Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace free essay sample

Tonight I would like to talk to you about the obstacles faced by pregnant women in the workplace. I will talk about the barriers we face today, as well as those which women of the past had to overcome to be successful working mothers. The laws that protect pregnant women today are something expectant mothers of the past dreamed of as they faced discrimination in the forms of demotion, forced unpaid leave and more. Before 1978, women who became pregnant while employed had a lot more than their health to be concerned about. There were no laws in place to help protect them from discrimination. In those days, pregnancy was considered a disability. Many women were simply fired the moment their employer found out about their condition. In some cases, women were forced to resign as soon as their baby belly began to show, or at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. We will write a custom essay sample on Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These occurrences were especially common in physically demanding positions. Employers were not required to provide special accommodations, such as lifting limits and restroom breaks, to mommies-to-be. These facts led to many women struggling to support themselves and their families. Some women were refused work altogether. Denial of medical leave was not uncommon, either. Women were left without health insurance and other benefits, or were even charged extra for certain services. Returning to work after taking leave was an extremely rare instance among new mothers in these days. However, in 1978, US Congress introduced the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This newly passed law became an important aspect of civil rights. It requires employers to provide pregnant women with the same respect and consideration as other workers with medical issues. It regulates hiring/firing procedures, ensuring women that work will be available to them as long as they are healthy and able to perform their basic job functions.

Sony Case Study Essays

Sony Case Study Essays Sony Case Study Essay Sony Case Study Essay International Business Strategy Case Study: Sony: managing the international Ramp;D network 1. How did Sony internationalize its Ramp;D activities? Sony started to internationalize its activities in the 1950’s. For this, it used an incremental and cautious way. They followed the Morita’s strategy which is: first to learn about the market, to learn how to sell to it and to build up its corporate confidence before to commit itself. He also says that when you have confidence, you should commit yourself wholeheartedly. So Sony started by exporting products through foreign agencies or its own sales offices when entering foreign markets. The manufacturing plants close to markets where sales took off were also set up. Sony also internationalized its Ramp;D activities, starting with marketing activities in the US and other centres across Europe. Sony established incrementally overseas technology centres when the overseas sales and manufacturing subsidiaries were successful. Until the early 1980’s, these Ramp;D centres were set up by Japanese business labs or by foreign subsidiaries without the direct involvement of corporate headquarters. Sony established its first overseas Ramp;D centre in San Jose in California in 1977. The second was built in Basingstoke in UK in 1978. What were the initial motivations for Sony to establish technology centres abroad? The main reason why Sony’s foreign subsidiaries established Ramp;D activities was to solve problems faced by local sales and manufacturing activities, especially requirements. Indeed they had problems to modify products for local markets and to provide technological support to overseas plants. With technology centres established directly in the countries concerned, it was easier to analyze the local needs and to act directly. Sony also believed that foreign subsidiaries should ultimately conduct their own manufacturing, marketing, service financing and Ramp;D activities. How would Kuemmerle categorize the Ramp;D centres at Sony? Ramp;D centers at Sony can be categorized as home-base-augmenting because advanced knowledge from local Ramp;D centers is used to improve other Ramp;D bases. Indeed, the goal is to benefit from host country input markets as new suppliers of valuable resources or so called new FSAs. In the mean time, Sony has understood the need for more adaptation in order to meet host market demand requirements. . How have the motivations for internationalizing Ramp;D changed over time? At first Sony was very cautious in internationalizing its activities. It was very gradual. Foreign Ramp;D activities were set up only where Sony was successful. Sony believed that its foreign subsidiaries should run their Ramp;D activities themselves. The early motivations to proceed that way were to solve problem s faced by local sales and manufacturing activities, especially requirements to modify products for local markets and to provide technological support to overseas plants. So the first motivation was actually product adaptation. Managers on the field were more likely to choose the right Ramp;D projects to engage in. the underlying motivation was also to develop products locally in order to meet the needs and requirements of the local markets. Sony also aimed to realize global synergy in Ramp;D by transferring local specialties to other regions. But later Sony felt the need to use advanced knowledge embedded in various foreign locations. Indeed, some technologies were far more advanced in some countries than in others. There was then a clear need to establish Ramp;D bases in advanced technology locations so as to access the relevant knowledge. The second motivation could be called access to advanced knowledge. Then internal coordination between Ramp;D labs had to be increased to improve efficiency and to create synergies (efficiency and synergies). Coordination had become an important motivation for internationalizing Ramp;D while autonomy was kept by local Ramp;D centers in order to adapt to local requirements. 3. Why did Sony feel the need to internationalize its Ramp;D activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s? First Sony overseas production accounted for 30% of Sony’s total production and foreign sales represented 70% of Sony’s sales. So there was clearly a need to increase the fraction of Sony’s international Ramp;D which represented a too small fraction of Sony’s total Ramp;D. There was also the need to keep on developing products locally in order to meet local needs and requirements. Sony also felt that some parts of the countries could use more advanced technologies than others. There was then a need to allow Ramp;D centers from countries that were less technologically advanced to enjoy the advanced knowledge gained in other countries in order to remain at the cutting edge of technology. 4. How did Sony manage its overseas Ramp;D activities? How did the managerial approach evolve over time? As we’ve already said before, Ramp;D centers were set up by Japanese divisions or by foreign subsidiaries and managers of these centers were given substantial autonomy. Actually the overseas labs had the freedom to decide which Ramp;D projects to do. Then, as they gradually internationalized, Sony thought they had to increase internal coordination between the different Ramp;D labs in order to improve efficiency and create synergies. That’s why they introduced in the early 90’s a regional management system, hoping to improve internal coordination. In fact, they gave specific role to the US, Japan and European based offices. The CTO based in Japan became responsible for worldwide Ramp;D strategy, while CTOs in the US and in Europe were responsible for regional Ramp;D strategies and the coordination of activities. In addition, they organized coordination meetings twice a year for the 3 CTOs to discuss internal collaboration and resource allocation. However, overseas labs retained the power to plan and execute their own projects. 5. What have been the problems with Sony’s way of managing Ramp;D activities? There are 2 mains problems with Sony’s way of managing Ramp;D activities. First, the lack of coordination among divisional managers due to a silo structure. This insufficiency of coordination led to bad allocation of resources in Ramp;D for improving existing products. Moreover, different divisions and products groups under the decentralized structure have been allowed to pursue independent agendas. So, different labs worked on the same project. It is fair to say that Sony wasted resources and duplicated efforts for nothing. Secondly, even if we don’t care about the first problem, Sony’s Ramp;D efforts have simply been less effective than those of rivals because of a major problem in the realm of strategic guidance and incentives. 6. Besides in-house restructuring to strengthen its technological capabilities, what did Sony do to rejuvenate its business? Sony started to form strategic alliance to increase its technological strengths. For instance, Sony, IBM and Toshiba developed together Cell, a semiconductor described as a supercomputer-on-a-chip. Joint ventures were also formed by Sony such as Sony BMG in the music business and Sony Ericsson in mobile phones business. Sony has also worked on the structure of Ramp;D’s activities. They tried to create a sense of urgency and to stop with complacency. In 2005, they launched a plan to reduce management layers, improve coordination of Ramp;D and refocus Ramp;D on growth areas. This plan was called â€Å"Project Nippon†. Sony is also trying to create an â€Å"over-arching structure† for research and development and software spending for all products. 7. Can you provide an update on the internationalization of Sony’s Ramp;D activities, using materials available on the Web?

