Women Should Be Treated Equally as Men

If we look back throughout history, women have been treated as a minority everywhere. There have not been many female leaders that have overcome the equality between men and women and made great strides towards different areas such as political, sports and education. In the Bible, Galatians 3:28 says â€Å"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one is Christ Jesus. â€Å". This makes it clear that at everybody and everything is equal, at least in the eyes of God.Unfortunately, there is still a margin of inequality between the sexes today and so the revolution continues. Over the generations, women have always been confined to the perimeters of their home, or worst their kitchens. Since the pre- historic times, women have always been home-makers, while the men are considered to be the hunters, or in modern terms, the breadwinners that put the food on the table. Since then women are to be considered as the weaker sex. The greatest achievement that they get is being a good wife of a man. Luke 10:39 tells us about Mary, who sat at the Lord Jesus' feet, listening to what he said.This was a position of student to a teacher in ancient time, the equivalent of college attendance today. So Mary was doing something quiet shocking and radical. She was appropriating a role normally reserved only for man, since it was thought only men could receive a higher education while women were supposed to stick to their role as home-makers. However, Jesus, instead of rebuking Mar's desire of intellectual and spiritual advancement, encourages her and supports her. He sees her as being equal to men in her desire and capacity for knowledge. Women are usually looked down because of their lack of physical strength.As the saying goes don't Judge a book by its cover. Women are actually talented in many ways. Binary Bout, Margaret Thatcher, Julia Gaillardia, Nadir Gandhi, Among San Sue Sky are women that achieved things in politics. The old adage â €Å"Behind every successful man is a woman† holds strong as well. Throughout history, women have been the encouraging force behind their husbands. In 1757, wealthy widow Martha Dandier Cutis married George Washington, and her background of meaner financed his military and political career. Something special is needed to be done if you want to prove something, but opportunities must be given for that to happen.Women are given less opportunities to show their talents. It is a norm girls to not get enrolled to higher education those days and it is still happening in the rural places. They will get married when they finish their high school or even when they reach 15 years old and their life ends doing chores in the house and carrying the responsibilities as a wife and a mother. Women are not allowed to have their own opinions as men ego's high as the sky and tend to shrug off women's opinion by refusing to take their opinion inconsideration.In the year 2011, USA Today reported t hat two women, Heather Breech of the pharmaceutical firm Mylar and Virginia Roomette of IBM will succeed their predecessor as their respective companies Coos. Roomette succeed Sam Palomino, making her the first female CEO in the company's 100-year history. With the 500 companies in the year 2012. Fast forward to the present, there are now a total of 21 women Coos in Fortune 500 companies, which makes up for 4. 2 percent of Fortune 500 companies' CEO positions. Whereas, in the Fortune 1000 companies, there are 25 women Coos which makes up for 4. Percent of Fortune 1000 companies' CEO positions. When you take a good look at these numbers, it is astounding to realize that even in this era of globalization and gender equality, the corporate world is still a man dominated world. The boardroom is generally a man's playground and the number women who cross the threshold is still scarce. Why does this happen? Well, as I mentioned earlier, the boardroom is where men hold court. For years and years, it has been the exclusive club for men. Male Coos are succeeded by their male underlings and this has been the norm. Why you may ask.I think we can attribute this phenomenon to â€Å"the all-boy network†. Employers are more likely to groom employees who have similar attributes to them to be their successors. Therefore, male employers more than often tend to have male proto ©g ©s as they feel a deeper connection and are more comfortable. It is not often a male employer looks at a woman employee and thinks â€Å"l see a younger version of myself in her†. And the general notion that women do not make good leaders as they lack assertiveness and managerial skills does not help to boost women's numbers in the corporate world.This leads to world-wide phenomenon- the glass ceiling effect. The glass ceiling effect is defined as an intangible barrier within a hierarchy that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions. It is a phenomenon whereby a woman who has the same abilities and talents has a much slower rate at progressing through the corporate ladder compared to a man. The overall labor market is mostly segregated by sex where women executives are concentrated into certain types of jobs – mostly staff and support Jobs – that offer little opportunity for getting to the top.A 1986 Wall Street Journal survey found â€Å"The highest ranking women in most industries are in non-operating areas such as personnel, public relations, or, occasionally, finance specialties that seldom lead to the most powerful top- management posts. † Women are locked out of Jobs in the â€Å"business mainstream,† the route taken by Coos and presidents. But even when women can get a line Job, it is not likely to be â€Å"in a crucial part of the business† or the type of Job that can â€Å"mark them as leaders. † (quoted from : http://www. Feminist. Org/research/business/ ebb_glass. HTML ). Women are not considered to be policy makers and more than often relegated to parts of business that keeps them out of the boardroom thus mulling any chances of them becoming Coos or COOS of their companies. Besides glass ceiling, mommy track is also contributing factor as to why women are not considered for top positions in their companies. Mommy track is defined as a career path determined by work arrangements offering mothers certain benefits, such as flexible hours, but usually providing them with fewer opportunities for advancement.Women who are in the mommy track situation more than often take themselves out f the running, settling for lower-level positions with more predictable hours and less responsibility. Everyday women are subjects of some sort of abuse – domestic abuse in their homes and objects of sexual harassment in their workplaces. Even in these modern days, we still hear and read stories of women beaten by their brought shame to the family is deemed not worthy of living. They are abused, tortured and killed by their husbands, their in-laws or worst by their own family members.According to United Nations (UN) statistics, more than 5,000 women and girls are murdered every year in the name of honor killings across the world. It is completely horrifying to know that women around the world are being slaughtered for completely ridiculous reasons. For an example, the case of Nor Baser and Nor She's, aged 15 and 16, who were gunned down alongside their mother by their step brother because they were filmed dancing in the rain. These girls were thought to have brought great dishonor and shame for allowing themselves to be filmed.Abuse also happens in the workplace for women. Women are more often subjected to sexual harassments by their male employers or their male counterparts. Many en do not know what qualifies as sexual harassment and might do this unwittingly. But some forms of harassment are more prevalent. For an example, physical sexual harassment that includes distasteful action such as touching of an intimate body part, patting, pinching, stroking, brushing up against the body, hugging, kissing, fondling and sexual assault.This type of harassment makes the working environment uncomfortable for women and more than often nothing is done to eradicate these problems. Besides that, women could also be coerced to trade in sexual favors with her employers for career advancement. One of the reason why women should be treated in a parallel way with men is because women prejudiced against another women. As an example, a woman who has broken the glass ceiling than often might not hold out a helping hand to another women who is struggling too. This happens when a women begins to be quite Judgmental towards another women.A senior manager might tend to look at the struggling Junior manager as not worthy and has not bring any good impacts in the future of the company. Besides that, the all boys network had been another reason why a women preju diced against another women. A senior position women might be the only high position female in the band of brotherhood, so she tends to be like one of the boys and she has to play by their rules. Women that are highly educated, independent and assertive could be considered as egoistic, conceited and self-absorbed by another women.Women with high position tends to be working or acting like a men when they are in the office. They are more likely to behave like a men's personality, as these traits are more generally associated with men. When something bad happens, like harassment, abuse or rape, the victims especially women will be caused, blamed and are noninsured to deserved it as it was her fault. Women which is not in fault sometimes will be accused on doing what they did not do. This should not happen because it is not good when someone is being treated one-sided.Women should be treated the same way as men because they also has the rights to not being caused by another person or m en. We must be equal towards two gender and not by Just accusing women because they have their rights too. Women should be treated parallel to men because there should not be any one-sided treat against another gender as we are all humans. There should be equality between two genders. Besides that, women should be treated in a parallel way with men because women are more emotional than men.Women tends to allow emotions to rule over them more than often take due to their role as a mother and wife in the home. The differences between men and women are that women do not think like men. Women decision making skills are more doubtful because most of the time they could be overcome with emotions and more often do not make a clear headed decision in life. Women sometimes become too involved and find it hard to be more impartial like their male counterparts. Women are more emotionally effected rather than men.As an example women will not be able to concentrate on their work when they have e motional problem which is vice versa compared to men. Men do not let their emotions control them when they are working. Liability in the corporate world, when a women gives birth too child, she will automatically burdened with dual responsibilities. She has to work double the effort to raise the child. When a women has to work and take care of her children she will not be able to do all the work and this will definitely affects her output in the courier.Women cannot do multi-tasking like men. Women mostly can only do one thing at a time not like men, men can do multi-tasking because men are more optimistic than women. Women with high applicability might be able to stand the pressure in work life and in the home. She might be able to take care of their children and she also knows how to keep her work done neatly. The equality between gender should be handle or treated equally as it will not be one-sided problem solving. This is very important because one-sided problem solving will no t assure an equality in solving problems.In short, women could make good sections and are not overcome with emotions as they are pictured. Emotions do not make people bad leaders butt helps them to be empathetic and sympathetic of others' plights and this in turn helps them to make better decisions. A career woman who is also a wife and a mother do not automatically have a lower output at work. Employers play an important role in this. An accommodating employer will find themselves with a good employee. But unfortunately, more than often, new mothers are pressurized by their employers that sometimes the women are left to choose either career or family.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Essay

â€Å"My Big Fat Greek Wedding† is a romantic comedy that explores cultural differences in a combination of romance and humor. The story revolves around Toula, a thirty-year-old Greek American single woman, who lives with her family in the suburb of Chicago. She works in her family’s business, a restaurant called â€Å"Dancing Zorba’s.† Toula is expected to marry from their ethnic background. However, she struggles with her strict father to convince him that she longs for something else in life. She enrolls in college and takes computer classes. She manages her aunt’s travel agency and starts dating Ian Miller, a white high school English teacher. They date secretly for a while, before she has the courage to introduce him to her family. Her father is angry over her dating a non-Greek. The overall of the story occurs when both sides try to adjust to each other. This movie relates a lot to the five themes of geography we have been studying. It relates to location because they live in the suburbs in Chicago, which is a place. A location is people and places are positioned variously on the Earth’s surface. Also, the father lived in Greece before coming over to the U.S. So therefore, location relates to this movie. It also relates to place, physical and human characteristics distinguish one place from other places. In Greece, you have a very religion type of country. Houses are made to represent the Parthenon, which to the Greeks, is the home of Athena. Rather in, Chicago, you have very modern houses that don’t symbolize really anything. It relates to relationships within places also because in the movie, the family’s house in Chicago resembles the Parthenon, which you wouldn’t exactly see in such a city. It can also relate to movement because the family is constantly on the phone with each other. With Greeks, you would normally have a huge family, so they are constantly talking on cell phones or driving to each other’s houses to gossip. Also, last but not least, it can relate to region. The Earth can be divided into regions to help us understand similarities and differences of people and places. For example, Greece and Chicago are divided because they are very two different places. I really enjoyed watching this movie in class. It was very humorous and I learned a lot. Before watching this movie, I didn’t know that when you marry, your job as a woman is to basically cook, clean, and have kids. That shocked me completely. I loved the movie, however it was very predictable. By the way they set up the movie, you could easily tell what was going to happen next. But the overall movie was great. I would definitely recommend this movie to my friends to watch, it’s a very good movie if you just want to have a good laugh.

