The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Essay

The parable of the Grand Inquisitor is told by Ivan to Alyosha found in the novel, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Both Ivan and Alyosha are brothers. The difference is in their respective religions wherein Ivan is a dedicated atheist while Alyosha is a monk. The parable is an important component of the novel and also one of the most famous passages in modern literature because it contains ideas about human freedom and nature. The parable also consists of a fundamental ambiguity. The leadership of the Grand Inquisitor is based on his amazing and exceptional strength to have freedom that has endured that majority of the human beings found it so terrible. From his point of view, only people who have knowledge enough to lie and who have the strength to endure suffering by being forced to make lies can rule over those people who want to stay weak, disillusioned and obedient. The Grand Inquisitor made an accusation against Christ of only speaking to the strong in spirit and can endure freedom while he is enforcing dogmatic solutions and continues his ministry to the weak. This style of leadership by the Grand Inquisitor can be compared to the leadership of Socrates. The Socratic method is described as the series of questions that are prolonged and answers that will refute a moral principle by letting the opposing argument to come up with a conclusion that will contradict the person’s original point of view. Socrates developed this style as a way to examine, refute or shame the opponent into reversing his earlier opinion. The Grand Inquisitor challenges the very essence of human life, the concept of evil and the free will of man. The concept of freedom is being examined and is described using a perspective that is bleak and contemptuous. The ideologies of man is being depicted as being a destructive force that has brought down humanity into chaos and anguish. The parable can be perceived as an attack on religion and God but a closer look will reveal a conclusion that remains the opposite. It is concluded that the Grand Inquisitor becomes the explanation for the crucial need for a religious institution. The context of the parable may be a shock to religious advocates. God will visit the earth in the form of flesh and blood. He performs miracles and is imprisoned in a cell by a man who punishes him for giving free will to mankind. It is clear from the beginning of the story that Alyosha is religious while Ivan is being cynical in his position on the matter. After the Grand Inquisitor becomes aware of the presence of God here on earth, he orders his men to capture him. The depiction of the Inquisitor has contradicted the description of God’s human form. The Inquisitor is being presented as a formidable, cold and judgmental and sinister. Another contrast that can be found between God and the Inquisitor is the reaction of the crowd to both of them. The people displays a fearful obedience as their behavior towards the Inquisitor and not the same adoration and awe like before. It is noted here that the people is quick to abandon God who in such a short time before they were all so enamored with. The weakness of man as a theme and the need for a rigid government will begin will begin to come out. A lengthy monologue follows which is delivered by the Grand Inquisitor to God. The lecture talks about the Inquisitor’s reprimand for freedom. The Inquisitor is speaking against the internal freedoms that are borne out of man’s free will. He describes how freedom has enslaved humanity and placed the human race into a state of disorder and chaos. He confronts God on this error and boldly declares that the human race will reject Him ultimately. The argument of the Inquisitor is difficult to refute as the ability of man to differentiate the good from the evil is undoubtedly questionable. The freedom of the will permits every individual to have a different system of morals or in some instances having no morals at all. If one will put into consideration the violence and the deprivation that is happening in the world everyday, it seems that man cannot manage the freedom that he enjoys with his will. The many choices and responsibilities, the moral decisions that he has to make on a daily basis has already overwhelmed so many. The mind has the ability to create an environment of its own by making hell out of heaven. This ability of the mind is what the Inquisitor has spoken of and has claimed that it has led to the destruction of mankind. There are many people who make choices in their lives that paved the way for the creation of circumstances that are hellish in nature. It is not the responsibility of free will that comes with it that overwhelms mankind. The reference of evil and the existence of God can also be found in the Confessions of Augustine. A person only needs to look around the world and have the realization later on that something is not quite right. The existence of evil is one of the challenges that have puzzled many Christians and those that are not for that matter. For most of Ausgustine’s life, he tried to find a solution for it. The question of the existence of evil can be reworded in many ways. One approach could be to address the source and beginnings of evil that will prompt a series of statements that will eventually form an argument with reason. It is said that God is the creator of all things. Evil is also a thing so therefore God also created evil. If the first arguments were true, then there is no escape to the solution. This formula is frustrating for the whole of Christianity. God would not be known as good if he intentionally created evil. Augustine has approached the