A Birthday Remembered essays

A Birthday Remembered essays The main character in A Birthday Remembered is Ellen Simms. She is a woman of about 30, and she lives alone in a house in a small town. In the same town lives Tobie, who is somewhat like a daughter to her. Ellen has lived with another woman called Jackie. Tobie is the daughter of Jackie. Tobies father is called Roger. Roger and Jackie lived together until Jackie decided to leave him to live with Ellen. Roger was very angry with Jackie because she was leaving him for a woman. Ellen thinks, that it is more because Roger feels insulted, than he is sorry for losing Jackie. Jackie took Tobie with her when she moved from Roger, and so Ellen and Jackie had to raise Tobie. When Jackie gets sick and dies, Tobie is forced to move back to her father, where she still lives at the time of the story. Tobie will soon be 15 years old. She calls Ellen Aunt El, even though she is not her aunt. Roger is trying to make a carreer as a business executive, and he is apparently very egoistic. He does not ca re a lot about Tobie. He forbids her to do a lot of things that she wants to do. Roger is quite well off, so she could get money if she needed it, but Tobie has a job as a library page in her spare time because she likes to have her own money. Tobie has not told his father about her friend Warrick yet, because he probably would not allow her to have a boyfriend, and definitely not when she is only 14 years old. Tobie says about her father, that his main object in life seems to be to prove how much money he can make and keep. When even his own daughter can say this about him, it has to be true. Jackie also said: Rogers a miser at heart: he wants every cent I spend accounted for, yet hell go out and buy something outlandishly showy to prove hes got money. Ellens relationship to Tobie is very good. Jackie and Ellen raised her, until she had to move back to her father. Ellen is unsure of wheth...

Malaysian Country Analysis essays

Malaysian Country Analysis essays In the first century AD, the Malayan peninsula was prominent in intl trade. Conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, then the Dutch in 1641. The British, who replaced the Dutch in 1795, developed large-scale productions of tin and rubber. The Japanese invaded Malaysia during WWII. Malaysia was formed after negotiating for independence from the British in September 16, 1963. B. Comparative Advantage (Early years up to pre-1980s) - Malaysia has a total land area of 127,320 sq. mi. - abundance of sedimentary rocks such as limestone, shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. - Tin ore was Malaysias most important resource pre 1980s. - exported raw commodities such as timber, rubber, tin, and palm oil. - Government invested on more capital goods - Sources of finances were increasing due to the investment on capital, domestic saving, and foreign investments. - In the 1970s, the Investment Incentive Act aimed to gain more investments to spend on its programs. It also aimed to get more participation from the Malays. Initial Success in some industries - Production of raw materials like tin and rubber - Mining, Petroleum production, Agricultural Sector, Forestry and Fishing. The head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (paramount ruler) The Conference of Rulers is formed by the hereditary rulers and appointed heads of the four other states. The Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister exercises executive power. The government finds ways to attract foreign investors, and is active in the development of industries. In the Second Industrial Master Plan (IMP2), palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and timber were identified as primary commodities. The Third National Agricultural Policy ( ...

