Education in the United States Essay

Education in the United States of America is governed by the Department of Education. There are three different levels of control and funding for public education: federal, state, and local. In the United States school is mandatory from Kindergarten through High School, consisting of thirteen different grade levels. Students can obtain an education by attending a public school, a private school, or a home school. In order to ensure that all students obtain the academic knowledge needed to progress through the grade levels, standardized tests are given regardless of where a student obtains an education (United States Department of Education, 2005). Education in the United States is governed and funded mainly by local jurisdictions, with the state and federal governments supervising educational activities and ensuring that all local jurisdictions are administering standardized tests and obtaining the funding needed to operate adequate educational facilities. The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that all powers that are not assigned to the federal government by the United States Constitution are reserved to the people or the individual states. As per the Tenth Amendment, the individual states control public education. Most states are divided into local jurisdictions that have elected school boards that oversee the individual school districts within its jurisdiction. The local school districts own and operate the public schools within its boundaries and are responsible for obtaining funding for each of the public schools they control (United States Constitution, Tenth Amendment, 1787). The majority of the funding for public education in the United States is obtained from local taxes and state governments. The federal government only provides 8. 5% of the funds for public education (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). There has been some controversy over the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 which allows the federal government to withhold funding if a state or local school district is not complying with the standards set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act. However, the funding withheld for non-compliance is not a significant amount (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001). There is a larger controversy over the local school districts obtaining funding primarily from local taxes. Local jurisdictions can impose many different types of taxes on its citizens. In the commonwealth of Massachusetts there has been controversy over the imposition of excise taxes and corporate taxes. Excise taxes are taxes that are not property taxes or taxes that are imposed based on statutory law. Corporate taxes are imposed on corporations within a certain jurisdiction that are paid to the local government. These taxes are in addition to any federal or state taxes that the corporation is responsible for. Businesses in the commonwealth of Massachusetts are required to pay quarterly excise taxes on an accelerated basis due 15 days prior to the end of each quarter. The first quarter payment is 40% of the required annual excise tax, the second and third payments are 25% each, and the fourth payment is 10% of the excise tax. The minimum amount of corporate excise tax required of all corporations operating within the commonwealth of Massachusetts is $456 per year regardless of whether or not the corporation made a profit that year (The National Federation of Independent Business, 2007). Chapter 70 Part 1, Title XII, Chapter 70 of the General Laws of Massachusetts regulates the financial disbursements awarded to each public school district throughout the commonwealth. The legislative intent of Chapter 70 is to assure fair and adequate minimum per student funding for public schools in the commonwealth by defining a foundation budget and a standard of local funding effort applicable to every city and town in the commonwealth (Chapter 70). Chapter 70 sets up rules on how to allocate the money. These rules set standards on how the money will be distributed if it is below a base amount or higher than a base amount. For example, in Section 13, Part B, the law states that â€Å"if the amount appropriated is more than the base amount, funds shall first be allocated to ensure that the state school aid for each municipality equals the base amount† (Chapter 70). This part tries to ensure that an equal distribution is set to each school. Although this is only occurs when more money is available, it still sets the standard that each school will at least get its base amount before other funds are distributed. In the event that there are not enough funds to cover the base, a formula has been established to attempt to make the distribution fair. The amount is reduced by a constant amount per student. The rate is found by the difference between the base amount and the actual amount divided by the total enrollment of the state (Chapter 70). Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge, Massachusetts is a city right outside Boston, Massachusetts. Cambridge is famous for its two prominent universities: Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The public school system in Cambridge is controlled by the Cambridge Public School District which consists of twelve elementary schools, of which eleven extend through eighth grade. There is only one high school in the Cambridge Public School District, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. The Cambridge Public School District educates over 5,500 students every year with a project enrollment of 5,790 students for the 2008-2009 school year. The Cambridge Public School District has a proposed budget of $130,704,170. 