problem from a certain angle. He questions if there is any convincing proof that God exists. If there is any proof that would suggest and lead to the conclusion that he really does, then God could not possibly be capable of creating evil. Evil must have come from something else. He also had an observation that evil could not be selected because there really is no certain evil thing to choose. A person can only turn away from good preferring a lesser good over a greater good since everything is good. For when the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil – not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked† (Augustine 2007). Evil is therefore an act of choosing the lesser good over th greater good. To him, evil comes from the free will of the people. Evil was a perversion of the free will in man who turned away from God in preference of lesser things. Back to the Grand Inq uisitor, Satan or evil has obviously grown impatient by the values of kindness, humility and love that he has found to have no defenses and forced to capitulate. He is powerless with the overwhelming humility that he is forced not to live up to his threat of burning Christ at the stake. The prisoner is released and is allowed to walk freely and safe. Before the release, the prisoner gave a valedictory kiss on the lips of the inquisitor. Satan was a rebel in heaven. Because he wanted to rule, he preferred hell. In the continuing political power struggle, he has claimed the world to be his own and has a message for Christ to keep out of his world. The ends justify the means. The previous statement aptly characterizes a consequentialist’s way of reasoning. The outcome or result of an action when beneficial is morally right regardless of the means to get the end result. Consequentialists for example think of what they want, how they are going to get it and what the good in it is if they take action towards their goal. Deolontologists would be thinking of the rationality of an action and base it on a moral rule to know if it is right or wong. Comparing the personal identity of both theories, consequentialists consider the will, reason and desires as important in determining morality. Meanwhile, deolontologists consider only will and reason because they believe that desires only distract the mind from thinking rationally. Desires reflect emotions and in deolontology, there is no room for that because the moral rule is to be followed. Regardless if they want to do something or not, they must perform their duty because the performance of it is morally right. The rationality of consequentialism is in getting what you want out of that action. You want to achieve something because it is beneficial for you. Therefore you think of actions to take that would lead to the things you want and bring you the greatest good. Reason dictates the actions of deontologists. It is in reasoning that deolontologists discover what is right or wrong based on moral principles. The primary source for evaluating morals in consequentialism is the consequence of an action while in deolontology, it is the actions themselves. The virtue of consequentialism may be the feeling of having maximized the utility available. For deolontologists who are performing their moral duties, it the feeling of having done the right thing. However, both of these theories have criticisms in their arguments. One of the criticisms by Anscombe state that in consequentialism, it is not clear what one ought to do because the validity of the action is based on the consequences. As compared to deolontology, the theory suggests what one should do because the validity of an action is based on moral principles. These moral principles have a definite description of what is right and wrong. In another criticism by Thomas Nagel, consequentialism should not encompass those actions that are morally wrong but produced positive results in the long run. An example of this would be an uprising by the people of a country. The action of the people may be considered treason and according to the moral rule, that action is wrong. Because of the uprising, the corrupt government was toppled and it was replaced by new government that is elected by the people. Consequentialism is an ethical theory that in which the consequences of a particular action becomes the basis for an acceptable judgment on that action. It finds the source of a moral value in a good situation and results into a consequence of that action. Many forms of consequentialism exist and the most common is utilitarianism. The theory puts emphasis on the â€Å"good† as the center of its concept. Utilitarianism holds that actions that result to the greatest good to a greater number of people are considered to be moral actions. The outcome of an action makes that action either moral or immoral. In consequentialism, emphasis is given to the results or consequences in analyzing what is right and wrong in our actions. If the result of an action has a positive outcome then it is considered as moral and therefore right. Likewise if the action produces negative outcomes, the action becomes wrong and immoral. Deontology is another ethical theory that is of Greek origin, deos which means duty and logos as science. Using its etymological meaning, deontology becomes the science of duty. The theory argues that understanding our moral duty and its regulations to help us decide on the right choice. If we do our duty, we are doing the right thing. Doing our duty is considered a moral behavior. The theory states that we are obeying God when we do our duty for it is He that determines it and its regulations. The moral actions of deontology are separate from the consequences brought about by those actions.

