Memoir Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Memoir - Research Paper Example Life did not exactly go as I planned it, but deep inside of me I believed that the perfect guy was out there for me. I looked after my daughter all by myself for a few more years. Times were tough, but I always had my daughter to look after. Her beautiful smile was like a sign telling me that I should not give up. Then back in 2011 I met a man who seemed to be perfect in more ways than one. He came from an upstanding family and held a well-paying job. Because of a tough time financially that I was in, I quickly fell for him because I saw him as a means to help me and my daughter live a better life. During the courting stage, which only lasted a few short months, I felt like a princess. My then-boyfriend would randomly turn up at my work with flowers and chocolates, and many of my workmates commented how lovely we were together. I tended to agree, but I did not see it coming when he proposed to me just a few short weeks later. Although I was naturally a cautious person, I felt a sense of joy that I had finally found someone who I could grow old with. My dream was live side-by-side with my husband until we were both very old. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse not long after we were married. The day of the wedding provided lots of sunshine, with many flowers marking the occasion in a way that I could only have dreamed of. I was a little nervous, as every young woman should be, but I could not say that I was totally in love at that time. It seemed like that was just the next step to take. My daughter was growing up, and I did not want to have to raise her alone. It was my utmost desire to have a loving partner to be with, not so much for myself but for the sake of my daughter too. For the first few months of my marriage not a lot seemed to change. My husband had received a promotion at work, so he was doing longer hours than before. Because my daughter had just started going to school, I had many more responsibilities on my plate. It would have been n ice to get some help from my new husband, but he did not seem to care about my situation. Whenever he would come home from work he always seemed to be in an agitated state. I knew that his work gave him a lot of stress, but this was no reason to take it out on me. I had never seen my husband get violent when we were still dating, so this was a new experience for me. The alarm bells should have been ringing for me back then, but I was still holding onto my dream of living happily ever after with my prince charming. After more than a year of marriage, I was beginning to see less and less of my husband. His job required him to travel frequently, so he was not around the house on a daily basis. Whenever he was home, he seemed to be a different person than the one I first married. I carried on for a few more months before I could take it no longer. In January of 2013, I asked my husband to move out as I wanted a divorce. Surprisingly he was not too upset with this request, and he complie d with it almost immediately. I wanted to move on from him as soon as possible, so we got a quick divorce through the help of an experienced lawyer. Although I am now a divorced woman, I still have hope that my true prince charming is out there for me. Times have been tough lately, but I always wish for a better future. Right now

Knowledge of water-only systems may influence the incident commanders Essay

Knowledge of water-only systems may influence the incident commanders incident action plan - Essay Example In case of a fire emergency, the knowledge of when and where the water is available will influence significantly which strategy the incident commander will adopt depending on whether or not the water will be available. The relevance and conciseness of the plan will depend on the knowledge of water-only systems. The commander will be able to create a plan that suits the emergency by assessing the availability of water in a particular area. When laying out a strategy to curb fire in a deserted area, the plan needs to include the sources of water to stop the fire or other sources to stop the situation such as fire extinguishers. Lastly, the knowledge on water systems will be essential to make timely and complete plans. The information on water systems will be critical to the execution of the project to avoid hindering efficiency and compromising safety (Haraway, 2010). For example, with the knowledge of where and when water will be available, a fire extinguishing company will be able to lay out a complete and timely plan of what shall be needed in the event. In conclusion, knowledge of water-only systems plays a crucial role in determining the objectives to be set, the strategies to be laid and the tactics to be applied in the case of emergencies. The knowledge enables the plan to be timely, accurate and