Creating Activities Based on Learning Theories Essay

Behavioral teaching and learning tends to focus on skills that are acquired by an individual but are likely to be applied at a later stage in life. For instance, an individual may learn computational skills only to apply them when he gets a job. Behavioral theories support a number of approaches to teaching. All of them fall under the category of direct or teacher centered instruction. Operant conditioning on the other hand involves the reinforcement of behavior and mainly it is achieved either through reward or through punishment. The occurrence of a behavior determines whether it should be rewarded or it should be punished. To add to that, the kind of treatment administered after a behavior determines whether it will recur or not The following are some of the activities that are mostly observed in the case of behaviorism, to begin with, there are the tutorials; in this case the learner is informed about new ideas mainly through the lecturer. This mostly happen in classroom settings where the teacher gives the instructions on a particular aspect to be learned and the learner is expected to follow and understand what is being passed across. The second activity is games; this is where the learner takes part in games for instance football, races or other indoor activities that are mainly recreational and at the same time entertaining. The teacher on sets the platform to allow the learner explore the skills in various outdoor or indoor activities involving the full attention and participation of the learner. The other activity involves programmed instructions, integrated learning systems or even the graphically organized activities. In this case the learner will be required to use the ability to see in order to interpret the given information before learning is achieved. CONTRIBUTION OF GORDON SHAW IN EDUCATION Dr. Gordon is credited to have found the non profit educational institute called the MIND institute. This was introduced in the year 1998 as a result of a science research that he conducted at the University of California. Dr. Shaw had one vision of teaching all kids irrespective of their backgrounds. Through his institution, a lot of revolution was realized in the mathematics and music curriculum. His research had great impact in the curriculum offered in arts related subjects. Dr. Shaw argued that music is an element of learning that greatly helps to develop the brain and other mental faculties. Dr. Shaw further insisted that all children have a capacity to excel no matter what their present status are at the moment. He always encouraged the teachers to give al student opportunities to lean and achieve their full potential in the long run. He particularly identified students from disadvantaged backgrounds and pushed for them to be given chances of learning just like the other students. CLASSROOM IMPLICATION OF HIS WORK TO PARENTS AND EDUCATORS Dr. Shaw’s work made it possible for teachers to treat all children equally irrespective of their limitations. Teachers also rose to the occasion to protect the challenged students from the rowdy colleagues. Parents who are challenged either financially of socially were therefore able to educate their children with more ease because of Dr. Shaw’s policies. Parents were also warned against denying their children a chance to pursue education. Parents and teachers had easy time to assist their students because they were made to believe that any child can actually excel. Source Tomasi, M. (2006). Psychology of Education. NY: Oxford publishers.

Assignment 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment 6 - Essay Example The data obtained reveals that learners are gifted differently, and there is a need to attend to them based on their abilities. This provides a platform for teachers to attend to learners with special needs. Necessary assistance would be extended to such learners. Assessing this type of records would be relatively easy with the assistance from subject teachers and administrators of the school. Working closely with parents would help avail necessary documents of previous performance. The author is involved as a principal in a school in Southern Oregon characterized by transition of leadership, where he replaces a principle that left little to be desired. The school has 86% annual student transient rate with a high teacher turnover. Parents’ involvement is low, and all is left to the teachers. The principal aims to turn things around and pull the high-poverty community together. The new principal is keen to realize the key affected areas in his new school. The teachers are alienated in decision-making, and their opinions are overlooked. The learners are not addressed appropriately, and there is a case of multiage grouping. Such a decision affects the overall performance of the learners, in the long run. Cooperative learning is poorly executed leading to a great deal of â€Å"Davids† in the institutions. Another problem is full class inclusion without paying attention to gifted and learners with special needs. The author further realizes that language learning was a mystery topic. With the involvement of teachers, he engages in an action research with an aim to have things work perfectly. He designs a plan to higher new teachers for the school to meet the demands of the learners. The learners would need instructors competent enough to better them. The principal purposes to meet the key parents for their involvement. They would support teachers establish the most conducive environment in the school. He identified requirements in the new

Investment Incentives Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Investment Incentives - Research Paper Example The sectorial incentives may also be offered by a country in order to encourage or promote development of various sectors of the economy that are very important for the development of the country as a whole. Some sectors may therefore be exempted from taxation or VAT in order to encourage the development of such sectors like gaming activities and medical activities in a country (Sola, 2013 p.12). Incentives are also offered in form of export incentives in order to promote the markets of various products like coffee and tea which are produced in that country. This helps in widening the markets for such agricultural products. The provision of incentives has been effective in the transfer of technology especially in the production and manufacturing sectors. This, therefore, helped in the transmission of relevant knowledge and expertise in the production of various goods and commodities. The incentives played a crucial role in encouraging foreign investors leading to development of most countries especially in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors through sectorial incentives and investment tax deductions. On the other hand, the tax incentives that aimed at reducing poverty levels in some countries led to higher costs compared to the benefits. The costs of administering such incentives made them burdensome to the

War Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

War Strategy - Essay Example Krepinevich in an influential article published in 1994. As a close associate of Andrew W. Marshall, the American godfather of the RMA concept, Krepinevich's definition carried unusual weight. He explained RMA as "What is a military revolution It is what occurs when the application of new technologies into a significant number of military systems combines with innovative operational concepts and organizational adaptation in a way that fundamentally alters the character and conduct of conflict. It does so by producing a dramatic increase-often an order of magnitude or greater-in the combat potential and military effectiveness of armed forces". (1). Soviet writers actually coined the term RMA in the 1950s to describe changes in warfare wrought by nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. In identifying American military capabilities with an RMA, Soviet and then U.S. military analysts were communicating something profound about the historical importance of U.S. long-range precision strike capabilities, which were replicating the battlefield effects small nuclear weapons had on armored forces. (2). By the 1980s, security challenges in each area called for advanced conventional warfighting forces. Conventional warfighting innovations were pursued to restore deterrence credibility in Europe. A wellspring of studies and prolific media references to 'revolutionary' warfighting capabilities permeated defense planning discussions following the American military victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War. Even among the more conservative analysts, defense planning discussions and military thought were dominated by an American RMA thesis. This thesis faded in the late-1990s but remains central to more recent defense transformation discussions. (4). The RMA Thesis Usually identified in hindsight, after a stunning military success, RMAs involve radical changes in the conduct of military operations and sometimes even the characterization of war-fighting. The 1990s witnessed a shift in American military thought and defense discourse as new terms and concepts were widely used to describe U.S. military forces, doctrine, and capabilities. (3). The American RMA thesis holds that a historically significant shift in U.S. military power was underway by the end of the Cold War based on the synergy of advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, automated target identification systems, information-enabled weapons, superior education and training, and joint war-fighting capabilities. Among the RMA terminology retained in U.S. defense discourse are terms like information superiority, rapid dominance, dominant battle-space knowledge, common operating pictures, decision superiority, persistent

E-Mail Upgrade Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-Mail Upgrade Project - Essay Example The work requirements of the users have increased over the years, and they need to have more features and higher reliability in their new e-mail software. The upgraded software should have better features than the current e-mail program, and should be able to meet the increased value-added job requirements of the users. The new software should have higher reliability and security to ensure better repeatability and data integrity in the users' work area. The primary objective new e-mail software is to meet the requirements of the existing users and satisfy them. The next most important success criterion of the project is flawless technical integration of the new program with the current e-mail software. The existing data and processes should be successfully migrated to the new upgraded software without any technical glitch; the new upgraded software should blend seamlessly into the existing one without any loss in data and user complaint. There should not be any IPR or patent right violation. This is important because the vendors of the upgraded software and earlier software could be different. ...The existing data and processes should be successfully migrated to the new upgraded software without any technical glitch; the new upgraded software should blend seamlessly into the existing one without any loss in data and user complaint. The new installed software should clear the Quantified User Acceptance Test. 2.3 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): There should not be any IPR or patent right violation. This is important because the vendors of the upgraded software and earlier software could be different. The new vendor should indemnify the ODHS from any litigation pertaining to such violation. Apart from indemnification, such IPR disputes could lead to delay in project execution; it is therefore, in the interests of ODHS that disputes of this nature should not arise.        