In the Eye of the Storm Critque Essay

In The Eye of the Storm filmed by ABC News in 1970, Jane Elliot, a teacher at Riceville Community Elementary School, puts her third grade students through an experiment to show them how horrible colored people were treated. Since 1968, Jane Elliot always has something planned for National Brotherhood Week. On Tuesday, Elliot segregates her class by the color of the students’ eyes. The brown-eyed kids were to wear special collars around their neck so they could be seen from afar. In this situation the blue-eyed kids were all around better than the brown-eyed. They got to sit in the front of the classroom, five extra minutes of recess, and went to lunch first. At recess, the brown-eyed kids were being teased by blue-eyed kids that were their best friends just a few hours before. After lunch and recess, Elliot discussed what was happening. She asked why and what was going on between friends because of the segregation. She watched her students change into discriminating little monsters in as short as one day. The next day, the brown-eyed are treated with respect instead of the blue-eyed. The blue-eyed realized that it wasn’t very fair, and apologized to the brown-eyed for the day before. Jane Elliot got her point across and asked one more favor from her students; simply respect the colored. Jane Elliot accomplished exactly what she wanted; to show her students the under treated side of segregation. One strategy that Elliot used is figurative language. She argues the idea of segregation and teaches her students how people felt and how they will always feel if the color of their skin differs. Elliot’s lesson was strongly supported by cause and effect. In the classroom situation, having brown eyes lead to being treated poorly. The blue-eyed changed into completely different kids once they were declared the â€Å"better† party. Classification is the major strategy used. Jane Elliot classified or grouped her students according to the characteristic of eye color. One group, the blue-eyed, was considered superior. The other group, the brown-eyed, were under treated and had very few privileges. By using these example strategies, and more, Jane Elliot taught her students the many disadvantages of having colored skin and she leaves her students wanting to respect all people, disregarding their physical features. Teaching me how quickly people can be judged, I enjoyed watching this film. Even though the problem of segregation by skin color isn’t as strong in our period of time, I would still recommend this short movie to teenagers. Teens tend to immediately judge people by appearance rather than personality and it’s just not fair. For example, in the movie, the children were judged in a matter of seconds because of the collar around their neck. In our world today, people are judged by the style of their hair, the price of their clothes, and more accessories that really shouldn’t matter to others. Before the lesson, blue-eyed kids all had brown-eyed friends. During the lesson the two parties were fighting like nobody’s business. This shows how quickly you can lose yourself and people that you care about. This also happens in the typical high school world. Friends go off and try new things and they stop caring about people they were once close with because two different paths of life were taken. I just think that people should do what they want, but never lose the touch of true friends no matter their appearance and judgments made by others. The true friends will never fail to have your back as long as you have theirs.

Personal development plan Final Essay

Learning Outcome: 1. Be able to asses personal and professional skills required to achieve strategic goals. 2. Be able to conduct a skills audit to identify learning style. 3. Be able to implement a personal development plan. This assignment is based on my personal development plan that helps bridging the gap between where I am now and where I want to be in a certain period of time successfully. At first, let’s find out what a Personal development plan is. Actually it is a career plan that contains employee’s goals and used to measure their performances. In detail, it is the process of creating an action plan based on awareness, values, reflection, goal-setting and planning for personal development within the context of a career, education, relationship or for  self-improvement A personal development plan is one of the most important tools for students and professionals who want to achieve success in different fields. It enables one to keep track of the changes required in their life and areas of weakness that require improvement. The plan provides a gauge for a person to see his or her development and progress and determine the skills required to achieve in the future. It aids in the achievement of goals for personal and professional development. This is because success requires planning and setting of goals. The goals set in the plan have to be clear and measurable. The personal development plan for me is a chance to know myself better, I can realize what I want to achieve or where I want to go in the plan, in the short- or long-term, and also identifying the need for skills, knowledge or competence. It also helps me to define the appropriate development to meet those perceived needs. In this report, I am going to focusing on what my strengths are and where my Weaknesses are, also how to use my strengths in the field I will work into in the future, and how to develop my weaknesses to be my Strengths as well. CAREER ASPIRATIONS Chosen role I would like to pursue a career as Stock Broker. A stock broker is commonly characterised as any competent and regulated professional who is involved in the buying and selling (trading) of shares or stocks. Also, a