Breathe Right Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breathe Right - Case Study Example With the expansion of the market, this means that the company had to modify its drugs to meet the various requirements of the foreign markets. Secondly, the company experienced increased growth. The growth was because of the company having new markets. They therefore, had to grow in large numbers and launch new branches in the different countries. This means that the company had to employ more people to work on its newfound market. A third advantage is the increased consumer awareness of CNS products. When new products were introduced in the new markets, more consumers were eager to know what the products were about and the different curative effects that the products had. Through advertising for these products in media stations, it helped increase consumer awareness of CNS products. This in turn attracted more consumers who buy the drugs either as a prescription or over the counter. Additionally, the company benefited from the increased sales. When the company decided to go global, it increased its sales volume by a large percentage. This was because of the increased demand of its product. An increase in sales means that there was an increase in sales revenue too. This means that there was increase in the amount that the company was able to transact in a day. More notably, the company benefited from the newly gained local partnership in the various countries where it expanded. Moreover, the company benefited from an increase in profits, which enabled it to expand. However, the company faced some disadvantages. These include the increased operational cost. The company had to increase the amount of money that it spends in order to maintain the new operations at the various places where it expanded. Secondly, some consumers bought the drugs over the counter without the right prescriptions. This was jeopardizing the existence of the CNC Company in that it was at a risk of being sued for selling its

Performance - Dance Essay Example for Free

Performance Dance Essay This evaluative essay will explore why the dance piece â€Å"Twilight† choreographed by Sarah Boulter and performed by Grace, Jessie, Heath and Nick, should be chosen in the Empire Theatre â€Å"Youth Arts Showcase†. This piece is an outstanding example of contemporary dance and by far the perfect choice for the showcase, as it clearly follows the selected criteria given by the committee. These are that it clearly exhibits the characteristics of contemporary dance, has a clear intention and is extremely entertaining to watch. The characteristics of contemporary dance are clearly evident in the performance of â€Å"Twilight†. One evident characteristic in this piece is the use of Gravity (Rise and Fall) which is shown in a lot of movements. This is identified when each male lifts his female partner of the ground and the female performs a high kick into a split position, then back up again. In extension to this, flexed feet movements are included and shown when at the very start of the dance all four of the dancers perform their own movements/mini sequence for about 8 seconds in the middle of the stage, facing towards the audience. Movements include leaps, high kicks, jumps and tumbling. Finally the dancers perform movements in parallel, which are seen when they position themselves in a diamond shape in the centre of the stage, facing the audience and perform the same energetic and percussive running, lifting and leaping movements at the same time, across the stage at high and medium level. Sarah Boulter’s dance sequence â€Å"Twilight† clearly tells the story of 4 vampires that are in battle. This is shown through the female’s short, dark, ripped dresses and the male’s long black, ripped capes and pants. It is also highlighted by the fast, upbeat and loud tempo in the music as well as the lyrics â€Å"We will be Victorious†, which reveal that they are fighting and will win. The intention of the dance piece was also shown through the movement elements. The 4 dancers begin walking down a flight of stairs into a horizontal line, facing the audience. Each dancer then breaks into an individual routine, showing their â€Å"battle moves†. In addition to this, the dancers are also seen running around the stage in a circular formation, then breaking into a straddle leap across the stage, onto the ground. Finally, at the end of the dance all 4 dancers are seen in a different pose, then all dropping to the ground. This shows that they had either been defeated or were â€Å"worn out† and tired. After reading the above statements the intention has clearly been successfully conveyed to the audience in both a exiting and ingenious manner. In my opinion â€Å"Twilight† was both an entertaining and creative dance piece to watch. This is achievable by including the amazing use of many lifts, jumps and varied floor patterns. The choreographer also included a lot of movement elements that the dancers did in unison. An example of lifts was when all dancers were in a square shape, and then the 2 females and 2 males branched off into couples. Each couple were then seen to do a lift, down into side splits then up again. Another great element in this piece was the veritable use of jumps and leaps. This was seen at the start of the dance, when all of the dancers bunched up together and one of the females stood up on both of the males backs, jumped up and then landed on the males, they then all collapsed to the ground. Finally the various floor patterns showed many outstanding shapes and levels, which was seen when each dancer ran round the stage and zigzagged through each other. Consequently it is extremely clear that this dance piece is amazingly entertaining and creative to watch. In conclusion, I believe that it is extremely clear that the dance piece â€Å"Twilight† choreographed by Sarah Boulter and danced by Grace, Jesse, Nick and Heath should be included in the Empire Theatres Youth Arts Showcase. This piece should be chosen as it clearly addresses the selected criteria supplied by the committee. The characteristics of contemporary dance are clearly highlighted through the use of Flexed Feet, Gravity (Rise and Fall) and Parallel Movements. These can be seen when the dancers perform movements on different levels, as well as the use of energetic running in parallel and suspended leaps and lifts with flexed feet. The intention of the dance was clearly conveyed through the costumes which showed their characters. Finally the dance was amazingly entertaining to watch. The use of exciting level, directions and floor patterns kept the audience entertained and intrigued, so did the marvellous performance skills of the dancers. Consequently it is clear that this dance piece is the perfect choice for the showcase and therefore should be chosen.

