps in understanding its target customer. 2 For IKEA, a company that in everyday they operate, understanding and establishing customer requirement is essential. Establishing Customer needs, n. d. The reason mainly is that they provide products that should always look into the needs of their different types of customers. But, even though the needs may come differently and uniquely, depending either on designs, price or even space or combination of both or all of the products. As the main vision of the company mainly focuses on h ow to provide better life for its customers and this is through their two main company objective and that is to provide as much as possible wide variety of products to choose from and at the same time prices that are low that surely they can afford.As based from its main vision, it obviously follows that the company’s main concept is to really provide low prices home furnishing products. This concept started when INGVAR KAMPRAD an entrepreneur from Smaland province in southern part of Sweden had an innovative idea in mind. As an entrepreneur he found out that in order to be successful in the business, he saw that most people live simple and they live their life frugally and they really work hard.This only shows that people would only buy things that are important on them and majority of the people would consider buying not so luxurious and high price things. That is why from that observation, he made an impression that in order to satisfy these highly hard working customers t o buy the products and be able to compete well in the market. That is why from that observation, he made an impression that in order to satisfy these highly hard working customers to buy the products and be able to compete well in the market.Then, what he did was an approach to find ways on how to provide not only quality products but also providing them with a lot of choices and most specially the price is low, which customers will surely find way to fit on their budget and that is until now the trademark of the company that is why they became popular anywhere they operate in the world. That is why with this technique or strategy that was applied by the company since the time when the company actually started. These were also the effective strategy that the company applied and has been a very effective way.This is true in fact even up to now that companies must understand that the need of the customer should still be satisfied and in order to do this there should be well considerat ion not only on the basic functionality of the product but also taking into consideration on the price and quality of the product. 3 This only shows that the company from the beginning knows what it takes to be in the business and how they can actually address the concerns and requirements of their customers.And from this concept by its founder and entire workforce that are working for the company, it was easy for the company to just innovate and be flexible on the different needs of their customers since the foundation were well established. And since the company were jointly managed by group of owners around the world, they also kept in mind that the way they operates like specifically how they establish requirements must be in line with the global concept and practice of the company which is still starts with products that are not only quality but also sold in a very low price.That is why for any additional requirements like in terms of additional functionality designs and even i n terms of price are mainly comes from the actual conversation and interaction by the customers themselves through the store co-workers. Even the actual store arrangement and presentation becomes a focal point in establishing customer requirements. How are customer requirements translated into products/services? It is true that establishing customer requirement does not stop there and what the company needs to do is to translate these requirements into actual product or services.For most companies these has also become a major problem, maybe not just because of the problem that some companies may established the wrong requirements or it is just company’s translate the required products or services wrongfully. 3 The IKEA Concept, 2007. Most specially customers these days are very intelligent and they easily shift their preference and what makes it difficult these days is that there are a lot of products to choose from and one wrong move can give a lot of impact for the busines s and that is something that company’s must look into closely.There are actually many theories that can be applied in carefully and effectively translating customer requirements into products or services, But among the many theories, there is one important theory that focuses on how products are being planned before it actually delivers to the customers and this is what is being called as product planning framework. In this model or framework it shows that for companies to be successful in converting requirements into products or services.In this approach it also tackles the over-all company strategy that should also be included in the actual development of the product and not just the requirement alone. Because there are instances that the company over-prioritize on the certain aspect in the product planning where in fact it does not only need to separately prioritize but also have to manage how the different factors relate to one another. Needs, 2004) In it shows that it is not only the detailed requirement alone is important, instead it should be well collaborated with the other factors or aspects of product planning.And it all starts with understanding first the company strategy; these should be the starting point and then it follows by three collaborative processes which include competitive business environment, which involves a careful understanding on how the company understand the way it should perform in order to be competitive and not just develop a product or service that only performs the basic requirement of the customers instead it should be developed to address competitiveness, secondly in the group of process after understanding the main corporate strategy is the market dynamics, at this point company’s must also look into the different trends and market situations which may also become a major factor in the business. Companies must look into the way market is moving and sensitivity towards these aspect gives a lot of leverage for the company even by the time of planning in the development of the product. Then, the third and last part of the three collaborative processes is development capabilities; this includes the identification of the company’s capabilities of developing the actual product.This situation also a big impact for some companies because there are companies that even though they already identified and studied the market dynamics and the competitive business environment, eventually they found out that they have no capability or capacity to do it, so what they need to do is to just focus on planning to develop some products that are within their capacity to developed. These three processes are also considered as market opportunity filter. Architecture and long –term roadmap come next, which focuses mainly on how the product can be developed product policy and goals which is very important in terms of establishing long-term success of the product.There are also other factors that it really focuses like corporate or division value added, core technology applied and other aspect that mainly focuses on the long-term success of the product. Detailed user requirements or product definition comes next, where at this point, these only includes the detailed understanding of users needs and all the information that it supports which includes the things that were presented above, like information regarding what customers wants, who actually buy the product and how they buy it. This information will then be used for establishing a business case which will mainly use in providing a study that will be use to support the feasibility of the product development and lastly is the process of execution, which involves the actual generation of the product or services.But this may be applicable and useful to some products or services that are well established in the industry or companies that already has its name and just continuous to explore for new opportunities. The reason is that there are many failures that may be encountered by companies who are introducing new product in the market. One of the most common reason is that since they don’t have establish customer awareness and their data are sometimes not reliable and just follows current market trends. It shows that there are also some important factors that need to be carefully addressed by new companies or companies introducing new product lines in the market.These also show that there are many cases that can contribute the ineffectiveness of translating customer requirements into product or service development. 4 For IKEA, in terms of translating customer requirements into products and services, it has always been the main focus of the company and this is perform by the company through what the company called as IKEA’s Main Range. As most companies would also envy how the company operates and how they still provide low price products even though there are a lot of economic problems tha t are happening. But, the main reason why the company continues to survived and still keep up with quality and price is though its what they called as IKEA Range.IKEA range refers to the formula on how the business operates and it all starts with its main concept of producing low price products plus their effective production method that continuously been the priority which gives big boost for the company since it is the major cost centered activities of the company and lastly but definitely not the least is with the innovative ideas and minds of their people that up to now becomes a major concern driving force in the success of the company as well. But basically there are four basic factors how the IKEA range actually performs and translates customer requirements and these includes: profile, design, functionality and the strategy they do for lowering the price of its product. In terms of profile, the company continues to target the fundamental activities in every home such as eatin g, sleeping, storing items and socializing but the company always makes sure that their products based on these basic activities they always have to consider the limited budget and space of most of its customers.In other words, the company always strives to provide a product that first satisfies 4 Driving Product Development with Customer Needs, 2004 the basic needs of their customers based on the standard activities in everyone’s homes and then consider the tight budget and limited space of homes of the customers. In terms of design, just like in the profile, designers of the company are always task to provide innovative ideas that comprises of new and innovative designs and at the same time address low cost production cost, which may result to low price for their customers. Even though this is a big challenge for designers, still they manage to produce products that are not only stylish but also at low cost to produced and sell.These are two of the main secret of the compan y, they always find better ways on how they can lower the production cost through better designs, because for them is they will still produce better design with low production cost, they can leverage against the competition and that gives both benefit for the company and most specially for their customers. In terms of functionality, the companies always look into beyond the basic functionality of its products. It constantly seeks value to its products, and with that it also implements strict quality assurance, in order for their customers not to say that their products are not just low price and style but also durable.This only shows that the functionality of products through quality is an essential part of IKEA’s business and this should not compromise cost. In terms of low price products, the company has implemented this strategy by providing a wide range of choices. With the many choices that they offered, there will definitely be a choice of the customers that is fit for their budget and not just a fit in the space they have in their homes. The company does not compete on a per item basis, they compete in terms of prices through selections and wide range of designs and functionality of products that they offered and this is an added advantage of the company.And as how the company perform its actual way of translating customer requirements into actual product development or services and as based on the concept that were presented earlier, it clearly stated that there