Target Audience & Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Target Audience & Competition - Essay Example Maslow’s Theory of Needs and its Application to Marketing In case where an individual worker like for example needs more money for meeting his needs it is obvious that he needs to work harder for doing so. According to Maslow there are physiological, safety and security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs that happen to be really important (Adair, 1996). By putting in the hard work the individual can try to meet his need and later can also put in the necessary effort and time to win the desired reward. Here we can also use the Expectancy theory where an individual worker puts in efforts to adjust his personal motivational levels to that of her or his colleagues. Maslow's hierarchy of needs identify five basic areas of needs that most humans experience. First is the physiological or the basic life survival needs then comes the safety and security need after that is the social need that includes belongingness and love after which comes the self-esteem and the fifth need is the self-actualization. Maslow found out that a person moves form one need to another after he has met a need. Like if he meets the needs at level one, then he moves toward the next, and then the next and so on. Maslow found out that decision making and human behaviour are motivated by one of any five need levels in the hierarchy model he presented. If we apply these needs to the marketing theory it will not be wrong to say that the marketers by effectively appealing to one of the motivational drivers can be really successful. The social and self esteem needs can be fulfilled by the marketers by using strong marketing campaigns and building a strong brand image. People are in search of recognition so if marketers fulfil this need they can always make good profit out of their businesses. Maslow's fundamental principles link marketing and human psychology. It is important for the marketer to find out the level of need which the customer is looking to meet, and then market the prod uct in a way that convinces him that he particular need will be fulfilled like that. Performing periodic evaluations of the marketing techniques as the target audience are not likely to stay static is very important. It is very important for the marketers to be aware of the place where Maslow's hierarchy of needs of the customer base is and the place where the product fits in. By paying more attention to this marketing can be more effective. Stages of the Consumer Behaviour Model and its Application to Marketing Researchers have proven that that motivation factors play a significant role in stages of purchasing process and possess positive influence on the internal factors that is the information search, alternatives evaluation, and post purchasing and purchasing. All these internal factors can have an impact on each other in positive direction and are strongly correlated. Consumer happens to be one of the very significant and complicated units of the marketing system. As many exter nal and internal factors impact consumer behaviour within this system, the measuring and evaluating of purchasing process proves to be comparatively difficult. Consumer behaviour is not as straightforward as the purchasing of a service or product by paying its price but at the same time it is a procedure that has post-purchasing dimensions. Understanding of the consumer behaviour in all the stage of consumer behaviour model that consist of recognising the problem, searching the information, evaluating the alternatives, purchasing and also

Business Enterprise Proposition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Enterprise Proposition - Essay Example Maintaining the health has become the major necessity. Many professional health centers are opened to guide the health conscious people about the proper exercises and proper and healthy diet. In short this service is really very money-spinning. This is the reason we are planning to start a Health Club â€Å"La Bella Health Club.† The health club is concentrating a particular market segment and that is the women or female customers. Health club is the need of the people especially who are living in urban area. In these days the people work before the computer for more than eight hours. The office job generally is sitting job. So it causes lots of negative impact on the physical health. They have to watch the computer screen and it can damage their eyes. It can result into many physical problems such as obesity, spondylitis, vertigo and many more. For women especially the major problem is hormonal changes. In such situation people are inclined to start regular Gym activities to maintain their health. The goals of this health care centre are long term goals. So the strategies are based on the achievement of long term goals. So it is necessary for the business to establish its brand in the market. For this the following activities will be performed. The online registration for membership will also be available. The website will also be the major part of our promotional activity and so our IT team will take strong efforts to make it attractive as much as possible. The facilities consist of regular Gymnasium, Cardio, Aerobics, Yoga, Swimming, and weight loss package, steam and massage. The latest technologies will be used in our health club; among them is Power Plate Machine, Treadmill, Croos Trianer, Recumbent bike, coach rower and many more. Very spacious premises of around 6000 sq ft will be available. A special circuit program of 30 minutes will be arranged for the women. In this program we will provide high standard circuit series

Disaster recovery team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disaster recovery team - Essay Example The business disasters have several causes including human, natural, and mechanical in nature. The committee is in charge of procedures and operations of a discovery exercise. It is the central committee in any business company. For this company, it has twelve members from across all departments operational in the business. The departments are Information technology, management, electrical, finance, human resources, security department, and vendor. The committee must prepare and maintain a discovery plan. It is the first step in the process of planning the recovery. The committee should identify the risks and threats associated with disasters. The committee does this exercise by carrying out risk analysis that includes among others evaluating threats posed to the continuality of the business (Mukhopadhyay, 2005). Other scholars refer to the business risk analysis as the business impact analysis and entails assessing the current environmental and physical control and security structures as well as evaluating their capacity to serve their purposes. Differences in the magnitude of risk depend on location of occurrence, affected asset, as well as time. The committee should classify the risks into various classes while undertaking evaluation. The process helps in arranging on a scale according to priority. The committee can categorize the risks into known categories. External risks refer to those risks that nobody can associate failures of the company with their occurrence (Klein, 2007). Their strengths come from the fact that they are not bound by the company and its management. They fall into four subcategories including natural risks, risks caused by human factors, supplier, as well as civil risks. Completion of evaluation of risks means that the disaster recovery committee should sort and allocate scores to the categories. Determinants could be impact and likelihood. The management can prepare a score sheet to effectively score and