stock broker is an individual responsible for a business deal on a stock exchange. Usually, a negotiation is made between two authorised members of the exchange. For the purposes of convenience, an ordinary person is no longer needed to walk into the premises of any institution, for instance, the New York Stock Exchange, to enquire on the trade stock. This exchange is done through a broker. However, a stock broker is not just confined in such plain participation in a transaction as there are other stock broking opportunities such as execution-only, advisory dealing, and discretionary dealing, and other related services. Execution-only stock broker involves the implementation of the client’s instructions to buy or sell. A stock  broker who focuses on advisory dealing informs and gives important information to the client on which shares to buy and sell, but leaves the task of final decision-making to the jurisdiction of the investor. Meanwhile, a stock broker who is in-charge with discretionary dealing determines the client’s investment intentions and serves as the mainly involved person in all transactions and decision-making functions done on the client’s behalf. In general, stock brokers provide relevant and useful information on trading stocks, for instance on the cases of which stocks or mutual funds to be bought. To be a full-pledged stock broker, I must be involved in activities and related opportunities that will increase my competencies, particularly those that I need to be a successful stock broker. Of course, it is necessary to finish my studies first. I will begin by providing assistance to a certified stock broker. This is my short term aspiration. By being an associate, I will have direct exposure to the business transactions that my employer deals with. Gaining experience is my key motivation. My medium aspiration is to get promoted or trusted with bigger responsibilities. For example, my employer will ask me to do things that are similar to his/her functions, allow me to decide on important things, expect me to be reliant to classified tasks, and the likes. After staying on this position for a significant period of time, I will try to evaluate myself if I am already capable of entering my long term aspiration – that is – being a stock broker. I will immediately take up the needed examinations and eligibility requirements. Skills required for the chosen role The chosen occupation entails the management functions including planning, organizing, directing/leading, coordinating and controlling. These functions are goal-directed, interrelated, and interdependent with each other. These are also needed in dealing with all elements of business – people, jobs or positions, technology, facilities and equipment, materials and supplies, information, and financial resources. Planning is very important. It is the most primary and basic process of formulating courses of action or organised behaviour ahead of particular time (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson 2003; David 2002). It appears to be foundational aspect to effective career management (Blustein 1997; De Voe  1998; Kaye 1997; Moses 1995; Orpen 1994; Shahnasarian 1994). While it is true that many people do not always plan their actions, it is important for an aspiring stock broker – like me, to plan. Organisations pay particular importance to the planning ability of every employee. However, whether dealing with the context by which planning is occurring or whether on the individual or organisational level, the process takes place according to the prevailing attitudes, beliefs, and goals that are involved. On this case, the presence of definite course of actions and organised behaviour is important in stock broking. Brokers have deliberate goals that needed immediate response in the most time- and cost-effective ways possible. When a stock broker is affiliated to any stock broker firm, the firm’s objectives should reflect standards of success in financial and competitive performance, as well as acceptable levels of risk and rates of long-term growth (Roney 2004). The broker then is expected to present plans and interventions on the tasks and the resources to be utilised in achieving the predetermined goals. The lack of formal planning or poor planning process and ability can decrease individual as well as organisational performance (Baird et al. 1993). According to most authors (Roney 2004; Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson 2003; David 2002; Matthews and Scott 1995), managerial strategic planning minimises the potential negative consequences of lack of formal planning or poor planning (i.e. uncertainty). The success of several organisations and people rely on the outstanding ability to plan, evaluate and materialise arrangement in connection to the achievement of goals. Organising is the ability of putting similar elements following one or more rules (Morgenstern 1998). Generally, it includes the specification and distribution of tasks to appropriate components (e.g. people, departments, etc). It is also the assignment of authority and allocation of resources. The practice of organising is crucial in developing inputs to planning, making planning decisions, and implementing strategy. To be effective, however, comprehensive management function in the business must be done in a continuous pattern (Hornsby and Kuratko 2005; Roney 2004). Yet, it is argued that the organising process that is to be conducted within the firm or among the individual is dependent on the plans that must be implemented. On the case of a stock broker, organising includes the development of coordinated efforts and interventions especially in the  performance of prescribed duties and eventual achievement of deliberate goals set ahead of time. This is