are clear evidence that IKEA stick with its corporate strategy to offer products that are not only affordable but also has quality. This known requirements where further enhanced by innovative design by their designers that still carefully addresses the needs of the customers. What operational systems and processes are in place to satisfy the Product/service requirements of customers? It is true that there are different processes or systems that need to be implemented by company in order to institutionalize the way on how the company satisfies product or services requirements. Because there are times where other company apply different ways on how they manage requirements and these results to inconsistencies in the information that the company generates.And in order for these very essential requirements not going to waste, company’s should create a well defined process on how not only keep it but more importantly satisfy these requirements through implementation of the right processes and systems. For IKEA, the main idea for the company is to really see on how the store nationwide performs the business and these are again based from the company’s IKEA range. In the presented process by the company IKEA above, it uniquely showed that the company again mainly focuses on satisfying customer requirements through finding any possible ways on how they can offer only the best and well designed products which is mainly the start and end of its processes.The f irst one as being the standard designs of the products that ere studied by the company and the last one as the added inspirational designs, which mainly focuses however on the innovative ideas that comes only from their senior designers, but what is important here is that these designers stills looks into the main global strategy of the company. While the one that separates the first and last activities in the process is with regards to finding the best production method that has also become the secret key for success of the company. This is because through these well designed production method, it gives the company enough leverage in applying cost for its products. And all these three main processes is equivalent to IKEAS Unique process in satisfying customer needs.In fact there is even some strategy that the company implemented in the design of its stores globally that also added to the company’s success globally. To add on their very unique and very effective concept in op erating the business, the company stores around the world operates in a way that inspire all its customer on the real life look of the rooms and homes, this is in order for them to really see the real look of the products once it’s installed. With big space stores that the company offers from its customers, and actually encourage taking their time and letting them feel comfortable within the store. Letting the customers actually sit, lie down, open and close drawers in their products, it adds more value for their customers since they can actually feel, see and hold on the products.Added to that is the assigned workers that is always ready to assist the guest if they need additional information, most specially some technical details. With the 9,500 different designs and products to choose from, it definitely provides an excellent travel experience and that gives customers a big possibility that there is always a product that’s right for them, either in terms of budget o r in terms of space. 5 In fact there are also proofs that a show that these process has become an effective way on how the company continuously grows not only in terms of sales or revenues but also in terms of stores and visitors that visited every store it operates in the world.First, in terms of sales there was a consistent increase in sales from the time the company started up to 2007, which means that no matter what and how big economic issues that comes in the global economy, IKEA still manage to perform well and with its unique process in satisfying the needs of the customer, sales are always increasing. In terms of number of visitors that visited the stores worldwide, it also shows that number also increases which means that customer awareness is improving and this also improves the company’s global sales. And with its 200 stores around the world and more than 450 million visitors annually. This only shows that the company’s stores and its products are well reco gnized. And the company where very aggressive in expanding its business globally, in order to serve its clients better.With these figures that were presented, it only proves that the company with its unique process of satisfying the needs of their customers, it shows that they continually become very effective and most of their customers are really satisfied about the process and how they are being given the right attention by the company as a whole. Particularly in terms of the increasing number of visitors and the continuous huge increase in sales of the company. How are capacity planning, process layout, product/service scheduling, Inventory, and projects, managed in the organization? In order for any company performs not only based from the company’s current needs but also the future and included to those are some unexpected requirements, capacity planning is definitely important.Actually in theory there are three main steps for capacity planning, and these are: (1) compa ny needs to determine service level requirements, (2) the company must analyze current capacity, and lastly, (3) company must plan for the future. For most cases that problem usually is in the second and third. It is because of the reason that most companies usually understand what are the things that they need to do, but the problem is that either they know that they are not capable of performing their assignments but keeps on getting some just for the greediness of getting some just to increase revenues or sometimes there are companies that really doesn’t know what their capacity are, and what happen is that when they actually perform the actual projects then they found out that they are short in resources.Also, there are issues that comes in the third step, where most companies both understand their projects and effectively knows their capacity but still failed due to lack of anticipations or not being ready to instant demand in the market and this eventually resulted to f ailure as well. 6 In terms of process layout, process scheduling, inventory and managing project in the organization, there are only two ways that can mainly classified a company and these are either centralized or decentralized process. Centralized process arises when processes from the different branch or stores of one global company follows the same global process and actually performs the process consistently. While the decentralize process involves an autonomy for each branch to perform their own process, but still follows the top main process.This can also be 6 How to do Capacity Planning, 2007. known today as matrix type of organization. For IKEA it actually performs centralize and decentralize way of operation or the company called it as for-profit and non-profit way of operation. Even though it was originated in Sweden, the company operated in a very unique approach, since it’s main operation is subdivided into two parts: (1)non-profit, and (2) for profit operations, where the latter or the main INGKA Foundation is located in Leiden in the Netherlands. Or in other way of representing it, the company structure may be look into as two different parts and these are: mainly operations and the other one is franchising.Just to segregate the two, majority of the operations which covers management of the majority of its stores worldwide, design and production factories of furniture as well as the purchasing of supplies are done and centrally managed by the INGKA Holdings, which is among the 36 countries it operates it manages the 235 stores worldwide while around 30 remaining stores are managed by the different franchises outside the INGKA Holdings. Also, the INGKA Holdings is not also owned by a single owner or company instead it is owned by Stitching INGKA Foundation which was established by its owner, Kamprad in 1982 and that started the strategy of the company to have applied the company for non-profit organization. This non-profit organization is managed by five members where INGKVAR as Chairman and included as members is his wide and lawyers.With its tax avoidance strategy in 2004, the company profit is taxed and at the same time for the owners, Kamprad and his family cannot get profits directly instead they do collect a portion of its sales from the franchising agreement between them and their partners. But even with these very unique and sometimes classified as complex way of operation by the company, the over-all company that still manages the overall process is again handled by the INGKA Holdings, like in terms of capacity planning, process improvements and others are still in the authority and supervision of the holdings.This only means that even though the company is owned by everal owners in the different countries, still in terms of the over-all operations and processes, the mother company which is the INGKA Holdings is the one manages it. Explain why and how monitoring and evaluation of operations are carried out A s based from the discussion that were presented above regarding how the company globally operates, it only shows that obviously the way the company monitors are also manage by the main company and that is the INGKA Holdings, but for franchisee’s they primarily have the authority to manage their own branch but they need to follow the global IKEA process which is mandated by the Holdings. Even in monitoring the way on how the company’s foundation is also doing is also managed centrally.But, even though this was a strategy that were applied by the company and even though it creates complexity to some since every stores may be under the INGKA Holdings or being managed as franchised, the company as a whole still has provided a well deserve recognition that it deserves to be commended as a company that provides importance to the environment and world change. This is through INGKA’s Foundations, with its focus on innovative interior design and architecture has been rec ognized as the world’s largest charitable institution with a net worth of $33 billion, beating the well known and richest couple in the world Bill and Melinda Gates. But, even though the foundation net worth is huge, it does not reflect the real amount it actually gives or donates unlike its counterpart.This was proven as report in 2005 shows that the company not only focuses in its own home country Sweden, specifically the Lund Institute of Technology with an amount donated of $1. 7 million. This is far low against the donations that Gates Family has given which reaches a huge amount of $1. 5 billion in the same year. Even though the company has been in the forefront of many projects for a cause like the following: (1) A Euro for every toy sold in 2006 for UNICEF which accumulates to 1. 75 million Euros. (2) In the 2005 Tsunami, KEA Australia agreed to match dollar for dollar co-workers donations and donated all sales of the IKEA Blue Bag to the cause. 3) Pakistan Earthquake in 2006, IKEA gave 120,000 blankets. (4) Lastly, it provided furniture for more than 100,000 bridge schools for both India and Liberia. 7 Summary In this paper, it shows that IKEA even though the way it operates seem to be complex and difficult to understand, still the company performs its operation effectively. This is mainly brought about by their unique way of establishing and at the same time satisfying customer needs. With the company’s main focus on developing products that are not only with quality and most of all products that are low in price and added to that the wide variety of designs to choose from has made the company a best choice for customers worldwide.This has also been an effective drive for the company success, because internally, they always focus on how they can think of developing effective production method and highly innovative designs and that gives them better leverage against their competitors worldwide that even franchisers finds complex doing bu siness, still they were enticed with the continuous increase in growth sales of the firm. Recommendations As based from the study there are only two main recommendations that should be focus by the company in order to strengthen the success of the company. First, it is more on establishing a more concrete and straightforward global operations and the second is for the company to increase its support for the charity since that was the main purpose of being a foundation since there was a tremendous criticism that even though that the INGKA Foundation has a huge net worth.

