Concepts of Criminal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concepts of Criminal Law - Essay Example Certain defenses arise from these acts which led to the prosecution of Johnny. In the crime of possession of the Nutria, the state maintains that the act is that of strict liability, however, though the act of carrying the Nutria is a capital offence, there lacks the level of Mens Rea whereby, the defendant did not knowingly or intentionally possess the Nutria with the knowledge of its illegality. The defendant, Johnny Juneau, lives a conservative and segregated life in the woods, where the new change in rule of law has not traversed. Henceforth, the jury should not convict him of the crime however much ignorance of the Law is no defense. Proof that the level of Mens Rea required to convict Johnny lacks in this case, can be given by the town’s people who know him well, those that know he has not been in town for a long time. In the case of gas theft, the defense presents that Johnny was acting under a mistake of fact. In his last visit to town, the rates for gas were $1.4 per gallon, and on arriving at the gas station, Johnny believed the sign that read $4.42 per gallon was a mistake. He believed it true that the 4 was supposed to be one and therefore borrowed the ladder, with the assumption that the law permits self help. The case is a case of specific intent, whereby, Johnnie did not intend on taking control of the storekeeper’s property, however, he only meant to do good by correcting â€Å"the mistake†. In the case of gas theft, the evidence provided clearly outlines that the level of Mens Rea required to convict Johnny does not exist. Johnny was acting under a mistake of fact, and good intentions. Due to this reasons the Jury should not convict him for the crime. The accusation that Johnny murdered the neighbor does not suffice since first the unlawful act that can lead to murder (Actus Reus) did not exist since he only placed a ladder to change the gas store sign. Then the thought of acting in such a manner that the neighbor would die does not exist thereby lacking the necessary level of Mens Rea required to convict him does not exist. Johnny is still innocent on grounds of negligence since it is not his fault there existed a live wire that was the negligence of the storekeeper. Johnny therefore lacked the knowledge nor the intent to kill anyone when he decided to borrow the ladder. The Judges Decision Johnny appears to be a victim of circumstances, since his innocent motives seem to lead to crimes. All cases seem to lack the necessary Mens Rea required to convict Johnny. In the Judges perspective, the best way to resolve this would be critically analyzing the facts of the case, and the statutes of Law, to be able to come to a reasonable decision. In the case of possession of Nutria it is the duty of the state, to make known any sudden amendments in the laws of the state, and it is the duty of the citizens to carefully study and follow the rules of law. In Johnny’s case of Nutria possession, Johnny lives in the woods, a segregated and conservative life and there is no reasonable way that the change in law reached him, therefore, though there exists ignorance of Law, the State cannot convict Johnny since the facts presented prove that he lacked the level of Mens Rea that would otherwise convict him. In the case of theft of gas, the evidence pro

Nursing Theory - Transcultural Nursing Assignment

Nursing Theory - Transcultural Nursing - Assignment Example The research presents that it is more of a surface view of nursing without the practical application, the periscope view. Nursing practice is the fine tuning of all that has been studied and theorized into a microscopic view and applied to the reality of patient care. All three aspects of nursing are equally important and must continually be refined and researched to provide best practices for all patients everywhere. As the essay stresses there are three basic approaches to nursing theory which each describe the scope of nursing theory. Nursing knowledge is very similar to looking through a telescope; there are many conceptual theories which provide insight, however lack the empirical testing to prove them. Nursing as a discipline is considered a mid-range theory in that it somewhat bridges the gap between the grand theories and the actual nursing practice; much as looking through a periscope would provide a view for the world around us. Nursing as a professional practice gives the most in-depth view of all, providing practical solutions and information to help direct nursing interventions and outcomes, much like looking through a microscope. There are four basic paradigms that comprise a nursing theory: the person, the environment, the health, and the nursing. Each of these has associated with it various concepts, assumptions, and definitions. The view through the telescope takes the big picture , the Grand theory, and researches the concepts and constructs. This produces a proposition that connects the theory to knowledge gained, providing a surface view of the potential for nursing application. This proposition leads to a conceptual model which further defines and refines the practical application of this theory to give a microscopic view of the theory in action. (Current Nursing, 2011) The entire concept of nursing theory works as a circular phenomenon. Grand theories are postulated to improve nursing practice. It is for this reason that nursing research is ongoing to provide the knowledge and insight to help direct practice and effect outcomes. They predict and explain information that is crucial to outcomes that maximize potential for quality nursing care and cost effectiveness. They also help assess and improved practice by providing criteria for measuring outcomes and rationales for nursing practice. This research yields information, conclusions and recommendations f or practical nursing applications. (Life Nurses, 2009) Nursing knowledge is the bridge between the theory and practical applications of nursing. It is an area of common ground that helps give definition to the profession as distinguishing it from other professions. It provides the answer to â€Å"why† nurses perform certain actions, as well as â€Å"how† they do them. It allows nurses to question practices and redefine care to act based on criteria and rationale that have a sound base in nursing research. Nursing knowledge gives nurses

