A Single Under Cabinet Light - 1038 Words

A single under-cabinet light in the kitchen provided all of the light in this part of the house. It was a small but orderly place - the area around the front door was lower and still slightly damp from when she had come in. It entered directly into a modest carpeted living area, with carpet and couches on the right, and a kind of lounge on the left, separated from the kitchen further back by a counter. A path in the middle lead further towards a narrow hallway, with doors on the left and right, the latter of which was to the room she had used. There was nothing on the walls besides heavy blue curtains which hung almost floor to ceiling. The chair she currently occupied was soft, clearly not new but clean and in good repair. Looking†¦show more content†¦She evened it out, pushing it out of the window, bringing the temperature of the house down again. There was something else in another room, the one at the end of the hall. It was regular - consistent, like a sphere. Soft all the way through. She shuffled further back into the chair and concentrated. It was consistent on the outside, but inside it was something else, some kind of element or maze of elements. It was inaccessible, visible only through faint densities rolling outward from the center, there was some kind of insulation around it. Inside, it was complex, the heat was moving through the elements in strange paths. It was not arbitrary, there was a pattern - or patterns - quick, rapid, then pulsed, then broken up, representations of something else. Inside, the further in she went, the hotter it was, much too hot, it seemed to twist. She tugged at the heat, but it remained stubborn; the boundaries of its pattern made more clear by her attempts to influence it. It held at fixtures, remained constant within tolerances. She tugged again, suppressing one of the strange elements, and the heat reacted, redirected - but the redirection was physical, mec hanical, it was a physical readjustment, not mechanical one. She drew back, and the element returned to its prior state. The heat did not flow down, the floor beneath the source was almost as cool as the rest of the house. She searched deeper, but nothing else revealed itself, until, litShow MoreRelatedHome Analysis Essay1700 Words   |  7 Pages I live in a three bedroom single family colonial home in urban Detroit. I reside there with my husband and 11-year-old son. My home has three floors; the main floor that is composed of the living room, family room, and kitchen, upstairs floor is composed of bedrooms and the bathroom, and the basement that has a laundry room and sitting area. The outdoors portion of my home has been for the most part well maintained. However there is a 9 #189; inchRead MoreThe Importance of Proper Wine Storage1570 Words   |  6 Pagesbe taken into consideration. 1. Light Wines, especially white wines should not be subjected to excessive amounts of light. Wines should not be stored under direct sunlight and fluorescent lights with ultraviolet light in the wavelength of 325 to 450 nm. Light may adversely react with the chemical compounds in wine and create potential wine faults or defects which often leads to the wine having a lightstruck aroma (or gouts de lumiere – French for tastes of light). A wine with a lightstruck aromaRead MoreOur Retreat Brought Renewal and Hope for Better Days Ahead Essay717 Words   |  3 Pageswindows of our little white and blue, borrowed bus. Miles of twisting roads and pine trees that seemed to pierce the low floating clouds lead us to our retreat house. Gravel crunched beneath our tires, hitting the sides of our bus, creating a rumble under our feet as we pulled up the drive. Great gray boulders outlined planters along the front of the patio and knotted wood planking covered every side of the house. Two cracking trunks stood like guards on either side of the green door, supporting theRead MoreFiber Optic Network For Overall Broadband Systems Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pagestechnologynthat uses light pulses to transfer information from one point tonanother through an optical fiber. The information transmittednis essentially digital information generated by telephone systems, cable television companies, and computer systems. An optical fiber is a dielectric cylindrical waveguide made from low-loss materials, usually silicon dioxide. The core of the waveguide has a refractive index a little higher than that of the outer medium (cladding), so that light pulses is guided k2alongRead MoreSingapore s Upcoming 2020 General Elections Essay1715 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction In light of Singapore’s upcoming 2020 general elections, there are a few changes Singapore’s electoral system should embrace to ensure a more effective electoral process and accurate outcomes. A condition for democracy to occur is to have free and fair elections as it depicts popular choice and control over government. The People’s Action Party (PAP) has dominated the political playing field since 1965 and this resulted in Singapore being known as a model of ‘soft authoritarianism’Read MoreHow A Kitchen Faucet Is Installed1199 Words   |  5 Pagesproject shows how a kitchen faucet is installed. This also can be used for replacing a kitchen faucet. Whenever removing an old faucet remember to shut off the hot and cold water supply to the faucet. There are usually shut-off valves located right under the sink for the hot and cold water. If there are no shut off valves then just shut off the water main and open the hot and cold water to drain the water. Material and Tools: New Kitchen Faucet Small Tube of Silicone Caulking Basin Wrench Read MoreRelease Me from My Prison Essay1718 Words   |  7 Pagesdone in a tan color that contrasted with the short, dark brown carpeting. The desk was made of maple and simply had a computer on top of it along with a phone restricted to inter-office communication. There was a short, grey, three drawer filing cabinets in the corner, a black leather executive chair behind the desk, a maple chair across the desk that matched the desk, and a matching coat rack. The back wall was mostly a window, with a stereotypical office overlook of the park across the road fromRead MoreWinston Churchill Essay1455 Words   |  6 Pagesof Hitler and the Nazis looked to Winston Churchill for leadership. Because of his soldiers training, his historical knowledge, and a statesmans beliefs that had filled his mind for a long time, he considered the burden of leadership to be very light. Many still regard him as the greatest British leader of the last century. Winston Churchill had already demonstrated he had the aptitude for being a leader by holding positions such as serving as a member of parliament, acting as a secretary forRead MoreThe And Its Effects On The Human Body1709 Words   |  7 Pagescirculatory system and a simple nervous system with ganglia in the anterior region of the head that acts as a brain. They have eyespots that can sense light and flaps on their heads that can sense chemicals in the water. They like the dark and exhibit negative photo taxis if exposed to light, which means that they will move away from the light. Planaria can reproduce asexually through transverse fission or sexually. All planaria are hermaphrodites, which means that each animal has both male andRead MoreThe Editing, Use Of Frame And Shot Sizes1368 Words   |  6 Pagesprior to being murdered, his pale face and hyperbolised expression of fear in reminiscent of Edvard Munch s iconic expressionist painting, The Scream . Both of these images portray an immense amount of pain and depict a tortured human soul in a single shot. The tragedy of their worlds reflect the horror and stylised nature of German expressionist artworks and film. One of the most prominent aspects of the German Expressionist film movement is the mise-en-scene, seen particularly in this sequence