History of human resource management

Human resource management has always been a part of man’s life even before its name was suggested. This paper will discuss how human resource management has changed over the years. The paper will also discuss how the changes in workforce has effected the human resource management of today. The effects of globalization in today’s HRM will also be looked after in this paper. The world has changed over the years and so has the jobs. New jobs have been created and now labor is taken differently by the employers. The economy has brought a big change in how people take the challenges of human resource today. History of Human resource management Human resource management means to manage the people. It is also known as personnel management at times. The human resource management has changed over the past years. Now it is not only about dealing with the employees of the organization but to also see other parts of the organization. The human resource managers of today are more involved in workforce identification and establishment of the firms. Today it is more about strategically managing the firms. Different definitions have been given in the past after looking at the changes that occurred in this field of human resource (Mote, n. d. ). In the past, human resource management was referred to as the labor management. Chinese are known to be the pioneers of the management. Before any other man came up with the concept of human resource the Greeks had already developed the idea of it. Many past civilizations used the concept of human resource management but were not familiar that what it exactly was. The main idea of HRM remains the same and that is to have maximum productivity for the organization. The difference that has arrived is of the strategies that are now involved in achieving this goal of greater productivity through proper management of labor (Lockwood, 2005). In the start the economies around the world were based on agriculture. People worked as farmers or worked for landlords to earn their living. Everyone was on their own and only landlords were the basic human resource managers at that time. Then came the industrial revolution and things changed. Workforce shifted. People switched jobs. A big lot left farming and moved towards working in an industry to earn a better living. Due to this revolution immigration towards developing countries also increased. The human resource management became more complex now. The task now was to deal with people from different nationalities (Khilawala, n. d. ). The culture was different and therefore styles had to be adapted in order to maximize productivity. Proper techniques were developed and recruitment and selection took place through proper channels. With the rise of industrial revolution also came the task of dealing with unions. The human resource department thus had to find ways to resolve conflicts between unions and management. The function of HR changed again. A major shift came from the idea of having a corporate culture. This way people were given more importance. The efficiency was not the only important factor then. The worker’s satisfaction to gain efficiency was now the issue. Human resource management had to again go through the new process of developing new ways of keeping the employees satisfied. The people started looking for jobs that would give them more satisfaction and an environment where they can achieve success with satisfaction. Now it was just not the era of industry but competitive industries(Friedman, n. d. ). Different laws came and the human resource department gained more importance. The corporate put a lot of emphasis on this department because a lot of laws had been passed and no organization wanted a law suit against them from their employees. The human resource department took a new turn when strategic human resource management was introduced. New strategies were now involved and the human resource department was being looked at from a different angle (Mote, n. d. ). The human resource management of today is an entirely different thing. People shift jobs and look at the aspects of better living styles. Globalization has changed the way people see human resource department now. The multi national companies have strong human resource managers in order to look after the employees from different nationalities. This helps in building a strong reputation of the organization. The human resource managers of today not only have to look after the people but the organization as a whole. The main job of today’s human resource managers is to have a focused approach of how the strategies of the organizations will be followed. So it all depends on the human resource managers and their style of management that how they carry the organization in order to achieve greater productivity. The better the attitude of human resource manager the better would be the response from the employees. It is the main job of the managers to keep a focused approach on how to keep the managers and employees satisfied specially in today’s world where there role is so diversified.