highly needed to cope up with the soaring demand of clients and the industry itself. Directing or leading involves the execution of planned and organised activities and interventions for the achievement of predetermined goals (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson 2003; David 2002). The task of directing or leading is also connected to other organisational factors such as the clients, the firm’s budget and assets, and all other firm’s resources (Roney 2004). Furthermore, it is encouraged to adapt participative approaches to directing/leading in order to elicit useful characteristics and elements that are useful for the individual’s and firm’s success level. Also, the development and execution of appropriate leadership style is a vital determinant of effective directing or leading process. In the stock broking industry, it is still fundamental to study the practicable directing or leading applications to be implemented in accordance to the achievement of individual’s and organisation’s most important motives. Coordinating is the regulation of all the various elements needed in the achievement of set goals. It is the integrating and establishing of linkages to diverse elements in order to accomplish harmonious operations a nd execution of plans (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson 2003; David 2002). Coordinating includes the effective flow of communication. Communication is the link to successful execution of plans and achievement of objectives because it serves a number of fundamental functions (Brown 2001). Among these functions include the management of data and information, its flow, and so on. Surveys focusing on areas of improvement among corporations state that communication usually ranked as key element within the organization (Harris 1993). Eckhouse (1994) suggested that communication serves four major functions within a group or organization including control, motivation, emotional expression, and information. Communication is needed in a stock broker career because of the presence of constant meetings and appointments with different groups and types of people. Controlling is the task of management in the course of providing positive controls on the efforts of various elements of the organisation such as people and financial resources (Witzel 2003). It has been demonstrated that the emphasis in successful management lies on the man, not on the work (Gilbreth 1914 cited in Witzel 2003). According to  Gilbreth, the man’s mind is a controlling factor in efficiency, and has, by teaching, enabled the man to make the most of his powers. A stock broker must be able to control the future of every transaction so as to uphold the premeditated individual as well as organisational goals. Every action is planned, organised, directed, and coordinated towards a general consensus. The future of every business deal is reliant on the ability of the stock broker to minimise potential hazards and increase productivity. Thus, controlling and all the other management functions mentioned above are relatively important. Strength I recognised myself as someone who possesses the strength of the task of coordinating particularly on the case of communication. Petit, Goris and Vaught (1997) noted communication’s function is essential for cases like allowing employees to conduct meetings, make memos, provide feedback and share corporate-wide information. I believed that the previous exposures and experiences that I gained help me acquired this core competency. Good communication skill was gained from giving presentations at seminars, supplier and customer service transactions (e.g. issuing clear and concise instructions, advising and assisting customers, etc). I am also used at working on team projects particularly during my course. This involved different roles, which have developed my impeccable negotiation and persuasion skills. Considering the significant role of communication in stock broking, coordinating is among the basic ingredients of my professional success. I also believed to the spill over effects of effective coordinating function like the development of teamwork and successful working relationship. Teamwork is also attributed to the positive effects upon the psychological health and well-being of organisations member (Carter and West 1999). Through effective communication, people are motivated to work in unity and towards the achievement of individual and organisational goals alike. Weakness Firstly, it is in depth knowledge which I think I don’t have right now. I do have the knowledge of a stock broker but I am not a specialist.  Secondly, I tend to be little autocratic sometimes. So, this kind of attitude reflects as my weakness in terms of directing or leading. Leadership is an important aspect of management. As stated by a few authors (e.g. Cohen and Brand 1993; Hyde 1992), management requires leader’s full participation and involvement instead of designating individual groups who will shoulder all the responsibilities. Furthermore, this also helps in creating a sense of commitment and loyalty (Hill 1991). I presumed that I am the opposite of a favoured leader. I am autocratic which means I tend to be overly manipulative and domineering. I was engaged in an argument in my previous job placement out of my domineering attitude. This attitude hinders the development of harmonious relationship or esprit de corps among colleagues and most importantly on the part of potential clients. I recognised the need to learn a leadership style that will be instrumental on the achievement of my intended career role as well as the development of other important values useful in my future as stock broker and person as whole. Opportunities I have plenty of opportunities in this specific subject. In fact I have