Five Years Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Five Years Marketing Plan - Essay Example The company initially started its operations in UK as a catalogue business company. The company achieved success in its initial stages only and soon after that it made a plan of opening a website in UK. This plan helped Hotel Chocolat to secure its position in the market. The company started exporting chocolates to United States by means of an online ordering website. It started expanding its business operations in the domestic land and has opened 23 stores in the outlets of John Lewis and 43 stores in United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat produces fresh chocolates and the taste of these chocolates is much more adventurous as they are produced using more cocoa and less sugar. The company has also worked with the local farmers of Ghana in order to learn the technique of cocoa plantation. The company started various other projects apart from producing chocolates. Hotel Chocolat has opened a restaurant at the cocoa estate in Saint Lucia. Presently the company is planning for internationalisati on. Existing Market Position of the Company Hotel Chocolat is one among very few companies which has opened new stores in the high streets of UK as well as expanded its operations outside United Kingdom. The company follows focus marketing strategy presently and focuses only on the chocolate segment. The chocolate market is very competitive and is dominated by some brands like the Thorntons and Godiva. The market focuses mainly on four main time periods i.e. Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter. In this tough competition, the company maintains its uniqueness by providing fresh chocolates, with less sugar and more cocoa, to the customers. It has achieved a successful position in the chocolate market by targeting those customers who buy the premium chocolates as gifts. The company is planning to open new stores in UK. The company has also planned for further expansion in the overseas market with new concept stores like Roast & Conch. In these stores, the custo mers will be able to see the roasting of the cocoa beans. Goal formulation: Marketing Objectives of the Company (for next 5 years) The marketing objectives of Hotel Chocolat (for the next five years) can be evaluated by the SMART approach. The specific objective of Hotel Chocolat is to achieve a successful position in the new markets where it is planning to expand its operations within the next few years by the implementation of appropriate promotional and other marketing strategies. The measurable objective of the company is minimization of the cost structure and implementation of the promotional and marketing strategies in very cost effective manner. The achievable objective of Hotel Chocolat is to reach to the position of the financial break even by the increase of the sales and minimization of the operating expenses. The realistic objective of Hotel Chocolat is to gain a remarkable position in those areas where it has planned to expand its business operations within the business plan of next 5 years. The time bound objective of the company is the fulfilment of all the above mentioned objectives within a time limit of next 5 years. Strategy formulation Target Customers Kantar Media has pointed out the fact that customers within the

An assigment topic will send by file Assignment

An assigment topic will send by file - Assignment Example s as compared to false positives (Type I errors) since doctors rarely get a second chance to assess people who believe that they are healthy and may thus not return. In order to reduce the chance of errors leading to false negatives, the government could set in place a system where each sample is tested twice, thus reducing the chance that a consistent false negative will be obtained. If this is not possible, testing procedures could be tried with larger samples of people or the criteria for recording a negative be made more stringent (accept more ambiguous positives). Thus, P(P1 and H1) ≠  P(P1)  Ã‚ ·Ã‚  P(H1). Similarly, using the equation shows that P(P1 and H2) ≠  P(P1)  Ã‚ ·Ã‚  P(H2); P(P2 and H1) ≠  P(P2)  Ã‚ ·Ã‚  P(H1) and P(P2 and H2) ≠  P(P2)  Ã‚ ·Ã‚  P(H2).This means that the two conditions are not independent of each other, but have a strong association. The distribution presented is positively skewed, as is evident from the difference seen between the calculated mean, median and mode. Given this, the median would be the most appropriate measure of central tendency to use with this distribution since it is robust against the change in extreme values. The mean would be biased towards the higher scores whereas the mode would not be appropriate as it would be biased towards the lower end of the distribution. The data in this distribution is not normally distributed, but has a positive skew. This is evident from the measures of central tendency, the frequency distribution and the histogram. The distribution has a high mean and relatively lower median with the value for mode being lowest. The frequency distribution shows that over half the frequencies are found in the first two groups and the frequencies taper off towards the higher side. The histogram also verifies that the frequencies are bunched to the lower end of the distribution. Thus, this is positively skewed and not a normal

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 20

Report - Essay Example on and agenda (reference, appendices) remember to look at the recommendations so that you take the necessary steps as we agreed during our last focus group discussion. Internews’ Free and Fair Media program focuses on election related issues. The program aims to monitor a number of radio stations in the state to asses their coverage of the electioneering period that is; Pre-election period, Election Campaign period, Polling Day and the day the Results were announced. This monitoring project involves monitoring dangerous speech in the media and the role of the media in promoting peace and conflict mitigation. There are different media topics being covered including, including gender, dangerous speech, issue based coverage, fairness and balance. The report looks into the challenges that the radio station faced and recommendations that when implemented could improve the situation. The report also documents the findings by the media monitors in the period 1st January – 9th March 2013. All cases of reported speech were independently verified. The geographical scope of the content covered was primarily national. This survey indicates that in most of the programs monitored, it is male voices that were dominant as both journalists and sources of information. In terms of political party coverage, Cord Coalition received much airtime compared to other political parties with campaigns and rallies emerging as the popular source of coverage. This report aims to finding out if KBC Swahili Radio station management and journalist’s adherence to the professional code of conduct, that is the journalism code of conduct and the electoral body’s guidelines pertaining coverage of its activities as stipulated in the constitution. The free and fair media program supports a group of media institutions and mainstream media outlets to report fairly and responsibly in matters relating to electoral process. By doing so, these institutions will be playing a positive role of

The Day I was Released from Jail Essay Example for Free

The Day I was Released from Jail Essay March 2nd of 2011 in Charlotte NC I just receive 2 phone calls. The first one was from my lawyer in Morganton notifying me that several indictments had come through. The other was from Detective South of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, telling me that I had no choice but to turn myself in. I remember him saying â€Å"If you run I will find you†. I thought about running from my troubles, but that isn’t a life that I wanted. The next day I took the long drive from Charlotte NC to Morganton NC knowing that I was going to jail for a long time. I turn myself in at the Magistrates office thinking that I will be showed some leniency, after all I was only 18 years old and it was the first time I had been in trouble. I thought wrong, I was given copies of my indictments and arrest warrants, given a 23,000 dollar bond and placed in Jail. I cried like I have never cried before, after all I was only a teenager going to jail with grown men. The date is May 3rd of 2011, in Morganton North Carolina. I had just finished serving 61 days for multiple breaking and entering charges. The dreaded court date has arrived and I am scared to death. Breakfast trays came along, I was hungry but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold anything down. After breakfast trays were picked up my name was called for court. I was taken out of my cell and put into handcuffs and leg cuffs along with a chain attached to the waist I was dressed in the customary Burke County black and white inmate uniform. This was the moment where I felt all alone in the world. My mom and dad weren’t going to be there every step of the way telling me it was going to be okay. I was 18 years old; in the eyes of the law you’re a grown man and will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Fear and anxiety were my biggest emotions. We were led to the top of the stairs where our court proceedings would take place. The judge was in no hurry to see me, I waited for an hour alone with nobody to talk to or comfort me. Another hour passed in shackles; finally the holding cell door opened and a deputy said â€Å"Campbell court. † Walking up the hallway that leads to the courtroom felt forever, my emotions were taking over. My teeth were chattering, cold shakes, and the fear of the unknown was getting the best of me. As I shuffled into the court I felt everybody’s eyes on me. The judge was seated glowering at me. He then proceeded to ask the D. A what my charges were, as the D. A was reading my charges I felt paralyzed, I was only 18 years old and facing serious criminal charges. We then discussed the plea bargain that my lawyer, D. A and I all agreed upon. I remember not even reading the plea just thanking God that I was getting out of this hell hole. After the plea was signed and all parties were satisfied, my lawyer looked at me and said â€Å"Mr. Campbell I wish you the best of luck, and hopefully you have learned your lesson. † I remember being grateful that he shook my hand and wished me â€Å"good luck†. I guess because he was the only one who stood by me this whole time. May 3rd 2011 is my release date; it’s a date that I will always remember. After waiting in shackles for another hour I was released from Burke County jail. I had one phone call to make, I called my mom and told her I was released and needed a ride. The jailers wished me the best of luck and opened the front door to freedom. It’s amazing how your sensitive your eyesight is after two months in County Jail. The sun and the sky was never something that I appreciated when I was younger, but when I walked through that doorway and felt the wind blow my face I remember feeling nothing but gratitude. It was spring time so the grass was green, leaves were starting to grow back and the sun was out in full force! After getting my eyes adjusted to the sun, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up. As I was waiting I recollected what I had just been through and what could have happened if the judge hadn’t accepted my plea. I had to go next door to the courthouse and check in with the Probation Office. After I checked in I was given a Probation Officer (Clarence Davis). He explained the guidelines of probation and what he expected of me. We discussed the conditions of my release, fines, and drug classes that I would have to take. I had 48 hours of community service, some seriously big fines and a drug assessment. I didn’t care what I had to do as long as I was out of jail. Sitting in his office I was looking at his walls and certificates, thinking I wonder how hard he’s going to be on me and what can I slide by him? Mr. Davis was and still is a good man; I have shared my thoughts and feelings with him without holding back. He was a great person who helped me in any way that he legally could. He would later retire and be replaced by Robb Williams, but then Robb would shortly be replaced by Trisha Plaster. Walking out of the Probation Office I called my mom again and waited for her to come pick me up. I could have spotted her car a mile away in traffic. I was never so happy to see that 09 Pontiac Grand Am. I knew she would take me home and tell me everything would be okay, getting out of jail I needed that family support. I am very grateful for my parents and how they still loved me unconditionally even after everything I had put them through. She pulled up and we had a tearful reunion in the Court House parking lot. She bombards me with question after question. Some things I told her and some things I wanted to keep to myself. After getting the reunion over she asked me where I wanted to go eat. I already knew where I wanted to go, I wanted to go home. I didn’t care about eating I just wanted to sleep in my old bed and enjoy the comforts of home. To be able to take a hot shower anytime of the day and not having to wear shoes in the shower were things I had forgotten. When we arrived at the house I took a shower and talked to my dad. All the emotions and tears that I was holding in during that day were released on his shoulders. After we talked for a while I went to sleep thinking of what I would do the next day. I had no job and no car. I was basically starting from scratch; friends and family had deserted me. I went through a really depressive time, feeling sorry for myself and blaming others for the trouble I had been in, when really I had nobody to blame but myself and the decisions I had made. I felt like I had nobody to talk to. It took a really long time for me to get out of my depressive state of mind. I started hanging out with people in my past that I shouldn’t have been. Socializing with these people lead me to Marijuana, with that I was introduced to Roxy’s, Molly’s (Ecstasy) and Liquor. I loved partying and â€Å"living it up† yet at the end of the day I was still left with that feeling of emptiness. I lost track of what I needed to be doing to straighten my life out and was headed back where I came from. I remember deceiving my probation officer, I would go in he would ask me how I was doing. Of course I would lie to him and tell him everything is great, knowing that I had just smoked the week before. I had him and other people fooled, or so I thought. My parents had gotten with their pastor and he had contacted a few people to intervene in my lifestyle. I remember feeling so guilty and ashamed that I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to be the perfect kid who my parents could say â€Å"yeah that’s my son† and not be ashamed about it. Thankfully I was introduced to the youth pastor, he basically saved my life. After talking with him for a couple months I started my recovery process. To start my recovery I had to accept who I was and where I had been. No more feeling sorry for myself, it was time to do something about it. I regularly attended AA and NA meetings and met people whose life story matched mine. I got a sponsor and was starting to feel better about myself and others around me. After my mind set was changed and I started to see things in a different light I started to look for a job. I looked everywhere and found nothing. This time I didn’t get depressed, I came to realize that not everything is going to be easy. Finally I got a call from Case Farms wanting me to come to work for them. I worked there for 20 months, long enough to get a nice car and move out of my parents’ house. A week after I moved out my roommate got busted with 3 ounces of pot and a pill bottle of Opana 40’s. I remember my mom telling me to come back and live with them that I was headed back into trouble. Unfortunately I wasn’t ready for the freedom of living with roommates. I thought I knew everything, that I could only drink or smoke just a little bit, a pill here and there wouldn’t hurt anything. Every week was a party with drugs and alcohol. With the partying came the trouble, I was locked up again. I lost my car, home, and job. Usually I would throw a pity party, but that’s not going to help. Today I have College, True Friends and my Sobriety. I couldn’t and wouldn’t put a price on any of these. Today I am TRULY happy.