Pro Ana Websites Encourage Harmful Behavior - 1273 Words

Eating disorders are common in our society and the internet has become a platform for people with similarities to come together. Women and girls who are anorexic use pro-anorexia, or â€Å"pro-Ana,† blogs and websites to look for tips and inspiration for their lifestyle. The pro-Ana blogs have tips for women who are looking for ways to lose weight, stay skinny, and trick their doctors, friends, and family. Some suggestions are promoting starvation and the misuse of laxatives. Though the websites are not recruiting people, they do reinforce anorexic behavior and praise the disorder. The websites are primarily for those who have already made a choice to commit to the lifestyle for the time being. Anorexia is a serious disorder in which usually a woman, is extremely below average weight, has an intense fear of being fat, and can be starving and misusing laxatives and diuretics. Pro-Ana websites encourage harmful behavior, can misguide people in the need of help, and should be mon itored. Through the scanning of various pro-Ana websites and blogs, it became clear how prominent anorexia nervosa was. Not only how prominent, but how deeply rooted these beliefs are and how extreme some of the practices go. There is a societal pressure in America to push women to be thin and equate thinness with beauty and success. This pressure is enough to drive some women to starve themselves in order to feel accepted and a sense of belonging. Some pro-Ana websites and blogs are often deceivablyShow MoreRelatedGetting Thinspired: The Danger of Pro-Ana Websites952 Words   |  4 Pagesarray of pro-anorexic websites; these sites provide images and advice for those desiring to get thin quickly, resulting in healthy young girls developing life-threatening eating disorders. Pro-ana websites wage war on the developing minds of young girls. These dangerous resources support young girls in their quest for weight loss, though it is not in a positive way. Photos and forums located on th ese websites suggest unhealthy methods in which to achieve thinness. Pro-ana websites provide anRead MoreAnalysis of Eating Disorders Essay2697 Words   |  11 PagesThe rising frequency of teen Internet and social media use, in particular Facebook, has cause parents to lose sight of these websites harmful attributes that lead to eating disorders and extreme dieting. Michele Foster, author of â€Å"Internet Marketing Through Facebook: Influencing Body Image in Teens and Young Adults†, published October 2008 in Self Help Magazine, argues Facebook has become the leading social network for teens and young adults aging 17 to 25 years of age, and is also the age rangeRead MoreBeauty Pageants: Right or Wrong? Essay1558 Words   |  7 Pagescome to prey on young girls, knowing that their parents put them into revealing clothing. 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This widespread illusion is killing the self-esteem of adolescent teens, mostly girls. â€Å"Experts believe that our body image is influenced by media images that tell us we have to look youngRead MoreH2O Can Expand Operations from Germany Into the Us30890 Words   |  124 Pagescompanies are: †¢ Simple HR †¢ HR Net Source †¢ Apex Business Software †¢ Atlas Business Solutions These are a few software companies that cater to small business owners and they also have free tutorial on their website showing what type of programs they have to offer the business. Metrics HRIS System can Produce for the Organization Metrics Are Essential in HR within all major firms all projects, products, and business units are evaluated on the basisRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesOrganizational Behavior This page intentionally left blank Organizational Behavior EDITION 15 Stephen P. Robbins —San Diego State University Timothy A. Judge —University of Notre Dame i3iEi35Bj! Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services:Read MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pagessimple supply/demand issue), advertising (well developed by 1900), or in most cases were simply not yet explored (e.g., customer purchase behavior, importance of distribution partners). Lead by marketing scholars from several major universities, the development of marketing was in large part motivated by the need to dissect in greater detail relationships and behaviors that existed between sellers and buyers. In particular, the study of marketing lead sellers to recognize that adopting certain strategies

Defining Security Free Essays

Defining Security â€Å"Security† comes from a broader subject referred to International Relations which is the study of all political cooperation that occurs between states that have their own government, international organizations with or without government influence, and some wealthy separate individuals. â€Å"Security Studies concerns itself with a sub-set of those political interactions marked by their particular importance in terms of maintaining the security of actor† (Hough 2008: 2). Depending on the emergency of security of an actor will depend how a government or country will act on the security measure. We will write a custom essay sample on Defining Security or any similar topic only for you Order Now For example, concerns relating to health and rights of the people will be at top on the global political agenda compare to other events such as natural disasters or mass killings are rarely seen as security concerns. It might be of importance to the people that these events are happening to, but not to the people not being affected. There are four main paradigms of International Relations that affect issues in security. Those paradigms are Realism, Pluralism, Marxism, and Social Constructivism. Realism is the idea that states should be self-centered, competitive, and should look after themselves and not trust any other states. The state should do anything within its reach to expand its power in wherever possible being in military or economic sectors in order to secure themselves and be at the top. Realists tend to favor governments that separate the high and low politics and best serve the national interest. Low politics such as health issues, welfare, and other issues of that sort should be dealt at a domestic level and is separate from high politics, such as war. The idea globalization in the 60’s and 70’s took International Relations to a different perspective because not only did they have to deal with military power issues but now they had economic power issues to worry about. That’s where Neo-Realism developed. Neo-realism still maintained the self-centered approach on the states but also included the idea to expand their powers beyond the sector of military and focus on to the state’s economy. In addition to Realism, another paradigm that affected issues in security was Pluralism. Pluralism was developed from a group of scholars that believed that Neo-realism had developed far enough from Realism. Pluralists believed that the pursuit of military power and economic power by a state, which was the idea derived from the thinking of Realism was too simple. â€Å"Pluralists, as the term implies, consider that a plurality of actors, rather than just states, exert influence on the world stage† (Hough 2008: 4). Pluralism, which was built from the idea of liberalism, stated that the interests of individuals would be better served in an environment where their own governments would stop controlling their lives. Unlike realism, pluralists thought of â€Å"low politic† concerns as priorities for International Relations. The paradigm of Marxism focused more on economic concerns rather than military or any other power. Marxism viewed globalization to an idea of the past; there was nothing new in the idea of globalization. Globalization was just a different way to demonstrate that the states with large economies would exploit the smaller ones. sort of like the bigger kid bullying the smaller kid. In a Marxist perspective, wars were fought for economic purposes which indicated that military power was used for economic gain instead for security. Social constructivism came into play in the 1990’s after there were many unsatisfied in the other paradigms. Social constructivism â€Å"favors a more sociological approach and advocates a greater appreciation of the cultural dimension of policy making† (Hough 2008: 6). It argued that â€Å"world stage actors† did not follow any type of rational script rather, â€Å"foreign policy reflects parochial ideological or moral guidelines rather than objective gains† (Hough 2008:6). In the wide and narrow conceptions of security, the varied range of threats to humans have changed the whole perspective of international security, which previously had been based just on military based issues. Ullman described that a threat to security was solely based on two factors: the first, any threat that lowered the quality of a states’ people and second, any threat that narrowed the policy choices of any actor of the state. After the Cold War, some traditionalist suggested for security studies to go ‘back to basics’ instead of widening their security measures to â€Å"low politics† issues, they should stick to â€Å"high politics† issues such military threat. â€Å"The widening of security did not undermine the realist logic of conventional security studies. The focus was still on the state system and seeing relationships between states governed by power. Widening was simply extending the range of factors that affect state power beyond the confines of military and trade affairs† (Hough 2008: 8). As for the realist, the ideology stayed the same. The main focus was still in the state’s issues and its people, but as for the widening it, it was just the extension of some issues that affected state’s power, beyond military issues. The deepening of security was driven by pluralists and social constructivists which believed that the concept of â€Å"human security† should be based on the individual’s need that makes up the different groups that exist and not the ‘actors’ issues. With that being said, the Copenhagen School philosophy cannot be resolved by the thought of the pluralists and the social constructivists which shifts the idea of security from the states to the people. â€Å"While accepting the idea that non-military issues can be securitized and that the referent object of this can be something other than a state, maintains the logic that only the state can be the securitizing actor† (Hough 2008: 9). The state would be the only one to determine if the issue that is being securitized is an existential threat and if needs to be acted upon. The securitization of issues must be determined by the state’s government and be prioritized by if it’s a ‘low or high politics’ issue. As mentioned in the book, South Africa was one of the first countries that shifted away from military priority to a health priority. â€Å"The proportion of South Africa’s (GDP) Gross Domestic Product spent on military defense is 1. 5 per cent and the overall proportion on health is 3. percent† (UNDP 2002). Today, military threats in some countries are still their priority but global leaders are still able to balance their military and health expense. In conclusion, â€Å"Security† comes from a broader subject referred to International Relations. The paradigms that affect issues in security are realism, pluralism, Marxism, and social constructivism, having realist b eing the one which has dominated the study of security focuses on military security and to serve the state’s best interest. Although the Marxist idea was to focus more on economic issues instead of military or any other issues, the pluralist and the social constructivist perspective changed the spectrum of international security from what was once solely based on military issues had broaden to other ‘low politics’ issues such as concerns relating to health and rights of the people, so basically shifting the idea of security from the states to the people. In the end, the securitization of issues must be determined by the state’s government and must be prioritized by if it’s a ‘low or high politics’ issue. Workcited Hough, Peter. 2008. Understanding Global Security (2nd Edition). New York: Routledge. â€Å"United Nations Development Programme† http://www. undp. org/ How to cite Defining Security, Essay examples