00 for the 2008-2009 school year. This proposed budget has increased 2. 36% from the previous year. 75% of this proposed budget will be allocated to the individual schools within the district. The remaining 25% of this budget will be spent on administrative costs such as maintenance and security. The Cambridge Public School District is funded through a variety of sources in addition to local taxes. The Cambridge Public School District receives funds from thirteen federal grants awarded by the commonwealth of Massachusetts, eleven private grants, eleven revolving funds, ten state grants, two district federal grants, and one state-circuit breaker reimbursement. These grants account for $13,714,499 of the total funds needed to operate the schools within the Cambridge Public School District. The Cambridge Public School District also receives an average of $1,076 per student from Chapter 70 financial aid each year (Action Public Schools, 2006). Newton, Massachusetts Newton, Massachusetts is a suburb of Boston that consists of thirteen small villages. The Newton Public School District controls the fifteen elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools that are located in Newton, Massachusetts. The Newton Public School District educates an average of over 11,000 students each year throughout its twenty two public schools (Newton Public School District, 2008). The Newton Public School District has a proposed budget of $171,377,580 for the 2008-2009 school year. This proposed budget has increased 10. 5% from the previous year. According to this budget, the Newton Public School District spends $14,743 per student every year (Newton Public School District, 2008). The Newton Public School District is funded through a variety of sources in addition to local taxes. The Newton Public School District receives 55% of the revenue generated by the City of Newton. The Newton Public School District also receives over $8. 6 million dollars from federal, state, and private grants. Over $3 million dollars of the Newton Public School District budget is received from a program called Circuit Breaker which allocates special funds to school districts for additional special education courses. Federal, state, and private grants and the Circuit Breaker program account for almost $12 million dollars of the annual budget (Newton Public School District, 2006). The Newton Public School District also receives an average of $846 per student from Chapter 70 financial aid each year (Action Public Schools, 2006). Conclusions Allocating funds for public education in the United States is a complex process. Wealth and more funds do not necessarily lead to greater achievement by the students enrolled in the school district. Federal, state, and local jurisdictions must determine the most beneficial methods for allocating the educational funds available. These allocations are not equal and usually result in the more industrious neighborhoods receiving less funding from these sources, and incurring higher corporate taxes. The Newton Public School District receives less funding from external sources, and its businesses pay more corporate taxes. The allocated budget in the Newton Public School District is higher than the budget in Cambridge due to the fact that although the populations are similar, Newton operates twice as many educational facilities. . The Newton Public School District does not need the extra funds from external sources in order to reach its budget. Although the dollar amounts indicate an unfair advantage for the residents of Cambridge, both school districts are able to meet their budgets and educate their students adequately. Although the corporate tax system and excise tax system in Massachusetts may seem unfair to its businesses and residents, the public school districts within Massachusetts (including Newton and Cambridge) are able to meet the budget requirements due to the Chapter 70 allocations. The purpose of Chapter 70 is to create equality amongst the school districts and ensure that the cities that receive less corporate and excise tax are still able to operate successful public school districts so that every child within the commonwealth of Massachusetts has the opportunity to receive a quality education. REFERENCES The United States Census Bureau (2006). American FactFinder. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://factfinder. census. gov/ Action Public Schools (2006). Chapter 70 Aid Per Student High to Low. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://ab. mec. edu/about/Chapter70Aid/CH70PerStudentFY06. pdf Newton, Massachusetts (2008). 2008 Property Tax Rates. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www. ci. newton. ma. us/Assessor/taxrate. htm Cambridge Massachusetts (2008). 2008 Property tax Rates. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www. cambridgema. gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/documents/FY2008_Property_Tax_Update_Newsletter. pdf Newton Public School District (2008). General Information. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www. newton. k12. ma. us Cambridge Public School District (2008). General Information. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www. cpsd. us/index. cfm