Toyota Case Essay Example for Free

Toyota Case Essay 1) For a long time there has been an alignment of Toyota vision with both Japanese culture and national and international stakeholders. This alignment can be seen in our opinion according two different perspectives: from the innovation activity and from the social responsibility (attention for environment). Referring to the innovation of the product process, Toyota has always been one of the leader in creating high-level cars both from mechanical and electronic aspect as it is typical of Japanese economy. The Japanese business is traditionally known at a global level for its profitable performance concerning the management of electronic and mechanical activities. From this point of view there was a perfect alignment between internal and the external vision. In relation to social responsibilty, the Japanese culture shows a great concern on energy conservation and environment, that is the reason why Toyota has traditionally supported these aspects in the car production process. In 1998, Toyota received an important award for the production of Prius ( the world’s first passenger vehicle in mass production powered by a third power train system). The introduction of Prius in the market, allowed the company to make a clear statement on its commitment of environmental protection. During the following years, the company gained many awards and leader position in environmental technology field. Recently, in relation to these two perspectives of analysis, a misalignment can be verified for the following three reasons: 1) Toyota has focused too much on cost control and economies of scale, leaving out esthetic and design aspects, creating too much standardized cars ( a same kind of product all over the world). In this case we found the first gap because of the different expectations of the worldwide stakeholders in comparison with Japanese and Toyota culture , particularly talking about European customers who care about design much more than the others. 2) The strong attention on cost control and economies of scale policy , has created a lot of technical troubles that forced the company to recall a huge amount of cars from the market. As consequence the company lost a lot in term of reliability. Here we faced a gap between vision and image (In the vision they really support the safety part but the collective image is far from that). Considering the worldwide market and international stakeholders, we think that there has been a misalignment on American customers who are interested in technical aspects more than esthetics. The final point of the misalignment has been caused by the exaggerated focus on energetic conservation, so the company produced no high performing cars in order to satisfy international customer’s requirement. For instance, in 2009, Toyota had so poor performance in F1 that the company decided to withdraw from F1 with immediately effect. In order to address this GAP, we believe that Toyota should: first of all, adapt his products to international market, giving special consideration to esthetics and design. be more focused on customer’s requests, that consist in high performing and environmentally friendly cars at the same time. Moreover, since the break problem that obliged Toyota to recall a big amount of cars from the market. 2) We would change the communication strategy into the following two directions: a) A traditional way, based on incentive messages focused on energy conservation connected to the concept of safety and brightness cars, in order to retrieve the loss of company credibility. A lot of marketing activities can be organized such as: o planning amateur competitions that involve young people with their own cars at an international level; o planning events or competition characterized by the participation of sport champions (like F1 drivers) o arrange Visitor Centers, based in the regional headquarter country, in order to give customers the chance to drive cars and to understand the topic of energy conservation o promote â€Å"green days† o partnership with environmental friendly organization (like WWF) b) An innovative way, using guerrilla or tribal marketing techniques. In several ways such as: o Use social networks for empowering the costumers to decide on specific aspects as internal design, colors, extra services, [†¦] of their cars offer. Doing this thing, they will be available to focus on the costumer and not only on the product as they always did. o During holydays such as Easter or Christmas, make people drive specific cars by organizing spectacular race trucks, enriched by music and light effects. The event should be introduced by well-known personalities, as signers, actors, sportsmen. o Promote musical or sport-events for young people, such as concerts, championships and matches. o Create partnerships with tour-operators to promote specific cars during adventures trips, like safari. o Transform their headquarter in a tourist attraction, thanks to the partnership with local and international tour operator that promote day trip in the company. o using cars during appealing movies for young people (like Mini in ‘’The Italian Job’’) o Use amusement park as a stage for car shows, parades and games. 3) Most of the crisis response strategies applied in the report by Toyota, belong to reducing offensiveness category. Even if the company seems to be aware of its responsibility, it never used mortification quotations. In our opinion, the document we`ve analyzed, is characterized by the following strategies: MINIMIZATION: CORRECTIVE ACTION: GOOD INTENTIONS: 4) We can affirm Toyota acted in a good way in minimizing in order to not damage the company image more. Moreover they could have improved corrective actions and provide their customers with facilities, like substitutive-cars during the fixing period of the damaged ones. Even if they did well in minimizing the event, they could have shown more mortification, not only for the damage itself, but also for the waste of time and the other troubles related to it. They could also have adopted a denial strategy (shifting the blame) by giving responsibility to the specific divisions in charge of the production of defected components; consequently they could have renewed the responsible divisions or made an outsourcing agreement for that. Regarding the good intentions, they could have provided more detailed information about their future control and safety standards. Another good strategy, could have been ‘’attack the accusers’’, trying to focus on the main competitors that were taking advantage from their crisis. Finally, according to what we read in the case study, we`d have expected a more customer oriented behavior. ITALY According to Italy Toyota starter two different recall campaigns: the first one recalls 260. 000 cars with accelerator pedal problems and the second one 2500 Ibrid car with brake problem. In order to fix the first problem the company sent letters to the 26000 clients involved in this problem; the letters contained all the information regarding how to get the appointment with the car retailer in order to fix the problem (fixing time about 30 minutes). The second recall concerned the Prius models which had some ABS problems on 2500cars; they used the same technique and the time to fix took about 40 minutes. Toyota provided an assistance number(gratis): 800 869 682 available 24h/7d, useful to know if the car is involved in the problem and to know technical details. The A. D. of Toyota Motor Italy, Massimo Gargano, stated â€Å" Toyota as a world leader for sales volume and quality reputation has to accept to be criticize facing this problem. We have to underline that the company decide to recall all the car just to satisfy our costumers expectations and make them sure about the safety of the product†, he also underline that â€Å"regarding the accelerator pedal problem we chose to recall 1. 800. 000 cars even if only 26 really faced this problem† . CONTACTS: Edoardo Caccin Valentina Cruciani Carminia Lucariello Lucrezia Zambelli Marco Zavatta [emailprotected] com [emailprotected] com [emailprotected] it lucr3zia. [emailprotected] com dott. [emailprotected] com.