Memoir Taylors Darkness Essay Example For Students

Memoir Taylors Darkness Essay Cigarette smoke has always been a comforting smell to me. My grandfather smoked for 50 out of the 75 years of his life, and he was what I associated that smell with; which was safety, love, and comfort. But, as this disgusting specimen blew his cheap menthol smoke into my direction I wasnt comforted. I was forced to stand by the door, and watch Taylor move all of her stuff into boxes, while this idiot rambled on about the stupid landlord, and everyone else being the problem. I had been to this place many times. It was our crash spot after parties so our parents wouldnt find out we had been drinking. In the morning, when they had left for work, we would all go back to our normal suburban life, and sleep until the next party. All of us, except Taylor. She lived in that crash spot. No parenting, no rules, no curfew; we all told her she had the perfect situation. Little did we know, it was all vacant. Freedom always comes with a price, and no one understood that better than her. But now, that crash spot was being taken away, her whole life ripped out from under her because of a stupid financial mistake. And her home on Anderson Street was moving all the way to Fort Worth, then later Michigan. However, she wasnt invited to the final crash spot with her former family in Michigan, and all of a sudden, I gained a new roommate, a sister, and a best friend. It was really hard trying to understand why Taylor was the way she was. We were polar opposites. Me, the average middle class white kid that lived with overbearing parents and a spoiled rotten younger sibling; and Taylor, the tossed around lower class black girl with a rotten attitude and a tendency to show up to class stoned. I dont know how we managed to come together, but something connected us in a way no one will ever understand. We formed a group, her and I. We were full of rebellious teenagers trying to fill a void with drugs and alcohol. What that void was from, I still dont know. But we bonded, nonetheless. And who I thought I was would change the day she moved in with me. I was excited; I had always wanted a sister. My brother never wanted to talk to me, and I never got to have that kind of a bond with anyone. Sure, it was a little cramped sharing an eight foot by ten foot room with someone, but I wanted to make it work. And hell, she was my best friend right? It would be like a slumber party every night of the week, we would be able to do homework together, nothing would slow us down. We had all the same friends, it would be fun right? Weve never fought before, so what could go wrong? Slowly, but surely, our differences decided to catch up with us. Our daily routines, the way we do laundry, what time we go to bed and what time we wake up, all decided to rub together and cause a big irritation that spread around the house. I’m a sensitive soul, everything I do I try to do to make people happy. Taylor, on the other hand, could not care less about what anyone thought or thinks about her. She does things to make herself and the people she cares about happy, and anyone that tries to get in her way, she takes down as quickly as they tried to stand up. One thing that tended to make Taylor happy, or at least dilute her feelings temporarily was alcohol. She had a strong aching for it all throughout high school, and quite a few times, brought me down that road with her, and put us both in a good amount of danger. .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .postImageUrl , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:hover , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:visited , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:active { border:0!important; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:active , .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1 .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ucdb3e2540d54bf2e3edb7f8bf1942dd1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Meliville Sophocles Discussion EssayI liked to drink, because it drowned out the pressure I felt every day from my mother as she was vicariously living through me. Medical school, scholarships, perfection, were all topics I had to be lectured about daily so I wouldnt turn out like her; the school teacher married to a redneck with a drinking problem in the same boring job he would have for the rest of his life. That was her opinion she portrayed about herself unfortunately. I thought that we had it pretty good. We loved each other, we took care of each other, and we didnt have to worry much about whether we were going to make it or not. But that never seemed to be enough. A lot of pressure has been dumped on me. Everyone seems to think that they need something better than they already have. They dont appreciate what they have while they have it. Taylor needed to drink. She needed to escape from herself, and I was beginning to see that. She had a dark past, but a really bright future she was creating aside from the incessant drinking and smoking she was doing. As soon as I realized what was really happening, and what we were doing to our chances at a better future, I tried to be the influence that would bring her to see that she is so much better than her past, and she didnt need those things to be a successful person. For a while, and the year and a half that she was living with us, it worked. We went to school, the occasional party, but mostly we did what we needed to do to get ourselves through school, and be successful. In the end, Taylor’s darkness dominated the positive influence I had put upon her. My functional yet dysfunctional family life was too â€Å"boring† for her, and this summer she distanced herself from us, and left the life we had tried to give her for something that she thought better suited her. Sometimes I blame myself for not telling her how much we truly loved her, and how much she meant to us. But truly, the miscommunication was in our personalities, and in our souls. We are two different people, with two different goals for ourselves.