The Congo King Leopold's Ghost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Congo King Leopold's Ghost - Essay Example Through the Berlin Conference, King Leopold obtained international recognition for the colony. The king established a system of forced labor that kept the people of the Congo basin in a slavery condition (Hochschild 120). There are many reasons why Adam Hochschild chose to entitle his narrative of imperialism in the Congo ‘King Leopolds Ghost’. Firstly, King Leopold II was the central figure during the colonization of the Congo. The king employed every tactic to ensure that the Congo was part of Belgian colonial powers. It is hard to explore the history of the Congo basin without mentioning King Leopold II. He was the main authority that instructed his army to commit most of the atrocities experienced in the country. King Leopold II was the face of colonial power in the Congo. Being the king, King Leopold II gave direct orders that affected the country. To make this book relevant to the real situation in the Congo, the author had to mention the king in the title in order to link him and the Congo. A ghost refers to the spirit of a dead person that may affect the living people. King Leopold died many years ago but the impact of his orders and actions are still in historical books and in the memory of the Congo people. During the Belgian colonial rule of the Congo people, the colonial power committed so many atrocities. Many people died, while others were left homeless. The impact of this tyrannical rule is being felt to date. Many families lost their property and loved words. The colonial power took most of the Congo natural resources to its mother country. This implies that the Congo people lost different resources that could have helped their country in terms of development. The ghost of King Leopold II will hound the people of Congo for a very long time. King Leopold II ruled in a manner that affected the unity of the Congo people. He ruled by divide and rule

Literature Review About Depression and African-American high-school Essay

Literature Review About Depression and African-American high-school students - Essay Example Living with their predecessors’ legacy of being racially discriminated and historically exploited and abused by the White people may have left generational scars in their psyche, that even up to now, being Black in an urban setting remains to be an issue. Many social scientists, politicians, and the media tend to paint a bleak picture for youth living in predominantly Black urban settings in this country (Barbarin, 1993). Poverty, academic failure, early death due to poor health care and violence, drug abuse and addiction, high unemployment rates, teenage pregnancy, gangs, and high crime rates are some of the conditions highlighted to describe the state of the urban underclass in which children must develop and attempt to survive (Dryfoos, 1990; Halpern, 1990; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990; Werner, 1990). Several researches have been done to explore the effects of such racial differences in the African American youth. During adolescent period, individuals are confronted with the necessity of effectively managing the psychological, emotional, and behavioral adjustments to physiological changes and the assumption of new roles within the family structure, the high school setting, and ones peer group (Stark, Spirito, Williams, & Buevremont, 1989). According to a recent report from the United States (US) Census Bureau (2001), African Americans currently comprise nearly 13% of the total US population. Over one-half of all African Americans in the US live in large urban areas, and more than 35% of African Americans under age 18 live in poverty (US Census Bureau, 1999). These figures suggest that African Americans are over-represented among the poor urban school-aged population. Because of environmental factors stemming from living in poverty (e.g., unemployment and exposure to crime and violence), researchers and educators have often applied the term "at risk" in reference to urban African American

ESBL positive Escherichia coli and Klebsiella interaction with human Literature review