Advantages of organizational behaviour in an organization

Advantages of organizational behaviour in an organization Introduction Management deals with people, their ideas and things related to them. In a simple form management can be defined as the art of things getting done through people in groups organized formally [8]. Management is the process where groups of people are involved in performance of organized activities. In an organization with a large number of employees the process of management directs the managers to perform some functions such as planning, staffing, controlling, organizing and directing to get things done by others. Organizational behavior can be used to improve the management practices for influencing the employees effectively and working with them. Management is the key to obtaining organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness depends on meeting the rapid changing requirements of the organization such as having the right people for the right job and at the right time. It helps understand the production and behavioral control in an organization. The study of organizational behavior in an organization has the following advantages: It helps to expand the horizon of management. It helps improve the organizational performance in line with the individual performance which include reward systems, leadership, motivation etc., It helps develop commitment among the employees to achieve their personal goals thereby achieving the goals of the company. It helps to understand, predict and control the behavior in the organization. There are numerous factors that determine the successful performance in an organization, but for our discussion we will consider few important factors which are as follows: Recruitment and Selection Training and development Reward through proper Performance Appraisal System Effective Communication Skills Developing Dedication by Motivating employees Also, there are many factors that contribute to the changing nature of work at organization, but the two main factors are: Current market scenario requires organizations to be more competitive and customer focused, hence there is an increased pressure on the organization The breakthrough in IT and communication is another factor. For example mobile and internet have made work to be separated from time and space. Organizations have changed their focus and their main principles are: Defining vision and values from the consumers perspective Creating a value chain i.e., defining activities and process that add value to customers and link them Remove activities that add no value to the organization. Reducing inefficiencies in the tasks in an organization. These principles have added value to the organization enabling them to respond rapidly to customers needs and supporting change and encouraging innovation. I would also be discussing the various changes in the nature of modern work environment relevant to the factors Ive stated above. Recruitment and Selection[5] Recruitment is process in which a qualified and suitable person is selected for a job in a company. The recruitment process is the responsibility of the HR department and various methods are available for this process such as interviews, aptitude test, questionnaires etc., It is a forming phase and is the most difficult phase for the managers. Let us consider the recruitment and selection process at Tesco. There are different ways through which Tesco advertises its vacancies. It first advertises its vacancy internally through intranet for two weeks. This provides an opportunity for the current employees looking for a change at the same level or for a promotion. Tesco advertises its vacancies on the web at www.tesco-careers.com for external recruitment. It also displays vacancy boards on its stores. For managerial positions the applications are made online. The applicants chosen will have to first undergo an interview and for the final stage they will have attendance at the assessment centre. A waiting list of applicants is prepared by the stores and as the jobs become available candidates are finalized. Specialist jobs as bakers and pharmacists are advertised externally through the following means: Through the web and offline media Through television and radio Through advertisements in newspapers and magazines. As many other companies Tesco also looks forward for cost- effective way of attracting applicants. Though advertising on media and magazines is expensive but sometimes this becomes essential to attract suitable people for the vacancy. Selection can be defines as selecting the most suitable person from the list of candidates who have applied for the vacancy taking into consideration the laws and regulations of employment. Screening is an important part of the selection process and ensures that the selected candidates for the interview will be best suited for the job. There are different stages in the screening process. In the first stage, the selectors at Tesco look through the CVs of the applicants as this briefs the candidates education and job history. A CV helps to assess whether the candidate meets the specification for the job. Screening is followed by the candidate who attends the assessment centre. This process takes place either in store and are run by managers. The candidates are assessed through various exercises such as team work and problem solving. This also provides consistency in the selection process. In the modern work environment, the selection and recruitment process has become more sophisticated and detailed to opt for the best knowledge and skills in the market. The number of screening processes that organizations hold to select the right candidates has increased and also the type of tests have become more radical in their approach. Tests such as psychological evaluation and stress interviews are a common practice in todays work environment. Training and Development Training is very essential for the newly recruited employees. It is also very essential for the employees already employed so that their skills are up to date and in line with the latest trends and technologies. Training is becoming an essential part of every organization these days. Employees are made to undergo training programs in order to maximize their potential to meet organization goals. Lets us consider Barclays for our case study here. Training is a very crucial task for the Human Resource department at Barclays. The main reason for this being the induction program helps employees understand the various policies and the structure of their jobs. This will also give employees enough time to adjust themselves to the environment in the organization together with inducing new ideas and skills in the employees. Training is the most difficult and challenging part in the organization as it is a continuous process where the trainer acting as a change agent makes trainees get familiar with the new organization. The following are the main training aims at Barclay: It helps to increase the level of confidence and motivation in employees It creates a feeling of achievement and personal satisfaction Improves the quality of staff and improves their skills. The above are the contributing factors that the help the HR achieve their goal of making the employees feel a part of the organization. Selecting a suitable a trainer is a very challenging issue as he a middleman between the employees and the organization. The trainer has the following responsibilities. The trainer must assess the need for training the individual and set up a training program for the employee in order to reach the ultimate goal of the organization. He must design the training program. The most important task at Barclays Plc is group participation. Hence the main aim of the trainer would be to encourage this task. The trainer acts as a messenger between the employees and the management. The trainer must make sure that the newly learned skills are being practically applied. He will decide the need for further training on the basis of the current performance appraisal. In the modern work environment employees are keener on keeping themselves in touch with the latest technological development. They always pick up skills and enhance their knowledge quotient so as to face the growing competition in the current work environment. Therefore employing training and development schemes would be easier and would improve the overall quality of the workforce. Performance Appraisal and Reward System Performance appraisal is a process where performance of an employee is assessed in terms of expected goals set for them. On the basis of performance appraisal the company decides promotions, terminations, the level of supervision and the duties and responsibilities to be assigned to the employees. During the phase of performance appraisal the actual performance of the employees is assessed and evaluated. The HRM is responsible for the performance appraisal and it is its duty to pass the information accurately and impartially to the management so that necessary and future corrective measures can be taken. The HRM faces the following issues during performance appraisal: Recognition and identification of an employees strengths and weaknesses. This will help to utilize the strengths more effectively and the necessary steps to be taken to overcome the individuals weakness. In certain cases employees should be given full effort, hence the HRM should identify the problems which are causing this. This also provides information needed for HR planning and act as an input to the HR department. This acts as a basis to make decisions such as strategies and future long term objectives. It is the duty of the human resource management to create a method of performance appraisal and system of reward. The method created should be in line with the objectives of training and development program. Defined standards should be set to measure performance. The HRM should decide who will be using the appraisal method and appraised by the method created. The HRM should gather feedback from the employees about the appraisal method created, this will act as source of boosting the employees morale. This will help the employees assess their strengths and weakness. This will further encourage the employees to do better to get a reward from the organization. Employees in the organization try to do tasks that will not alone get them rewards in the form of bonuses and incentives but recognition in form of certificates and medals and also appraisal for doing something new and innovative. This will help motivate the employees. In the case of Barclays the reward system is very important as this will help influence the employees to do something better and innovative. The reward system ultimately acts as a motivational factor for growth in future and is not an easy task. As this depends on the responsibility and the type of job being done.[7] If the performance management system is handled carefully and properly, leads to outstanding performance by employees and increases the level of motivation decreasing the absenteeism lack of morale of employees. Performance appraisal and reward schemes are vital in todays work environment because employees today are more influenced by the corporate lifestyle and are always in the lookout for better job opportunities and hiked salaries. Therefore it is essential for organizations to keep their employees loyal towards them, and the easiest and most effective way of doing it is performance appraisal and reward schemes. Effective Communication Skills Effective communication is nothing but an art of conveying our message clearly to other people. It involves a lot of effort for effective communication as any error or distortion will result in misinterpretation of message. Lack of effective communication may result in lack of information, misunderstandings, employee performance may decrease which may ultimately affect the companys turnover. Ineffective communication may become a source of conflict and frustrate the employees. The managers inability to communicate effectively may lead to the inability of employee not performing well as per the company demands. This happens when the employee is not aware of what is requested of him and ultimately leads employee dissatisfaction. Effective communication has its own benefits in the workplace. Effective communication from managers to employees will result in the employees doing their job well. A good management style together with a positive communication approach will be quite effective in the workplace and will lead to better understanding between the employee and manager. For an organization to be successful communication should happen both internally and externally. Internal communication: between management and employees. External communication: this takes place between staff and clients. Let us consider Vodafone as a case study to illustrate the effective communication skills[3] Internal Communication[2]: this takes place inside the organization between the employees and management. Here the employees act as stakeholders. This communication may take place in any of the forms listed below: Vertically: this the top down approach which happens from the senior employees to juniors associates. The ultimate goal here is to improve the performance of tasks and make the junior employees understand the companys priorities and requirements. Horizontally: this takes places between various teams and across departments. The goal here is to make sure roles are effectively carried out and tasks completed. Intranet with restricted access to people within the business is a great tool for promoting better communication. External communication[1] :this takes place with customers. Vodafone has laid a principle for communication as We will communicate openly and transparently with all of our stakeholders within the bounds of commercial confidentiality. Vodafone believes that this will reduce the barriers to communication. It makes sure that its messages are conveyed both verbally and non verbally. For verbal communication the company has set contact centers so that the staff can be in direct contact with the customers and further giving an opportunity for its staff to talk to the customers about the issues. Non verbal communication can take place through various methods such as advertisements in television, newspapers and other media, the Vodafone logo. This also acts as a method of determining the position of the brand. Further methods of non verbal communication include SMS to contact certain customers. Sales information can be reached out to customers through literature in the Vodafone shops. The many forms of communication through which Vodafone reaches out to its customers are as below: Promotion and sales material- Vodafone makes sure that the advertising material is correct and follows its Business principles. This also helps the information reaches out responsibly to its stakeholders together with promoting its products and services. Awareness and Information: Vodafone promoted the use of mobile phones responsibly in the cars. It took the complex material and translated the information in easy to understand form and made the public aware of the new law and appropriate use of phones in the car. Explanation and guidance: mobile phones have health effects on human beings. But the latest scientific research has something new and Vodafone needs to convey these findings clearly to the customers. Communication in todays work environment is not only important as a means of better process flow but also as a means to bring all the employees together as a single unit. This is really beneficial when the employees have to work in a team environment. In todays work environment, employees have access to social network websites which are capable to increase the bond between employees and improve their effort as a team. Motivation to dedicate Employees A well motivated staff is a key to a productive and pleasant environment in a workplace. Motivating the employees must be one of the key responsibilities of a manager. An effective management and leadership reflect through effective motivation of employees in the workplace. Understanding the human nature is a key to effective employee motivation. The key to performance improvement in an organization is motivation. Motivation is very essential for any business to survive and excel. Motivation is a skill and must be learnt. Performance can be defined as a function of ability and motivation as below Job performance= function (ability)(motivation) Ability depends on education and training. Motivation has the following seven strategies through which it can be initiated: Fair treatment of people Positive and high expectations Discipline Satisfying the needs of the employees Setting goals at work To restructure the jobs Set rewards and recognition for performance Every organization has its own ways to motivate the employees to ensure that goals and targets are reached [4]. Motivation plays a vital role in todays work environment. Due to the cut-throat competition between organizations, it can be seen as a common practice for organizations to hire their rivals best workforce. So as to avoid that, employees need to be motivated not only in terms of their incentives and salary packages for their physical needs, but also with praise and recognition and better work environment to ease their psychological needs. Obstacles to Effective Performance The main obstacles to effective performance in an organization are as follows: Culture Change Conflict Culture Culture is related to beliefs, values and customary ways of doing things. The main reason for employees leaving the company is cultural mismatch. According to the present culture employees are required to have a clear understanding of short term and long term goals. The employees are required to have a shared vision and values as well as being productive and motivated. The organizational culture is determined by the leadership style and practices in an organization and hence plays an important role especially during acquisitions and mergers. Every organization has a set of values and beliefs. When an employee is exposed to a new culture, the individual goes through a state known as culture shock. When the companies merge the employees from the non dominant company need to adapt themselves to the new culture of the dominant company. Let us consider Barclay Plc for instance. Barclay acquired Lehman Brothers and one of the major issues for Barclay after this acquisition is to take into consideration the two different cultures in these two companies. Most of the employees of Lehman Brothers have left Barclay and a few did not join Barclay. This makes it clear that the employees are not ready to adapt to the new values, leadership styles, beliefs and practices of the Barclay culture. One of the biggest challenges to the management at Barclay is to make employees accept the new culture. The change in culture ultimately has an effect on the motivation level of the employees, their commitment to the organization and their engagement in work. Another consequence of an acquisition is that the individuals from the non dominant organization will feel like loss of identity and the others will have a superior feeling. This will ultimately affect the company achieve its goals and objectives. Another major issue of culture when the two organizations were merged is it will divert the attention of the employees and make the less productive. The attention of employees will be diverted to issues such as job security , feeling of discomfort working with new employees. Job security is the main issue as there will be duplication of departments and to manage the staff, the organization can reduce the manpower. The job profiles may be redesigned which may have an impact on the performance of the employees. The employees motivation, attitude and performance are determined by the culture. Motivation and culture go hand in hand. More an employee is motivated; the culture will be healthier. The key factor to be dealt in any organization is motivation. If an employee is not motivated properly then the employee will have problem accepting the new culture which will impact the individuals ability to do the job effectively and efficiently. The company should have flexible culture if a decision of acquisition is taken. This will allow the new employees to adjust to the new culture. Culture reflects the style of management and leadership. A slight change in the values, leadership style and ideas will help the new employees adjust to the new environment. This is not easy task, but since Barclays has taken a decision of merger it should be ready to consider changes in its culture and leadership style. Change Except for change nothing is constant in this world. Every activity in an organization results in some change. It can have a positive or negative effect depending on the communication made through change. The acquisition of Barclay and Lehman Brothers bought together a huge change in both organizations. New strategies and policies, procedures and work environment were created for work in both organizations. Change should involve people and not be imposed on people. Preparing the employees of an organization for change is a very vital task and it is the responsibility of the management to do this. This can be done through various methods such as through oral communication, via training programs or through counseling. The major reason for the Lehman employees leaving Barclays when the two organizations were merged is that the change was not managed properly. The key principles needed when planning to manage change are as follows: Every person reacts to change differently. Each person is different and has its own perceptions and preferences. A few people always look forward to change and new things and it easy to handle them. But it is a very difficult to handle people who always like things the way they were. These kind of people will experience stress and dissatisfaction and negative attitude towards their counterparts preferences. Every person has his own needs and priorities A few people work just for money but a few for the self and social identification. Change can be managed effectively by designing jobs in a better way through job redesign, job rotation management etc. Managing expectations realistically The organization should make clear to its employees that it cannot make everyone happy at the same time and this should be communicated effectively and realistically. The relation between expectations and reality is very important. The management should do the tasks listed below in order to manage change effectively: The management should inspire people and set certain objectives, goals and values for the organization It should set up a communication network such as face to face interaction so that new ideas and policies can be easily communicated. If there are any obstacles in the way of communication then those should be removed as this will help people accept change. Change can be made inevitable by promotions, recruitments and rewards. Conflicts When Barclays merges with Lehman conflicts were natural to arise as people from two different cultures and two different companies were merging. Starting with small disputes, conflicts may reach to higher levels which will ultimately affect the organization. Since the culture of both organizations is different each will have its own ideas, strategies, perspectives and goals. The different types of conflict that may arise when people of two different cultures merge are as follows: Conflict with boss Since the manager has a more experience and bigger perspective it will not be good to encounter conflict with the boss. In order to avoid such a conflict it is better not to question his authority and any ideas and views should be presented in the form of suggestions. Conflict with colleagues Different point of view will lead to conflict between employees. This can be done resolved through proper communication. Conflicts with the subordinates Conflicts can be handles effectively by one of the following ways: Each person should be given freedom to express their views. Conflicts can be sorted to a greater level by identifying positive minded people. Not everyone may have a broad vision as ours. So communicating and discussing our vision will help keep conflicts away. Conclusion The base of any organization depends on the policy, the values, the vision, the philosophy and goals set by the management. These act as the driving force for the organizational culture. Culture in a workplace determines the leadership style, the type of communication and group dynamics within the organization. The employees in the organization perceive the culture as a quality essential at work which has an impact on the degree of the employees motivation. This ultimately affects the performance, personal growth and self development which ultimately affect the organization from achieving its goals. The above discussed concepts such as communication, motivation, culture etc, make up only a small part of the theories of organizational behavior and theory. The success of any organization is determined by the application of the concepts of organizational behavior in the organization. The best way to handle conflicts in a workplace is to address them through discussions and debates. Conflict can have a positive effect within the organization if it is addressed effectively. A successful manager is one who takes time to address and deal with the conflict. This in turn will lead to a healthy and diverse work environment.