the world. The scope of learning here in United Kingdom is better than my home country. I am also active in this business right now and dealing with one of the biggest stock brokerage firm in Europe which I think that is one of the most learning experience I am having in this business ever. Threats The most common and important threats in this business are the uncertainties, competitors and future world situations. REFLECTION ON MY SKILLS DEVELOPMENT We all know that fact that knowledge is power. So I think that I have to study more and more about the subject to gain more knowledge so that I can handle all the situations happens there in a stock exchange individually. While I recognise my limitation of being an autocratic leader, I learned to lessen my domineering attitude and improved my leadership style. ‘In the business point of view, good leadership proves to be quite beneficial as aids in effectively meeting job-related demands,  creating higher-performing teams, fostering renewed loyalty and commitment, increasing motivational level, and reducing absenteeism and turnover of employees’ (Drucker 1995). From the last incident which I had in my last job with one of my subordinate, I considered having a reality check on my leadership skills – from autocratic to democratic or being friendlier. I gradually changed from domineering to accommodating leader. By doing so, I am able to listen on other people’s voices and study the situation before giving my personal judgments. I should have been more lenient to the new employee. With this experience, I learned that autocratic attitude is not actually relevant particularly in working with teams because it hinders the development of teamwork among team mates. Thus, I needed to reconsider other leadership style as option. Now, I will take all the opportunities whatever comes to my way. As my knowledge is growing day by day regarding this business, I think that I can make the best use of my opportunities. I hope, I can handle the threats as well. In this case, I should have proper knowledge about my competitors; I should be more analytical while predicting the future business situations. So, from the above discussion, it is clear that what a personal development plan is and how to develop it. SWOT analysis is a vital exercise for personal development plan. The examples given here in this assignment are based on my own life experiences and future plan. References: Baird, I. S., Kuratko, D. F., Lules, M. A. & Orris, B. B. (1993) â€Å"Formalized Planning in Small Business: Increasing Strategic Choices†, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 38-50. Blustein, D. L. (1997) â€Å"A context-rich perspective of career exploration across the life roles†, Career Development Quarterly, no. 45, pp. 260-274. Brown, A. D. (2001) â€Å"Organization studies and identity: Towards a research agenda†, Human Relations, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 113-121. Cohen, S. & Brand, R. (1993) â€Å"Total Quality Management in Government,† San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass, Inc. David, F. R. (2003) â€Å"Strategic management: Concepts and cases†, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc. DeVoe, D. (1998) â€Å"Plans are key to success†, Infoworld, vol. 20, no. 31, pp. 75-76. Drucker, P. F. (1995) â€Å"The practice of managemen†t, United Kingdom, Heinmann. Eckhouse, B. (1994) â€Å"Competitive Communication†, Boston, McGraw-Hill, pp. 53. Gilbreth, L. (1914) â€Å"The Psychology of Management†, Sturgis & Walton, New York. In Witzel, M. (2003) Fifty Key Figures in Management, New York, Routledge. Harris, T. E. (1993) â€Å"Applied Organizational Communication: Perspectives, Principles, and Pragmatics†, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hill, S. (1991) â€Å"Why Quality Circles failed but Total Quality management might succeed†, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 541-568. Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2003) â€Å"Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization†, 5th ed., Singapore, South-Western. Hornsby, J. & Kuratko, D. (2005) â€Å"Frontline PR: a Handbook for the Emerging Manager†, Crawfordsville, IN, Tho mpson. Hyde, A. (1992) â€Å"The Proverbs of Total Quality Management: Recharting the Path to Quality Improvement in the Public Sector†, Public Productivity and Management Review, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 25-37. Kaye, B. L. (1997) â€Å"Up is not the only way: A guide to developing work – force Talent,† 2nd ed., Palo Alto, CA, Davies-Black Publishing. Matthews, C. H. & Scott, S. G. (1995) â€Å"Uncertainty and Planning in Small and Entrepreneurial Firms: An Empirical Assessment†, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 34-56. Morgenstern, J. (1998) â€Å"Organizing from the Inside Out†, New York, Owl Books. Moses, B. (1999) â€Å"The good news about careers: How you’ll be working in the next decade†, Toronto, ON, Stoddart. Moses, B. (1995) â€Å"The manager’s career coaching guide†, Toronto, ON, BBM Human Resource Consultants. Orpen, C. (1994) â€Å"The effects of organizational and individual career manage ment on career success†, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 15, pp. 27-37. Pettit, J. D., Goris, J. R., & Vaught, B. C. (1997) â€Å"An examination of organizational communication as a moderator of the relationship between job performance and job satisfaction†, The Journal of Business Communication, vol. 34, pp. 81-98. Roney, C. W. (2004) â€Å"Strategic Management Methodology: Generally Accepted Principles for Practitioners†, Westport, CT, Praeger. Shahnasarian, M. (1994) â€Å"Decision time: A guide to career enhancement†, Odessa, FL, Psychological Assessment Resources. Witzel, M. (2003) â€Å"Fifty Key Figures in Management†, New York, Routledge.