Personal Development Through Reflective Practice Personal Development Essay

Personal Development Through Reflective Practice Personal Development Essay The learning set was created on the first day of the course. Members were chosen at random based on their seating position in the room and that fellow work colleagues could not be part of any group. Our set therefore consisted of six strangers from different backgrounds and organisations. No direction was given about learning sets theory or practice. We met as a group over a period four months. Initially we struggled with making our learning set work. At times we wanted to apply formal structures. For example in week 3 we tried a self evaluation exercise from a text book (Pedler, Burgoyne, Boydell, 2007). Whilst that was helpful from an individual perspective it did not fully clarify what we were meant to achieve via the set or satisfy the eagerness of some members to put structures in place. However over a period of time the group has now gelled and is less negative about the concept of the learning set. We are still not fully behaving as a set as defined by theory e.g. we dont always spend time at each meeting to discuss specific issues, often digressing into wider debates (Revans, 1978) As a group we have followed the various stages of Tuckmans classic team development model. (Alan Chapman/Businessballs.com, 2010). The application of this model is shown in Appendix 1 Account of Learning Gains I was initially critical of the learning set process, as like others, I could not see where it was going beyond being a talking shop. Nonetheless I can see now that the process has developed me personally. This is not uncommon. for those who have persisted with the process (of action learning sets) this talk has proved to be a powerful agent of personal and business change (Clarke et al, 2006). I have learnt about my own and others learning styles. My learning style is activist/pragmatist (Appendix 2) compared to others in the group who were more in the styles of reflectors/theorists and therefore wishing to apply a more rigorous approach before engaging in the process. The set has allowed me to reflect on this style and I am now more reflective in my actions. I now consider options before acting whereas before I would almost identify the route to resolving a problem and determine my actions accordingly. My reflective diary shows that I have become more aware of group dynamics and how people behave in groups (appendix 3). This in turn has helped me make changes to my managerial style and behaviour in situations at work. It has also made me realise that as a manager you need to be continually reflecting and re-acting to deal with an ever changing world. I can now see that learning can be a social process and that learning is dynamic and affected by social context. Whilst we as a group have only had limited formal learning set time, what has really been effective is the informal time we have had as a learning set and as a cohort with other learners. In that time we have shared our experiences and learnt from each other. I have also developed friendships through this process. I am a now also more questioning and challenging of assumptions I may have held. The academic reading has helped me to do this but so too has having the opportunity to question and be questioned in a safe environment. At times this has been uncomfortable but the rigour of keeping a reflective diary has been invaluable in enabling me to see this. A Learning Set Process Review One of the key issues the set struggled with was not having a facilitator or any formal input to guide us from the onset. This had the potential to make the set a talking shop, which in the early days it was. Some timely input was provided but as Revans stated it is by being comrades in adversity i.e. having to make sense of the learning set for our MBA that we managed to progress. (Revans, 1978). On balance I would say that having a facilitator to provide the set with a steer and maintain focus would be something I would change in future. Alternatively an introductory session on the principles of learning sets would have been helpful, though I appreciate, having been through the process, that this could potentially bias the learning that could be achieved. Bourner et al found that setting up set randomly had the potential of creating a group of group of leftovers who did not benefit from the learning set process. (Bourner Weinstein, 1996). This happened in our overall group and did influence my thinking about whether I should move sets but my overall comfortableness with ours and what I had surmised about others clouded my own thoughts around whether I should move sets (appendix 3). We had consistent attendance from members, except for one person who missed the initial sessions as well as the mining museum event. He subsequently did not return. I would argue that for the process to benefit an individual then s/he must attend regularly so that relationships as well as confidence to question can be built up. Commitment to the process is therefore critical. Time in meetings was also a critical factor. We probably only have had a handful of set meetings where we followed our agreed structure of each member putting forward an issue for debate. As we met only once a week meetings often did not get going and on occasions the time was taken up with other course related activities. We should have created opportunities to meet outside the set or used electronic means to communicate. Having people who were outside of each others work context helped set members gain views that are independent but also enabled members to talk frankly without fear of breaching confidentiality or work related sensitivities. This is a very powerful tool as often managers do not have access to such individuals. However that does require a certain amount of trust between members. This particularly helped me with the issue I brought to the learning set (appendix 3). The process also allowed us to have some thinking time outside of normal day to day work activities, again something that managers dont often find time to do. One hour just was not enough. I would change the time to at least one and a half hours. KEY SKILLS Ability to build sophisticated relationships with a variety of stakeholders and customers to help meet strategic organisational goals Dynamic leadership and management skills to lead and motivate individuals and teams to achieve targets and outcomes Excellent negotiating and problem solving skills Excellent influencing skills with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Development Manager Childrens Workforce Development Council May 2008 present Manage a team of 3 staff over seeing England wide youth workforce reform projects totaling over  £4m Member of management team for overall youth workforce reform programme with a total three year budget of  £25m Interim Head of Operations, North of England/East Midlands Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) October 2007 April 2008 Managed the setting up of four English regions for the newly created EHRC Provided leadership and direction to help each region produce strategic scoping reports mapping the equalities terrain to help inform future planning Regional Director, North of England and East Midlands Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) Oct 2006 to Oct 2007 Directed 4 regional offices with 13 staff based in Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham and ensured very effective working relationships with key regional agencies Prepared, delivered and evaluated the regional business plan Introduced and managed innovative art based projects in Merseyside, West Yorkshire and Middlesbrough respectively to support local level equality voluntary sector Carried out a fundamental review of equality networks across the North of England Diversity Director, North of England (secondment) Acas April 2004 to October 2006 Managed Acas equality work for the North of England Specialist diversity lead on three person Acas team that delivered collaborative working training to the United Nations in New York Developed first ever Acas/North West Development Agency Memorandum of Understanding for work on equality and diversity across the whole North West region Managed the first ever joint Business in The Community/Acas equality conference in March 2006 Conceptualised and project managed the first ever Fair Employment Zone with a budget of  £200k to provide employers with support, guidance and training on equality and diversity Head of Private Sector, Commission for Racial Equality October 2002 to March 2004 Lead the CREs national private sector team of 12 staff based in multiple locations and a budget of  £600k Developed and managed the CREs new strategy for working with the private sector Negotiated sponsorship of  £100k from HSBC and Post Office Ltd for the CREs Guide to Small to Medium enterprises Oversaw the production of the revised CRE Statutory Code of Practice in Employment Director, Equality Direct June 2001 to September 2002 Successfully set up and managed the first ever national government helpline on equality and diversity for employers. Trained, managed and supported 8 helpline advisers Drafted the Department for Education and Employments 10 point plan for employers Various positions including Head of Regional Strategy, Head of Legal Action Team, Social Policy Officer, Employment Officer, Commission for Racial Equality January 1988 to May 2001 Successfully project managed five public education exhibitions attended by over 2000 individuals and employers Managed the CREs funding ( £1m)of Race Equality Councils in the North of England, which included supporting the development of new organisations Developed in conjunction with the Rugby Football League the first ever campaign to tackle racism in Rugby League- Tackle It Deputy Supervisor/ Trainer, Dewsbury Trust Fund March 1984 to December 1987 Supervised a Community Programme scheme which provided and created training and employment opportunities for over 20 long term unemployed ethnic minorities ANALYSIS OF THE CHILDRENS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Introduction The Childrens Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is an England wide executive non-departmental public body set up in 2005 whose vision is to create a world-class workforce for Children, Young People and Families. It does this in two ways by supporting people working with them have the best possible training, qualifications, support and advice and by helping children and young peoples organisations and services to work together better (CWDC, 2010) It receives an annual grant from the governments Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for distinct projects and core management costs. Its budget and staffing have seen massive growth over the last five years. The organisation is strategically managed by a Board of Directors and operationally managed by a senior management team (SMT) consisting of the Chief Executive and five Directors. The SMT is supported by a small planning and performance unit (Appendix 4). Each Directorate consists of smaller teams which are responsible for programmes of work and projects. Woodward refers to these as task functions, namely the basic activities related to producing organisational outcomes. Central functions such as IT, Finance and Procurement, Human Resource Management referred to by Woodward as element functions i.e. those activities that support the task function sit within separate Directorates. (Woodward, as quoted in Mullins, 2007). The HQ is in Leeds with a small number of home-based staff. The majority of these are senior staff, but also includes singleton regional managers in the nine English regions. Appendix 5 shows how the delivery of programmes for the workforce is managed within one of the directorates. Projects are grouped into programmes consisting of small project teams. Each programme is answerable to a programme board consisting of key officials from CWDC and its sponsor body, DCSF. Critical Appraisal Appendix 6 provides a SWOT analysis for CWDC. This shows that as a public body it operates in a complex and challenging environment, facing pressures and demands from a large group of stakeholders/sources. CWDC is an infrastructure body that does not provide direct services to the workforce it serves and is attempting to upskill and reform the workforce to make it more effective in working with children and young people. To achieve this CWDC has put in place a significant bespoke electronic project management system into which all projects relate. This has yielded benefits in terms of consistency, accountability and close management of projects. However it is a heavily bureaucratic system which takes up significant staff time and has lead to a feeling that the system is driving the organisation. Accountability has become a key driver for CWDC and is influencing its way of delivering its aims. All projects have significant sign off processes including SMT approval. Outward facing activity such as press releases, publications, conference speeches also require sign off at this level. Whilst this is appropriate as it ensures alignment with organisational strategy, it does create a risk averse culture and makes decision making feel longer as well causing managers to feel that they cant make decisions. CWDCs structure is a tall hierarchical one that has evolved as it has grown in size. The SMT have large directorates and responsibility for staff is devolved and within Urwicks span of control is within the optimum number of six. Fayols scalar chain showing the direct line from the top to the bottom is clear and well understood across CWDC. Whilst this brings advantages in terms of clear lines of authority and accountability, it can also lead to demotivated and disempowered staff, where staff may feel that they have no say or involvement in decision making. Having a centralised base enables CWDC to ensure that there is a consistent approach to strategy and implementation across the organisation and enables more interaction between directorates. On the whole this is effective but having the majority of its senior staff as home workers and out of the office on a day to day basis can mitigate against this. To avoid this there is a