Benjamin Franklin :: essays research papers

Benjamin Franklin: New World Physicist   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston Massachusetts. He was one of seventeen other brothers and sisters. His father, Josiah Franklin, who emigrated from Oxfordshire, England, worked as a soap boiler and tallow chandler. Benjamin’s mother, Abiah Folger, was from Nantucket but her family derived from England as well. Benjamin Franklin’s entire life, which lasted almost the entire eighteenth century, was based upon order and systematic discipline in addition to his dependence on wisdom and intelligence. Franklin was sincere, honest, and was apt to self-examination. He acquired long lasting friends from persons of every age. Franklin found unquestionable delight in living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Benjamin Franklin started attending school at the age of 8 and was at the head of his class by the end of his first year. After only attending his first school for one year he moved on to math and arithmetic school. He failed out of that school by the time he was 10. He then quit school completely in order to assist his father in the soap and candle making business. At age 12 he moved on to be an apprentice to his older brother James, who was a printer. Soon Franklin had ambitions to write and by age 16 he had written a series of letters by an imaginary author. The letters were printed in the New England Courant, which was published by his brother. Still pursuing his writing career, he ran away to Philadelphia and continued working in the printing business. He arrived in 1725 with one Dutch dollar and one copper shilling. By 1729, he had bought and published The Pennsylvania Gazette. He then married his landlady’s daughter, Deborah Reed. In the next seventeen years Franklin had three children, published the first Poor Richards Almanac, and invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, among many other things.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1747, Franklin began his electrical experiments and then retired from the printing trade. His book, Experiments and Observations on Electricity, was published soon after that. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765 and Franklin wrote anonymously in London newspapers against the act, which was repealed the next year. In 1771, he wrote the first part of his autobiography, three years before his wife died. In 1776, Franklin, along with Adams, Livingston, Jefferson and Sherman, drafted the Declaration of Independence. It was adopted on July 4, 1776. Later in 1776, Franklin was elected as the Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention and appointed one of the three commissioners to the French Court. Benjamin Franklin :: essays research papers Benjamin Franklin: New World Physicist   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston Massachusetts. He was one of seventeen other brothers and sisters. His father, Josiah Franklin, who emigrated from Oxfordshire, England, worked as a soap boiler and tallow chandler. Benjamin’s mother, Abiah Folger, was from Nantucket but her family derived from England as well. Benjamin Franklin’s entire life, which lasted almost the entire eighteenth century, was based upon order and systematic discipline in addition to his dependence on wisdom and intelligence. Franklin was sincere, honest, and was apt to self-examination. He acquired long lasting friends from persons of every age. Franklin found unquestionable delight in living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Benjamin Franklin started attending school at the age of 8 and was at the head of his class by the end of his first year. After only attending his first school for one year he moved on to math and arithmetic school. He failed out of that school by the time he was 10. He then quit school completely in order to assist his father in the soap and candle making business. At age 12 he moved on to be an apprentice to his older brother James, who was a printer. Soon Franklin had ambitions to write and by age 16 he had written a series of letters by an imaginary author. The letters were printed in the New England Courant, which was published by his brother. Still pursuing his writing career, he ran away to Philadelphia and continued working in the printing business. He arrived in 1725 with one Dutch dollar and one copper shilling. By 1729, he had bought and published The Pennsylvania Gazette. He then married his landlady’s daughter, Deborah Reed. In the next seventeen years Franklin had three children, published the first Poor Richards Almanac, and invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, among many other things.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1747, Franklin began his electrical experiments and then retired from the printing trade. His book, Experiments and Observations on Electricity, was published soon after that. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765 and Franklin wrote anonymously in London newspapers against the act, which was repealed the next year. In 1771, he wrote the first part of his autobiography, three years before his wife died. In 1776, Franklin, along with Adams, Livingston, Jefferson and Sherman, drafted the Declaration of Independence. It was adopted on July 4, 1776. Later in 1776, Franklin was elected as the Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention and appointed one of the three commissioners to the French Court.