Organizational Culture and Societal Culture

Organizational Culture and Societal Culture Many questions have been raised as whether there is a relationship between the organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization. All of the above factors are very important as far as the running and success of any given organization is concerned especially in terms of fulfilling its goals and objectives as well as being effective and efficient in the achievements. The leadership styles used by a certain organization represent part of the culture of that organization and then the culture of the society influences the culture of the organization as well as the leadership styles that the organization should use. For example for any organization to have a culture of using any charismatic, participation, situational, transactional, transformational, the quiet or servant style of leadership, then the societal culture must be put into consideration (Chandler, 1992). Background of the study In order for any manager to maintain a smooth and a good organizational culture, he or she should adopt some very important organizational cultural practices. The cultural practices that any organization will adopt must provide a strong link between the employees and the management as well as the leadership styles, organizational culture and the societal culture (Finlay, 2000). This means that they have to be structured in such a way that they provide great motivation and courage to the employees for improving their working skills and productivity to satisfy the needs of the customers. In addition, the cultural practices also must infuse some aspects of the organization like values, experiences attitudes, and beliefs. This is because these organizational cultural practices are the instrument that every organization uses to cause motivation among all of its workers and employees (Geert Gert, 2005). These cultural practices comprises of beliefs and ideas of which each member of that o rganization must comply with to achieve the objectives and the goals of that particular organization. This then means that the cultural practices must be made in such a way that they are acceptable to all the members of the organization whether in the management or employee level (Hannagan, 2005). Research problem Due to changes in the technologies as well as the rate at which the people all over the world are embracing innovations, there is a great need for any given organization to align its organizational culture and leadership styles to be able to fit in the societal culture, which is in actual sense changing on daily basis (Hill Jones, 2007). Research questions What is the association between the organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization? How does the leadership style affect the relationship between the societal culture and the organizational culture? How does the societal culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization and the organizational culture and the leadership styles in an organization? How does the organizational culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization? Research goals and objectives To find out the association between the organizational cultures, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization. To find out the leadership style affects the relationship between the societal culture and the organizational culture. To find out the societal culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization, the organizational culture, and the leadership styles in an organization. To find out the organizational culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization. Research hypotheses There is no significant relationship between the organizational culture societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization Significance of the study the study will be very significant in the following ways The employees will be able to understand what is required of them as far as the culture of the organization is concerned. The managements main objective is to ensure an organization succeeds in meeting its mission, objectives and goals and so the study will show the performance of an organization in comparison to other organizations. The shareholder who are supporting the organization will be aware of the risks they are being exposed to as well as the effectiveness of the organization The customers or the clientele will be able to determine the reliability of the organizations service as far as meeting their needs is concerned The evaluators will be able how the level of efficiency, effectiveness and compliance with the law requirements. CHAPTER II 2.1 Literature review ÂÂ  One of the most important aspects that should be considered in implementing organizational theory is the issue of behavior patterns in the organization (Hisrich, 2000). This is the reason as to why most of the organization organizes for seminars and workshops for their employees so that they can be informed about the organizational cultural practices the organization implements; this is a great advantage because it enables the workers to change their behavior accordingly to be in line with the organizational goals and objectives (James, 2007). This also enables their behavior to add much credibility to their work as well as increase ethical value of the organization hence adding its popularity hence giving it a platform for competition. It should be noted that any theory that an organization opts to implement, must be thoroughly scrutinized by the professions before critical decision about its creation is made (Paauwe, 2009). This is to ensure that it works for the bettermen t of that particular organization. A better strategic vision is therefore very important to ensure that all the cultural changes that are made are geared towards the wellbeing of that organization. Another importance of organizational cultural practices is that it brings understanding between the employers and the employees. As a result, it then leads to development of loyalty and trust within the organization (Peter, 2007). If for example in a particular organization the team leader in a department does not cope well with the rest of the employees, then it means that there is need to investigate and find out the root cause of the problem. By doing this, the organization will be ensuring that the cultural practices that have been set do not just benefit the organization but also are taking care of the welfare of the employees (Salder Craig, 2003). There are many cultural practices that are used by the organizations to achieve the above benefits and especially the issue of creating a good relationship between the employer and the employee. The relationship between leadership styles and the organizational culture and societal culture Organizational culture refers to the norms, shared values, and expectations