Call Center Relocation

Call Center Relocation Introduction It is true that call centers are increasingly becoming important in the current market where brick-and-motar stores are losing their popularity to online stores. For Sekoorb Insurance, it is understandable how important it is to have an efficient workstation that has the capacity of meeting the market demands.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Call Center Relocation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The decision to relocate the call centre from the town centre office to the newly rented out of town office accommodation is a brilliant idea that would not only increase the productivity of the workforce, but also make it easier for the relevant stakeholders to make a visit to the premises of this firm by avoiding the hustle and bustle of the city centre (Charantimanth 2003, p. 89). However, this should be done efficiently and at a lower cost. The ultimate aim of this firm is to ensure that the relocation is d one efficiently, and at a minimum cost possible. The negotiation done by Ron Black with a professional relocation company to cut down the cost from  £325 per head relocated to  £25,000 was very brilliant (Blell 2011, p. 112). However, I believe that we can cut down the cost further by about half this figure if we were to use internal labour to undertake this duty. I believe that relocating the call centre can be done by using internal labour and internal equipments within this firm. I also believe that the current labour, including the technicians, have the capacity to undertake this activity within the weekends and deliver success as would be expected. It is important to note that although the main reason why I propose the use of internal labour is because of the lower costs involved, it is also a fact that internal labour will deliver a better work because this is their facility, and they will feel responsible for every action they take in this process (Kanji 2005, p. 90). The y will therefore, make an attempt to deliver quality result for the tasks assigned to them. The Preparations After comparing the costs associated with the relocation of the call center, I believe that the most efficient and cost effective way of conducting this relocation would be to use the internal labor. Given that the work will be undertaken over the weekend, it is very easy to mobilize this workforce to undertake the activities within these two days in order to ensure that the relocation is complete by Sunday evening ready for use the following day in the morning. The preparations should start as early as possible in order to have everything planned for the weekend. Given the fact that the top management is fully aware and has approved this relocation, the main preparations will involve identifying the right workforce that will be involved in undertaking various activities, the equipment that would be needed, and a program on how each task should be undertaken within the firm.A dvertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In managing this project, the following are some of the preparations I will make in order to ensure that everything works as per the plan.  Information is very important within an organization, irrespective of the position held within an organization (Chandra 2009, p. 89). It makes an employee feel that he or she is of value within the firm. For this reason, I will make a communication to all the relevant offices and staff members informing them of the intended relocation. This communication is not only meant to inform members of this firm of the intended relocation, but also to prepare them for the planned activities that are to be undertaken because they will be part of the relocation (Dressel 2001, p. 71). The communication will be made on Monday morning within the week of relocation. On Tuesday, the main activity will be ident ifying the relevant workforce that would be involved in carrying out various activities on the material day. Eric, the Head House Administrator will play a significant role at this stage. This is because he is the head of the workforce that would be involved in this activity, and that he has experience in supervising a similar activity (Eunson 2012, p. 56). Working closely with Eric, we will identify the relevant workforce that would be needed to undertake various tasks within this project. Eric and I will view all the equipments that would need to be relocated after which, we will be in a position to determine the exact number of employees that would be needed for this task. By Tuesday evening, the names of all the needed workers will be ready. The names will be printed the same day ready for use from Wednesday till Sunday. On Wednesday morning, the entire identified workforce will be informed of the intended work over the weekend and there would be a meeting with them at ten in th e morning the same day. The majority will be those who have been involved in the previous relocations. In this team will also be Ian, the IT technician who will be responsible for reconnecting the computer and telephone equipment. In this session, the employees would be given opportunity to share their experience about the previous relocation and how best they think this work can be more successful this time round. Ian, and any other worker who is part of this project, will be expected to identify all the equipment relevant to his or her task in the project. They will be given the entire afternoon of this day to make this possible.  On Wednesday, all the project members will meet in the morning to discuss on the equipment that would be needed for the project. Every project member will inspect the equipment that would be needed on the material day to confirm that they are in the right condition.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Call Center Relocation speci fically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On this day, any particular equipment that needs repair will be serviced in order to ensure that they are ready for the task ahead. Eric and I will select team leaders among the project members who will guide other project members in various sections of this project. Ian will be among this group. The group will visit the new premises in order to assess the location and try to figure out how the current call center at the town office will fit into these new premises. A photo of this new premise will be taken.  On Friday, a series of activities will be taken. The first thing in the morning, all the employees working in the play station will be reminded of the intended relocation to a new premise over the weekend. They will be advised to carry home all the personal items they considered very valuable in the evening of the same day (Cheldelin 2008, p. 20). They will also be expected to lock their desk pedestals and take the key home for the purpose of ensuring that the items will remain intact during the process of relocation. All the project members will be grouped according to the tasks to be taken on the two days, and each team will be headed by the team leader. It is on this day that the plan for the new premise will be made. Eric and I will take into consideration the need to ensure that the process is as seamless as possible as is desired by the director of this department. In order to achieve this, a photo of the current call center will be taken while the officers are at work in order to have a clear image of how to fit the systems into the new office. At lunch time, all the call center officers will be requested to vacate their workstations for about five minutes. Another photo of this station will be taken to enhance the planning (Chary 2009, p. 72). This will also help in ensuring that after relocation, the station will be left intact and ready to be used by other officers by Monday morning the following week. In the evening, the entire team will be addressed by Ron Black. It is during this time that Ron will be informed of the planned activities for the following day. The Activities Involved in the Project Timing the Activities The activities in this project are planned to start on Saturday at noon. This is because of a number of reasons. The first reason is the constraint put by Ron, the director of this unit, that the activities cannot be started in the morning based on company policies. The second reason is that traffic movement in the morning hours of Saturdays is always slow. Starting work in the morning would increase the total time spent in undertaking these activities while our intention is to reduce the time. Lastly, upon sharing with Eric on his experience during the last relocation, he informed me that they spent a lot of time on traffic because they started the work in the morning. As a result of this, the employees got tired even before undertaki ng all the duties expected of them.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On Saturday, the work shall begin at 12.00 and is expected to end at 18.00 hours. On Sunday, the activities shall commence at 8.00 and end at 18.00 in the evening. This breakdown of the work to be carried out is shown in the appendix. Although the official ending time is planned as 18.00 hours, the project plans show that the work may be completed as early as 14.00 hours. The four extra hours might be needed by only a single worker, the IT specialist. Eric and I may spend an extra hour after 14.00 hours inspecting both the call center office at the new premise, and the office at the town center if they meet the expectations of the project. The Activities All the project members are expected to be at their expected work locations by 12.00. The project members will be in three groups as was planned initially. The first group will be the packing team which will make the majority. The second group will be the transport team, and the last group will be the IT connection group. On Saturda y noon when the project commences, the IT officers will help with the relevant disconnections of the telephones and computers. They will witness how these items are packed so that they will have easier time at the new premise when they will be conducting the reconnection (Andrzej Buchaman 2007, p. 62). Their day will then come to an end as they will be expected to report the following day by 10.00. The group responsible for unpacking and packing the equipments would start by moving all the computers and telephone kits into the first van. When all these equipments are safely packed into the first van, the team will come for the desk pedals. I chose to move the entire desk pedestals from the old furniture to the new ones at the new locations, and fit the new pedestals into the old furniture because of two reasons. The first reason was that this would ensure that the contents of desk drawers of the staff would remain intact and safe. The second reason is because the furniture is stand ardized and changing the pedestals would be very possible. Every activity would be done within a specified timeframe, as stated in the appendix, and for this reason, all the project members will be warned against taking this project as a jolly overtime task that can be conducted at their own pace as they previously did in the last relocation that took place in this firm. After packing all the pedestals into the second van, they will be transported to the new premises. The transport officers will then pack the vans ready for unpacking by the second group. The time that the van is expected to take to the new location is also shown in the appendix. Upon arrival at the new office premises, the packing team will remove the items from the two vans to the new office. When all the items are unloaded from the vans, the transport officers will retire and resume work the following day at ten. Given the time constrain, it is only the desk pedestals that would be fitted. All the activities of th e day will come to a close immediately the pedestals are fitted and the new pedestals are packed ready to be transported to the town offices the following day. On Sunday morning, all the project members, except the transport officers, will report to work by 8.00 in the morning. With the directions from the IT officers, the packing officers will arrange all the computers and telephone kits into the cells ready for connection. The timing for this activity is shown in the appendix. When they complete this task, they will move all the new pedestals into the van ready to be transported to the town premises. Ian will be left in this new office to undertake the connection process. The other members will use the second van (others may use the space that will remain in the first van because the pedestals may not use the entire space) and we will go back to the town offices. Upon arrival, the work of transport officers will come to an end immediately. The pedestals will be moved using the lif ts to the second floor of the building. The new pedestals will then be fitted into the old furniture at the town office, a process that is expected to take under half an hour. The town office will be ready for use by the new occupants after some cleaning (which is not under the jurisdiction of this project). When this task is completed, the group shall have completed their task and they would leave for their private activities. According to the estimations, this will be done by 12.00 on Sunday. Eric and I will then move to the new premise to inspect the work done by Ian. It is expected that by 14.00, Ian should have completed his task of reconnection. The four hour allowance would be given to him only when it is confirmed that it is very necessary. Otherwise, everything will be complete and ready for use by 14.00 at a cost half than which would have been charged by the professional replicators. References Andrzej, A Buchaman, A 2007, Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, London. Blell, D 2011, Emotional intelligence: For the authentic and diverse workplace, Iuniverse Inc, New York. Chandra, P 2009, Projects Planning, Analysis, Selection, Financing, Implementation, and Review, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. Charantimanth, P 2003, Total Quality Management, The Free Press, New York. Chary, S 2009, Production and Operation management, Gale Research, Detroit. Cheldelin, S 2008, Conflict: From analysis to intervention, Continuum, New York. Dressel, K 2001, Systemic Risk: A New Challenge for Risk Management, OCED, London. Eunson, B 2012, Conflict Management, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken. Kanji, G 2005, Total Quality Management: Proceedings of the First World Congress, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Appendix