Seasonal Affective Disorder :: essays research papers

Seasonal Affective Disorder   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a common problem of people living in northern United States. People who are affected by this disorder commonly suffer from depression, lethargy, inability to concentrate, overeating and weight gain. People from the north tend to suffer more from this disorder because of the shortened days. It appears, that due to the deficiency of sunlight some people suffer from these symptoms. The shortened days have a hormonal effect on the body that causes these symptoms, and the use of artificial sunlight is the best way to relieve the disorder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was not until recently that SAD was discovered. It was discovered by Peter Mueller, who was reviewing a case of a 29-year-old woman. He had noticed a pattern, the woman’s depression came in the winters and left in the spring. Over the course of years the woman moved from city to city. Mueller noticed, that the farther north she moved the early the depression. Mueller had begun to speculate that the lack of sunlight had contributed to the women’s depression. In order to confirm this he exposed the patient to artificial sunlight. He found that over a period of time the patient had recovered from the depression. Today light therapy is the most commonly used method in treating SAD. The two hormones that are affected by the sunlight, and are thought to be the cause of SAD, are melatonin and serotonin. Both of these chemicals â€Å"are influenced by photoperiodism, the earth’s daily dark-light cycle† (Wurtman 1989). Melatonin is the chemical that effects mood and energy levels. In the human body melatonin is at its highest at night and is lowest in the day. There has been a study done to see if sunlight has a direct effect on suppressing melatonin. It is known that melatonin levels in urine are five times higher at night than they are in the day. It was not until a 1980 study that it was known that melatonin levels could be directly suppressed with light. In an experiment, subjects were woken up at two in the morning and exposed to a half an hour of artificial sunlight. The findings were that melatonin levels were greatly decreased. The decline in melatonin usually happens in the early morning, but in a SAD patient this does not occur until about two hours later. In order to suppress the levels the patient needs to be exposed to sunlight. It is found, that when the patient is exposed to the light there is a significant decrease in depression and the craving for carbohydrates.

A Hosts Hospitality Essay -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essays

A Host's Hospitality In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an epic written in fourteenth century by a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, we learn about a knight and his quest. Sir Gawain, sworn to seek the Green Knight as part of a deal, first finds himself in an enchanted and beautiful forest and then ushered into a beautiful castle of Bercilak, its host. Bercilak's court seems so like Arthur's that it appears to offer Gawain a familiar refuge in alien territory. The orderliness and beauty of the forest and the castle recall the civilized world of Arthur's court. Gawain is welcomed as warmly as if he has arrived at Camelot. The abundant hospitality and congeniality of the host and servants are clear in this scene, and they put Gawain at ease. First, the porter at Bercilak's castle assures Gawain that "a noble knight such as he will not want for a welcome"(SGGK l. 814). Next, the host welcomes him whole-heartedly and lays all that he owns at Gawain's disposal. He also sends a servant to see to Gawain's need s, makes sure he slips into something more comfortable, rests and eats. To...

Opinion Poll and Strong Public Opinion

FRQ: Public Opinion Public opinion polls are a way to link the public with elected officials. Members of Congress often use polls to understand the views of their constituents, but they must also pay attention to other political considerations. a. Identify two characteristics of a valid, scientific, public opinion poll. b. Explain why each of the following enhances the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Strong public opinion as expressed in polling results Competitive re-elections c. Explain why each of the following limits the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Legislators’ voting records †¢ Party leadership 6 points Part (a): 2 points One point is earned for each correct identification of a characteristic of a valid, scientific public opinion poll. Acceptable characteristics may include the following: †¢ Randomized sample †¢ Representative sample †¢ Question wording (unbiased, unambiguous) Large sample size/low margin of error Part (b): 2 points One point is earned for a correct explanation of why each of the following enhances the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Strong public opinion as expressed in polling results o Because of the desire to get reelected/electoral ambition o Because of the perceived obligation/duty to represent their constituents †¢ Competitive reelections o Because of the desire to get reelected Part (c): 2 pointsOne point is earned for a correct explanation of why each of the following limits the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Legislators’ voting records o To avoid being perceived as indecisive by voters/supporters †¢ Party leadership: o To avoid the risk of losing party support o To gain party support A score of zero (0) is assigned to an answer that is attempted but earns no points. A score of dash (—) is assigned to an answer that is blank or off task.

Magnanimous Pharash

The Magnanimous Pharaoh Forever Lives in Me On the morning I was making plans for my summer break, I got a package from home in about a 6 inch 4 mail box. I ran to my room in excitement to unwrap my new gift. Surprisingly, I saw a blue and white hardcover textbook. I sighed in disappointment it was the Kaplan textbook I had to study for my SAT exams. At night, when I was about starting to read I was so uninterested and disturbed that I started flipping through pages. Not long after, I felt dizzy and went to bed.That night, I had a dream, I saw myself in a completely new lifestyle, attitude, behavior and most of my rinds had same transformation as mine. I wonder how this rarely believed dream came true and made me a wonderful young man I am. Every morning in my brick hostel, in my clean and small room at the four walls of Immaculate High School on the outskirt of Kirkwood in Lagos, Nigeria. Before I hear the six loud bells of the tower when the sun ray penetrates my window, there's a knock on my door. I hear a shrill and high pitched voice say, Get up! Get up! A slender man in his daily stripped khaki pants with a glass of cold water stands tall over me. I suspect the glass of water could e used to drench my shirt rather than quench my thirst if I fail to wake. This is Pharaoh, 45 years old, house helper, sweeper, caretaker, and the only person to know where I keep my letters from my girlfriend. He was Just a man all students believed was either a high school dropout or a douche that had no word of encouragement or could be of influence and importance. He is like a precise robot programmed to keep my life and that of the other seventy other boys in my boarding house in order.For five years, I saw him every day cleaning and washing. It is a mystery to me how someone who lives such a mundane life sill greets me with a flash f his 31 teeth overtime I cross his path. Growing up, I never felt respect and I was not ready to give it back, my disregard about life didn't make me see the exigency of being a benevolence to people and life my tender mind was only bothered about the positive aspects of life having fun, hanging out with friend, play video games, and surfing the internet were my priorities.I was not ready to be pestered by the negativity of life all I wanted was pleasure, I felt no remorse about being rude and disobedient I thought money could solve every difficulty and problem. I ponder recurrently to know what the cause is. Was it my parents? Should I have not be nurtured as a rich kid while growing, or was I influenced by school mates. I thought of all this in my early teenage years. I wonder how a minor incident could be of transformation and totally put a stop to my way of living in my early teenage years.Few months before spring break, I had a terrible night tossing and turning before my SAT exam. Words swam in my head as I pondered the difference between allusion, illusion, and elision. The next morning Pharaoh looked more tense t han surprised to see me awake. He asked me much like my mother would, â€Å"What happened? Why do you look so worried? Has the sun risen from the West? On filling him on my war with words, he smiled and assured all would be fine. It was the first time I heard him speak, and it was a revelation. I didn't realize that this man was more than Just a â€Å"come and go' machine.The fact that he empathetic with me like my mother convinced me that he was going to influence my life for the better and make great amends to my way of living. That afternoon when he came to clean my hostel room, I inserted a #100 naira note into his hand and requested him to get a packet of chips. He frowned and frowned even more. I snatched back the note and ran to the dining hall for a barely edible breakfast. I felt bad for having crossed the line. I should have respected the school rules, I wished that he would not complain about my transgression.To my astonishment, that afternoon, I saw not one but two pac kets of chips lying neatly on the pillow. He grimaced, displaced his 31 teeth, and walked out of the room. I was taken aback, I couldn't believe that a man with a large family to support and a meager income to do it with had generosity to fulfill my petty temptation. Many chips later, I realized that he didn't grudge me the chips; he was simply against taking money from me. He found Joy in giving and he had great pride in himself. Secretly, I envied him.For he had found the contentment most people spend their live chasing. I envied him because he smiled all through the day. I learned from his example, that there are some things money can't buy. Contentment and generosity are Just two of them. Pharaoh may not be a Mahatma Gandhi or a Nelson Mandela that might have influenced a lot of people due to their reputable positions, and encouraging lifestyle, but Pharaoh lifestyle as an average living Man though he wasn't educated, rich or popular but he was till generous with the little he h ad and was contented with what he had left.He was able to influence the life's of other teenage boys in my high school dormitory through his simplicity and humility and made remarkable changes in our lives, my parents were happy to see the new me and lauded him for being a great influence to my life and that of my school mates. Pharaoh may not have the ability to do great things, but I saw the greatness to have the ability to do small things in him.