Different Forms Of People Management Commerce Essay

Different Forms Of People Management Commerce Essay At the end of the nineteenth century many workers were employed in the manufacturing sectors, where they had to put in long hours and conditions were often harsh. The welfare state did not exist and no work could mean destitution. However, even in such unenlightened times some employers did value their workers and took on a paternalist role for their employees. Such famous names as Cadbury, Rowntree and Bournville, all chocolate manufacturers, and Lever, a soap manufacturer, all took their employees` welfare very seriously and established the provision of health and education as part of their role as a responsible employer. These enlightened employers tended to be Quakers and were some of the first employers to employ welfare officers. The welfare officers were often women and were concerned not only with visiting sick employees but also with supervising moral welfare. We will take an overview of the state of debate. THE STATE OF DEBATE The question of whether human resource management has the capacity to transform or replace deeply rooted models of personnel management and industrial relations, or could become fully worked-through theory of management, is one that cannot be answered in a simple manner. Human resource management has many cogent critics and many sceptical supporters. Initial criticism which claimed that it was `old wine new bottles` ,the restatement perspective outlined earlier in this chapter, still has strong adherents (Keenoy and Anthony, 1993). Others see it as a version of `the emperor`s new clothes` (Legge, 1989) or a `wolf sheep`s clothing` (Armstrong, 1987) The 1990s have seen a growing sophistication in the nature of the debate involving HRM. One very strong characteristic is the desire on the part of a number of commentators to explore the consequences of implementing HRM techniques for organizations. Thus the nature of the argument now strongly incorporates the concept of HRM outcomes rather than relying largely on descriptions of styles or types of HRM philosophies. Part of this development has been promoted by the realisation that traditional sources of competitive advantage, such as technological supremacy, patents, capital and so forth, are very much less important than they were in a world in which many countries can display equal advantage in at least some of these critical aspects (Pfeffer, 1994). Thus the extent to which an organization can mobilise is internal human resources may hold the key to achievable advantage in the future (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). The general managerial epithet that `people are our greatest asset` is a tried clichÃÆ' ©; what distinguishes the most recent work is its focus on the recourse based model of HRM and the particular mix ofskills and attributes that can be developed and applied to economic performance. Thus Huselid (1995) has argued that high performance work practices have an economically and statically significant impact on such employee outcomes as turnover and productivity and both short- and long-term measures of corporate financial performance. In my opinion is, the importance of HRM as rhetoric that speaks to the concerns of a wide range of stakeholder groups-personnel and line managers, government and academics-should not be underestimated. We will take an overview of the chances in external environmental factors and HR practices and strategies. CHANGE-MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES These are required if organizations are to be effective in developing an innovative and fast moving organisation that keep up with the fast pace of development in a modern society. Organizations need to be adaptable and flexible, which means that policies and objectives need to be place to manage change. Many of the IT industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s need to be adaptable and fast changing to keep up with changes in modern technology. For example, Apple Computers` market share was in decline due to monopoly of the Microsoft windows operating system, but it has reinvented itself with the iPod, and is now leading the way in music technology. Without change management objectives Apple would have found it much harder to respond to rapid changes. For this reason the recruitment, selection and development strategies all need to feed into the change management objectives. Policy formulation and management of change This means using HR policy to identify and manage change in a business environment. This extends from Harward model, which has not identified change effectively to ensure competitiveness. Apple Computers managed to develop the iPod and gain competitive advantage by having policies for managing innovation and change. Nevertheless, these assumptions inform the practices and policies of management, and hence define the organizational and conceptual space that HRM fills and generate the multiple meanings of which HRM is constructed. We shall examine some of them in greater detail shortly. Competing interpretations of organisations and management When we stand back from the concrete world of managing to that of theories about organizations and management, we find that not only have very different interpretations been made overtime, but there exist simultaneously several strongly competing interpretations. Again, we can only skim over this material, but u can pursue the issues by reading, for example, Child (1969), who traces the development of management trough in Britain or Morgan (1986), who examines in a very accessible way eight different metaphors or ways that theorists as well as others have construed organisations. Brunsson (1989) throws a different light on the nature and goals of organising, based on his research in Scandinavian municipal administrations. He suggest that the outputs of these kinds of organizations are `talk, decision and physical products`. He proposes two ideal types of organization that depends on action for its legitimacy. Talk and decisions in the action organization lead to actions, whereas the outputs of the political organization are talk and decisions that may not lead to action. Having now examined some of the choices managers make to deal with the tensions within organizations and some of the competing interpretations offered by theorist of those tensions and choices, we need to stepback even further to become aware of the ways of thinking and of seeing that inform their assumptions. First, however, we shall examine the next layer of the context of HRM. THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN RECOURCE MANAGEMENT Human resource management cannot take place in isolation from the internal organization or the external environment where the political, economic, societal, technological and international context can have an impact on how the organization operates and how HRM is managed within that context. The context (the external and internal environment within which HR operates) within which HR takes place