ESBL positive Escherichia coli and Klebsiella interaction with human urothelial cells - Literature review Example Acute uncomplicated urinary infection occurs when it presents as acute cystitis (Rubin, Shapiro, Andriole, Davis, & Stamm, 1992). Individuals with acute cystitis may also have non-obstructive pyelonephritis. Asymptomatic bacterial infection also occurs, where a urine specimen will show the presence of infective bacteria, but no symptoms of the urinary tract infection are observed. The infection can be recurrent because the source of the infection is harboured within the urinary tract. Complicated urinary tract infections occur in individuals who have abnormalities in the genitourinary tract. In women, increased volume of residual urine, bladder diverticulitis, and cystoceles contribute to the recurrence of UTI. For older males, benign prostate hypertrophy with urethral obstruction, chronic bacterial prostatitis, and turbulent urine flow often lead to urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infection has also been found to be a function of genetic predisposition and higher frequency of abnormalities in genitourinary organs (Raz, et al., 2000). UTI is common in the elderly population. Aside from age-related genitourinary abnormalities, the increase in urinary infections in elderly population is attributed to the use of indwelling devices like catheters (Nicolle, 2001). Clinical manifestations of symptomatic UTI are bladder infection, irritation of lower tract including incontinence, dysuria, urgency to urinate, suprapubic pain, and fever (Bentley, Bradley, High, Schoenbaum, Taler, & Yoshikawa, 2000). In patients with indwelling catheters, symptoms could include costovertebral angle tenderness that is more associated with pyelonephritis and fever even when there are no genitourinary symptoms (Orr, et al., 1996). The symptoms are associated with trauma due to insertion of the device or the infection from several microorganisms of the biofilm coating the catheter surface. 1.2. Enterobacteriaceae Enterobacteriaceae are Gram-negative rods that mostly grow well at 37Â °C and are facultatively anaerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative (Health Protection Agency, 2010). They are widely distributed in different habitats, and may be found in animals, plants, soil, and water. Several genera of Enterobacteriaceae are involved in the development of human diseases. Common genera include species of Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Morganella morganii, Proteus, Providencia, Salmonella, Serratia, Shigella and Yersinia (Health Protection Agency, 2010). 1.3. Escherichia coli The most important infective organism in UTI is Escherichia coli, but other Enterobacteriaceae species like Klebsiella, Citrobacter and Enterobacter also cause UTI. Proteus mirabilis, and Providencia stuartii and Morganella morganii, which are urease producers, are also common. Other species identified in patients with UTI are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enterococci, group B streptococci and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Yeast strains Candida albicans, C. tropica lis, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis have also been isolated mostly from patients with indwelling catheters, and diabetes mellitus (Nicolle, Urinary tract pathogens in complicated urinary infecion and in the elderly, 2001). E. coli originating from an individual’s intestinal tract is the most common source of UTI (Russo & Johnson, 2003). In the United States alone, 6-8 million cases of uncomplicated cystitis and almost 130,000 sepsis cases are attributed to community-acquired UTIs due