Case Analysis: Medical Center of Southern Indiana Essay

Introduction The Medical Center of Southern Indiana (MCSI) has had a turbulent tenure as a hospital since its inception in 1973. Unprofitable from the very beginning, MCSI has gone through multiple ownership changes, creating a distrusting atmosphere between Clark County, IN residents, the local medical community, and MCSI. The city of Charlestown purchased the hospital at the end of 1991 in the hopes of turning the facility into a profitable medical center offering key services to the community. An aggressive expansion strategy was developed by management contractor American MedTrust in 1992 and this led to an operating profit in 1998 of $480,545. This marked a turning point for MCSI, as it was the first year in a very long time that the hospital had turned a profit. As they look to the future, MCSI needs to determine if it should continue with the aggressive strategy of expanding services or slow its expansion pace and focus on providing excellent service within its current capacity and looking for ways to reduce cost and enhance revenues. Key Demographics and Facts Certain elements of the MCSI case are essential in determining the appropriate strategy to pursue in the future. The external community general hospital environment has not been thriving during this time period. Of the roughly 5,000 community hospitals in the United States in 1997, 22% had bed capacity of 50-99. From the year 1980 to 1997, the number of hospitals with 50-99 beds decreased by 24%. As a 96 bed facility, the national trend does not bode well for MCSI. When the hospital was purchased by the city of Charlestown, American MedTrust came in with its aggressive â€Å"revitalization initiatives† to help MCSI become profitable. Under American MedTrust’s leadership, MCSI spent more than $3 million from 1992 to 1998 to accomplish these aggressive strategies. Two key elements of those initiatives involved expanding the services offered and rebuilding relationships with insurance companies and the local medical community. As a full-service hospital, MCSI already offered a variety of medical services. Because of a consistently low census (occupancy rate around 45%), developing ways to attract new patients was vital. A new inpatient geropsychiatric unit, skilled nursing facility, and a home health agency were added to the mix when hospital executives determined that there was a need in the community for these services and that the competition was not offering these services. By 1998, all three new service lines were bringing in at least $1 million in gross revenue. Other key investments included the creation of an outpatient mall, purchasing new technology, and the creation of satellite specialty and primary care clinics. Finding and expanding sources of revenue was also a key feature in the aggressive strategic plan. MCSI knew that to enhance revenue, the hospital had to contract with managed care companies. Because of sour relationships between MCSI and the insurance companies, MCSI enlisted the help of the state legislature and the state insurance commissioner to pass the Any Willing Provider bill that required insurance companies to work with providers like MCSI and provide written explanations for any declinations of contracts. In 1994, MCSI had two managed care contracts; there were twenty-five managed care contracts in 1998. With 65% of its patient base on Medicare, it was essential for MCSI to increase these managed care contracts if the organiza tion hoped to expand their revenue stream. Because of the enhanced services offered, the number of full time equivalent employees also increased from 183 in 1994 to 270 in 1998. MCSI has benefited from a low 11% employee turnover and a lean organizational structure. Even with these systems in place however, the salary and wage expense has nearly tripled from $3.3 million in 1992 to $9.88 million in 1998. Of the 270 FTE employees, there are 75 active members of the medical staff. Gross revenue generated by physician was a bit lopsided in 1998 with 11 out of 75 physicians generating almost 75% of the gross revenue. As MCSI plans for the future, revenues generated by physician, by department, and the related salary expenses need to be carefully examined to determine the optimal mix of services provided to the Clark County community. The location and demographics of Clark County continue to provide challenges for MCSI and the creation of future strategic plans. Clark County is a rural  area with the majority of its population living in the southern half of the county, near the Indiana and Kentucky border. While Clark County does enjoy a low 2.7% unemployment rate, the average county household income was a middling $36, 726 in 1997. Only 11% of Clark County residents had earned a bachelor’s degree as of 1998, thus the probability of the average household income increasing by any great degree was small. 65% of the MCSI patient base in 1998 was a Medicare patient. MCSI is located in the north central section of Clark County. Its closest competitor is Clark Memorial Hospital in the southern half of the county. Clark Memorial has about 3 times the number of beds as MCSI and the majority of the county’s population lives closer to Clark Memorial. Louisville, KY is about 15 miles from MCSI. Any future expansion plans must include a close analysis of the population growth trends in the area and an analysis of the service mix offered by both competitors, Clark Memorial and the Louisville-area health systems. Both of these competitors are better positioned to capitalize on any growth trends in the area and have the financial resources to aggressively expand to meet these trends. Even though MCSI has posted an operating profit for the first time in many years, the majority of MCSI’s assets are tied up in receivables. The current ratio and days cash on hand are well below industry standards. With increasing salary expenses and various interest expenses increasing, investing in capital expenditures or investing large sums of money in new service lines might cause MCSI’s operating profits be negative. Recommendations The Medical Center of Southern Indiana should continue to grow and improve the service lines that are currently offered such as home health, skilled nursing, and geropsychiatric services. These services have been marginally profitable in the past for the facility. The home health agency has seen a tremendous growth increasing from $422,000 to $1.75 million in four years. Skilled nursing facility revenues have grown in four years from $1.07 to $4.7 million. In order to keep these existing service lines thriving, MSCI should plan moderate renovations that keep the facility up to date with current service lines. Renovations should be similar to the $300,000 remodeling that was done to the outpatient service mall and should include the purchase of medical supply equipment that will help MCSI stay up to date  with its competitors. Large capital expenditures should be avoided at this time. Additionally, MCSI should expand its marketing campaign to target the local populations and keep patients from the surrounding five counties from migrating into the Louisville area to receive care. This has been a problem for the facility in the past, and has led to losses in revenues. Another point of emphasis that should be addressed is the inclusion of the Ivy Tech College population and the Indiana University Southeast population. This population of students has yet to be targeted by the facility, and are a large source of potential revenue. The marketing strategy should also focus on the recruitment and retention of physicians. Recruitment has been an issue in the past and recruiting and retaining quality physicians is a key component to the success of a facility. Currently, a minority of physicians bring in a majority of the revenues. Having quality physicians that provide services that the community wants and needs will also help enhance revenues. Because so much of the patient population is on Medicare, these revenue enhancement strategies need to be complemented by cost saving strategies. MCSI has a bit more control over their expenses than it does over their revenue sources. After years of having a defender style of strategic plan, this aggressive prospector strategy has allowed MCSI to have the resources to better meet the needs of the community and find a way to be profitable. However, at this point, it would be best to take a step back and shift to analyzer mode before continuing in an aggressive manner. Data The Medical Center of Southern Indiana created a decision matrix to identify decision criteria in pursuing a solution going forward. MCSI choose to analyze physician partnership, its top service lines, expansion of market campaign, and expansion of the Ivy Tech population in order to decide whether or not it should continue its aggressive expansion campaign. Major criteria areas taken into account included market position, competition, potential profitability, and alignment with MCSI’s mission. As shown in Figure 1, it was recommended for MCSI to continue building physician partnership and enhancing its top three service lines (home health agency, skilled nursing facility, and geropsychiatric services). There was the  recommendation to possibly pursue expansion of its marketing campaign and Ivy Tech population. MCSI should slow down its aggressive expansion strategy of adding new services and consolidate gains from those presently in place. In doing so, MCSI would shift from a prospector to an analyzer. MCSI achieved its largest operating profit of $480,545 in 1998. Looking to continue aggressive expansion could potentially lower its operating profit going forward. Overexpansion of services may lead to a dilution in the quality of care. The hospital is already structured as lean to help control costs. With such a low operating profit, MCSI does not have the resources to continue their expansion. As an analyzer, MCSI will look to enhance its existing resources and wait to see what the competition does. Improvements can be made to MCSI’s top three services lines. Allocating resources for future renovations and purchases of equipment will help keep these areas successful and allow them to continue generating profit. These three service lines respond to the needs of the Medicare patient base. For physician partnership, MCSI must keep its physicians who represent a majority of gross revenue. There is a large disparity for both gross revenue brought in and patients seen amongst physicians. Keeping MCSI’s top physicians while also looking to recruit other good physicians can lead to an increased efficiency of patient care and a reduction of cost. Involving the physicians in issues central to care and day-to-day operations is needed for a high physician retention rate for MCSI. It is important to have physicians included in the processes because they are the ones caring for the patients. If MCSI has the available resources, it should pursue expanding its marketing campaign and look into expansion of the Ivy Tech population. The solution for MCSI to focus on its current service lines instead of continued aggressive expansion will require coordination amongst a wide-range of sections within the medical center. Kevin J. Miller, the President and Chief Executive Officer of MCSI is responsible for asserting leadership of the planning and implementation of this solution. He must be involved in the process to avoid disengagement within MCSI. It is critical for him to be a leader, but not take over the entire process. The next step would be defining and communicating the responsibilities and roles of the  organizational leaders in the various departments of the medical center through the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees. It is their role to provide oversight and then let the organization take control. Physician partnership through Independent Practice Association (IPA), home health agency, skilled nursing facility, and geropsychiatric services would involve those under the Physician Affiliates, Chief Nursing Officer, and Assistant Administrator of Specialty Services, respectively. Expansion of marketing campaign and Ivy Tech population would involve those under the Director of Human Resources and Director of Business Development. Those under the Chief Quality Officer are then responsible for insuring the facilities are up-to-date through renovations for these service lines. Those under the Chief Financial Officer would be responsible for keeping track of the records and looking at the profitability from services already in place. All of these areas of MCSI must work with each other through active communication. It is necessary to have strategic plan schedules in order for the solution to be successful. Starting with monitoring day-to-day activities, MCSI should complete a full strategic planning process every three years with annual updates on each of the areas in the decision matrix. MCSI must have the resources to provide for this solution. The solution identified by the decision matrix is responsible for MCSI’s ability to earn and increase annual profit. Collecting data in these areas in addition to monitoring the internal and external environment can allow for MCSI to evaluate effectiveness of consolidating gains from services already in place in the future. Current Status of the Medical Center of Southern Indiana The Medical Center of Southern Indiana became a subsidiary of Saint Catherine Healthcare LLC on May 1, 2006. Questions from the end of the Case: 1.Should MCSI slow down its aggressive expansion strategy of adding new services and consolidate the gains from those presently in place, or continue the aggressive expansion strategy of adding and investing in even more services? We feel that MCSI should not continue its aggressive expansion strategy. Rather, they should focus on continuing the upkeep of their current service lines that have been so profitable for them the past  four years (home health, skilled nursing facilities, and geropsychiatric services) Continuing to expand these existing services is what has allowed MCSI to grow and beat out competitors in some areas. Instead of focusing on expanding the service lines any further, money should be invested to keep existing facilities â€Å"top of the line†. 2.Should MCSI reassess present services and retrench those that are not yet breaking even? MCSI should definitely carefully consider all present services, especially those that are not yet breaking even. Certain service lines will never break even, but are required as part of the community hospital services. However, reducing or retrenching these services could possibly be the best strategy moving forward. 3.Should MCSI change its fiscal orientation and focus on cost reduction versus revenue enhancement? With 65% of the patient base on Medicare, revenue enhancement might not be guaranteed. A combination of cost minimization and revenue enhancement strategies through increasing the number of managed care contracts would be the best orientation for MCSI. 4.Should MCSI pursue a joint venture with physicians in limited partnerships? Yes, MCSI should pursue a joint venture with physicians in limited partnerships. In 1998, 4 of MCSI’s 75 physicians brought in 44% of the gross revenue and 11 physicians brought in almost 75% of the gross revenue, which was $39,679,356. It is critical to identify the top earning physicians and keep them at MCSI. Part of MCSI’s mission is to â€Å"increase physician recruitment, retention, and collaboration.† MCSI must continue to involve the physicians in issues central to quality and their day-to-day operations.