Lego Technic Essay Example

Lego Technic Essay LEGO the well-know children’s building system has been around for a long time and in an age when new toys come and go with astonishing rapidity and technology- based toys like video games are reaching impressive heights of sophistication, it might be difficult to understand the enduring market appeal of these basic building blocks.. Well the answer is that LEGO has changed with the market and the company, currently owned by the founder’s randson Kjeld Kirk Christiansen, continues to invest large sums around the world to understand changes in children’s tastes and to explore new product developments based around its mission ‘to inspire children to explore and challenge their own creative potential’. The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of two Danish words â€Å"leg godt†, meaning â€Å"play well†. The company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932. It is now the world’s sixth largest manufacturer of toys, with i ts head office in Billund, Denmark, branches throughout the world and some 5000 employees its products are sold in more than 130 countries.The traditional interlocking LEGO brick has twice been named toy of the century by Fortune Magazine then by the British Association of Toy Retailers, although in its present form it was launched in 1958. Approximately 17. 8 billion LEGO bricks and other components are made every year. However the product range is now far wider than the basic brick with ‘classic’ products like LEGO DUPLO, LEGO CITY, LEGO TECHNIC being constantly upgraded and added to with concepts like LEGO MINDSTORMS (robot building sets).There are theme based products like LEGO Harry Potter, Spiderman 2, Bob the Builder and Star Wars, introduced under licence and there are brand new products like CLIKITS and BIONICLES. BIONICLES allows children to construct action figures like knights and to develop a detailed online world into which they can be placed to play throu gh a story. LEGO have also moved into different market segments. LEGO BELVILLE is aimed at young girls, allowing them to construct scenes from everyday life and, more recently, moving into the world of fairy tale with princesses, fairies and butterflies. These developments have evolved hrough four ‘eras’: the first was the developing construction and building as the central elements in play; in the second the LEGO products gained motion through wheels, small motors and gears; role play formed the third era, when LEGO figures were born; and the fourth era introduced intelligence and behaviour. Alongside this LEGO has developed numerous ‘play themes’ for all their products such as fire station, police, airport, knights, castle and racing cars. There are also four LEGOLAND theme parks around the world in Denmark, England, Germany and California, USA with a LEGOLANDDiscovery Centre opened in Berlin in 2007. Strategic partnerships have played an important part i n recent innovations. In 1984, before digital development really took off, LEGO entered into a partnership with Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. By blending physical and virtual worlds into an integrated play universe, the company came up with new products. LEGO TECHNIC Computer Control was the first tangible product of the partnership, launched in 1986. This paved the way to the introduction in 1998 of LEGO MINDSTORMS, integrating robot technology 2008 Professor Pal Burns. Extract from: Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization (2nd Edition), Paul Burns, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. with LEGO constructions systems and enabling children to create and programme intelligent LEGO models. LEGO, in partnership with a US non-profit organisation called FIRST (‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’), have established FIRST LEGO League, a worldwide tournament in which children compete by designing their own robots and participate in a series of scientific and mathematical or technical projects.The 2006 version, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, allows children to build and programme a robot that can see, hear, speak, feel and move in just half an hour. The company’s web site LEGO. com is more than just a showcase for the company’s products, it allows children to play games, enjoy stories and undertake activities. It is important because stories spur children to play games. Over 25% of toy sales are now related to movies or TV series and, since none to date have featured LEGO parts, it is important for the company to be able to inspire children through its own communication medium.In 2006 the web site was one of the top 25 ‘Lifestyles and children’s websites’ in the USA, building a virtual community of LEGO enthusiasts. LEGOfactory. com even allows children to build virtual LEGO models, exhibit it in a virtual gallery and then order the parts, if they wan t. Concept and product development take place primarily at the company’s headquarters in Billund at the Concept Centre. This creative core is made up of 120 designers representing about 15 nationalities, most having trained at Art school. The company also has what it calls ‘listening posts’ – otherwise known as Concept Labs in Munich,Barcelona, Los Angeles and Tokyo. At these Labs children from four very different countries are encouraged to try out different combinations with the same LEGO pieces and create worlds of their own, which the company can incorporate into it’s ‘play themes’. The Labs try to spot trends in children’s play, understand the motivations behind this and to translate them into what it means for the company and new product development – effectively trying to systematically understand children’s’ creativity by observing them at play. The Labs also take an active role in the product concep t and early development phase of any new product.Visit the company web site on www. lego. com to see some of the features described in this case. Questions 1. If you were in charge of LEGO what would you want the Concept Centre and its Labs to find out and how would you set about getting that information? 2. How important are strategic alliances? How do they influence innovation? 3. With whom does the company develop relationships? What role do they serve and how are they developed?  © 2008 Professor Pal Burns. Extract from: Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization (2nd Edition), Paul Burns, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Online Bookselling through Amazon Essay