Woody Guthrie essays

Woody Guthrie essays For my project, I chose to go look at the exhibit, The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie, at the J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries. It told about his life story, and presented many of his famous works of art. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born in the small town of Okemah, Oklahoma on the fourteenth of July in 1912. His grandparents moved to Oklahoma trying to seize the opportunity to seize land from the Indian Territory. In his lifetime, Woody experienced and saw much hardship, which he reflected through his artwork, music, and poetry. For example, at the age of only fourteen, Woody was living on his own. Using the hymns and spirituals he learned, Woody added what he learned in the folk tradition from people he met on the road. He also lived during the period of the Great Depression, which presented starving families and much injustice. Woody and many Americans wondered how all of these horrible things could go on in the country proclaimed to be the land of freedom. Many families were starving as plenty of food sat behind the fences in the fields left to rot. All of this, Woody expressed through his work, as he was not merely just an artist, but an avid activist as well. His life p rematurely ended when he was hospitalized being diagnosed with Huntingtons disease, which also was the cause of death to his mother. However, the impact that he laid upon American soil was so significant as to this day he is still acknowledged in every fight, and battle for fairness, and equality. The exhibit showed many of his paintings, poetry, and music he produced in his lifetime. His artworks were direct past events he personally experienced, from the Black Blizzard to Starvation Disease. His artwork was not beautiful, fancy, or done with much detail. However, Woodys ability to directly show the events so blatantly is what makes his works so powerful. For exa...

How Neil Armstrong Became the First Man on the Moon

How Neil Armstrong Became the First Man on the Moon For thousands of years, man had looked to the heavens and dreamed of walking on the moon. On July 20,  1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong became the very first to accomplish that dream, followed only minutes later by Buzz Aldrin. Their accomplishment placed the United States ahead of the Soviets in the Space Race and gave people around the world the hope of future space exploration. Fast Facts: First Moon Landing Date: July 20, 1969Mission: Apollo 11Crew: Neil Armstrong, Edwin Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins Becoming the First Person on the Moon When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the United States was surprised to find themselves behind in the race to space. Still behind the Soviets four years later, President John F. Kennedy gave inspiration and hope  to the American people in his speech to Congress on May 25, 1961 in which he stated, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. Just eight years later, the United States accomplished this goal by placing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Portrait of American astronauts, from left, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong, the crew of NASAs Apollo 11 mission to the moon, as they pose on a model of the moon, 1969. Ralph Morse / Getty Images Take Off At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 into the sky from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On the ground, there were over 3,000 journalists, 7,000 dignitaries, and approximately a half million tourists watching this momentous occasion. The event went smoothly and as scheduled. CAPE KENNEDY, UNITED STATES - JULY 16, 1969: Composite 5 frame shot of the gantry retracting while the Saturn V boosters lift off to carry the Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon.   Ralph Morse / Getty Images After one-and-a-half orbits around Earth, the Saturn V thrusters flared once again and the crew had to manage the delicate process of attaching the lunar module (nicknamed Eagle) onto the nose of the joined command and service module (nicknamed Columbia). Once attached, Apollo 11 left the Saturn V rockets behind as they began their three-day journey to the moon, called the translunar coast. A Difficult Landing On July 19, at 1:28 p.m. EDT, Apollo 11 entered the moons orbit. After spending a full day in lunar orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin boarded the lunar module and detached it from the command module for their descent to the moons surface. As the Eagle departed, Michael Collins, who remained in the Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin were on the moon, checked for any visual problems with the lunar module. He saw none and told the Eagle crew, You cats take it easy on the lunar surface. Members of the Kennedy Space Center control room team rise from their consoles to see the liftoff of the Apollo 11 mission 16 July 1969.   NASA / Getty Images As the Eagle headed toward the moons surface, several different warning alarms were activated. Armstrong and Aldrin realized that the computer system was guiding them to a landing area that was strewn with boulders the size of small cars. With some last-minute maneuvers, Armstrong guided the lunar module to a safe landing area. At 4:17 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, the landing module landed on the moons surface in the Sea of Tranquility with only seconds of fuel left. Armstrong reported to the command center in Houston, Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. Houston responded, Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. Were breathing again. Walking on the Moon After the excitement, exertion, and drama of the lunar landing, Armstrong and Aldrin spent the next six-and-a-half hours resting and then preparing themselves for their moon walk. At 10:28 p.m. EDT, Armstrong turned on the video cameras. These cameras transmitted images from the moon to over half a billion people on Earth who sat watching their televisions. It was phenomenal that these people were able to witness the amazing events that were unfolding hundreds of thousands of miles above them. This grainy, black-and-white image taken on the Moon shows Neil Armstrong about to step off the Eagle lander and onto the surface of the Moon for the first time. NASA   Neil Armstrong was the first person out of the lunar module. He climbed down a ladder and then became the first person to set foot on the moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT. Armstrong then stated, Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. A few minutes later, Aldrin exited the lunar module and stepped foot on the moons surface. Working on the Surface Although Armstrong and Aldrin got a chance to admire the tranquil, desolate beauty of the moons surface, they also had a lot of work to do. NASA had sent the astronauts with a number of scientific experiments to set up and the men were to collect samples from the area around their landing site. They returned with 46 pounds of moon rocks. Armstrong and Aldrin also set up a flag of the United States. Armstrong and Aldrin unfurl the US flag on the moon, 1969. Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, was launched on 16 July 1969 and Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first and second men to walk on the moon on 20 July 1969. The third member of the crew, Michael Collins, remained in lunar orbit. Oxford Science Archive / Getty Images While on the moon, the astronauts received a call from President Richard Nixon. Nixon began by saying, Hello, Neil and Buzz. I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Office of the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just cant tell you how proud we are of what you have done. Time to Leave After spending 21 hours and 36 minutes upon the moon (including 2 hours and 31 minutes of outside exploration), it was time for Armstrong and Aldrin to leave. To lighten their load, the two men threw out some excess materials like backpacks, moon boots, urine bags, and a camera. These fell to the moons surface and were to remain there. Also left behind was a plaque which read, Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind. Apollo 11 lunar module rising above the moon to rendezvous with command module before heading home, with half Earth visible over horizon in background. Time Life Pictures / NASA / Getty Images   The lunar module blasted off from the moons surface at 1:54 p.m. EDT on July 21, 1969. Everything went well and the Eagle re-docked with the Columbia. After transferring all of their samples onto the Columbia, the Eagle was set adrift in the moons orbit. The Columbia, with all three astronauts back on board, then began their three-day journey back to Earth. Splash Down Before the Columbia command module entered the Earths atmosphere, it separated itself from the service module.  When the capsule reached 24,000 feet, three parachutes deployed to slow down the Columbias descent. At 12:50 p.m. EDT on July 24, the Columbia safely landed in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii. They landed just 13 nautical miles from the U.S.S. Hornet that was scheduled to pick them up. astronauts wait in life raft for a helicopter to lift them to the U.S.S. Hornet after successful splashdown July 24th. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin successfully completed moon mission. Theyre wearing isolation garments.   Bettmann / Getty Images Once picked up, the three astronauts were immediately placed into quarantine for fears of possible moon germs. Three days after being retrieved, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were transferred to a quarantine facility in Houston for further observation. On August 10, 1969, 17 days after splashdown, the three astronauts were released from quarantine and able to return to their families. The astronauts were treated like heroes on their return. They were met by President Nixon and given ticker-tape parades. These men had accomplished what men had only dared to dream for thousands of years- to walk on the moon.