significant use of emails and teleconferencing as well as two all staff conferences each year. The excessive use of email is however potentially counterproductive as it can lead to poorer communication, information overload, be a substitute for face to face contact, be used as a control tool thereby creating stress to staff. CWDCs limited regional staff presence also has the potential to create distance between the end user (the workforce) and CWDC. This is however compensated for via strong links with representative or employer bodies as well as regional roadshows. A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGERIAL JOB ROLE. Definition of Managerial Role Despite the fact that the theory on what a manager is or does have developed significantly over the last 100 years ago, it is not easy to define the role of a manager. In the early 1900s, F. W. Taylor pioneered the idea of one best way model to manage employees and structure to achieve maximum performance. Taylorism put forward the idea that the role of the manager was different to that of a worker. Around the same time. Henry Fayol identified five key functions of a manger namely planning, organising, co-ordinating, commanding and controlling. These hold true today though arguably the function of commanding has been replaced with motivating staff to achieve. (Stewart,1999) The work of Stewart and Mintzberg several years later took a slightly different approach to the work of the manager. They identified some key aspects such as managers not operating in orderly well organised worlds, managers interacting and managing relationships with lots of people not just their direct staff, and continually having to work in a fragmented world of variety, at pace and with little free time. (Stewart 1999,) This is particularly true for me where I find that day to day plans can easily be thrown out of kilter due to unplanned events or circumstances. Mintzberg identified ten roles common to all managers, which he put into three categories as set out below. Mintzberg suggested that a manager had to perform various roles dependent on the particular situation or context. The table (appendix 7) sets out the groupings alongside examples from my work practice: In todays world, many of the roles identified by early theorists are relevant, however the world has changed dramatically since then. The significant advances in technology, impact on how managers carry out the informational roles Mintzberg refers to. For example in my experience e-mails, internet and the company intranet now play a major role in enabling information to be disseminated without the need for the manager to do so. Today, managers also need to have the right set of hard and soft skills to manage the complex and ever-changing world, including interpersonal skills.(Mullins 2007). Important issues for the future include managing change, leadership and motivation of staff, managing diversity, the development of human resources..(Mullins 2007) Making operational decisions On a daily basis I make operational decisions namely those decisions that concern the day to day running of my area of responsibility (Teale et al, 2003) and those whose impact is immediate on the organisation (Beckford 2001). Such decisions tend to be programmed ones namely those that relate to recurring problems that have occurred often enough to enable a standard response (Daft Marcic, 2009).In my context such decisions include decisions on which supplier to use, use of agency staff, procuring of supplies, recruiting, retaining staff. The factors I take into account, dependent on the context, will include: existing organisational policies and practices. This is to ensure consistency as well as compliance to company processes and policies whether I have all the facts available to me or if I need to obtain further information budget availability e.g. when replacing staff, or sanctioning costs for services risk evaluation e.g. considering the risk to the organisation in the decision. Most of these operational decisions will be minimal risk as they fall under my command of control. However on occasions for example terminating a contract may have wider ramifications which may well involve consultation with more senior staff impact on staff in team e.g. making decisions of staff leave requests and whether cover is available whether I need to consult with others to help arrive at the decision Options available to the manager for influencing senior managers Research has identified the importance of upward influence as a key factor in the effectiveness of managers (Case, Dosier, Murkison, Keys, 1998). There are a number of options available to do this. Reason or using a logical well prepared and presented argument with supporting data and documentation appears to be an effective one when trying to put a case forward (Case, Dosier, Murkison, Keys, 1998; Bhatnagar, 1993). An example of this in my practice is attached at Appendix 8. However there is more to influencing than just having a good argument, building relationships is extremely important. (Paulson, 1991). A manager will therefore need to: See things from their senior managers perspective Keep the manager informed to enable them to do their job Be friendly but keep a professional distance Put forward solutions to problems Support the manager but not to the point of being a yes person and express reservations in private This last bullet point has some relevance to me. My reflective diary (incident of 14-16/10/09-appendix 3) shows I need to recognise this aspect more and where appropriate challenge my boss. Operational management-level meeting A key to the success of any meeting is preparation (Kendrick, 2004). Appendix 9 shows an example of how this works in my meetings. This particular meeting refers to the contract inception meeting with a contractor for a complex  £4m project. As such prior to the meeting I met with one of my team and agreed all the areas to be covered. An agenda is always produced, based on the purpose of the meeting and expected outcomes from it. The agenda is structured in such a way that it allows time for reviewing action points from previous meeting and prioritising the major items for discussion in order of priority. It also includes an item at the end for round of agreed actions. This is to ensure that participants leave the meeting with a clear understanding of the nature of and owner of the agreed actions. A note taker is critical in key meetings to ensure accurate note taking and enable me to chair and facilitate the meeting. Minutes reflecting the key areas of discussion and action points are always produced within a few days of meeting, so as to ensure completion of actions in advance of the next meeting. Following the meeting a de-brief is held with the note taker to ensure all points have been captured but also to check that the meetings objectives have been realised (Kendrick 2004). Due to the importance of these meeting I chair them. This enables me to ensure control as the contract manager. However my style is participatory and informal to allow full contribution from all participants, as it is in the organisational interest that contractors work together with us to deliver this project. Delegating effectively Time is at a premium for a manager (Stewart, 1999). Delegation is necessary to ensure that decisions are made at the lowest level to save organisational cost and free up time for management duties (Mullins 2007). However delegation must not be seen as a reason for merely dumping work onto staff or abdicating managerial responsibilities (Jones, 1979). Not all work, though, can be delegated e.g. supervision, planning, disciplinary matters which must remain with the manager (Ghazda, 2002). The key to successful delegation lies in having a planned and systematic approach to it (Mullins, 2007). Before determining whether to delegate the manager needs to be clear on the task and whether the task is being delegated for results or for employee development (Ghazda, 2002). Assumptions should also not be made about the willingness of the employee to take on the task (McConalogue, 1993). They may be afraid of failure or lack confidence (Jones, 1979). Managers need to be aware of this. The manager should also set clear objectives and identify with the employee what the expected results are (Ghazda, 2002), which should be written down (Jones, 1979). Guidance and support should be provided throughout without being too instructive as this will inhibit employee development (Mullins, 2007; Jones, 1979). Employees must be able to feel that authority has been passed on without fear of the manager constantly interfering or checking on them i.e. having the freedom of action within agreed terms (Mullins, 2007). Monitoring of the task is important and should be defined at the onset through agreed milestones (Ghazda, 2002). Manager should also check progress informally and through ongoing supervision. On reflection my practice covers most of the requirements for effective delegation. However I need to do more on formally considering employee willingness to carry out the tasks delegated to them and write down clear objectives as per paras 18-19 above. Mentoring and supporting others There are numbers of definitions of mentoring, but one that is interesting is below which highlights that mentoring can be beneficial to both the mentor and mentee. Mentoring is a learning partnership between two people with different levels of experience and with the potential to achieve new learning, new insight and personal growth (Poulsen, 2006) Mentoring uses all types of helping to learn styles i.e. coaching, counselling, guiding and networking (Clutterbuck, 2004). Mentoring can be formal and structured or informal, but for it to succeed it needs to have a structure but operate informally (Clutterbuck, 2004). On reflection, I can say that I have not formally mentored my staff but I believe that at times I have followed the four learning to help styles primarily in a job task completion context. Nor did I realise its potential development benefits for me and staff. A follow up action is for me to informally mentor a member of CWDC staff and this has been incorporated into my Learning and Development Plan (see Appendix 10) PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Training and Development History Appendix 11 sets out my personal training and development history. My development has been primarily related to my previous career within the equality industry. In particular my development has been through spending twenty years rising up the ranks at the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), achieving a high level position managing four regions within England. During that time I also went on secondment twice to enhance my knowledge and experience of working in other organisations. Following closure of the CRE, I became a consultant. This did not last long as I found the lack of uncertainty around work to be unsuitable and I missed the security of working within teams an established organisation. My self analysis using Belbins eight group roles showing me as a team worker supports this (Appendix 12). I therefore chose to take a lower level job in a new area (workforce reform policy) on the understanding that I would, within 2-3 years, obtain a higher level position within the new company or outside it. Learning and Development Plan My learning development plan (LDP) at Appendix 10 is based on my work related appraisal (appendix 13), issues arising from my assessment against the CMI standards (para 10 below) as well as the completion of the University of Huddersfields Guide to Reflective Practice Workbook (appendix 14). A key area I would like to focus is developing my own resilience to deal with situations in a more rounded manner. This will require me to be continuously reflect on my behaviours in different contexts. I have found the rigour of using a template for reflection for my learning set particularly useful and have started to extend this to other situations. A significant strength that has been identified is my competency to develop effective working relationships both within my team and externally. Comments from my line manager support this: One of your strongest competences (working with others). You inspire others to work with you and balance a range of personal and external demands. The learning on your management course is beginning to pay dividends and providing a theoretical background to your personal approach. It is helping you to achieve at the higher levels of this competence (Appendix 13) Reflection on the significance of the MBA programme The programme is significant for me for the following reasons: It will provide me with a qualification to support my 20+ years of management experience, which in turn will lead to new opportunities for progression to a more strategic management position within my existing employer or externally It will enable me to engage with current and new management ideas and practices thereby influencing my future practice. I will hear views and perspectives from other managers from other sector Both of the above will make me a better manager and leader. I am already benefitting from attendance on the programme. In particular it has helped me identify my strengths as well as areas for development. My knowledge of the theoretical aspects of e.g. managing people is also influencing my approaches to work situations. Attendance on the course has particularly given me the confidence to think differently and if necessary challenge in situations where previously I would not have. Progress in meeting the Chartered Manager standards. Appendices 15-16 provide a self assessment against the Chartered Manager standards using the National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership. (http://www.management-standards.org). This shows that I meet many of the required standards either in my current role or through previous experience. Areas for improvement are: Consistently apply strategic thinking Adapt leadership style to take account of diverse situations Identify opportunities for change and development Establish information management and communication systems Manage complexity to positive effect Optimise use of financial and other resources Demonstrate resilience on achieving personal goals