Online Bookselling through Amazon Essay Online Bookselling through Amazon Essay Online Bookselling through Amazon Essay The popularity of online book selling by Amazon has spread rapidly since last two decades all over the world. Relevant digital growth driven by information technology has also been assisting Amazon to become one of the best online sellers of a large variety of books stored. After a long period of Internet development, which rapidly increase the number of web users due to availability of high speed internet, some new technologies have also come into existence and enabled Amazon to promote online bookselling through the web site. Hence, detailed information of books and enhanced delivery services have attracted a large proportion of people to change their consumer behaviour from the traditional way of shopping for books and made them rely more on online shopping. Amazon was the first company to take the lead in the Internet shopping because the company realised that the transformation of the consumer behaviour is unavoidable trend. Thus, the company developed new marketing strategies a ccording to needs of consumers. Recent researches indicate that online shopping, especially in the context of books, has increased tremendously; and Internet shopping has become more popular among a large number of audiences. The paper aims to identify various factors, which drive consumers to buy books from Amazon, as well as to determine the perceived benefits from internet shopping. Besides, this paper also documents some critical factors that have influenced buyers to switch from brick and mortar stores and obtain books from Amazon.com. Internet Shopping Development of Amazon Several factors contribute to a rapid growth of online shopping for books through Amazon, which is primarily because of the benefits that the company offers. First of all, Amazon provides a large variety of facilities to consumers for shopping books. With the growth of information technology, consumers do not need to search for books in brick and mortar stores as the Internet assists them to search information from online sites, and it also enables them to evaluate various websites in order to find and buy books at the cheapest price. Buyers prefer to buy books from Amazon because the company helps them in availing services more effectively than other procurement channels. With the help of the different search engines, consumers save their time in assessing consumer-related information, which provides a mixture of sound, images and processed text description, thus assisting consumer learning and selecting the most suitable books that satisfy their needs. Although the internet shopping continues to develop rapidly, especially in the case of the book industry, there still exists a vast difference between online and traditional bookstores. For instance, traditional bookstores offer convenience in shopping and parking, which enables people to visit and read different texts and select a book of their choice, check the quality of literature in books before they buy, and the after sales service is also available to customers. However, traditional bookstores do not stock huge variety of books and their selling price is usually higher than those of online booksellers. By comparing, it can be observed that limitations for traditional bookstores serve as advantages for Amazon, whilst the weaknesses of online bookstore serve as advantages for traditional bookstores. Somehow Amazon continues to encounter challenges arising from the external environment because internet shopping of books also reflects potential risks for the customers, such as safety of payment and after sales service. With the development of the internet technology, online payments have recently become a convenient way for purchasing products from the Internet. Internet payment expands consumption efficiency while at the same time its virtual property reduces the security. After sales service is another drawback of Amazon, which deters consumers from shopping for books from them because of location of their virtual shops worldwide. In addition, Amazon’s limited structure does not enable consumers to file complaints or replace books in case of any defects. It is not like traditional retail store where products and services give a sense of security of after sales services to consumers. Hence, customers face greater risks, especially in case of buying some highly-priced books . Amazon.com – The Road to Market Leadership Company Portrait Amazon.com, a Fortune 500 company, incorporated in the year 1994 in Washington and reincorporated in 1996 in Delaware, went online in July 1995. The founder, Jeff Bezos, had an ambition to evolve Amazon.com into one of the largest customer-friendly one-stop shop on the Web. In November 1999, Amazon.com projected market capitalization of $31.4 billion, 12 million of loyal customers, 18 million items on sale, recorded sales of $1.4 billion in 1999, and became the most trusted brand name in e-commerce business. Amazon.com has a strong ambition to become online super mall of choice for online shoppers by providing incomparable books and services. Its secret of success involves innovative techniques driven by â€Å"customer obsession† and capability to offer an enjoyable and secure online shopping experience, but its dominance is because of customer fulfilment processes that deliver results. A cautiously orchestrated and skilfully executed â€Å"sell all, stock few† strategy demonstrates Amazon’s success with e-tail customer requirement. Amazon business consists of Baker Taylor and Ingram Book Group, the two largest book wholesalers in United States, and dozens of other smaller companies. In the year 1998, Amazon received 60% of its books supply through Ingram, which conducts its business operations through seven strategically located warehouses in the United States. The Amazon Company pays Ingram a wholesale price including a few percentages above the publisher’s price for its shipping services. In 1999, Amazon.com launched six self-managed new automated distribution outlets in the United States in addition to its two centres already functioning in Delaware and Seattle. The aim is to fight sharp decline in margins, for example, by sourcing books directly from publishers, reducing dependence on Ingram and other publishers, and extend its overall con trol over online fulfilment process to attain competitive advantage. Effective management control system enables Amazon to deliver books same or next day to its customer all over United Kingdom, as well as most of the European countries. During the holiday season in 2009, Amazon sent packages in excess of 14 million to customers, which is more than any other mail-order retailer or e-tailer in the country. The leadership of Amazon in customer fulfilment networking has proved a pivotal role in its success as the holder of the largest online shopping mall in the Web world. Book Retailing: Barnes Noble vs. Amazon During the launch of Amazon, the book industry was extremely fragmented and scattered with the single largest retailer of books, Barnes Noble projecting 12% of the total volume of book sales in the United States. Barnes Noble operated its outlets as megastores on a covered area of 6000m2, stocking more than 185,000 titles in mall-based stores. Although they were smaller in area and selection of books was also limited, but the company provided mail-ordering service through catalogues. Barnes Noble operated a centralized distribution and logistics base that helped leverage economies of scale in the sourcing of books directly from publishers, receiving higher discounts than other book sellers, and avoiding high mark-ups from wholesalers. The centralized system of stockholding helped in shipping books to customers within two to three days, thereby avoiding delivery delays from publishers. BN also established an electronic system in store management that enabled exchange of accurate an d timely information among its stores and efficient co-ordination between distribution facilities and wholesalers with access to the 3.0M title database. Amazon redefined traditional book selling by adopting a radically different approach: towards online selling. Traditional book retailing has several drawbacks. The selection of books is physically restricted by the availability of limited store space. Traditional book retailers must invest in real estate, inventory, and qualified staff for each retail store, and it is not feasible to offer a customized store for each and every customer or offer customized recommendations without significantly increasing selling costs. E-commerce book retailers possess the benefits of centralized inventory management system and low occupancy costs. An online company can target a large and global group of the audience from a single central location, enabling extremely efficient business model. Tracking consumer purchasing behaviour enables businesses to anticipate demand in order to offer personalized services, for example, customized storefronts. Amazon has been successful in offering more than 1M titles in its database, but it maintains only 20,000 of them in its own warehouse. In contrast to BN, Amazon.com procures its books mainly from wholesalers because the company does not stock large volumes of books even though deliveries from publishers require weeks to arrive. In contrast, book wholesalers possess the capability to ship most orders within a couple of days. In comparison to BN’s centralized stock sourcing strategy, Amazon’s just-in-time sourcing strategy increases inventory and minimises working capital (see figure 1) to increase gross margins. Amazon Strategy to Increase Book Sales Amazon has the advantage of a negative operating cycle: the company receives the payment by credit cards usually within a few hours of buying, but payments to suppliers are usually done forty-five days laterfrom the date of sale. Besides, Amazon does not maintain an inventory system for many of the products it sells; instead it depends on a fast delivery from suppliers; thus, it shifts inventory risks to its suppliers. Amazon shows an operating cycle of around -20 days while the traditional book retailing operating cycle is usually around more than 80 days. Hence, Amazon generates interest on the full sale price, cost of goods and gross margin for over a month (see figure 2). Operating Cycle of Amazon.com Amazon’s business model includes informational elements such as a virtual storefront with physical elements of operations. The sales strategy of Amazon focuses highly on investment in information technology with a strong emphasis on software instead of hardware; its operations are practically restricted to packing and shipping most of the time. The company’s core value propositions for purchasing books over the Internet include selection, price, convenience, and efficient customer service. Amazon’s web store works online 24 hours 7days and offer supplementary services to viewers, such as book reviews, customers’ feedback and recommendations. Amazon owns an immense database of 1.25M books in comparison to 185,000 books in the largest superstores. Customers of Amazon can use the database search function to find even most rarely available and certain out-of-print titles, which becomes possible due to filtering by different search criteria. Amazon has also achieved popularity in competitive pricing by offering discounts equivalent to those offered by large book stores (see figure 3). Comparison of Book Pricing The company has simplified online shopping for books through the simplest checkout procedure, which BN could not realize at the time it launched own online business in 1997. By that time, Amazon was successfully taking over a strong leadership position in online book selling and controlled more than 73% of all book sales on the internet. Amazon volume of sales showed a tremendous increase of 838% from $15.7 million in 1997 to $147.8 million in 1998, while customer accounts had shown a growth of 738% from 0.18M to 1.5M during the same period. Aims and Objectives The objectives of current case study are: To find out the factors that encourages consumers to buy books from Amazon. To find out whether consumers are satisfied with the quality of books offered by Amazon. To find out whether consumers compare features of books such as prices, content, bibliography with its competitors before arriving at final decision. Data Collection and Analysis The researcher adopted quantitative technique and conducted a short research by posting a questionnaire to frequent online buyers of books from UK and China to analyse the popularity Amazon book service. The number of emails sent to UK respondents stood at 78, and 12,740 emails were posted to China. Many emails did not receive a response because such email addresses were invalid and also no longer were in use or were ignored. As such, only 826 respondents sent duly filled questionnaire, which included 47 from the UK and 779 from China that were valid for research before proceeding to analysis. Brief Analysis of Amazon Online Book Selling The next process chooses appropriate responses wherein respondents have been asked to answer the following questions regarding shopping for books from Amazon. Within this research chose 41 out of 47 questionnaires from United Kingdom and 585 out of 779 questionnaires from China were chosen for analysis. What kind of goods do you purchase from Amazon.com? This question holds significance for Amazon.com as it might assist them to analyse Customer needs in order to design future marketing strategies. The books listed are the most preferred on the Internet and books are the most popular products on Internet shopping in the United Kingdom that scores highest 40% and hotel/travel booking 24% respectively, followed by software (13%) and CD/Video (11%). The comparison of shopping for books with other products is also necessary to demonstrate a clear picture of increasing demand for books from Amazon.com. The three types of products such as books, followed by computer accessories and CD/Video are more popular with UK respondents whereas Chinese respondents score 34% with respect to buying books, followed by CD/Video and Computer accessories from Amazon.com as shown in Figures 4 and 5 below. Reasons for shopping on Amazon.com? The purpose of this question is to examine what encourages customers to purchase books from Amazon.com, and what factors motivate them or arouses their needs. As seen in both Figures 6 and 7, most of the respondents agreed that shopping for books from Amazon saves their money and time since they can find a large database of books from various famous authors. Besides, they can find bestseller lists of famous authors that include wide range of bibliography with several features, quick registration for personalized services, read and post reviews, engage in promotions, and check order status online. The customers appreciate prime components of Amazon’s Website such as browsing, searching, content previews, personalization and recommendation, one-click technology, secure in payments by credit card, availability of books, and commitment. Only few respondents felt that the Internet shopping from Amazon offer convenient, simpler, easier and efficient shopping environment. It also shows that customers demand high quality books from Amazon.com to fulfil their needs. Which books have attracted popularity and best-selling since last year? The researcher selected a sample of 45 latest books in disciplines such as science, fiction, mystery and thrillers, biographical, romance, religion, history, and literature from Amazon and asked respondents for their reviews and feedback. The 28 books shown in Table 1 received maximum scoring and favourable votes and secured the highest percentage of favourable votes on top among the buyers from the UK and China. The next section compromises of two questions: Do you use the Internet to search for product information before purchasing, (whether from Amazon or any other store)? Do you compare prices of Amazon with other websites prior to making your purchase decision? The first two questions are primarily to find out how many respondents prefer the Internet for searching information, and how it assists them prior to placing their order with Amazon. From the results, almost all of respondents stated that they prefer to search information before buying books that satisfy their requirements from Amazon. Approximately 95% of them indicated their preference to compare prices from various websites. Nearly 35% of respondents from the United Kingdom are more concerned about the author’s name and content offered by Amazon. However, more than 55% of respondents from China gave preference to lower prices as the main reason to shop from Amazon.com. live CHAT Summary of the Case Study The fast development of World Wide Web (WWW) and information technologies in the past decade has led to an enormous growth of E-Commerce all over the world. The example of Amazon success in a short period endorse this statement as the number of customers purchasing books from Amazon consistently grows, whereas traditional stores face declining sales. This feature of the Internet in the business world has opened another important marketing channel for many firms. The findings of current research suggest that Amazon has to improve the quality of services to attract customers and at the same time offer better products or services that fit the customer’s needs. This study has analysed the factors that help consumers to shop for books from Amazon and examines its strategy leading to competitive advantage in the online book industry. To a large extent Amazon has been successful in impacting brick and mortar stores by offering quality books of latest renowned authors around the World various topics, thus providing customers with a wide range of options to select from and buy books of various authors for their research, studies, and entertainment. Yet, consumers are not satisfied with the level of information provided on the Amazon website since abstract and bibliography are insufficient to evaluate the contents of the books and not all books are available for preview.