Critique Of Business Plan For SMES

Critique Of Business Plan For SMES 1. Introduction Business plans are increasingly being necessary for SMEs leaders in advanced organizations as their leaders search for to broaden strategic judgments throughout the corporation in order to create superior co-ordination through connecting the business plans to different parts of the organization; to leverage on the strategic development of different parts of the total organization; and to develop a more methodical approach to making big changes within the sections of the enterprise (Richardson and Hawkins, 1995). Change has been happening all over the world economies. Entrepreneurs themselves are considered to be forceful catalysts for revolutionize (Kuratko Hornsby, 2009). The pressure of business planning on firm performance has received broad attention from management researchers. Past research indicates a positive relationship between planning and organizational performance (Sarason and Tegarden, 2003). While it may seem that business planning is a very open and formal process, research into smaller businesses has identified that in practice it can be haphazard and informal (Cuthbert Johnston, 1997). Different views and types of business plans catch the attention of the business world; different types of critics are perceived as it unsupportive for the purpose of strategic development within organisations (Mintzberg 1994). This study therefore attempts to rectify this imbalance by examining the relationship between business planning and organizational performance in a SMEs environment. Author tries to bring out critique of business planning with the experience using the consultancy business plan and theory and practice of business plans in the ligh t of SMEs. 2. Background to the Study The consultancy project based on a start up photography business belonging to Katalin Galuska. Staff of two, with plans to expand to a full-time operation within the next 3 years. The company is at initial stage, established as a home-operated, full-time sole proprietorship. It is the intention of the company to develop novel business units and broaden the client base so as to become a renowned photography business in York. Three team mebmers proposed plan brings out suitable opportunities for the Galushka to focus on devloping a photography brand in coming years.We have made a effort to realized this by using diffrent business tools. The study based on this experience with in business planning context. 3. Formal and Informal Business planning According to Mintzberg (1987), the approach of a firm can be conceptualised as a plan such as position in the marketplace, vision with reference to the prospect and the firms state or as a form for actions within the decision making process. At the same time the rigid strategic management literature implies that there is a beneficial link between strategic planning and company performance; with coincide from planning to performance (Greenley, 1995). A proper business plan for a sound business concept aids organizations to succeed in business goals. It keeps firms cash and time by focusing the core business operations by adding more control over the cash flows, marketing and operations. It also boosts the capital requirements of the business (Rhonda and Kleiner 2003). The procedure of business planning is where the top management examine both the internal environment and the external environment to carry out a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis and evaluate the extent of the company mission (Wheelen and Hunger 1991). In contrast Georgellis at el (2000) study on PEST and SWOT proved that over 90 percent of the firms in within the sample had not use or heard of a PEST analysis and 80 percent of a SWOT analysis. Although 82 percent of firms had practiced competitive analysis in their planning process. In the consultancy project we found that client is not much focused on SWOT analysis. The main aspects of business planning are extensive time periods, formality, the use of planning instruments, and regular manage of plans. This type of planning can brings out performance by generating relevant information, by creating a better understanding of the important environment, and by reducing uncertainty (Hodgetts and Kuratko, 2001). As a example; MAS holdings in Sri Lanka is the largest intimate apparel manufacture in South Asia over 44,000 employees and won many international awards such as; Vendor of the Year by Victorias Secret in 2006, 2005: Excellence in Social Responsibility Award for womens issues by American Apparel and Footwear Association (www.ifc.org). According to the director of corporate branding and strategies, the secret behind the success is whole-systemized planning which include women empowerment (Anon 2008). Delmar and Shane (2003) express the view that by incorporating a systematic planned approach brings out better results for an organization perform ance than others who are doing informal is ambiguous. In Toyota, Fujio cho, the president says that Total Production Systems practices are based on well planed core principles created values, beliefs and business planning methods and he further states those have become competitive edge over the years. So, for Toyota, culture is more important and they drive organisation benefiting from their strong homogeneous planed culture (Liker, 2004). Another view is that business planning is more effective as a version of past decisions than as a program for future once. It can be used as a fraction of the efforts of the organization to develop new steady assumptions of itself that add in the mix of recent efforts into a moderately wide array of planned goals (Mintzberg 2000). Though, extreme dependence on systematic business planning compared with the need for the management self-rule and organizational learning in an era where compliance and flexibility are vital to cope with the rapid rate of environmental change (Anderson 2000). Many commentators believe that differences of culture at Daimler and Chrysler made its merger more difficult without long term plan. But In August 2000, Daimlers chief executive of cars, Jurgen Hubbert, was quoted in The Economist: we have a clear understanding: one company one vision, one chairman, two cultures. Finally with the acknowledged existence of two cultures, DaimlerChrysler truly become one company with one vision is now operating as Chrysler. Emergent strategy and flexibility may give the best opportunity yet to meld the cultures (Sculler Jackson 2001, pp. 248). It is evident that even without a formal long term plans some strategies become success. 4. SME Vs Business plans Entrepreneurs have a very important function in the economy; they provoke relatively much employment creation, productivity growth, and produce and commercialize high-quality innovations (Praag and Versloot 2007). Thus, Gibson and Cassar (2002) stated that Entrepreneurs required connecting in planning. In pragmatic perspective Andries and Debackere (2006) explained new ventures experience significant difficulties in finding a viable business model, and they often need to adapt their initial business plans. It is evident in Galukasha photography business where client is struggling with business planning their photographic venture and resorting from many government and private organizations for assistance. SMEs development plan is a multifaceted process in which the entrepreneurs engaging in a business plan with a vision for growth, possibly deriving of market opportunities. At the same time owner managers require gathering ample resources to enable growth to happen and acquire right strategic balance (Kemp and Verhoeven, 2002). The practice of planning and knowledge management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) varies from that of an outsized organisation (Wong and Aspinwall, 2004). Apart from that Desouza and Awazu (2006) explains SMEs try to adapt simple planning and unofficial rules and procedures. They reduce most of standardised procedures like planning. It leads to more adaptable strategies in various situations. SMEs similarly have a different scope which aims on operational, fairly than strategic, processes. They are more skilful at using implicit knowledge for planning. Research exemplified that whilst the business is at initiative approach stage the entrepreneur act as more than just a leader who prepare plans, he or she can be act as a marketer and a sales agent, a public relations officer, a financial controller and so on, occupying numerous roles and wearing many different hats simultaneously (Cope, 2001; Fuller-Love, 2006). It is significant that entrepreneurs in no way initiate the preparations for a business plan without first having some sort of skills and training in the field. Entrepreneurs launch new ventures with the intention of attaining a certain level of success and viability of the plans (Barringer, 2009). In consultancy project it was evident that the client was running art workshops and was also involved in a commissioned wedding photography session as hobby. It is worth mentioning that she also facilitated eight stop motion animation workshops as part of the British Librarys Inside Story exhibition at Hillcrest Primary School in Leeds. That also provided the foundation to go for a business plan to initiate her own photography venture