Romanticism In Literature Essay examples -- essays research papers

Romanticism In Literature Romanticism in literature, began around 1750 and lasted until 1870. Different from the classical ways of Neoclassical Age(1660-1798), it relied on imagination, idealization of nature and freedom of thought and expression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two men who influenced the era with their writings were William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, both English poets of the time. Their edition of â€Å"Lyrical Ballads';, stressed the importance of feeling and imagination. Thus in romantic Literature the code was imagination over reason, emotion over logic, and finally intuition over science. All of these new ways discouraged and didn’t tolerate the more classic way of literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other significant writers of the Romantic Age are noted still as shaping an age of open-mindedness and freedom. Lord Byron was one of these authors, he wrote â€Å"Don Juan';. Another is Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote in terza rima, a three line iambic pentameter set up of bcb, cdc, ded, and so on. Johan Keats created his own fairy tale land in the lyrical poem â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn';.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nature and the natural surroundings were important in romanticism. Taking pleasure in untouched scenery and the innocence of life was the basis and theme of â€Å"The Seasons'; by the Scottish poet James Thomson. This inspired the nature tradition present in English literature, such as the works by Wordsworth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another aspect in romantic writings, most times connected with the...

Relating Moles to Coefficients of a Chemical Equation Essay

Introduction: The definition of a mole is Avogadro’s number (6.02 x 1023) of particles (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons etc.). Moles are a very important part of chemistry especially in stoichiometry since it is part of many other calculation quantities and formulas including molar mass, solution calculations and gas volume calculations. The mole is also used in chemical reactions and equations to calculate the amount of reactant needed to react completely with another reactant or to calculate the product produced from the amount of reactant provided and vice versa. This is done by using the ratio of the coefficients in a balanced equation. This ratio of coefficients is also known as the mole ratio. In the following experiment, a simple displacement reaction would occur from the reaction of an aqueous solution of copper (II) sulphate and zinc powder. Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ ZnSO4 (aq) + Cu (s) This reaction would be set up to allow the zinc to be the limiting factor therefore react completely, in order for that to happen, copper (II) sulphate would be in excess. As zinc is the limiting factor, it will be used to calculate the expected amount of copper produced from the 1 to 1 mole ratio of zinc and copper from the balanced equation above. Aim: To find the mole ratio of a reactant to a product in a chemical reaction . Apparatus: – Balance – Bunsen Burner – Two 150 cm3 Beaker – Glass Stirring Rod – Tripod – Gauze – 100 cm3 Graduated Cylinder – Goggles – Heat Proof Mat – Pure Distilled Water – Tongs – Balance to 0.01 g Reagents: – Copper (II) Sulphate Crystals – Zinc Powder Method: 1. Weigh the mass of a clean, dry 150 cm3 beaker. Then weigh out 7.0 g of copper (II) sulphate using the beaker 2. Add 50.0 cm3 of pure distilled water into the beaker and heat the solution gently until all the copper (II) sulphate has dissolved 3. Determine the mass of the second clean, dry 150 cm3 beaker. Then weigh out as accurately as possible, 1.30 g of zinc powder using the beaker 4. Record the mass of the beaker and the zinc powder in the results table, nearest to 0.01 g 5. Slowly pour the copper (II) sulphate into the beaker containing the zinc. Stir continuously for 1-2 minutes 6. Leave the beaker for 10 minutes while the reaction continues. Record your observations 7. When the copper has settled, pour out the light blue liquid. 8. Add 10 cm3 of pure distilled water into the beaker. 9. Leave it for 10 minutes again and pour out the liquid again 10. Repeat steps 8 and 9, two times 11. Place the beaker in the oven to dry for 24 hours 12. Remove the beaker from the oven and determine the mass. Results: 1. Mass of empty 250 cm3 beaker 97.37g 2. Mass of the 250 cm3 beaker and copper (II) sulphate 104.37g 3. Mass of copper (II) sulphate 7.0g 4. Mass of empty 150 cm3 beaker 98.66g 5. Mass of 150 cm3 beaker and zinc powder 99.96g 6. Mass of zinc powder 1.30g 7. Mass of the 150 cm3 beaker and copper formed (after drying overnight) 98.78g 8. Mass of copper 1.41g Calculations: 1. Number of moles of copper produced n = = = 0.0222 mol 2. Number of zinc moles reacted n = = = 0.0199 mol 3. Zn : Cu 0.0199 mol : 0.0222 mol 1 : 1 4. Mass of copper expected = n(Cu) = 1 x 0.0199 = 0.0199 mol m = nM = 0.0199 x 63.55 = 1.26 g 5. Percentage Yield: x 100 = 89.4% Conclusion: The mole ratio from calculation 3 is approximately 1 to 1, same as the expected mole ratio from the balanced equation. The expected mass of copper is 1.26 g but 1.41g of copper was weighed out therefore, the percentage yield of the above experiment is 89.4%. This is mostly caused by the impurity of the copper since there might be a small amount of leftover zinc sulphate in the beaker. Evaluation: From the experiment above, some things could have been done better to achieve a higher percentage yield. The glass rod should’ve been dipped into water before stirring the copper (II) sulphate and zinc in order for no copper to attach to the glass rod after stirring. More importantly, I could have improved and made this experiment more accurate by rinsing the copper more thoroughly so no zinc sulphate would be left in the beaker.

Abortion Rights

There have been many cases in Canada’s legal system some more complicated and time consuming than others. It is a never ending process that has occurred throughout history as society’s beliefs continued to change and various new issues arose. Most people at the time would believe that majority of the cases in court would be to apprehend criminals in the eyes of the law with no other benefit to society. Unfortunately this perception was nothing but an illusion that had been imprinted in the minds of society. In fact if people had paid more attention to details as well as researched various the issues thoroughly, they would have discovered just how much each and every case had an effect on the world around them. Of these cases there has been a few which stood out for having a major impact on society whether or not people were aware of it. But the one that stood out the most among them was Abortion rights R. V. Mergenthaler, {1988} 1 S. C. R. 30. The case Abortion rights R. V. Mergenthaler, {1988} 1 S. C. R. 30 has changed Canadian society for the better due to the major impact it had on one of the most controversial issues. Firstly the major reason to why this case had changed society for the better is because of the fact that it had protected the lives of those who reside in it. In an In-depth explanation of this is that at the time women faced a lot of hate and criticism from society if they were to seek abortion. This also led them to develop various emotional problems which could have later turned into more serious health problems such as depression. It did not end here another health problem that women had faced at this time was that they had they experienced â€Å"excessive physiological pressure† (Klassen, Jeff and Clydesdale, Jacqui. Abortion: An Overview: Canadian Points of View Reference Centre, 2009) in the process of trying to obtain an approval for an abortion from a therapeutic abortion committee in an accredited hospital because they would worry if their application would get rejected or not. Another common occurrence was that the time it took in order to get an approval for abortion increased the risks of problems occurring when doctors performed the medical procedure. Also a cold reality was that some women had died because their bodies were unfit to give birth and the doctors refused to perform the abortion rocedure unless they were approved by the committee which caused them to die a death that could have otherwise been prevented. This situation is portrayed in the newspaper article ‘Change your abortion law to save lives' grieving father tells Irish PM’ (Chamberlain, Gethin. ‘Change your abortion law to save lives' grieving: thegurdian, Saturday 17 November 2012). where it tells the story of a girl whose life was at risk because her body could not handle giving birth and she was refused abortion due to Irelands abortion laws which led her to die. Fortunately these events have now been prevented and the lives of the women in the future have been saved due to this case making it a case that had truly changed society. Secondly it had stopped the injustice and discrimination for the women who sought an abortion in Canada had faced. The reason for this is because it is a biased decision that women had to get an approval at an accredited hospital in order to get an abortion. There simply was no need for this to occur as many of them had developed health problems due to delays or rejections by the committee. People also should not have had the right to decide whether or not someone should get an abortion or not it is the parent of the unborn child’s decision. Also in what these laws were cruel and inhumane as they had forced women who were no able to obtain an approval to bare an unwanted child and go through the various stages of pregnancy. This can be the same as if girl were raped by someone in order to force her to bear a child except in this case it is the law that is the one that forced the girl to bear a child. There was also the problem with the fact that Criminal code restricted abortion causing it to infringe the rights of women as stated in one of sub sections of section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights called Security of the person. In this section it states that because the criminal code restricted abortions and affected their health it was unconstitutional. Therefore this case has saved women from the discrimination and injustice they were faced with from society and the law which changed how they would be treated in the future. Lastly it saved the lives of the future that would otherwise have been neglected or wasted. Anyone would have been able to decipher this without a second thought and it would have caused them to realize what would have happened to the unwanted child that the mother wanted aborted if it were born into this world. Many would have tried to believe that everything would have been fine and go on with their lives. But unfortunately it would have been hard to believe that the child would have been treated the same by its mother like another mother who actually wanted a child would treat it. The child would have actually been mistreated and neglected as if it were a burden because the mother did not want it in the first place. These events would have developed emotion problems in the child earlier on in their childhood which would have affected them the rest of their lives and would not have allowed them to live a normal happy life. This is due to society’s beliefs at the time that had been blinded by the ignorance and made them forget that â€Å"No one wants to see unwanted children brought into the world† (Lerman, Evelyn. Nobody Likes Abortion: Canadian Points of View Reference Centre, 2000). So they basically fought for no abortion laws while not foreseeing what would have happened to children who were born from mothers who wanted abortions. Thankfully this case had made sure that abortion laws were changed so that the lives which would have been neglected or wasted were not put in this world so they could have been happier. In conclusion it can be determined that this case truly did change Canadian society. As it helped save the lives of the women by making sure the abortion laws were changed as well as prevented the women of the future from experiencing the problems that they had to face in order to get an abortion. The injustice and discrimination of the women in was also nullified giving women more rights and a better place in society. It also helped save the lives of the future that would have otherwise been neglected or wasted. In the end this case is truly outstanding and deserves a place in Canadian history for the great accomplishments that it has brought to Canadian society.