that determine the governing of a certain organization. It actually describes the manner in which people interacts as well as approach the work. Societal culture defines the norms, expectations, and shared values of a society or a group of people living in a particular place governing them. For any given organization to run well, there organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership style must be in harmony. There are seven leadership styles used that can be used in the running of an organization and each of them depends on the organizational culture and the societal culture of where the organization is set. Servant leadership refers to the leader ship in which the responsibility of the followers is in the leader. The leader serves the juniors for helping them achieve their goals (Woodward, 1998). This helps them to grow as individuals, be transformed, trust the leaders and helps in team building. The quiet leadership style is in such a way that the success of the organization is based on the thoughts as well as actions rather than the egocentric nature of the leaders (Thompson Martin, 2005). They are not bully leader but are very charismatic in the accomplishment of their roles. The transformational kind of leadership involves the leaders who put all of their passion as well as energy in all that they are doing. They are very vision oriented and convert their employees to potential contributors to the organization and they transform the organization. The transactional leadership style is the one that the leaders ensure the employees are motivated by the rewards as well as they make it clear what the employees must do to get the reward. The leadership is based on the contingency theory (Thad, 1992). Situational leadership is the one that leader makes decisions depending on the prevailing situations like the capacity of followership and the motivation. This is also affected by the behavior of the leaders since the leaders perceptions about themselves as well as other factors as if stress determines the success of this leadership style (Terence, 1984). Participative leadership is the one a leader involves the other people in the process of decision making like the peers, and subordinates. It helps the managers to consult, be empowered, and engage in joining decision-making and exercise democracy. Finally, the charismatic leadership uses w wide range of ways to deal with management. It is very similar to transformational (Thompson, 1997). CHAPTER III Methodology This section involves the real planning of the study. This is whereby all the methods of data collection are identifies, the design of the research is also determined, the sample size is calculated, and the population under study is defined, methods of data analysis are also given and finally the study limitations and ethical considerations are given (Welman Kruger, 2000). The main aim of the research or its priority is to develop a detailed discussion that will provide conditions that are favorable to the research process and results in efficient and effective research design or strategy. The aim of research methodology is coming up with the appropriate research process accompanied by the appropriate tools and procedures that will ensure that the entire process is successful (Welman Kruger, 2000). Some of the factors that this chapter will discuss are the research sample, the target population, research methodology, research design statistical test, and data collection. The sample s that have been used were selected from different organizations. (Welman Kruger, 2000) Research design The study is a cross sectional descriptive study. This is because it involves a lot of observation and it does not involve any control sample (Welman Kruger, 2000). It involves a section of the population since not everyone in the organization, customers or employees shall be used as a study sample. It will also measure the current and the past situation. It will enable the study accomplish the specific objectives. Population The population under study includes employees, managers and customers associated with different organizations both males and females. Sampling The sample of the research shall be obtained through a random selection. This is whereby, managers, employees and regular customers for different organizations shall be picked by names in a random manner (Yin, 1994). This means that the research shall involve people of all ages and demographic attributes. This is to avoid biasness through using people of the same attributes. The formulae for finding the sample size is as follows when using the 95% ss = Z 2 * (p) * (1-p) c 2 Where: Z = Z value (e.g. 1.96 for 95% confidence level) p = percentage picking a choice, expressed as decimal (20%) used for sample size needed) c = confidence interval, expressed as decimal (e.g., .05 = ÂÂ ±4) In the case of the research, p is 20% or 0.2. , Therefore, the sample size shall be 50 people. Methods of data collection Data shall be collected using two main methods. There shall be administration of the questionnaires (Yin, 1994). This is whereby the some set up questions shall be given to the managers, customers, and employees under study to fill up. Then also, an interview shall be carried out mainly to them. Finally, data shall also be retrieved from the secondary sources like the internet and books. Methods of data analysis Data shall be analyzed using a statistical tool known as Microsoft Excel. Then the results shall be presented using a range of presentation tools specifically the charts and graphs (Yin, 1994). Scope and limitations There are number of limitations that are likely to affect the study. One of the main predicted limitations includes the issue of time. This is because much time is needed for the data collection, filling in of the questionnaires, the process of interviewing as well as reviewing some secondary data storage as well as for me to move around to collect information (Sekaran, 1992). Another predicted form of limitation is finances. This is due to the expenses to be incurred in travelling and purchasing some materials for the research. It may be hard obtaining particular data that is secondary in nature. Ethical considerations A number of ethical considerations shall be taken to ensure that the study will be legally carried (Sekaran, 1992). First and fore most consent shall be sort from the organizations, which the research will be carried. This is whereby; the management shall be presented a letter to seek permission to carry out the research. Another very important precaution is to get consent from the individual people on which research shall be carried. They shall be clearly informed about the research, the benefits, and their responsibility. Finally, before, any information is retrieved from either any institution or the government then permission shall be sort.