will impact on organizational polices and have implications for the functions of HR. this has been highlighted earlier in the example of the Beardmore conference Hotel, whose flexible benefits reflected the local society and culture as well as the economic environment, where managers recognised the need to attract and retain staff at that time. Context has many layers, which build up to impact on how the organization does business. THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT To operate successfully the organization needs to ask itself the following questions. What business are we in? How can we carry out our business to be as effective as possible and to meet out stakeholders`(identifiable clusters of people who have an economic and/or social interest in the performance of an organization) needs? The organizational context is also influenced by external context; it interacts with its environment and this in turn impacts on HR. for this reason, HR practices need to be designed to reflect the organizational context. However, in a fast-changing working environment this is often difficult to achieve: new technologies are developed, governments and attitudes change policy will, in turn, inform practice but needs to be flexible enough to respond to the influences of the external environment. For example, changes in practise, which in theory has meant a reduction in working hours for some workers. The approaches adopted by managers to resolve the tensions in organizations; The existence of several stakeholders in the employment relationship; Their differing perspectives upon events, experiences and relationships; Their differing aims, interest and needs; The interplay between formal organization and individual potential. These tensions have to be resolved through the process of management, or rather, continuously resolved, for these tensions are inherent in organizations. THE EXTERNAL CONTEXT The external environment influences the external context of the organization. An organization would not be effective if it ignored the external context of politics, economics, society and technology. In London and the south-east of England, there is a shortage of key workers, such as nurses and teachers, and many workers have been employed from abroad to fill the vacancies. For organizations, this means a review of policies to ensure that new workers` needs are considered. On a practical side, new aspect of training may have to be delivered to meet language needs. To do this an organization needs to operate as an open system (system influenced by the external environment and inputs, making it complex and difficult to control), which can change to meet the needs of its external environment. The political context The political context not only refers to the type of government in power at the time, but also, whether the country is democratic or not. In UK the political context changes depending on which political party is in power. In the past, the conservative government has tended to favour the employer over the employee; an example of this was the removal of the minimum wage. Traditional labour governments have focused on the employee and have had close links with the unions. With new labour the lines have become somewhat blurred: although they have reintroduced the minimum wage, they have also formed close links with industry by encouraging public/private partnerships. With every change of government the HR practitioner needs to identify the impact on the organisation and the HR department. The economic context The economic context refers to health of the nation. If business is booming and unemployment is low, it may be harder to find and retain staff. In times of economic decline, unemployment increases and greater choice of labour is available to the employer. However economic decline may also mean that your organisation has to downsize and HR department will than face the dilemma of dealing with redundancies. An organization may also need to answer to shareholders, who expect to see a healthy return on their investment. For the HR professional this could mean developing operations overseas where labour is cheaper, such as prudential moving its call centres to India. It may also mean outsourcing some or all of the functions of HR, as the organization pursues its competitive advantage. An example of outsourcing is discussed in the technology transformation box. The social context the social context refers to the culture, politics ,leadership and management style that influence the organization. An HR manager must be able to identify the culture within which the organization operates. This means he or she needs to recognise and understand the values the organization is trying to promote. However, they also need to understand the culture and society from which their employees are recruited. An HR manager should not underestimate the importance of the social context of business as, in many instances. Businesses have foundered due to a lack of understanding of the culture. Examples are Euro Disney Paris, whose lack of understanding of European culture and its failure to embrace all things American had a serious impact on business. Or, Wal-Mart in Argentina, which failed to understand how the argentines liked to shop, and could not understand why business was not booming in its bright and shiny new supermarkets. CONCLUSIONS HR goes in to decline-outsourcing and downsizing has removed the HR specialist from organisations and placed the HR role with the overworked line manager. The HR function will be closely integrated in to the vision and strategy of the organization and it will continue as it has done in the past, due to the limitations of labour markets, unions, legislation, etc. this implies that it stands still and does not develop. Whatever the view of HR and how it develops in the future, it is important to understand where it has come from and what has influenced it.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Years ago there was a traveler who came upon an old-fashioned pump from which he would have to pump the handle in order to retrieve the water. Beside the pump there was a pitcher full of water, and on the pump there was a sign. The sign instructions were to prime the pump with the water in the pitcher, pump the water for use, and then refill the pitcher. The thirsty man looked at the pitcher, the pump and the sign. He thought to himself, "If I pour this water down the pump, and it doesn't work, I will have no water to drink and it will be wasted. But, if I drink the water, I will be satisfied, but the next traveler will have nothing. We as graduates are like this traveler and we have decisions to make. We have the potential to be contributing members of society -- we are the doctors, nurses, farmers, servicemen and pastors of tomorrow. We can use the water in the pitcher that is like the education and resources this country has given us, and we can prime the pump for others, providing them with the opportunities that we have already been given. We can give back to society with our...