Diabetes Management in Primary Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Diabetes Management in Primary Care - Essay Example It is evident, that paying more attention to the way the management of diabetes is performed, may play for the benefit of the patient in the following ways: As diabetes is one of the most common diseases in the world, and is often hereditary, affecting people of all ages, social and other statuses, this chronic disease should acquire new approach in its primary care. Diabetes mellitus is caused by a deficiency of, or insensitivity to, the hormone insulin, resulting in an inability to control the use and storage of glucose - blood glucose levels therefore rise.   There are two main types of diabetes:    Type 2 diabetes, previously referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), which results from a relative deficiency of, or insensitivity to, insulin and is more commonly diagnosed over the age of 40. In managing diabetes, especially in its primary care stage, it is essential to remember about the meticulous metabolic control, which is one of the principal ways of preventing the possible complications of diabetes, or at least delaying them. It is, of course, understood, that the bigger portion of these complications may be prevented at the early stage in case they are detected in time and are managed in the proper way. The aims of the primary care in diabetes may be defined in the following way. The main aim of any care system in relation to diabetes, or any other chronic disease, is to provide people suffering from this disease with chances to live quality life as well as to reduce the complications. The keys to achieve these aims are in metabolic control, which should be performed on the constant basis with deep analysis of the received results, as well as the maintenance of the normal glucose level in blood to prevent the complications of diabetes. Any metabolic crises should be avoided. In managing

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Media - Essay Example Today more than 250 million people accesses Facebook. Twitter also has more than 14 million users, and YouTube is viewed by 100 million viewers every month (Zarrella, 2010, p. 1). These statistics data show that a huge chunk of the population is attached with the social media; and if this opportunity is not utilized, it’s a total waste. This paper highlights legal requirements for social media marketing with special reference to Facebook. The Legal components for Social Media Marketing The huge popularity of the social media outlets has made the economists recognize and tap the market by appealing their products and services through these websites. As faster the website grows, the words spread quicker. Many of the marketers have utilized the social media in order to generate attention, promotion and exposure of their brands. But while utilizing the social media, the companies should have a sound knowledge of the legal system and requirement. Trademark and Copyright Issue While using the social media outlets for promoting their brands, the companies should protect their trademark and copyright. Since such a marketing leads to informal and impromptu communication on real time basis, the copyright and trademarks of the company may fall under third party abuse. To avoid this, company should regularly monitor the social media platform to ensure that there is no misuse of the intellectual property. There are special services that monitor the profile or consumer names that are alike to the company’s name or brand. Facebook has provided instructions for submitting takedown notice that relates to â€Å"allegedly copyright infringing content† (Steinman & Hawkins, 2010, p. 3) that comes under the â€Å"Federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act† (Steinman & Hawkins, 2010, p. 3). Deceptive and misleading Contents The law treats the social media marketing and the traditional marketing in the same way. The law states that promotion of any type of de ceptive or unfair practice is unlawful. The law prohibits any type of deceptive conduct like â€Å"advertising misleading price comparisons, rebates or sweepstakes promotions† (Steinman & Hawkins, 2010, p. 4). In 2009, there was a lawsuit for deceptive content against Zynga, which provides games in Facebook. Though it was proved that a third party marketer was responsible for deceptive advertising, but still both Facebook and Zynga were made liable for this act. Being a smart marketer, one has to be careful about such incidents. Terms and conditions of the social Media Social networking websites have their own terms and conditions regulating the advertising and commercial practices that are conducted on the websites like â€Å"consumer sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways† (Steinman & Hawkins, 2010, p. 5). The marketer has to be aware of the terms and conditions and has to act accordingly. The social networking sites often change these rules. One has to strictly monito r them. Facebook prohibits uploading of contents that infringes the right of the third party. Privacy and data security Since through social media, a brand’s product and services get promoted, this may raise an issue of security and privacy. It is important for the marketer of the company to be aware of these issues and take appropriate measures in order to minimize exposure to liabilities related to collection, maintenance and use of data. Facebook has its own privacy policies that regulate the use of third party conduct and consumers