in the future. Shane and Venkataraman (2000), and the entrepreneur does not generate future plans in isolation or only from the resource of technological, political, or socio-demographic turbulences in the environment. As an alternative, these types of opportunities are common creations which leverage and developed from different interaction. Further more, opportunities arise from the creativity of individuals, who carry out dissimilar activities based on a continuous understanding of each others sense and activities in addition to the appearance of the material environment. In consultancy project it was experienced that there is no proper system for acquiring competitor information due to budget and time constraint. As a example in competitor analysis it is worth to do mystery shopping kind of marketing research technique for the purpose of getting qualitative information. In complex business environment the availability and access to quality and reliable information is essential. This enables small business to keep the pace with the large companies for shaping their strategies when implementing a business plan ( Franke, 1999). Apart from that most of information in plan is impact by the unpredictability of the future. Further future cannot always be extrapolated in the course of data based in past relationships, because there are drivers of change in social systems that are multiple and inconsistent in nature (Berkhout and Hertin, 2002). On of classic example for failures in business plan is Navan tourist Centre in Northern Ireland. The centre closed i n 2001 after more than  £5m in public funding ran out. The public account committee stated that this failure is due to unrealistic visitor number forecasts. The Navan Centre was opened in July 1993 and is regarded as a premier archaeological site in Northern Ireland. The forecasted visitor numbers were 160,000 for next years. In reality, annual visitor numbers never exceeded 50,000 and averaged 33,000 over eight years (www.bbc.co.uk). There is a famous anecdote in business world; a shoe sales person going in a rural Amazon jungle community to searching that no one of the locals are wearing shoes. Is this a impossible market with no probability, or a major market for growth? Over time, market potential will change. Its beyond the organizational planning and controls (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006). Thus Goodwin and Wright (2001) suggest that in a unpredictable environment, anticipating methods of past trends are implausible to produce consistent forecasts of the medium- to long-term. They also suggest that since such type of forecast is often brings out as single point predictions, it is hard to weigh up the level of ambiguity within the forecast. Taking into consideration these limitations of predictors, the matter is how can firms deal with the apparent insecurity about the future state of the external environment by planning? Mainly of SME owner/managers are doing marketing planning through their ordinary and informal networking activity, through all their normal communication activities, such as interacting and participating in social, business and trade activities (Gilmore 2001). Galuksha photography owner, develop her networks with the different people and organizations by the workshops. She incorporates most of business planning ideas in the plans though the knowledge acquire by this type of events. As an example she has participated York St John university workshop in entrepreneurship. Similarly analysers who involved in business plans are take the advantage in the sense of utilizing the best qualities of protectors and prospectors. Analysers use informal, adaptive strategies to create alignment (Kearns, 2007). In consultancy project where all fight with traditional photographic market such as wedding , family portrait and events photography ,consultants suggested to move to PET photography market which untapped by most of players in York. Similarly, incorporating marketing to smaller firms is a spontaneous approach. SMEs marketing activities are greatly depends on conventional practices and experiences. Any efforts to formulate a marketing plan using standard marketing concepts are throwing away in newly established firms. Small business marketing plans are wholly reliant on the intensity of the practice and awareness of owners/managers (Huang and Brown, 1999). Study on Dutch SMEs, business planning process expressed that a few number of firms had formal, written business plans, whilst roughly a half check their plans at least yearly (Gibcus and Kemps, 2003). The whole idea behind the above argument in entrepreneur business planning is that opportunities are considering and strategies are used to take advantage of such opportunities without a formal plan or an informal plan. Burns (2007) illustrates that most of the small firms involving with the business plans as a tool to obtain capital. This however can be considered as two sided argument. In spite of the survival of the view that business plans are essential to securing capital gain for businesses, Different view is that investors look business plans totally insignificant and consequently try to disregard them. The comprehensive idea from this is that business plans will unable to use as a tool for funding (Bowers, 2009). It was experienced that in the consultancy project client require to a obtain loan form the bank by using the business plan. According to a study among 135 winners of the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004 awarded by Ernst and Young, found most (72 percent) believed the major input to their business was the owners vision in place (Mazzarol 2009). Further another study founds that 70 per cent of the smaller enterprises, reported via time span of one to three years, and 92 per cent confirmed to even plan for more than three years without having much thought. Another interesting fact that, planning in smaller enterprises is hardly ever aided by planning models, since the majority of the SMEs stated that they planned by instinct, and did not use planning models (Stonehouse and Pemberton, 2002). Wickham (2001, pp 143) explains the vision of a entrepreneur as a picture of the new world he or she wishes to create. It is a picture into which the entrepreneur fits an understanding of why people will be better off, the source of new value that will be created, and the relationships that will exists. Vision exists in the tension between what is and what might be. All in all such critically structures planning are clearly incongruous in time of uncertainty, the setting of longer-term objectives and vision is compulsory for the continued existence and evolution of an organization (Stonehouse and Pemberton, 2002). Sarasvathy (2001) convoluted entrepreneur planning processes as a creativity process. The first type is when entrepreneur has a goal to develop a enterprise and he or she is aggressively looking for opportunities and the second one is when there is no way to search for opportunities, but the person has an aim of solving an emerging issue and can put into practice it after. The Austrian approach differently brings out that, occasionally people dont looking for opportunities, but because they have an admission to particular information, it can allow them to spot opportunities others unable to capture. As a example, In consultancy project it is evident that the company is at initia l stage, established as a home-operated, by means of her passion in art photography field. Her intention of the company is to develop novel business units and broaden the client base so as to become a renowned photography business in York. In proposed emergent idea plan brings out suitable opportunities for the Galushka such as PET photography and online to focus on developing a photography brand in coming years. This type of creative ideas can be arising by creativity of the people and belief in rule by small numbers (predictions done from a small amount of information) (Simon et al., 1999) and self-importance (Fitzsimmons and Douglas, 2005) be likely to reduce the view of risk associated with initiation and therefore support individuals to act entrepreneurially without a formal plan. 5. Conclusion Above findings point out that there is a paradox of formal and informal planning in small firms. Whilst the use of formal business planning and focus on core strategies in small firms is little, however it cant be suggest that SMEs are not involving in planning actions since they usually carry out in informal ways and leads to success. This brings out that within the context of the business planning, firms need to locate ways of dealing with the unpredictability of their future external environments. The most significant point is that not the drafting of a business plan, except a SMEs leaders ability to think and act in a strategic way. Cummins et al., (2000) explains elements such as readiness to change are also part of the informal planning process which is integral to SMEs; where proaction require to SMEs involvement in prediction and anticipation in their planning activities, with a view to acting moderately than reacting. Similarly Merrilees and Frazer (2006) found that highly w inning entrepreneurial franchisees exhibit hidden marketing success in relation with their personalities, force to creativity, and ambition.