Effects of Job Rotation

Discuss the various issues of managerial behaviour and related matters raised by this case study Laurie J. Mullins argues that A fist step in the effective management of other people is confidence in your own ability, and awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. Why is it then that managers find it difficult to admit their mistakes, to say sorry or to laugh at themselves? 1 In the building society case study, there are examples of bad managerial behaviour on the part of both Mary Rodgers, the branch manager and Jane Taylor, the senior branch assistant.Jane Taylor was clearly good at her job if, after four years, she was promoted to this new role, yet within a short period of time, she was having trouble with Tony Jackson. Looking back at what Mullins said, Miss Taylor doesn't appear to have confidence in her own ability or indeed awareness in her own strengths and weaknesses. According to Thompson ; McHugh â€Å"control is not an end in itself, but a means to transform the ca pacity to work established by the wage relation into profitable production†, and Jane is unable to control her sub-ordinate – what are the reasons for this?Part of the problem stems from the beginning of the case study and the relationship between Jane and her manager. Mary Rogers does not instil any confidence in Jane when she effectively ‘dumps' this new role. Up until now, Jane has been performing specific task functions and has no real knowledge of how to manage people as she has previously been performing the duties of a cashier and looking after mortgage advice accounts – more task orientated skills rather than managerial ones. The refresher course she attends includes nothing on this either and Jane immediately falls into what McGregor calls the ‘Theory X' assumption of human nature.The central principle of ‘Theory X' is direction and control through a centralised system of organisation and exercise of authority2 and Jane automatically tr ies to coerce and direct Tony Jackson. The inability of Mary Rodgers to provide effective support and development for Jane shows a clear ineptitude on her part. She admits herself that the reason for Jane's promotion is that â€Å"I [Mary] need someone to take some of the weight off my shoulders† and she seems to be reluctant to help intervene and solve

The Use of an Incentive Spirometer Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The Use of an Incentive Spirometer - Coursework Example Mrs. Lucas does not seem to have followed through with any of the verbal instructions you have given so far in regards to pre-operative preparation (she is not an auditory learner). Write a teaching plan for Mrs. Lucas. Ensure your plan includes: learning objectives, teaching strategies (tailored to Mrs. Lucas’s learning style), and your evaluation criteria. QUESTION 2: You are providing nursing care for Mr. Darcy following chemotherapy treatment. Mr. Darcy has been educated to conduct mouthwashes with sodium bicarbonate before and after each meal and before sleep at night throughout the course of his treatment. This strategy aims to reduce the likelihood of Mr. Darcy developing mouth ulcers associated with his treatment. QUESTION 6: Imagine you were working in a hospital when you slipped and hurt your back resulting in constant, centralized back pain and difficulty mobilizing. You are physically examined by a medical officer in your workplace who determines the injury is soft tissue damage. She states that you should take oral pain relief like anti-inflammatory medication, have regular physiotherapy and return in two weeks for a review of your condition. She completes a work cover and physiotherapy referral letter. What would 4 pieces of information the medical officer provide the physiotherapist about you? QUESTION 7: Mr. Collins is a fifty-year-old man who lives with his 48-year-old wife and 22-year-old daughter. He has chronic asthma and has been admitted to the local hospital on several occasions with exacerbations of his asthma. Following his last hospital admission, Mr. Collins was referred to the community health center and has an appointment with you (the community nurse) in the community-based asthma education program – You gain the following information from Mr. Collins: 1) When he experiences an asthma exacerbation he has a harsh, non-productive cough, feels breathless and is very restless and unable to sleep.

Global Marketing at AOL Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Global Marketing at AOL - Case Study Example The success of any company is closely connected with its management team, a structure of the company and people work with it. The structure of AOL in Japan is not appropriate for the company of this type. The first problem is that only one person from eight, J. Barber, is involved in day-to-day operations. According to the report results, it is not enough for such a company as AOL because it needs more management control and adjustment on the upper level. The second problem is that the five groups report only to the President, who coordinates their work, but the other members of the board are unaware of the company's problems. The third and major problem is the unstable management team of the company (Hoecklin, 1995).During recent years 3 persons have held the office of the company but did not succeed. This is closely connected with the recruiting procedure used by AOL, who committed to his partner Mitsui this mission. Even if it was difficult to find top local people the company cou ld employ a US citizen on the President post. This experience is widely used by other companies in their foreign offices and proves its efficiency (for instance, the Coca-Cola company is used to appoint non-residents on the post of General Manager). The Barber should recommend to AOL to employ an experienced leader on the President's post (if the current will not be able to take AOL on the next level), and be involved in the process of staff selection itself (Griffith, Hu, Ryans, 2000).If AOL continues the present structure it will not gain any results in foreseeable future. Only a new radical strategic approach for management and the company's structure could take AOL on a higher level. The main impediments of AOL in Japan are that it employs the same marketing strategy that used in America. It uses bundling, magazines inserts and direct advertising, which cannot work on the Japanese market at all. And AOL did not take into account the difference that in Japan (in contrast to the U SA), the PC manufacturers are much more active in the ISP business.The overcome the obstacles AOL should use cultural approach to its marketing in Japan. Many problems associated with the relationships between people of different cultures stem from variations in norms and values. At its deepest level, however, culture comprises a set of basic assumptions that operate automatically to enable groups of people to solve the problems of daily life without thinking about them.  