How involved should the U.S. be Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How involved should the U.S. be - Coursework Example The Realpolitik Policy According to Holzgrefe and Keohane, realpolitik, as a political ideology, pertains to diplomacy or politics founded mostly on power and other material and practical factors in lieu of explicit moral or ideological principles. Similarly, Baofu associated the policy of realpolitik that integrates the philosophical features of pragmatism and realism, implying that politics is amoral, coercive, or Machiavellian in nature (220). With the terrorist belligerence on the World Trade Center, the U.S. government faced the threat of a prospective fusion of military efforts with enormous weapons of mass destruction, as well as that of religious extremism (Johnston 3). Since WWII ended, the Middle East has been subjected to unrelenting struggle for stability and social order yet the present circumstances pose a challenge in mitigating the threats imposed by the region in the modern history of American politics. To carry out an effective change in the region; however, it is i mperative for the present administration to consider its limitations, especially in terms of organising its strategic approach of materializing its interests in the region (Ross and Jeffrey). Considering that the Middle East has rich oil resources, the U.S. government should adopt realpolitik approach in its foreign policy not only to strengthen its military presence against terrorism, but most especially to protect its interests for oil supply. Contrary to the perceptions of people from other countries, Keck noted that acceptance of American political values may be precluded from adopting a realpolitik foreign policy. In most instances, American hostility toward realism is largely caused by a conflict of its basic values despite their unconsciousness of formulating foreign policies, which are in fact, governed by a realist approach. Although the idealistic and isolationist policies could also be an advantage for the U.S., the merits of adopting a policy founded on realpolitik is mo re appropriate since the Middle East plays a crucial role in American hegemony against the war on terrorism. As an opinion, however, if the U.S. intends to have supremacy of political, social, and economic power on a global scale, it must incorporate a realpolitik approach in their foreign policy to establish positive alliances and materialize their interests in the region. From a political perspective, Miller observed that the U.S. government succeeded in attacking the central operations in Al Qaeda, and this could be mainly attributed to having a pragmatic and realistic approach in their military intervention. In contrast to idealistic policy, which supports liberal principles and democratic ideals (Hancock 39), the realpolitik ideology may facilitate social order in that the U.S. foreign policy promotes a collective effort in securing balance of power in world politics. Meanwhile, the isolationist policy promotes the cessation of US involvement in the Middle East, which is to som e extent, an advantage for the U.S. since this may imply lesser intervention and military conflicts. In this regard, however, the realpolitik approach only views the Middle East as an outlet for the U.S. government to control its interests in the

Personal Development and Careers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Personal Development and Careers - Assignment Example This is as it should be. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless; it is the application of knowledge to everyday situations after sizing them up in an intelligent manner is what should be the objective of learning. The result of learning should be the outcomes it produces in the real world. The Relationship between Learning and Development From the above, it is clear that book knowledge is not what we are after, rather the knowledge that we get from books should be applied to real world problems connected to that branch of knowledge so that solutions are made possible. Experience is the result of having applied that knowledge in a certain way and seeing the outcome. If by a process of trial and error, we can eliminate what does not work and distill that which does, we have reached the path of self development. For learning is a path to self development. The knowledge translated into skill resides in the mind and body of man- it becomes an inseparable part of him. This is how t he continual development of skills leads to personal development. Discussion of a Learning Theory: Kolb’s Learning Circle When it comes to theories of learning, there has been a lot of work produced by different authors and thinkers over the ages. However I regard the work of David A. Kolb and his Learning Circle to be a good explanation of what occurs during the process of learning. It is a good expose into the way we learn. Kolb outlined his theory in a book called ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development’ published in 1984. Kolb’s Learning Circle (developed in coordination with Roger Fry) consists of four steps: (1) concrete experience (2) concrete and abstract experience (3) forming abstract concepts and (4) applying to new situations. According to Kolb, humans basically learn to understand and process two different types of information- concrete and abstract. Our learning vocabulary is therefore filled with either C oncrete Experience or Abstract Conceptualization. Kolb maintains that following a learning session, if we want to capitalize on it, we convert our experience into either Reflective Observation or Active Experimentation. Kolb’s model indicates that we could use all four of these approaches in a learning experience, depending upon the situation we are confronted with. Over time however, Kolb maintains that individuals tend to prefer one experience grasping approach and one experience transforming approach. Kolb has mentioned four learning styles and these are to be regarded as created by the learner during the process of learning. The four styles are (1) Converger (2) Diverger (3) Assimilator and (4) Accommodator (Kolb, 1984). Convergers are characterized by abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. They are good at making practical applications of ideas and using deductive reasoning to solve problems. According to Kolb, divergers are geared toward getting concrete experiences and making reflective observations. Divergers are also imaginative and will be good at coming up with ideas or in seeing things from different perspectives. Most of our theorists and social thinkers would fit in this category (Houle, 1980). Kolb writes that assimilators can be singled out by their preference for abstract

While conceptually sound, the practical realities are such that Essay

While conceptually sound, the practical realities are such that ecotourism remains a fundamentally flawed product. Discuss - Essay Example s a means of novelty to satisfy the hunger of hunger of the tourists with a view to growing awareness of the drastic environmental changes caused by global warming. But if the concept of ecotourism is compared with the ecotourism in reality, it appears, to a great extent, to be the manipulation of the consumerism of the industrial society to trap the foreign currency at home and abroad. Indeed it was initiated with the increasing concern about the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and ecology. But in order to mitigate the pressure of the scholars and the environmentalists regarding the harmful impacts of tourism on the environment, the concept of tourism ironically includes its ecological apparel that is supposed to grow the awareness of the tourists about the environmental change. Since then the concept of ecotourism is facing the dilemma of its true outline in reality, as in this regard Anja Touhino and Anne Hynoenen (2001: 1) say, â€Å"The tourism industry still feels that these definitions are unclear and that they confuse both consumers and tourism entrepreneurs. Terms related to ecotourism are often used without adequate definition and thus cause confusion, even in research† (Touhino & Hynoenen, 2001: 1). Various scholars have defined tourism in different ways. But all these definitions are stitched together with a common thread that appears to be approach of these definitions to nature and environment. The concept of ecotourism evolved in order to mitigate the negative impact mass tourism on Environment. Therefore the evolution of the concept of ecotourism is closely related to the definition of mass tourism and tourism in general. In this regard Fennel (2003: 30) says, â€Å"Ecotourism has grown as a consequence of the dissatisfaction with conventional forms of tourism†. For Fennell (2003: 16), â€Å"ecotourism is distinct from mass tourism and various other forms of AT [alternative tourism]†. In the beginning the most accepted definitions of