quot;Tar Babyquot;-CH10 By Toni Morrison Example

quot;Tar Babyquot; Tar Baby Chapter 10 of "Tar Baby" by Toni Morrison The setting of chapter ten is at the Street’s house where Jadine has a conversation with Margaret and Ondine. Ondine and Sydney are disappointed that Jadine has to leave. Remarkably, they expect her to show some gratitude for the help they offered her when she was young. Jadine is still unsure on what to do, whether to fly to France or stay. Previously, as the chapter starts, Jadine prepares to travel to L’Arbe de la Croix. While on the on the island of Dominique, she is unsure on whether she is supposed to leave Son owing to their cultural differences. Jadine is on a quest to seek her independence through starting a new career in Paris. On the other hand, Son is disappointed with Jadine’s plans. â€Å"Aloneness tasted good and even at a table set for four she was grateful to be far away from his original-dime ways, his white-folks-black-folks primitivism. How could she make a life with a cultural throwback, she asked h erself, and answered No way† (Morrison 275).The quote is significant because it evidences that Jadine is grateful to be far away from Son, whom she now sees as a ‘cultural throwback’. Jadine searches for a self-identity, especially because her life was entangled in the constructs of the White social order. She reaffirms that she wants a separate life from Son, who she feels holds back her plans for success. She feels better alone, than she felt with Son and his uncultured ways. Jadine is cultured, and her mindset is that of a cultured and liberalized White person, but Son still has ethnicity issues because his behavior is deeply entrenched in the Black culture that is characterized by an inferiority complex. Jadine does not see any future in their relationships considering Son’s mindset. Work CitedMorrison, Tony. Tar Baby. Chapter 10. New York: Random House.

Convert Your Gasoline-Burning Car to Run on Propane

Convert Your Gasoline-Burning Car to Run on Propane With the price of fuel, propane car conversions (also called LPG conversions) are attracting more attention. Propane is certainly one viable alternative fuel option: it has been used as a commercial motor fuel for more than 80 years and millions of miles. Its also less expensive to use than gasoline, even though the cost per liter is higher. Why It Can Be Tough to Convert to Propane The Environmental Protection Agency requires all vehicles to meet the same emission standards. While propane burns cleaner than gasoline, increased regulations from the EPA, means that there are very few propane conversion kits for U.S. street passenger vehicles available today. It has actually been a much more popular choice in Europe and other countries due to less stringent regulations and higher petrol prices. Even though propane powered engines offer cleaner emissions along with 10 to 15 percent less carbon dioxide, 20 percent less carbon monoxide and 50 to 60 percent fewer hydrocarbons and nitric oxide, tighter emissions regulations have changed the way conversion companies can do business. While generic propane conversions used to be common fare for a trained mechanic (generally not for the DIY-er, though), most four-stroke engines (carbureted and fuel-injected) can still be converted to operate on propane when a certified technician installs the correct kit. And propane’s minimal sooting, owing to its low carbon content, means increased engine life, fewer oil changes, and longer spark plug life. Why Conversion May Still Be a Good Idea Although it may take some legwork on your part, it can be worth converting to propane if you have a propane filling station in your area that makes fueling up easily accessible and less expensive. Unfortunately, there are relatively few U.S. propane conversion companies with an online presence that sell street-ready passenger car kits or do conversions (some have websites, many don’t). Prices for a full conversion by a qualified technician can range from $3,000 to $4,000. Hopefully, you’ll be close to one of the shops that are on RASO Enterprises’ extensive shop list (below), and they can help you go from there. Where to Find Conversion Kits Because of the scarcity of conversion companies, its unlikely that youll find one in your backyard. That said, however, these two companies may be able to provide you with what you need at a reasonable cost. Got Propane?  Based in Tempe, AZ, the eye-catching off-roading photos on this company’s website showcase propane’s ability to operate at any angle with no loss of power or fuel spillage. *Note: These kits are only for off-road vehicles, and this company does not sell kits for late model cars and trucks (1987 and newer).RASO Enterprises  In addition to selling kits, this company provides a wealth of information to help you find a certified conversion shop in the United States or Canadian conversion center. Most of these shops specialize in heavy duty/commercial vehicles with minimal offerings for passenger cars. There are links to find kits for your personal car fleet vehicles, (options are limited) or off-road  and agricultural equipment. This site also refers to TECHNOCARB, the manufacturer of many different conversion kits.

Patron and Patronize

Patron and Patronize Patron and Patronize Patron and Patronize By Maeve Maddox Someone in my Facebook feed posted this about an aging celebrity who has recently published a book: â€Å"Don’t buy her books and don’t patron her movies.† I’d never seen patron used as a verb. Patronize is the verb commonly used to mean: â€Å"to frequent or support as a customer.† For example: I have patronized The Brown Derby since its inception and have always found the food to be second-to-none. A Web search turned up many examples of the unconventional use of patron in this sense. Here are two examples: The owner is very racist and I REFUSE to patron this place.   My wife and  I refuse to patron movie  theaters on Thanksgiving or Christmas.   Not surprisingly, the most common source of this nonstandard use of patron is social media. What did surprise me is that I found patron used as a verb in some British news sources. It was, however, used in the context of a well-known person agreeing to act as spokesman for a nonprofit enterprise: Lambeth Palace told The Times: â€Å"Since taking office in March this year, the Archbishop has received many kind invitations to patron a large variety of charities and good causes. –The Telegraph. Celebrity Piers Morgan to patron cat rescue centre –Bristol Post The prince has also agreed to patron Daresbury’s sister site at Harwell, Oxfordshire. –Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News. The noun patron derives from pater, the Latin word for father. In Latin society, a patron was a protector, someone who looked after the well-being of a former slave or other dependent. The feminine form was patrona. (A matrona was simply â€Å"a married woman.†) The earliest documentation in the OED of the verb patronize to mean, â€Å"to act as a patron towards† is dated 1593. The use of patron with this meaning has three 17th century citations, and one by Dickens in the 19th. (The use by Dickens is probably meant to be humorous: â€Å"Why am I to be Patroned and Patronessed as if the Patrons and Patronesses treated me?†) The first modern citation for patron used as a verb to mean â€Å"act as patron† is dated 1954, and this use is still rare even in Britain. In my unscientific browsing of British newspapers, I found that constructions like â€Å"agreed to serve as patron† outnumber constructions like â€Å"agreed to patron.† In addition to its meanings of â€Å"protection and support,† patronize has acquired a negative connotation. Human nature being what it is, the beneficial act of patronizing a good cause is often accompanied by an overt attitude that the donor is superior to the recipient. As a result, â€Å"to patronize† has become a synonym for â€Å"to condescend.† condescend (verb): to assume an air of superiority (as to one inferior or less fortunate) Here are some examples of patronize in this sense: How do you feel when people patronize your religion? Candidate In Iowa Makes Patronizing Offensive Comments About Women Voters Dont patronize me, she  said  heatedly. Im not one of your witless lady friends. Patron as a verb meaning, â€Å"serve as a spokesperson for a worthy cause† may catch on. Such use would serve to distinguish the act of serving as a spokesman from the less altruistic meanings of patronize. On the other hand, patronize is just one of many English words that have different meanings according to context. It’s the sort of thing one is expected to learn in English class. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Royal Order of Adjectives 30 Baseball Idioms30 Nautical Expressions

Policies to Address the problem of U.S. oil dependency Research Paper

Policies to Address the problem of U.S. oil dependency - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that more than 150 years after the beginning of U.S. petroleum industry (since 1859), oil still is considered as the most strategic commodity. Given the limited capacity of oil reserves in the world and ever-increasing global demand for it, in recent decades oil has played a significant role in foreign policies of nations, especially those of great powers. Not surprisingly, oil has been an important factor in shaping bloody and costly conflicts, particularly since the World War II.   During the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, America was able to meet the country’s basic needs in the energy sector primarily by using its own oil reserves. However, by the end of the 1940s, â€Å"the United States began to rely on foreign oil to satisfy rising energy demand, and the proportion of imports has been rising more or less steadily ever since†. Today, according to U.S. Energy Information Administ ration (EIA), the United States is the largest oil consumer and consumes near 22% of the total production of oil in the world. That is equivalent to something about 18,771,000 barrels per day, of which about 9.7 million barrels (51%) are imported (on a net basis) from foreign countries. However, this dependency on oil is very costly and also is tightly linked to our national security due to both potential economic and political threats related to it.  

Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics - Essay Example The lawmakers’ premise is that, when there is friendship amongst people, they would not be clamoring for justice in the first place (Aristotle). This could be true if one considers the fact, that it is only an individual that is at loggerhead with his partner that would be suing for justice from the other party (Aristotle Chapter 1. par.2). Though it is really difficult to say whether the lawmakers are really more serious about justice than friendship or not. The reason for this is that, the two of them seem to go pari passu. In spite of this seemingly anomaly, one of the issues that seem to be more on the hearts of the lawgivers as they believe that, the issue of justice only comes to the fore when there is love lost between two parties. Thus, the lawgivers hold the issue of friendship closer to their hearts than justice. It would then be right to say that, the lawgiver lends more credence to the issue of justice. It should also be noted that, just like there is no real justice in the world today, true friendship is also a mirage. Thus, the lawmakers showing preference for one over the other means that, the other one is also equally important. Also, the fact that, friendship is more of an imaginary thing means that the lawmakers are actually not really taking either friendship or justice as serious as the

Critical Analysis of the Poem Patriotism by Sir Walter Scott Essay

Critical Analysis of the Poem Patriotism by Sir Walter Scott - Essay Example For example, the first point where allusions come into play is the idea of death but not physical death since that only comes at the end of the poem for the unpatriotic person. Scott alludes that a man without pride in his own country has a dead soul and not only is it a dead soul it is dead in the extreme. That person’s physical death will result in him/her ‘doubly dying’ since the physical as well as the spiritual aspects of the person would die in such a scenario. The rhyme scheme of the poem figures largely in couplets which go together very well even though the third line seems to be slightly out of rhyme since it is a quote which the man in question has not said. However, the continuation of the poem establishes a scheme which goes as AA B CC D EE FF GG HH and so on. This also establishes the iambic pentameter measure of the poem that makes it easy to read while the words themselves hold pointed meaning for the readers of the work. The imagery in the poem sh ines through with the idea of such a man being given titles, a proud name and wealth but no real soul since these worldly goods will end for that man once he has died. However, since he had no patriotism in his soul, his death remains unnoticed because he was concentrated only on his own self and never for the country to which he belonged. This is indeed an image of despair which is only highlighted by the next section that shows that his death, much like his life remained without use to his country or even to those who were around him. In conclusion, it becomes easy to say that Scott himself comes across as being immensely patriotic and the poem in question certainly shows what he thinks about those who are unpatriotic. While patriotism may be a dangerous emotion for some, individuals such as Sir Walter Scott would make it the first criteria for having a soul or for being a good person. I found the poem to be quite uplifting in the beginning but the

Competency Training (Fire Service) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Competency Training (Fire Service) - Essay Example Fire fighters need up-to-date, comprehensive training materials to thoroughly prepare for any situation that may arise. The mission is to provide leadership to career and volunteer chiefs, chief fire officers, and managers of emergency service organizations through vision, information, education, services, and representation to enhance their professionalism and capabilities [2]. The main goal is that the firefighters in the operation department would execute their duties professionally, and with confidence, which would result in reduction of property loss and damage, subsequently re-instating stakeholder confidence in the Fire Department to carry out its mandate. One of the major challenges today to attain this goal is that a number of independent systems of training and education staggers fire service professionals. Besides, as the professional qualification series has grown, it is becoming increasingly difficult for firefighters or departments to find the necessary time to accomplish these levels of competency [3]. Efficient training systems are those that identify what they do well and take advantage of the strengths and opportunities provided by other systems to supplement their efforts. There should be a national system for fire service training and education because, as with other professions, a theoretical core of academic courses should be a prerequisite for entering these fields. The fire and emergency services should move towards becoming a full-fledged profession just like doctors, lawyers, nurses and other professions [4]. In theory providing emergency fire service is a ‘portable’ skill. Right now, there is no one un iversally recognized and reciprocal system to acquire the knowledge and skills required in the Fire and Emergency Services. The Fire Service training has important roles to play in the reform agenda. They should be re-modeled in order to be more effective. There is a need for

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drama - Essay Example n July 25, 2014, and it expanded to become a box office success grossing over $458 million against a budget of $40 million thus becoming an instant success. The film gained positive as well as polarized critical reviews with a lot of praise given to Johansson for her outstanding performance, entertaining or intriguing themes and visuals. It received criticism for having a nonsensical plot, especially its focus on the ten percent of brain myth and resulting abilities. As the main character, Lucy stands out to be the sole protagonist who is surrounded by several antagonists who are after her life due to the drugs. The film depicts Lucy who is a 25-year old America women pursuing her studies in Taipei. Her boyfriend soon tricks her into working as a drug mule. Her first mission is to deliver a briefcase to Mr. Jang that has a highly valuable drug. Her boyfriend gets killed and a bag of drugs is forcibly sewn into her abdomen for transportation to Europe. One of the captors accidently kicks her abdomen thus releasing large amount of drugs into her systems. As a result, she acquires rapidly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and she can choose not to feel pain or other discomforts, in addition to other abilities. She kills off her captors and manages to get away. She then travels moves to the nearest hospital to have the bag removed from her abdomen and the doctor informs her of her new abilities due to the effects of the drugs. Upon knowing her unique abilities, Lucy returns to Mr. Jangs hotel, kills his bodyguards, assaults Mr. Jang, and telepathically extracts the locations of all three drug mules from his brain. At her apartment, she engages in a series of research in order to know the solution for her condition. She comes across Professor Samuel Norman who gives her the detailed information about her condition. Then she moves to Paris where she seeks help from Captain Pierrer Del Rio to assist her in

Who would you talk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Who would you talk - Essay Example Donald believes that success is always dependent on your personal qualities like having fair dealing, healthy relationships with associated people either customers, employees or competing businessmen and trustworthiness. I have learned a lesson from his principles that one must be passionate to do a certain job regardless of the mishap and troubles in the way to success. Business carries troubles and downfalls along with victory and fame. Only intellect, hard work, careful analysis of present business position and evaluation with planning of possible risks is important to sustain the current pace of business growth. I would love to interact with a person like Donald Trump as he believes that a person can come over all the difficulties in his way to success. His perceptions inspire me as they suggest a person to step forward and not to mourn, even over the most devastating loss. His life illustrates a number of incidents where he faced crisis but did not lose the hope to achieve his g oal. Hence it can be said that willpower plays a vital role in becoming a successful businessman.My personal opinion is that a person can change his views after having conversation with a successful, confident and independent person. For instance, if a person loses his confidence and his hopes he cannot do anything unless or until he sets a new aim and starts his struggle to achieve it. Hence, a successful person may grow the feelings of courage, hope, passion, confidence and competition in others. People may take his personality.

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drama - Essay Example n July 25, 2014, and it expanded to become a box office success grossing over $458 million against a budget of $40 million thus becoming an instant success. The film gained positive as well as polarized critical reviews with a lot of praise given to Johansson for her outstanding performance, entertaining or intriguing themes and visuals. It received criticism for having a nonsensical plot, especially its focus on the ten percent of brain myth and resulting abilities. As the main character, Lucy stands out to be the sole protagonist who is surrounded by several antagonists who are after her life due to the drugs. The film depicts Lucy who is a 25-year old America women pursuing her studies in Taipei. Her boyfriend soon tricks her into working as a drug mule. Her first mission is to deliver a briefcase to Mr. Jang that has a highly valuable drug. Her boyfriend gets killed and a bag of drugs is forcibly sewn into her abdomen for transportation to Europe. One of the captors accidently kicks her abdomen thus releasing large amount of drugs into her systems. As a result, she acquires rapidly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and she can choose not to feel pain or other discomforts, in addition to other abilities. She kills off her captors and manages to get away. She then travels moves to the nearest hospital to have the bag removed from her abdomen and the doctor informs her of her new abilities due to the effects of the drugs. Upon knowing her unique abilities, Lucy returns to Mr. Jangs hotel, kills his bodyguards, assaults Mr. Jang, and telepathically extracts the locations of all three drug mules from his brain. At her apartment, she engages in a series of research in order to know the solution for her condition. She comes across Professor Samuel Norman who gives her the detailed information about her condition. Then she moves to Paris where she seeks help from Captain Pierrer Del Rio to assist her in