of mice and men...theme of lonliness in the book :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men Literary Analysis Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a book that can be analyzed and broken down into a vast majority of themes. One of the predominant themes found in this book is loneliness. Many characters in this book are affected by loneliness and they all demonstrate it in one way or another throughout the book. Examples of these characters are Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy. All through the book Curley’s Wife is very â€Å"open† to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s â€Å"so-called† marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking â€Å"Any you guys seen my wife?† (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to. Crooks also feels a great deal of loneliness, as he is an outcast on the ranch. He lives in his own room where hardly anybody ever bothers him. He is never invited to play cards or do anything fun with the other guys. One day a curious Lenny asked, â€Å"Why ain’t you wanted?† Crooks replies â€Å"Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They think I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me† (pg. ). Crooks’ attitude towards this is shown when he saw Lennie playing with his puppy outside of Crooks’ quarters. Crooks states that â€Å"if me, as a black man, is not allowed in the white quarters, then white men are not allowed in mine† (pg. ). However this is merely a front as the more open side of Crooks is shown later on in the book. Candy also feels the burden of loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as â€Å"ancient†, â€Å"stinky†, and â€Å"half-blind†, had been in Candy’s life for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it.

The Left And Right Brain Theory

The human brain is divided into two: the right brain and the left brain. The Herrmann brain dominance theory provides good details on how both divisions of the brain co-ordinate and also gives the functions of each side of the brain. The theory was developed by William Herrmann while leading management at the general electric company. In his model, Herrmann identified four different modes of thinking. The first mode of thinking according to the theory which is analytical thinking involves activities such as collecting data, judging ideas based on facts and logical reasoning.The second mode of thinking is sequential thinking and involves activities such as following direction and structured problem solving. The third type of thinking involves listening and expressing ideas as well as group interaction and is known as interpersonal thinking. The last type of thinking is the imaginative thinking in which individuals look at the bigger picture. (Voges, 2005). The theory thus suggests tha t people develop a thinking preference. Analytical techniques are associated with the left brain while intuitive understanding is associated with the right brain.A person may therefore be dominant in analytical style of thinking but be weaker in interpersonal style of thinking meaning that the person’s left brain is dominant. According to the theory however, all people use all styles but to varying degrees. (De Boer, 2001) Brain hemispheres develop symmetrically meaning that the functions that develop on one side of the brain also develop on the other side. A child who suffers brain injury before attaining the age of four years can utilize the other side of the brain for basic functions.However, the child will not grow normally. This is what happens in children otherwise known as alpha or right brained children. (Barbara, 1982). Most theories of curriculum consider cognition, maturation and development, concepts and skills, thinking skills and the philosophy of education. Mos t core subjects have moved toward student centered experiential and constructivists learning strategies. Constructivism is a theory the nature of knowledge with the belief that knowledge is created by people and influenced by among other things their values and culture.In curriculum therefore, the teacher is expected to pose problems that will challenge the student’s conception of reality. The doctrine of the theory supported by brain research makes it necessary to have major changes in the design and implementation of the curriculum of social studies. It is important to recognize that a child actively develops his /her own meanings from what he/she observes in the community. Change of curriculum in a manner that reflects this aspect would reflect the complex nature of meaning making.This theory supported by the brain dominance theory is very important in offering many social studies teachers a chance to make inquiry teachings a reality. This is because, the dominance theory clearly stipulates that there is a part of the brain charged with the responsibility of acquiring meanings and children therefore should be left to make interpretations on their own albeit under the guidance of teachers(Gibson & Roberta 2004). According to Carla Hannaford, learning is not all in our heads. Understanding and use of connections between the body and mind is the key to extensive learning.Carla also emphasizes the importance of teaching, valuing and developing the whole child. Both sides of the brain are balanced when children are involved in activities such as crawling because Carla argues that learning begins with movement in response to stimulus and then create a context to understand the sensory input. Just as the constructivist theory, understanding has to be made by the children them selves through the coordination of the brain hemispheres, and not just forced on a child. (Carla ,1995)When a child is reading, it is true that not all words are read correctly and man y mistakes are made in the process. An interactive form of learning which involves discussions and hands on experiment where learners try and fail and keep on trying until they get the right thing is very vital in enhancing the child’s reading capabilities. This form of learning falls in the third form of thinking according to the Herrmann’s theory. To help the child further his/her reading capabilities, it is also important that procedural learning be applied.This form of learning involves methodical step by step testing of what is being learnt. This means that the teacher will ask a child to read out some words that had earlier been taught. The constant reference to earlier works and readings will help the child to fully learn. Procedural learning falls in the second category of thinking according to Herrmann’s dominance theory and thus the opposite side of the interactive learning theory. (De Boer, 2001)It is important to note that even if the dominance theor y suggests that people have one side of their brains dominant over the other, comprehensive learning is all about the use of the entire brain. The use of all quadrants as categorized in the dominance theory is the only way to help achieve a students full potential. REFERENCE: De Boer Ann – Louis. â€Å"The value of HBDI in facilitating effective teaching and learning in criminology. † Acta criminologica vol 14(1)2001. Acessed 21st May 2008 from http://www. hbdi. co. za/deboervdb. pdf . Voges, A.â€Å"research on how adults learn† University of Pretoria. (2005)accessed 21st may 2008 from http://upetd. up. ac. za/thesis/available/etd-08112005-153748/unrestricted/02chapter2. pdf Barbara, M. (1982). Unicorns are real A right brained approach to learning. jalmar press. Gibson, S. Roberta, M. (2004) â€Å"What Constructivist Theory and Brain Research May Offer Social Studies† constructive curriculum theory. Accessed 21st May 2008 from http://cc. ctu. edu. tw/~g eek/Constructivist%20Curriculum%20Model. htm Carla, H. (1995) Smart moves. Great ocean publishers