The ethics and leadership conference pertained to the selection of the Essay

The ethics and leadership conference pertained to the selection of the speakers overview - Essay Example At the initial stage, professor Plump introduced the guest speakers to the audience by delving into their brief history, accomplishments and hallmarks of success. The first speaker was Marcus Allen, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters at Southeastern. He was soon followed by by the Claims Regional Vice President at AIG, Brian Bornstein. The third speaker was Edward Capobianco, the General Counsel of Swarovski. The final speaker was, Tom Wingert, the founder and director of Inkster Cares at Inkster. He also recently graduated from LaSalle University six months ago, There were quite a numbers of question raised and discussions on significant issues related to the business environment in the course of the conference. However, there were two pertinent issues that caught my attention. The first point pertained to how and when an employee was expected to reveal any work related challenges or problems. The second issue pertained to understanding that being mistaken in taking an irrational decision is not a problem but ignoring it and not attempting to fix it, may cause real problem and place and individual in a precarious situation. Moreover, it was insightful to learn that nonprofit organizations are reliant on disclosure data. This maybe either internal in nature such as that between board members and other employees; or external in nature such with a government agency, beneficiary or donator.

Music Contract Negotiations & Publishing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music Contract Negotiations & Publishing - Essay Example Some of areas may be found inappropriate by the Artiste to promote its musical production (like advertising on hygiene accommodation or etc.). The Artiste also may oppose using some promotional methods (like spread of information the Artiste finds damaging or etc.) (b) This part of the clause brings similar concerns on performing recordings and the Artiste publicly. Areas where the Company will, or will not use the product should be previously mutually agreed within the Contract, or a form of consultation for the areas should be required. Additionally, selling recordings for a commercial, but strange from traditional music industry (for example, tunes for doorbells or etc.) enterprises should require a consultation too (Morley, 2000). Clause 5 recognizes a size of music expected to be produced by the Artiste for each period as one album and one single per period, yet clause 1.1 and clause 1.8 bring a poor notion on what ‘album’ and ‘single’ are correspondently. Therefore, no limits are settled on number of songs, or for a playing time count of a song, making clause 5 unclear. The mutual agreement in the Contract on a minimum/ maximum number of songs is recommended. Clause 6.2 reserves the right for the Artist to give and/ or sell other non-musical production and services independently from the Company, yet the definition of the non-musical activity is very unclear. To escape violation of the Contract in future the types of not allowed artistic activity should be defined by the Company, paying a specific attention on borderline cases (on the example of clause 6.5). In clause 9.1 the Company proposes the Artist to receive 40% of the ‘net profits’, and this may be a point of argument. Commonly small independent labels as the Company is propose a fifty-fifty percent of a ‘net profits to share after the covering of previously agreed recording coasts

Speech 100 level class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Speech 100 level class - Essay Example Let’s assume for the purpose of this presentation that we are setting up a construction company in Dubai. The first and foremost thing that is required is the permission of the authorities in the region that deals with providing legal permits to set up a company. In order to obtain this permit the company needs to have a plan for the infrastructure and manpower requirements of the company. Some of the legalities related to obtaining permission from the authorities requires for the company to obtain permission from the municipality by registering at least one engineer for the project. The company needs to obtain permission by the Labor office by providing housing for the labor that the company would recruit which includes contract staff for the construction projects. After this the company needs to obtain a trading license issued by the permission from the Chamber of Commerce in Dubai. Once all these permissions are obtained and legalities have been met the company needs to sta rt by setting up an infrastructure and base where they can do business from in the region. In order to obtain a license the company needs to set up an office in the city. A labor camp needs to be provided in the city by the company according to their deal with the labor office earlier.

Music Contract Negotiations & Publishing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music Contract Negotiations & Publishing - Essay Example Some of areas may be found inappropriate by the Artiste to promote its musical production (like advertising on hygiene accommodation or etc.). The Artiste also may oppose using some promotional methods (like spread of information the Artiste finds damaging or etc.) (b) This part of the clause brings similar concerns on performing recordings and the Artiste publicly. Areas where the Company will, or will not use the product should be previously mutually agreed within the Contract, or a form of consultation for the areas should be required. Additionally, selling recordings for a commercial, but strange from traditional music industry (for example, tunes for doorbells or etc.) enterprises should require a consultation too (Morley, 2000). Clause 5 recognizes a size of music expected to be produced by the Artiste for each period as one album and one single per period, yet clause 1.1 and clause 1.8 bring a poor notion on what ‘album’ and ‘single’ are correspondently. Therefore, no limits are settled on number of songs, or for a playing time count of a song, making clause 5 unclear. The mutual agreement in the Contract on a minimum/ maximum number of songs is recommended. Clause 6.2 reserves the right for the Artist to give and/ or sell other non-musical production and services independently from the Company, yet the definition of the non-musical activity is very unclear. To escape violation of the Contract in future the types of not allowed artistic activity should be defined by the Company, paying a specific attention on borderline cases (on the example of clause 6.5). In clause 9.1 the Company proposes the Artist to receive 40% of the ‘net profits’, and this may be a point of argument. Commonly small independent labels as the Company is propose a fifty-fifty percent of a ‘net profits to share after the covering of previously agreed recording coasts

Changing Identities in Cyberculture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Changing Identities in Cyberculture - Essay Example so that the computer mimics a real life encounter by using the facilities of the pixels instead of the human body and the voice. The important difference between direct human contact and human contact through the medium of computers is that the usual physical aspects of communication are largely missing. Visual and aural aspects are not there, and the style of the individual is expressed through a number of substitute clues, such as the choice of font, a pseudonym usually with some reference to popular culture, and sometimes an â€Å"avatar† which is a pictorial representation of the self. The advantage of these devices in contexts like Multi Media Online Roleplay Games(MMORPGs) are obvious, and provide many people of all ages with entertainment in which a small caricature of the self interacts with other players, and with artificial intelligence characters to fight goblins or track down aliens, or build castles or any amount of artificial social activities at the whim of the games designer. These social spaces provide a setting where people can operate in an artificial world, adopting the customs and cultures that develop there, and in effect creating a new identity specifically for that subculture in cyberspace. The internet offers children and adults alike to play in a carefree and anonymous way, and for many this is a much valued respite from the demands of an increasingly pressurized daily life. There are some critics who see this opportunity as something potentially dangerous, and especially for the young. (Anderson et al., 2007) Without doubt the presence of paedophiles and people who prey on under age computer users is a worry. Children identify quite closely with the characters that they play, and they need to... This essay focuses on the arrival of the internet, that has opened up a whole new dimension of communication which was inconceivable even fifty years ago. People can now not only access a world-wide store of information and communicate with contacts, but also exchange and share personal photographs online. Such possibility to post public and private messages were analyzed in the essay. It allows to develop real friendhips and relationships over time, and this is an important lifeline for many lonely or disabled people, as well as a healthy and normal development phase for young people. Although the technology that makes all this possible has changed, the process is no different than the business man donning a suit to go to work and some jeans to go out and have a barbecue with the neighbors. The persona is adjusted to suit the context that is presented to the person. The potential for the development of neuroses and extreme or abusive personalities exists in cyberculture and are disc ussed in the essay in details. However, the danger of physical harm coming to a person chatting via a computer is considerably lower than that of a person in a dangerous neighborhood, or even simply sitting in a pub or going to a rock concert. To conclude, the researcher stets that the ability to try out and maintain different internet personas is allowing people to experience a wider range of social roles and gain superior social skills, and so for this reason, cyberculture is something that we should all embrace with open arms.