Adidas Value Chain Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adidas Value Chain Analysis - Research Paper Example The value chain analysis of Adidas strongly borrows from Michael Porter’s perspective in that the company strongly maintains its primary activities since its beginning. For instance, the inbound and outbound logistics are increasingly strongly in the company and this ensures that it operates optimally in the current environment. Adidas Group has certain inbound logistics chain for raw material movement as well as un assembled products inside the organization. Further, the outbound systems logistics for finished products transportation is effective and timely. The main operations, sales, marketing, and related operations are increasingly strong and this has pushed the company to be the main sport industry in the sector. The team of researchers responsible for new and innovative product development and shifting market demands has been increasingly sustainable, and has assisted Adidas to maintain its position in the market and attain competitive advantage. Adidas Group has introd uced electronic sales, and continued to dominate the strategic marketing in e-sales. The company monitors service quality, staff training, and satisfaction of customers through the franchisees as a crucial aspect of value chain. Additionally, the supporting activities of Adidas Group, which includes procurements, research, human resource management and development as well as development of the company’s infrastructure and is well operated to ensure strong reputation of the company, value of the brand and status of market. Adidas mainly emphasize on materials procurement and all other activities related in the cost effective mode, making necessary use of worldwide strategies of off shoring and sourcing. For instance, Adidas Group put more emphasis, effort and resources on product innovation in ensuring competitive advantage in sport industry. Research and development will make the company produce better products and meet the goals and expected customer demands and preferences. Each year, the Adidas Group expands and procures new and innovative techniques to satisfy consumer needs. Similarly, Adidas has expanded some of its activities of manufacturing to nations such as China and Vietnam, considering c osts of labor. Additionally, the Adidas company workers are well treated and always satisfied, (Kaplinsky & University of Sussex. 2000). The organization believes that their workers an increasingly crucial resource for the organization and therefore, has a very string human resource management unit that performs activities such as recruitment, hiring, development, training, discipline, reward and dismissal of personnel. To attain employees’ welfare needs and attain the target in sporting product industry that is entirely depended on employees’ enthusiasm, well-being, and talents, the company boosts employees’ morale. This is done through compensations, medical insurance, and transport allowances. Moreover, Adidas

Lessons learned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lessons learned - Essay Example a colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as well as a deputy lieutenant of Argyllshire county and colonel of militia in the same area in his retirement. As a nurse trained to Florence Nightingale’s ideals that require commitment and service oriented attitudes in nurses, she did not like the idea of young women joining nursing without the much required dedication to it as their predecessors. According to her, a nurse only has one main function, to serve others. This attitude therefore came to be fully incorporated into the nursing profession (Andrist, Nicholas, & Wolf, 2005). However, her greatest achievement came in when she brought up the idea of having nurses registered for them to carryout their practice properly. Her main aim in this was to enhance protection of the public as well as the profession from unqualified people that may carryout their mal-practice on innocent people. Later on in 1901, she helped Dr, McGregor in grafting the Nurse’s Registration Act that was finally passed in parliament and it was first one of its kind. In this bill, nurses were expected to have three years training program, a state or national examination, and a state or national register (The Porirua Hospital Museum, n.d). After this establishment, it was felt that something should also be done for the case of midwives. There was also supposed to be some form of training for the midwives in New Zealand. It occurred that there were no schools to train them, she had to push for another bill to go through parliament for the establishment of such a school. This was a more challenging bill as it was put to her to come up with a curriculum for the midwifery training as well as establish state maternity hospitals that were to be used for the training. In this, she only had the goal of ensuring that there were hospitals for women, doctored by women, and managed by women. Later on in 1904, Richard Seddon introduced the Midwives Registration Act in parliament which was