Comparative Analysis of Kohl and J.Cpenny Essay Example for Free

Comparative Analysis of Kohl and J.Cpenny Essay The sample project compares the ratio performance of Tootsie Roll and Hershey using the 2009 financial statements of Tootsie Roll and Hershey provided in Appendix A and Appendix B of your textbook. Description This course contains a course project where you will be required to submit one draft of the Project at the end of Week 5 and the final completed Project at the end of Week 7. Using the financial statements for Kohl’s Corporation and J. C. Penney Corporation, respectively, you will calculate nd compare the financial ratios listed further down this document for the fiscal year ending 2010 and prepare your comments about the liquidity, solvency and profitability of the two companies based on your ratio calculations. The entire project will be graded by the instructor at the end of the final submission in week 7 and one grade will be assigned for the entire project. Overall Requirements For the Final Submission: Your final Excel workbook submission should contain the following. You cannot use any other software but Excel to complete this Project. )A completed worksheet title page tab which is really a cover sheet with your name, the course, the date, your instructor’s name and the title for the project. 2)A completed worksheet profiles tab which contains a one paragraph description regarding each company with information about their history, what products they sell, where they are located, etc. 3)All 18 ratios for each company with the supporting calculations and commentary on your worksheet ratio tab. Supporting calculations must be shown either as a formula or as text typed into a different cell. The ratios are listed further down this document. Your comments for each ratio should include more than just a definition of the ratio. You should focus on interpreting each ratio number for each company and support your comments with the numbers found in the ratios. 4)The Summary and Conclusions worksheet tab which is an overall comparison of how each company compares in terms of the major category of ratios (Liquidity, Profitability, and Solvency). A nice way to conclude is to state which company you think is the better investment and why. )The Bibliography worksheet tab must contain at least your textbook as a reference. Any other information you use to profile the companies should also be cited as a reference. Required Ratios for Final Project Submission 1)Earnings per Share 2)Current Ratio 3)Gross Profit Rate 4)Profit Margin Ratio 5)Inventory Turnover Ratio 6)Days in Inventory 7)Receivables Turnover Ratio 8)Average Collection Period 9)Asset Turnover Ratio. Times Interest Earned Ratio 13)Payout ratio 4)Return on Common Stockholders’ Equity Ratio 15)Free Cash Flow 16)Current Cash Debt Coverage Ratio 17)Cash Debt Coverage Ratio 18)Price/Earnings Ratio [For the purpose of this ratio, for both Kohl’s and J. C. Penney, use the market price per share on January 31, 2011] The Excel files uploaded in the dropboxes should not include any unnecessary numbers or information (such as previous years ratios, ratios that were not specifically asked for in the project, etc. ). Please upload your final submission to the Week 7 Dropbox by the Sunday ending Week 7. For the Draft: Create an Excel spreadsheet or use the Project template to show your computations for the first 12 ratios listed above. The more you can complete regarding the other requirements the closer you will be to completion when Week 7 arrives. Supporting calculations must be shown either as a formula or as text typed into a different cell. If you plan on creating your own spreadsheet, please follow the format provided in the Tootsie Roll and Hershey template file. Please upload your draft submission to the Week 5 Dropbox by the Sunday ending Week 5. Other Helpful information: If you feel uncomfortable with Excel, you can find many helpful references on Excel by performing a Google search. The Appendix to Chapter 13 contains ratio calculations and comparison comments related to Kellogg and General Mills so you will likely find this information helpful. BigCharts. com provides historical stock quotes. Either APA or MLA style can be used to complete the references on your Bibliography tab. There is a tutorial for APA and MLA style within the syllabus.