Teleconnection patterns Essay Example for Free

Teleconnection patterns Essay 1. Explain how observed teleconnection patterns can help in the preparation of a seasonal weather forecast. So the simple way of explaining a teleconnection is a warmer and cooler pacific can influence rainfall. â€Å"we saw how a vast warming (El Nià ±o) or cooling (La Nià ±a) of the equatorial tropical Pacific can affect the weather in different regions of the world† (Ahrens, 2015, p.271). These major storms as we learned in earlier chapters affect people in many regions of the world. A seasonal forecast is very important because it gives people a chance to prepare for what could possibly be. Forecasters can give a prediction of a wetter or drier season. They have said that this type of forecasting has been seen to be very keen in this field of work. If we can predict weather patterns for the upcoming months will only prevail for regions abroad. This will only prepare us for the worst and hope for the best. 2. If the temperature is dropping and the dew point is holding steady, what is your forecast for the relative humidity? Explain your answer. Let’s first understand what a dew point is. The dew point is basically the temperature at which the if it cool’s to a certain temp you will get hundred percent relative humidity. If the dew point drops low enough the cold air won’t be capable of holding the moisture. If the temperature is dropping and you have a stable dew point I would predict a higher amount of relative humidity. The lower the dew point dropped is when you decrease in relative humidity. If you had a hot summer day and a steady dew point; you would actually had a lower relative humidity. 3. In what ways are severe thunderstorms different from ordinary cell thunderstorms? What are some of the meteorological or atmospheric conditions that favor the development of severe thunderstorms? The basics of a thunder storm are fairly easy, because they consist of thunder, lightning, winds, rain and heavy hail at times. â€Å"The storm itself may be a single cumulonimbus cloud, or several thunderstorms may form into a cluster† (Ahrens, 2015, p.288). Thunderstorms form in unstable environments with warm air. They are known as convective storms. Cell thunderstorms form in regions where limited vertical wind shear is present. The winds direction  or speeds do not abruptly change rapidly. Ordinary storms develop and mature through a cycle, as cell thunderstorms don’t have this development. Different conditions vary from warm air rising, random turbulent eddies and terrain. These are a few that can be a trigger to these more impactful storms. 4. Where do thunderstorms form most frequently in the US? Why is this the case? Is this also where most tornadoes occur? Explain. The most area that gets thunderstorms more frequently is the Gulf Coast. This area includes all of Florida, to include parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. â€Å"We also find that, in summer along the Gulf Coast, a thick layer of warm, moist air extends upward from the surface† (Ahrens, 2015, p.303). This also makes a point that more storms consuming Hail are located in the Great Plains. Thunderstorms typically form more in the tropical latitude, which makes the gulf coast a prime location. The two areas that tornados occur most is the Tornado Alley and the Dixie Alley. Tornado Alley stretches from Central Texas to Nebraska, as Dixie Alley over Mississippi to Alabama. â€Å"The Central Plains region is most susceptible to tornadoes because it often provides the proper atmospheric setting for the development of the severe thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes† (Ahrens, 2015, p.313). This area gets that humid dry air with a cold layer to follow which creates the perfect formula for a unstable environment. This makes Spring a high frequency for tornados and winter the low time for them to occur. 5. The region of greatest tornado activity shifts northward from early spring to summer. Why does this occur? This is really interesting because the peak for tornados is actually around June 12th. This makes early spring a probability between 25-60 percent. When you hit June the probability jumps through the roof to 90 percent. The biggest possibility for the shift is â€Å"El Nino†, but there is not an actual confirmation on why this shift happens. The next possibility is the warming weather moving north is shifting the peak period by 7-10 days. This making Dixie Alley and Tornado Alley more susceptible to tornados during that peak time.

Free Essays - Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds himself living in a society that does not suit him. Everywhere he looks there are people who value things that he sees as meaningless. Huck Finn feels trapped and begins his journey down the river in an effort to find someone or some place that will bring him happiness. Almost immediatly he finds this person in the form a run away slave. In this story, Huck and Jim are against the entire world, and every person they come in contact with has the potential to destroy their plans of happiness and freedom. Under these circumstances Huck is forced to tell many lies, but the only one he regrets is the one that he tells Jim. The biggest and most harmful lie Huck tells is when he fakes his own murder in his fathers shack. He goes through a great deal of trouble to make sure that people believe that he is dead, and it is not until the end of the novel that it becomes known to the people of his home town that he is actual ly alive. He had been a likable young boy, and people in the town had thought highly of him. This is evident from his relationship with adults like the widow and the judge. Jim even tells him 'I'uz powerful sorry you's killed, Huck, but I ain't no mo, now'. (1292) Based on Huck's consistent concern for others, it is likely that he would have written home to inform them that he was still alive if it had not been for his situation with Jim. However, he does not want to risk doing anything that might get Jim captured, so he writes no letter. Huck finds himself working against the world. He is not an immature boy that tells lies just for the sake of doing so, but rather he tells them in order to protect himself and also Jim. In the instance where he dresses up like a girl and speaks with the farmer's wife in an effort to find out what is being said about their situation, the information that he gets ultimately saves them from the capture of a building search party. Free Essays - Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character finds himself living in a society that does not suit him. Everywhere he looks there are people who value things that he sees as meaningless. Huck Finn feels trapped and begins his journey down the river in an effort to find someone or some place that will bring him happiness. Almost immediatly he finds this person in the form a run away slave. In this story, Huck and Jim are against the entire world, and every person they come in contact with has the potential to destroy their plans of happiness and freedom. Under these circumstances Huck is forced to tell many lies, but the only one he regrets is the one that he tells Jim. The biggest and most harmful lie Huck tells is when he fakes his own murder in his fathers shack. He goes through a great deal of trouble to make sure that people believe that he is dead, and it is not until the end of the novel that it becomes known to the people of his home town that he is actual ly alive. He had been a likable young boy, and people in the town had thought highly of him. This is evident from his relationship with adults like the widow and the judge. Jim even tells him 'I'uz powerful sorry you's killed, Huck, but I ain't no mo, now'. (1292) Based on Huck's consistent concern for others, it is likely that he would have written home to inform them that he was still alive if it had not been for his situation with Jim. However, he does not want to risk doing anything that might get Jim captured, so he writes no letter. Huck finds himself working against the world. He is not an immature boy that tells lies just for the sake of doing so, but rather he tells them in order to protect himself and also Jim. In the instance where he dresses up like a girl and speaks with the farmer's wife in an effort to find out what is being said about their situation, the information that he gets ultimately saves them from the capture of a building search party.