Enviromental issues (carbon footprints) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Enviromental issues (carbon footprints) - Essay Example According to the American Meteorological Society (AMS, 2007), the direct human impact on the climate change is through the enhanced concentration of trace gases such as carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and water vapor which, collectively, are known as the greenhouse gases. With the enhanced amounts of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, the infrared radiation emitted by the earth and its atmosphere is blocked by the thickening blanket of greenhouse gases, resulting to increased warmth in the earth’s temperature in its attempt to equalize the incoming and outgoing flows of energy. AMS (2007) further reports that Carbon dioxide (CO₂) accounts for about half of the human-induced greenhouse gas contribution to global warming since the latter part of 1800s. CO₂ concentration has been increasing mainly from fossil fuel burning and partly from clearing of vegetation. Significant part (50%) of the increased CO₂ emissions remains in the atmosphere, while the rest of the earth absorbs continually the remaining 50%. Interestingly alarming is that the atmospheric CO₂ concentration has been increasing at a much faster rate than any other observed in the past several thousand years’ geological record. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF, 2009) reports that around 97 percent of the CO₂ emitted by the western industrialized nations is mainly coming from burning coal, oil and gas energy. The western industrialized nations spew into the atmosphere approximately 25 billion metric tons of CO₂ each year, which is enough to cause temperature build-up that seriously disrupts the world climate’s natural balance. As the scientific community continues to understand, monitor and discover things about the environmental changes happening around the globe, it also tries to translate scientific discoveries into

Monetary Rewards On Employee Performance Commerce Essay

Monetary Rewards On Employee Performance Commerce Essay Workplace performance motivators contain both monetary as well as non-monetary rewards. Monetary rewards may be varied whereas having a same effect on workers. This study aims to investigate the impact of monetary and non monetary rewards for the performance of employees in a company. Monetary reward in modern society is the most transferable means of satisfying fundamental requirements (Kohn, 2009). Physiological satisfaction, protection and social requirements may only be attained with money. The impact of non-monetary rewards on performance entails that control systems may be more efficient and competent by taking into consideration non-monetary rewards. Particularly, logical justifications help organizations by motivating better performance than illogical explanations and by raising the recognized justifiability of bonuses when the bonuses stand for the significance of the jobs The study will recognize the performance of employees and its relation with monetary and non monetary rewards, if any which are presently militating against the smooth functions of the company in area of its job performance and efficiency that management find helpful for future development. Table of content Introduction 1 Hypothesis 1 Research Questions 2 Aims and objectives 2 Literature review 2 Methodology 6 Discussion 7 Conclusion 8 Reference 10 Introduction Managers are always looking for ways to create a motivational environment in which associates (workers) to work at their best levels to achieve organization goals. Workplace performance motivators contain both monetary as well as non-monetary rewards. Monetary rewards may be varied whereas having a same effect on workers (Lynch, 2003). An example of monetary rewards is mutual funds given by organizational pension plans or insurance programs. As it has been proposed that employees, depending on their age, have diverse requirements relating to rewards, traditional rewards packages are being changed with alternatives for attracting younger employees (Nelson, 2009). This study aims to investigate the impact of monetary and non monetary rewards for the performance of employees in a company (Kohn, 2009). The study will also emphasize the importance of monetary and non monetary rewards in the organization. It is expected that this study will help business enterprises in their functions as well as facilitate them to use rewards schemes which would optimize the output and performance of their business functions (Zigon, 2008). The study will recognize the performance of employees and its relation with monetary and non monetary rewards, if any which are presently militating against the smooth functions of the company in area of its job performance and efficiency that management find helpful for future development (Kepner, 2010). Hypothesis Hypothesis has been formulated below: Organizations monetary and non monetary rewards programs have a huge impact on the employees job performance as well as the productivity and development of the company. Research Questions To what degree is the efficiency, adequately relevance of these rewards to the whole performance of employees? To what degree are these different kinds of rewards set up by the companies? To what extent is the rewards bring about achievement of job satisfaction and motivation of the employees? How management may use rewards to persuade workers to improve and increase productivity? What are the rewards considered by employees to be non-monetary rewards? Aims and objectives To look at the extent to which these rewards bring about achievement of job satisfaction and employees performance. To analysis the efficiency, adequacy and significance of these rewards programs to the overall performance of individual employee or group of employees. To inspect the extent the company is attaining its goals for administering these rewards. Literature review People work so as to satisfy their requirements and these requirements may be met by monetary rewards. Monetary rewards are refund in cash and in form of money for a given work done by workers in the company (Hansen, 2010). Workers would go any level to enhance their cash income as they will do something to avoid their source of income from being removed. The fact that workers fear to lose their jobs, cash has been a very efficient motivator only because money is necessary for continued existence in an economy (Dunham, 2009). Monetary reward in modern society is the most transferable means of satisfying fundamental requirements (Kohn, 2009). Physiological satisfaction, protection and social requirements may only be attained with money(Kepner, 2010). The effort-to-performance expectation is sturdily persuaded by the performance assessment which is frequently part of the reward system. A worker is probable to use extra effort if he or she understands that performance will be assessed, appraised, and rewarded. The expectancy of performance-to-outcome is influenced by the level to which the worker thinks that performance will be followed by rewards (Allen, 2007). Lastly, every reward or potential reward has to some extent different value for every individual. An individual can want a promotion more than reimbursement; somebody else can want only the opposite (Nelson, 2009). When a company rewards a whole work group or team for its performance, collaboration among the members typically enhances. Though, competition among different teams for rewards may cause decline in whole performance under definite situations. The most general team or group rewards are plans of gain sharing, where worker teams which meet certain objectives share i n the gains measured against performance targets (Shutan, 2010). Frequently, programs of gain sharing emphasize on quality enhancement, reduction of cost, and other quantifiable results (Kepner, 2010). Despite the positive role monetary rewards have played, employees have a tendency to have different approach and a manner towards money rewards (Hansen, 2010). The most general of the different reaction to salary and wages by employees is that once it crosses lowest levels, it is regarded as a measure of fairness. (Kohn, 2009) posited non-monetary rewards as extreme benefits made accessible to staff and are regarded as an addition to salaries and wages. It contains direct as well as indirect reimbursement (Shutan, 2010). The direct reimbursement can contain profit-sharing, illness pay, pension plans, and so on (Kerachsky, 2009). The indirect reimbursement can include welfare services, social as well as recreational facilities, etc. Pay, if merely it could be correctly packaged would someway lead to the desired approach to work. Perception of employee of his pay with respect to other employees of same position could influence the satisfaction, which he obtains from the job. The aim of monetary rewards is to reward workers for outstanding performance through money (Nelson, 2009). Monetary rewards contain profit sharing, stock options, and project bonuses, scheduled and warrant bonuses (Allen, 2007). The aim of non-monetary rewards is to reward employees for brilliant job performance by opportunities. Non- monetary rewards contain training, flexible work hours, satisfying work environment and vacations. Employees encounter issues, disturbances, and dissatisfactions in their environment of work where certain rewards are de-emphasized. So as to increase and improve the rewards of employees, trade unions serve as a way of developing the terms and conditions for workers, enhance rewards rates, raise employees status, protect members against unjust practices and also struggle for protection of service (Kepner, 2010). Trade union Act 1990 offers that worker has a right to get all employment benefits which are stated in documents of service, containing the offer letter, and the condition of service and in joint agreement (Kerachsky, 2009). A stability of monetary and non- monetary rewards must be employed to satisfy the different requirements and interests of workers. Monetary rewards persuade fulfillment rather than risk taking since most rewards depend only on performance and discourage workers from being innovative in their place of work. Apart from these kinds of strategies of performance, reward system of an organization is its most fundamental tool for dealing with employee performance (Allen, 2007). Reward system of an organization is the formal as well as informal systems by which workers performance is described, assessed, and rewarded (Kohn, 2009). Organizational reward may influence performance, manners, activities, and motivation. Therefore, it is significant for organizations to recognize and appreciate obviously their significance. Though employee attitudes like satisfaction are not a main determinant of job performance, they are however essential (Kepner, 2010). Extrinsic rewards affect satisfaction of e mployee, which, sequentially, plays a chief role in verifying whether an employee reward system (Zigon, 2008). The formal and informal systems by which performance of employee is identified, appraised, and rewarded will remain on the job or search for a new job (Kerachsky, 2009). Reward systems also affect patterns of attendance and absence; if rewards are based on real performance, employees have a tendency to work hard to get those rewards. Methodology This chapter contains imminent into the research design and strategy for the study. It emphasizes on what to study, how to study and when to study; the main objective of the study is to monitor the management of total quality and examine techniques in business environment. Research Design Basically, field study approach survey will be applied for this study due to its weird nature. Though, questionnaires will be the main tool to collect data for this study. The questionnaires will be prepared carefully and simply designed so as to make sure simple answering; to get reliabilities in responses of respondents and at same time to remove uncertainty and suspension. Meanwhile, secondary research will also been used in this study. Secondary research is frequently less expensive than surveys and is very efficient in getting information regarding communications needs of peoples and their responses to and vision about particular communications. It is frequently the technique of choice in cases where quantitative measurement is not necessary. Sample and sampling techniques Therefore, the sample techniques will consider thirty (30) employees randomly selected from a reputed organization. Data Collection The major process for data collection of this study is through questionnaires; the ordered questionnaire will be distributed to the randomly selected employees. Literature Selection Criteria The literature selection criteria are twofold: significance and the year of publication. Search Technique Libraries containing online databases are accessed to obtain the most appropriate and updated literature. Some of the online databases which are used include: EBSCO, Emerald, Blackwell, and so on. Theoretical Framework For this study as already said the secondary research technique is used and all the relevant data was gathered through books, journals and articles. Discussion The non-monetary rewards like training and development in a company have positive impacts on employee performances, work, and a company can minimize cost as well as boosts efficiency; good working environment in a company will also get better employees performances (Kohn, 2009). Monetary and non-monetary rewards differ in their roles, efficiency, and suitability, depending on the kinds of rewards (Allen, 2007). Rewards in fact hamper employees and organizations by reducing employees motivation, job satisfaction and interest. This is only the opposite of what rewards were made to do. Rewards should consider the employees for whom they were made (Kerachsky, 2009). A balance between monetary as well as non-monetary rewards must be employed for satisfying the diverse requirements and interests of employees. Creating a balance sheet is an easy exercise which may be used to evaluate rewards programs. On one side of the balance sheet, list each and every rewards program (both monetary plus non-monetary) of the company (Kohn, 2009). On the other side list all the results (whether preferred or not) which may be attributed to these rewards. Areas of development and enhancement would be those outcomes and results recognized as undesirable (Zigon, 2008). Promoted workers will amplify his/her efforts as well as performances in work place and assessment of employee performance manipulates employees performance; welfare of employee, pension, and medical facilities also helps successful performances, finally the employees prefer monetary rewards to non-monetary rewards (Kepner, 2010). Individual performance is usually found out by three things: motivation (the wish to do the job), capability (the ability to do the job), and the environment of work (the resources required to do the job). If a worker lacks capability, the manager can give training or replace, the employee. If there is a resource issue, the manager can do it correct (Kerachsky, 2009). But if motivation is the issue, the job for the manager is more challenging. Individual performance is a multifaceted fact, and the manager can be pushed to understand the specific nature of the issue and how to resolve it (Kohn, 2009). Hence, motivation is significant due to its importance as a determinant of performance and due to its intangible nature (Kerachsky, 2009). Many special rewards programs which offer awards to individuals have been utilized, ranging from one-time contests to meet performance targets to rewards for performance eventually (Hansen, 2010). Though special programs can also be built up for groups and for whole companies, these programs frequently emphasize on rewarding just high-performing individuals. Conclusion The outcomes of this study make three contributions. Primary, this study contributes to the logical and experiential literature on multi-action settings by giving facts about the impacts of non-monetary rewards (Kohn, 2009). The impact of non-monetary rewards on performance entails that control systems may be more efficient and competent by taking into consideration non-monetary rewards. Particularly, logical justifications help organizations by motivating better performance than illogical explanations and by raising the recognized justifiability of bonuses when the bonuses stand for the significance of the jobs (Nelson, 2009). While logical explanations is unsuccessful to stimulate better performance than when no justification is given, this result must be understood carefully as the explanation also gives related information which is not present when no explanation is given, that can not be true in all settings (Kepner, 2010). The study thus concludes that there are obvious relations between monetary rewards and employees performance; fringe benefit can stimulate employees performance (Kohn, 2009). Though, some of the major goals of training employee contain, increase in production, lesser labor turn over rate, higher confidence and better management and training facilitates to decrease cost as it enhances productivity, and promotes objective congruency. Lack of training raises rate of absenteeism, low productivity, bad quality and refuses and results in high unit cost. Non-monetary rewards, good working environment promotion, better management, employees welfare, programs, medical facilities, pension, helps increases in performances of employees and employee desired monetary rewards to non-monetary rewards.