Models of Change Tasks at Tata Motors

Models of Change Tasks at Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is Indias largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of US$20.5 billion in 2009-10. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the worlds fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the worlds second largest bus manufacturer. The companys 25,000 employees are guided by the vision to be Best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. Established in 1945, Tata Motors presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over 5.9 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. Following a strategic alliance with Fiat in 2005, it has set up an industrial joint venture with Fiat Group Automobiles to produce both Fiat and Tata cars and Fiat powertrains. The companys dealership, sales, services and spare parts network comprises over 3500 touch points; Tata Motors also distributes and markets Fiat branded cars in India. Tata Motors, the first company from Indias engineering sector to be listed in the NewYork Stock Exchange (September 2004), has also emerged as an international automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, a business comprising the two iconic British brands that was acquired in 2008. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, South Koreas second largest truck maker. Task 1: a) Kurt Lewins change management model The concept of change management is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process. One of the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin, a physicist as well as social scientist, Back in the 1950s, and still holds true today. His model is known as Unfreeze Change Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes. Unfreeze This first stage of change involves preparing the organization to accept that change is necessary, which involves break down the existing status quo before you can build up new way of operating. To prepare the organization successfully, you need to start at its core you need to challenge the beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours that currently define it. Using the analogy of a building, you must examine and be prepared to change the existing foundations as they might not support add-on storeys; unless this is done, the whole building may risk collapse. This first part of the change process is usually the most difficult and stressful. When you start cutting down the way things are done, you put everyone and everything off balance. You may evoke strong reactions in people, and thats exactly what needs to done. By forcing the organization to re-examine its core, you effectively create a (controlled) crisis, which in turn can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium. Without this motivation, you wont get the buy-in and participation necessary to effect any meaningful change. Change After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where people begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People start to believe and act in ways that support the new direction. The transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight: People take time to embrace the new direction and participate proactively in the change. A related change model, the Change Curve, focuses on the specific issue of personal transitions in a changing environment and is useful for understanding this specific aspect in more detail. In order to accept the change and contribute to making the change successful, people need to understand how the changes will benefit them. Not everyone will fall in line just because the change is necessary and will benefit the company. This is a common assumption and pitfall that should be avoided. Time and communication are the two keys to success for the changes to occur. People need time to understand the changes and they also need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. When you are managing change, this can require a great deal of time and effort and hands-on management is usually the best approach. Unfortunately, some people will genuinely be harmed by change, particularly those who benefit strongly from the status quo. Others may take a long time to recognize the benefits that change brings. You need to foresee and manage these situations. Refreeze When the changes are taking shape and people have embraced the new ways of working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The outward signs of the refreeze are a stable organization chart, consistent job descriptions, and so on. The refreeze stage also needs to help people and the organization internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure that the changes are used all the time; and that they are incorporated into everyday business. With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of working. The rationale for creating a new sense of stability in our every changing world is often questioned. Even though change is a constant in many organizations, this refreezing stage is still important. Without it, employees get caught in a transition trap where they arent sure how things should be done, so nothing ever gets done to full capacity. In the absence of a new frozen state, it is very difficult to tackle the next change initiative effectively. How do you go about convincing people that something needs changing if you havent allowed the most recent changes to sink in? Change will be perceived as change for changes sake, and the motivation required to implement new changes simply wont be there. As part of the Refreezing process, make sure that you celebrate the success of the change this helps people to find closure, thanks them for enduring a painful time, and helps them believe that future change will be successful. McKinsey 7S framework The McKinsey 7S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard Elements Soft Elements Strategy Structure Systems Shared Values Skills Style Staff Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: These are strategy statements; organization charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture. However, these soft elements are as important as the hard elements if the organization is going to be successful. The way the model is presented in Figure 1 below depicts the interdependency of the elements and indicates how a change in one affects all the others. http://www.mindtools.com/media/Diagrams/mckinsey.jpg Lets look at each of the elements specifically: Strategy: the plan devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition. Structure: the way the organization is structured and who reports to whom. Systems: the daily activities and procedures that staff members engage in to get the job done. Shared Values: called superordinate goals when the model was first developed, these are the core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic. Style: the style of leadership adopted. Staff: the employees and their general capabilities. Skills: the actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company. Placing Shared Values in the middle of the model emphasizes that these values are central to the development of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, systems, style, staff and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created, and what it stands for. The original vision of the company was formed from the values of the creators. As the values change, so do all the other elements. The model is based on the theory that, for an organization to perform well, these seven elements need to be aligned and mutually reinforcing. So, the model can be used to help identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance, or to maintain alignment (and performance) during other types of change. Whatever the type of change restructuring, new processes, organizational merger, new systems, change of leadership, and so on the model can be used to understand how the organizational elements are interrelated, and so ensure that the wider impact of changes made in one area is taken into consideration. You can use the 7S model to help analyze the current situation (Point A), a proposed future situation (Point B) and to identify gaps and inconsistencies between them. Its then a question of adjusting and tuning the elements of the 7S model to ensure that your organization works effectively and well once you reach the desired endpoint. John P Kotters eight steps to successful change American John P Kotter (b 1947) is a Harvard Business School professor and leading thinker and author on organizational change management. Kotters highly regarded books Leading Change (1995) and the follow-up The Heart Of Change (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to peoples response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change. Kotters eight step change model can be summarised as: Increase urgency inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant. Build the guiding team get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels. Get the vision right get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency. Communicate for buy-in Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to peoples needs. De-clutter communications make technology work for you rather than against. Empower action Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders reward and recognise progress and achievements. Create short-term wins Set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. Dont let up Foster and encourage determination and persistence ongoing change encourage ongoing progress reporting highlight achieved and future milestones. Make change stick Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture. Task 1: b) Change should not be done for the sake of change its a strategy to accomplish someoverall goal. Usually organizational change is provoked by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc. Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. Transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization. Tata Motors was predominantly a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and that is a very cyclical business. The commercial-vehicle market in India shrank by more than 40 percent, with massive consequences for both the top and, more particularly, the bottom lines of the company. The 110 million US$ loss was the first time something on this scale had happened in the companys history, and it really shook everybody within the organization. They tried to understand what had gone wrong and wanted to create a path for the future to ensure that they never got into such a situation again. So they decided on a recovery strategy that had three distinct phases, each of which was intended to last for around one and half years and 5 years in all. Phase one was intended to stem the bleeding. Costs had to be reduced in a big way, and that was going to be a huge challenge for a company that was not only the market leader but had been used to operating in a sellers market and employing a cost-plus approach to pricing. Phase two was to be about consolidating their position in India, and phase three was to involve going outside India and expanding operations internationally. Task 1: c) To be an effective leader of an organization requires you to do five things: Understand and interpret the environment in which he operate Develop winning strategies Execute them brilliantly; Measure the impact of your strategies followers. If you get results, people will support you, systematically, adjusting strategies as often without caring too much about how you got indicated. Develop organizational, departmental; the world wont retain the support of your followers team and personal capabilities. Team building is an application of various techniques of Sensitivity training to the actual work groups in various departments. These work groups consist of peers and a supervisor. Task 2: a) In recent times Tata Motors have faced a lot of challenge especially from the growing competition and globalization. To fight back these external evils, Tata Motors came out with plans of expansion to fight back competition via mergers and acquisitions and to fight back globalization it decided to cut costs and thereby introduced the worlds cheapest car. But all these activities had severe implications on its internal organizational change. Change was seen both on the management and at the employee level. At the management level change was seen for cutting costs and providing the cheapest car to the world market and at the employee level change was seen because of the much needed Tata Motors to merge with Daewoo, which caused a lot of change in its employees. Task 2: b) Enterprise-wide change is undertaken as a matter of survival. It is not an option and it is not a whim. Change carries high costs in terms of human and physical resources, share prices, stakeholder insecurity, customer dissatisfaction, receivables and cash flow. The reality is often a painful period of change, during which resistance is high, morale is low, productivity is falling, and confusion is rampant. (Calvello Seamon, 1995) No organization undertakes this lightly. So, the question is, if the cause is just, the need is clear, the alternatives evaluated, and the path to success communicated so that anyone in the organization can see that the change is not optional but essential, why does the change fail? The answer, Just being right isnt enough: you have to win the hearts and minds of the people who will make the change happen. (Marsh, 2001) There is no disembodied organization that can be changed. Only the people within an organization can make planned change a reality by changing their behaviours and the ways they relate to one another. Implementing change in an organization forces people to alter how they relate to one another. Not only do their goals, processes, equipment, and reality change but the very way they deal with others in the organization changes. This causes anxiety and anxiety causes resistance. only people who instigate change enjoy it; other have to suffer it. (Marsh, 2001) Faced with forced change many employees feel threatened believing that they will lose power, prestige, competence, and security. They feel that what is happening is beyond their control, outside their sphere of influence, and they fear it. Depending on how the particular organization has managed past change, the fears may be well grounded in experience. Task 3: a) The changes that have happen within organizations around the world over the last five years, have revolutionized how organizations will continue to operate for the next five years.    Businesses have realized that people are more important, whether that be the customer or the employees.    Employees must be happy, self assured, educated, trained, motivated, and leaders in order to be able to create the type of business that produces quality product.    The customer must be happy, and if the employees are not happy, they have a hard time making the customers happy.    Task 3: b) Stakeholder Analysis is the process that: Is intended for group stakeholders and Understands what stakeholders expect from the project and what they need in relation to potential risks Identifies actions to minimize project risks and maximize benefits by working with the stakeholders. This covers organisational stakeholder analysis but you might ask What do I do about directly involving people? There are two basic approaches to this which can be summed up as Representation v Delegation. Both have advantages and drawbacks. Representation: Attempts to take in the full range of views, interest groups and organisational units as part of the full decision making process. Characterised by democratic, committee-type decision-making. Advantages Disadvantages Covers full range of views An obvious route to gain widespread acceptance of decisions Involves people who may have limited knowledge of the subject area Slows decision-making Can result in compromises which dont really represent best fit in any particular area Delegation: Delegates responsibility to those identified as being best suited to the job. Advantages Disadvantages Work carried out by those with appropriate skills and knowledge Permits project to move forward more rapidly Acceptance relies on trust in those delegated may be an alien approach in the education culture Needs care to ensure that all relevant issues are properly understood and covered Task 3: c) A change management strategy identify, prioritise, engage and assess stakeholders. Explicit areas of spotlight include: Ensure that all key stakeholders have an adequate understanding of the objectives, timeline and process. Ensure that stakeholders who will be significantly impacted by the initiative or the change resulting from it have a clear understanding of how and when they will be affected. Influence stakeholder attitudes to become more positive (or at least less negative) towards the initiative and/or the change that it will bring about. Establish an effective feedback loop between the stakeholder group and the project team. Task 3: d) The three greatest barriers to organizational change are most often the following. Inadequate Culture-shift Planning. Most companies are good at planning changes in reporting structure, work area placement, job responsibilities, and administrative structure. Organizational charts are commonly revised again and again. Timelines are established, benchmarks are set, transition teams are appointed, etc. Failure to foresee and plan for resultant cultural change, however, is also common. When the planning team is too narrowly defined or too focused on objective analysis and critical thinking, it becomes too easy to lose sight of the fact that the planned change will affect people. Even at work, people make many decisions on the basis of feelings and intuition. When the feelings of employees are overlooked, the result is often deep resentment because some unrecognized taboo or tradition has not been duly respected. Lack of Employee Involvement. People have an inherent fear of change. In most strategic organizational change, at least some employees will be asked to assume different responsibilities or focus on different aspects of their knowledge or skill. The greater the change a person is asked to make, the more pervasive that persons fear will be. There will be fear of change. More important, however, there will be fear of failure in the new role. Involving employees as soon as possible in the change effort, letting them create as much of the change as is possible and practical is key to a successful change effort. As employees understand the reasons for the change and have an opportunity to try the change on for size they more readily accept and support the change. Flawed Communication Strategies. Ideal communication strategies in situations of significant organizational change must attend to the message, the method of delivery, the timing, and the importance of information shared with various parts of the organization. Many leaders believe that if they tell people what they (the leaders) feel they need to know about the change, then everyone will be on board and ready to move forward. In reality, people need to understand why the change is being made, but more importantly, how the change is likely to affect them. A big picture announcement from the CEO does little to help people understand and accept change. People want to hear about change from their direct supervisor. A strategy of engaging direct supervision and allowing them to manage the communication process is the key to a successful change communication plan. Task 4: a) RELEVANCE OF THE MODELS OF CHANGE Kurt Lewin theorized that there are three stages to change: Unfreezing: Old ideals and processes must be tossed aside so that new ones may be learned. often, getting rid of the old processes is just as difficult as learning new ones due to the power of habits. Just as a teacher erases the old lessons off the chalkboard before beginning a new lesson, so must a leader help to clear out the old practices before beginning the new. During this part of the process you need to provide just a little bit of coaching as they are unlearning not learning and a lot of cheerleading (emotional support) to break the old habits. Changing: The steps to the new ideals are learned by practicing: W h a t I h e a r , I f o r g e t . W h a t I s e e , I r e m e m b e r . W h a t I d o , I u n d e r s t a n d . Although there will be confusion, overload and despair, there will also be hope, discovery, and excitement. This period requires a lot of coaching as they are learning and just a little bit of cheerleading due to the affect of Arousal Overloading. Refreezing: The new processes are now intellectually and emotionally accepted. What has been learned is now actually being practiced on the job. Just a little bit of coaching is required and a lot of cheerleading is used to set up the next change process. . . remember it is c o n t i n u o u s process improvement! Task 4: b) 1. Formulation of a clear strategic vision: In order to make a cultural change effective a clear vision of the firms new strategy, shared values and behaviours is needed. This vision provides the intention and direction for the culture change. 2. Display Top-management commitment: It is very important to keep in mind that culture change must be managed from the top of the organization, as willingness to change of the senior management is an important indicator (Cummings Worley, 2005, page 490). The top of the organization should be very much in favour of the change in order to actually implement the change in the rest of the organization. De Caluwà © Vermaak (2004, p 9) provide a framework with five different ways of thinking about change. 3. Model culture change at the highest level: In order to show that the management team is in favour of the change, the change has to be notable at first at this level. The behaviour of the management needs to symbolize the kinds of values and behaviours that should be realized in the rest of the company. It is important that the management shows the strengths of the current culture as well, it must be made clear that the current organizational does not need radical changes, but just a few adjustments. 4. Modify the organization to support organizational change: The fourth step is to modify the organization to support organizational change. 5. Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants: A way to implement a culture is to connect it to organizational membership, people can be selected and terminate in terms of their fit with the new culture. 6. Develop ethical and legal sensitivity: Changes in culture can lead to tensions between organizational and individual interests, which can result in ethical and legal problems for practitioners. This is particularly relevant for changes in employee integrity, control, equitable treatment and job security. Change of culture in the organizations is very important and inevitable. Culture innovations is bound to be because it entails introducing something new and substantially different from what prevails in existing cultures. Cultural innovation is bound to be more difficult than cultural maintenance. People often resist changes hence it is the duty of the management to convince people that likely gain will outweigh the losses. Besides institutionalization, deification is another process that tends to occur in strongly developed organizational cultures. The organization itself may come to be regarded as precious in itself, as a source of pride, and in some sense unique. Organizational members begin to feel a strong bond with it that transcends material returns given by the organization, and they begin to identify with in. The organization turns into a sort of clan. Marsh, Christine. (2001, March). Degrees of Change Resistance or Resilience. Performance Improvement, v40 n3 pp 29-33.