Media and Violence in the USA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media and Violence in the USA - Assignment Example This statistics is frightening; why there is so much violence in the United States and what can be done to reduce it, is a question that has puzzled governments, psychologists and social scientists. US Department of Justice figures showed that 2.8 million children (under 18) were arrested in 1997, nearly 2500 juveniles were arrested for murder, and 121000 were arrested for other violent crimes [Cantor, 2000]. Psychologists believe that seeds for attitude towards violence are sown early in life. This has resulted in many studies on the impact of TV, video, video games, and other media accessible to children at home. [Eron, 1963] and [Eron & Huesman, 1986] Huesman of University of Michigan carried out a long term study of the viewing habits of a group of children for decades, They astonishingly claimed that watching violence on television was an even more powerful factor in promoting violence than poverty, race, or parental behavior. This 1960 study followed up 11 and 22 years later and claims to show that the aggressive eight-year-olds of 1960 grew up to become even more aggressive 19- and 30-year-olds, with greater troubles-including domestic violence than their less aggressive counterparts who did not watch as much television [Eron & Huesman, 1986]. Eron & Huesman list dozens of other studies in support of their arguments that Violence on Media is harmful to children and eventually to society. [Senate Committee, 1999] reported that more than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence have been done during the past 40 years. American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Institute of Mental Health have separately reviewed many of these studies and all of these bodies conclude television violence leads to real-world violence.

Rubber Band Model of Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rubber Band Model of Communication - Essay Example The first scholar who attempted a communication model is Aristotle. Aristotelian view of communication influenced the perspectives of communication thinkers until the mid twentieth century. In the late 1940s, and through the 1950s and 1960s, a number of new communication models were advanced, most of them preserving the basic themes of the Aristotelian perspective. Later in 1949, Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver published a model that they called the "Mathematical Model of Communication." and later in 1954 he proposed an interactive model. In 1960 Berlo proposed the SMCR model. These models were considered the major linear models of communication. and Becker's Mosaic Model (1968). The others that invited attention of communication experts included the multidimensional models. The major contributions were Functional Model by Ruesch and Bateson (1951) and Transactional Model by Barnlund (1970). All these models contributed only to further the discussions and research of communication and proved different points of the communications process. (Jones & Jones, 1997) The Rubber Band Model of communication, as the term denotes uses the analogy of a rubber band. The elastic property of the rubber band is used to explain the communication process. ... The Rubber Band Model can be explained with the following diagrams. The figures Fig.1 and Fig.2 show the communication process as proposed by the Rubber Band model. Fig.1 shows a stretched rubber band. The black portion is the piece of rubber band and the dotted lines show it in the stretched position. If we consider the piece of rubber band as the message transmitted by the sender the stretched portion explains the transmission of the message. The elastic property of the rubber band can be attributed to the nature of the message, transmission process and the channel. If stretched further, the message will reach a different receiver. It requires a more elastic material (a strong rubber band or a lengthy one) to stretch to a considerable length. The process of communication is similar. If the message has to be reached to a wider audience it has to be powerful, or in other words a mediated communication has to take place which occurs only in mass communication. Similarly the stretched rubber band when released (See Fig.2) gets back to the previous destination, which also explains the feedback. Critique of the Rubber Band model of communication The Rubber Band model is a dynamic model when compared to the linear models of communication as it proves that message can be send to an intended direction. This helps to explain interpersonal communication as well as group communication. The elastic property of the rubber band and its analogy used in the model also explains the mass communication process. The model has significance as it also give explanation for the feedback in communication. The limitation of the model is that it makes the feedback compulsory. Works cited 1. Marsha Jones and Emma