National Cap on Foreign Hire is Maxed Out essays

National Cap on Foreign Hire is Maxed Out essays With unemployment at its lowest and the demand for skilled and unskilled workers at a high where do business owners turn to fill the empty positions. A large percentage of them hire foreigners; most of which have a H-1B visa. But to the surprise of some high-tech business owners the National cap on foreign hires is maxed out. 115,000 H-1B visas are accepted each year and that number has already been reached. 74,300 have been approved and 45,000 are still pending approval. Stephen Dahms, an SDSU professor and chairman of a work force committee for Biocom, said, if the companies havent had their requests in from the first part of the fiscal year (beginning October 1), theyre out of the running. Many high-tech companies such as Qualcomm depend on the employment of foreigners. Many of the high-tech companies have created thousands of jobs in the past years by using foreign hires, in turn creating much success for them by the increased production. There are many business owners that are saying that the cap should be raised. Thom Stohler, director of work force policy for the American Electronics Association said, the fact the visa cap has been reached earlier in the year is proof the cap needs to be raised. While many businesses are using foreign hires to accommodate the need for employees, some are using the visa program to their advantage by paying low wages. Since you dont have to pay foreigners the same wages as U.S. citizens these employees are being used as cheep labor. Jerry Butkiewiez, secretary-treasurer for the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council said, The biggest reason companies are using the visa program is to control wages for its current and future staffers. It is even thought that some companies are bypassing qualified U.S. workers the keep their labor costs down. This whole scenario is displaying supply and demand...

Paradise Lost †Satan VS God

Paradise Lost – Satan VS God Free Online Research Papers â€Å"The mind itself can make a heaven out of hell, a hell of heaven† (Milton, line? Vs?) In the poem, â€Å"Paradise Lost† Satan was thrown out of heaven for rebelling against God and all that is good. He was the archangel and is the most beautiful and perfect angel, but he was not so perfect because he had flaws. Some of the flaws he had were pride that led to ambition and jealousy that led deception. The flaw that led him to destruction was pride, because since he was the most beautiful angel, he believed he was the greatest in heaven. He questioned why should he serve God, and evidently led a rebellion against God in a chance to overthrow Him. This was a very pathetic thing to do, because God created him and gave him all his beauty. Lucifer fought God in a holy war, lost, and was cast out of heaven and into hell. Since then Lucifer has sworn to do the opposite of God. â€Å"And out of good still to find means of evil† (line 165) this sentence shows how much hatred Lucifer had, towards God after being thrown out of heaven. His first offense towards God wa s to overthrow Him. Since that plan failed, his next plan is to disrupt whatever good God does. This is Satan’s plan opposed to God’s plan to turn everything that Satan does badly into good. Pride is the sin, which drove Satan’s adrenaline. It was his energy drink, and it drove him to Hell; and even while in Hell it took him as far as to accept Hell as his domain, all because he was too proud to say that he was in a bad situation. Satan’s pride was leading him to his destruction, the key letter in pride is I and that is what he was thinking about the whole time. Pride led to Satan’s very poor choices. Satan was just thinking about â€Å"how could I become in charge. How can I overthrow God and rule everything? God does not want to force us to serve him and to love him. He created us and gave us life but left the decision to love and follow Him ultimately up to us. The human flaw as to every creation of God is freedom of will. Since we have free will, we make stupid mistakes in life and because of free will many things are bad in life. God is giving us a choice; it is up to use to make that choice, whether you decide to serve him or not is up each person. When you serve the Lord, you know that you will always be safe. It does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to you, but you would know that you are safe from going to hell. Life is always full of surprises, and no one can know what is going to happen. One’s mind is the most important part of one’s body. The mind is what makes decisions and choices. In the poem, Satan says, â€Å"the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.† This states that Satan is so determined to go ag ainst God that he would train his mind and thoughts to think a particular way and see the Hell as a beautiful place. â€Å"Better to rein in Hell than to serve in Heaven† (line 263) this sentence gives us insight on how Satan’s mind is thinking. He is not willing to bow his head to anyone over him. He thinks he knows more than God, and he will not give in, no matter how dire the circumstances. In his mind, he believes that he will be the ruler of hell when in fact he will be suffering just like the other souls there. There will be no ruler and everyone will suffer for eternity. As Satan was in hell, he looks and sees that God was occupied with his latest creation, man. He saw that God had forgotten about him and that he had moved on. He then got the idea that he would infect what God loved most. He came into the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve to sin â€Å"And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.† (Genesis 3:4-3:5) By doing so, Eve was going against God; as she did, she brought Adam into sin as well. If God wanted his creation, Satan would give it to him, but in a less than perfect state, and not by lying-just twisting the truth, or â€Å"putting a spin on it† in today’s vernacular. Because Satan tempted Eve to sin, humans must suffer for those sins and only through In the deception of Eve and ultimately the human race, only a perfect sacrifice would make up for man’s flaw, that of Jesus Christ, a perfect human sacrifice, who can free man from his sin God’s creations have freedom of will. We cannot blame others for our mistakes and must take responsibility for our actions. Adam and Eve had the free will not to eat the forbidden fruit and not to listen to Satan, but they let their curiosity get the best of them and committed the sin. Do I have the sin of pride in my own life-sure? Is pride bad? Not in itself. It’s what is done with pride. If it destroys another human being, then I have allowed Satan a foothold into my heart. If that pride leads to ambition which leads to deception, then I have allowed Satan a foothold. According to Milton and the Bible, Satan is the father of all lies which begins with his pride and ambition. If I analyze decisions when I go wrong, usually I don’t want to admit my flaw (pride), or I want to get to the top the easy way even at someone else’s expense (ambition), and I might tell a half truth to get me to that point (deception). Sometimes bad things just happen to good people through poor choices; according to Milton, Satan is at the heart of man’s fall, all of us, and seeing it depicted through the blind poet’s eyes, has opened my own to myself. The way I see things, when something bad happens to me, I think about the situation and try an d see where I did wrong, because if something happens to me, right away I assume that I did something wrong and am paying for that wrong doing. Sometimes it is not that, sometimes bad things just happen because someone else’s sins intervene with your life and mess up your life at the same time fixing theirs. Thus, or so, Satan’s pride was his main character flaw. Pride as an angel thinking he could overthrow God; and pride in himself causing ambition that he could actually take on God and win in this battle for God’s creation. Proverbs 16:18-16:19 â€Å"Pride [goeth] before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better [it is to be] of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.† Satan should have heeded this warning. Resources: genesis.net.au/~bible/kjv/genesis/ divineplan.org/htdbv5/htdb0020.htm Research Papers on Paradise Lost - â€Å"Satan VS God†Mind TravelAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionQuebec and CanadaThe Hockey GameWhere Wild and West MeetPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Hip-Hop is Art