Free Affirmative Action Essays - Quotas are Outdated :: affirmative action argumentative persuasive

Affirmative Action Quotas are Outdated Affirmative action legislation has helped in the fight for equality for minorities and women in the American society; however, time has come for new legislation to replace or abolish affirmative action as we know it. In affirmative action's beginning, the government needed laws to help aid the blending of minorities and women in American economics and culture. In a world economy that grows more competitive with every passing day, our quota system is a dead weight to the American businesses that are trying to survive. Not only is advancement based on race and gender but also it is costly and time consuming. American's attitude toward minorities and women is "so steep a decline that it almost certainly reflects some change from the blatantly racist and nearly universal hostile white prejudices of the recent past" (Feagin & Feagin, 1978, pp. 6-7). If America's economy is to continue to survive it will most definitely have to hire on merit alone, and not be bothered by trivial laws that are outda ted. The origination of Affirmative Action is from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI and VII. Title VI states "no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or natural origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under programs or activities receiving financial assistance." Title VII states that "[i]t shall be unlawful for an employer to: fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment , because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex, or natural origin"(Civil Rights Act Title VII). These laws can be justified by our constitutional principle that all men are created equal, and should remain a part of our laws and thought process. However, penalizing a business or school because they haven't hired or accepted the number of minorities required by law is injustice. According to Roberts (1995), a Gallup Poll taken in July of 1995 shows that Americans agree that quotas are no longer useful. Our fellow " Americans reject employment quotas by a margin of 63% to 35%," and in the