conducting a strategic audit Essay -- essays research papers

Conducting a Strategic Audit http://www.albany.edu/~pm157/audit.html http://faculty.uwstout.edu/adekolaa/STRAMGT/powerpoints/Wal-Mart%20-%202000.ppt#256,1,Wal-Mart – 2000 One purpose of this course is to train you to assess an organization’s strategy. Part of your skill development is utilizing knowledge to address the real problems of a business organization. At the same time, technology is increasing your ability to obtain information rapidly from multiple sources. Being able to gather and use such information will become a competitive necessity for anyone in business and management. To prepare you for this, we used information technologies to analyze, discuss, and present business issues throughout the semester. To achieve these, you will form a group. While some information may be obtained from library research, field work, or direct interviews, it is expected that you will extensively use the Internet to integrate the diverse information from a top-management perspective. Each team will present its findings and recommendations to the class during the final sessions. They may then make changes for their final written report. Please consider these eight dimensions in formulating a unified, comprehensive, and integrated set of decisions that attains organization purpose. ________________________________________ Step 1: Situation Assessment †¢ What is our purpose? What is our "strategic intent"? †¢ How do we rank in our business and why? †¢ What is our fiscal condition and why? †¢ What is the relationship between the business strategy, organization environment, and overall performance? †¢ What is our sustainable competitive advantage? What core competencies do we posess? †¢ What are our strengths? Do we use these fully? †¢ What are our weaknesses? How can we solve or mitigate these? †¢ What are our opportunities? How can we exploit these? †¢ What are the threats to us? What can we do about them? Step 2: Strategic Managers †¢ What is our strategic vision? †¢ Do the executives possess the right leadership skills and abilities? †¢&nbs... ...; What are the expected fiscal results? †¢ What are the feasible alternatives to these activities? Step 7: Implementation †¢ What resources will this action plan require from finance, human resources, marketing, operations, and other functional areas and departments? †¢ What changes will have to occur for us to be successful in 2 to 5 years? †¢ Are there other organizations or individuals we might collaborate with? †¢ What training is necessary? Step 8: Performance Evaluation and Control †¢ When and how will we evaluate performance? †¢ What are the desired quantitative and qualitative measurements of success? †¢ Will this strategy justify the needed time and resources? †¢ Can we afford it? †¢ Realistically, can we implement this action plan? †¢ Have we included all supporting programs? †¢ Can we clearly establish accountability?