Webster Case

The case suggests that the performance evaluation data (PAS, personnel audit, and the impressions and opinions of the group members) had several problems. From the perspective of the decision-making biases, analyze how the characteristics of the performance data were likely to affect the decisions made by the Carter group. In your analysis, cite specific problems with the data and how they relate to the decision-making biases that we discussed in class.PAS†¢Loss aversion: Webster had a culture that promoted employee loyalty at all costs. â€Å"In more than one instance, Webster had kept an employee long after alcoholism had impaired his or her effectiveness, primarily because of top management’s feeling that the person had no other place to go.† This culture affected the type of feedback granted in the PAS process and skewed the data to show better employee performance on the evaluations than Webster was actually experiencing.†¢Illusion of transparency: Take R ay Pearson as an example, â€Å"Though is performance had been unsatisfactory for at least the last 10 years, he was not given any negative feedback unit the fall of 1974.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Anchoring: Webster rank and file suffered from anchoring in the inflated results of their evaluations. Imagine how Ray Pearson’s would have assessed himself he were not overconfident in his performance (which, unfortunately for Ray, was likely a result of his managers’ unwillingness to give truthful feedback).†¢Sampling on the dependent variable: the participation in the PAS evaluation process is poor at best. It could be possible that – notwithstanding the transparency issues – only the good performers submitted evaluations and the poor performers avoided the process altogether.Personnel audit†¢Illusion of transparency bias: while the audit doesn’t create this bias, Jack Bryant’s process fails to effectively resolve discrepancies between a subordin ate’s perceptions of her performance and her manager’s evaluation of performance.Group opinions†¢Confirmation bias: Again, the group has been immersed in a culture that prioritizes years of service over performance. Cecil Stevens leads the discussion with using seniority as the first criteria to make separation decisions. The group likely confronted confirmation bias towards weighting that criterion more heavily when weighting the other criteria (e.g. performance, potential, etc.).†¢Escalation of commitment: Take for example the counter-intuitive message given to Bob Carter by Ike Davis (superior). â€Å"These men have too much service to be treated as you have proposed.† It seems to me that despite Carter’s reasoned desire to demote individuals, the organization â€Å"doubled-down† on its message of loyalty as the most important consideration in making personnel decisions.