The Effects Of Great Depression On Foreign Policy Essay

The Effects Of Great Depression On Foreign Policy - Essay Example The gold standard, which was introduced by the government in 1920s, added fuel to the fire resulting a complete disappearance of gold from the country. ("Great Depression in the United Kingdom") Expectedly, the British foreign policy was also affected. There are three aspects of British foreign policy, " Peace, Security and Trade"---the first two became of immense importance after the First World War, especially because after the war British had become militarily weak. It lost its position as a great power and on the other hand, Germany, America and Russia became immensely powerful. Thus the Americans, to great extent, dictated foreign policy of the British. The further aggravation of economy during the Great Depression weakened the position of Britain on international level. (Willert, 1928) British realized that they could not afford another major conflict with any power as the war and depression has made them very vulnerable. Thus they adopted a policy of appeasement during this period, as explained by Paul Kennedy in his book " Strategy and Diplomacy" as follows: "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and compromise, thereby avoiding the resort to an armed conflict which would be, expensive, bloody and possibly dangerous." The most prominent case of appeasement was that with Hitler by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in late 1930s when the Munich Agreement was signed, which eventually failed.There were several reasons for the appeasing Hitler. Firstly, there was fear of spread of communism. British believed that if they continued to fight Germany in the West and didn't pay any attention to the Soviets, the latter... After the fall of Macdonald's government over pound issue, Neville Chamberlian began the Chancellor of Exchequer in 1931 and strict economic, especially trade policies were implemented. For the first time, the government abandoned the policy of free-trade. The Government imposed high tariffs and duties on imports. People were encouraged to buy products made within the British Empire.This was done to protect local industry and agriculture which was already facing many problems resulting from Great Depression—local demand, local production, high unemployment, high taxes etc.The Government nationalized important industries, including coal and wages and salaries were fixed for workers in these industries. Many industries lost business as they failed to cope up with increased modernization and competition. While the situation within the British Empire compounded, both economically and politically, new competitors entered the international market. The United States of America became a tough competitor, along with Germany who had recovered from the Great Depression as a result of massive rearmament. From 1935 onwards, it was clear that Mussolini and Hitler had other goals than recovering from the damaging effects of Depression. The stage for another war was being set up. However, it is believed that it was the anticipation of another war that increased demand and investment and consequently pulled the world out of depression, otherwise the world would have entered another Great Depression by 1937.

Coach Working at Different Levels within the UK Essay

Coach Working at Different Levels within the UK - Essay Example This paper illustrates that sports coaching has followed the trajectory of sports in the international market. Some coaches such as Alex Fergusson are as famous as the players whom they coach. This section discusses the functions and roles of coaches and helps in developing an understanding of their use. Sports’ coaching is linked to the economic and social events of the past and coaching follows the story of sports. Modern sports such as football, cricket, and others were not invented in the ancient times and the common people had neither the energy nor the inclination to take up sports after a hard days labor. The ancient Greeks conducted the Olympics and the first mention of athletes who trained under special trainers is known. Plato, Archimedes, Hippocrates and other philosophers also served as coaches for they believed in a sound body and a sound mind. Wealthy patrons brought in expert wrestlers and runners, winners of Olympic events became celebrities, and wealth was sho wered on the winner and his coach. Imperial Rome had trainers who trained slaves for gladiator contests and training was limited to war games such as wrestling, sword fighting, archery, Javelin, horse riding, running and other such events. Kings and Lords maintained armies and these were kept in fighting shape through constant training. Coaches toured villages and picked up fit and strong youths and these were trained as soldiers. Contests of strength and skills were held during community feasts and trained soldiers participated in these events. The common peasant or tradesmen never participated in these contests or sports and coaching was limited to only events that helped in war.