Information Technology Management transformation Research Paper

Information Technology Management transformation - Research Paper Example This scenario has challenged Alcan’s senior management team to offer greater priority in the field of IT by deciding to create a position of Vice president in the company. This has, therefore, provided me an opportunity to join the Alcan Company as the CIO of the Corporate Information Technologies. As an engineer and IT consultant, I have trained and gained experience, for about forty years, in the Company hence giving me a better position to coordinate the company. According to my 2006 analysis on Alcan Company, I realized that it used IT management model which had a number of strength. For instance, it created and sold a variety of products such bauxite, sheet ingot, smelter grade alumina, wire ingot, beverage can sheet, extrusion billet, aluminum recycling services, automobile iron, flexible and specialist packaging, and fabricated products such as cable and wire. The model was also vertically integrated just like other key players found in its sector. It owed seven alumina refineries and specialist alumina plants, eight mines and deposits, 26 aluminum smelters, 17 laminated product plants, a transport network such as port and rail facilities, 12 electric power plants, 180 packaging material plants, and 49 engineered product plants. Alcan’s IT management model also had five groups with corresponding responsibilities. The first group dealt with development of corporate application which included fourteen resources divided among Paris, Montreal, Zurich, and Singen. The second group dealt with architecture and consisted of 3 resources with highly technical skills that corresponded to those of shared infrastructure and planning groups. The third group was responsible of finding solutions to information system. It was made up of sixty resources distributed among 5 different cities: Paris, Warmley, Issoire, Voreppe, and Neuf Brisach. The

Personal statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Personal statement - Essay Example hough deeply religious, he has the modern outlook and he has paved way for participation of women, in the nation-building projects and I wish to be a part of the process actively through those endeavors. Personally, I am deeply interested in the subject of political science and my grandfather is my role model in this area. I am sure to have his guidance and blessings in my chosen career. He was a practicing politician and that provided the strength to our family. He was a great man of political integrity and character and we, the family members have imbibed his virtues. As for my academic credentials, I hold the bachelor’s degree in library science and information. I have three years’ experience as a librarian in a business school and that gave me a unique opportunity to be friends with the latest business management books. I am a voracious reader and have read and studied the autobiographies of famous leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Joseph Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Kar l Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, Mao Tse Tung etc. besides many leaders of Saudi Arabia. I am seeking admission to Master in Political Science to strengthen my theory knowledge of the subject of Politics. Your benign consideration of my application for admission at this important juncture in my life will be the deciding factor for my future goals and career

Transcendental Meditation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Transcendental Meditation - Essay Example The practice of Transcendental Meditation is one of the varieties of Sanskrit mantras consisted of short words or phrase that when repeated in thought is expected to help the practitioner still the activity of thought and find a deeper level of consciousness. Here, one understands that the basic process of TM is not very different from other forms of meditation, starting with a deep body and mind relaxation for 20 minutes daily, followed by the â€Å"seven-step process,† wherein the first three can be self-taught and the last four, instructed. In order to practice Transcendental Meditation, an individual needs to be initiated by a teacher. This initiation involves sessions of formal instruction, followed by a ceremony in which the applicant makes monetary and other offerings and receives his mantra, selected by the teacher on the basis of the meditator’s temperament and occupation. As previously mentioned, at least a million Americans are initiated today, underscoring TM’s widespread appeal. Transcendental Meditation’s appeal to people is anchored on its recognition that there is a hunger for spiritual vision in the modern world, particularly in the West, which is, then, infused with the spirit of practicality. Firstly, TM has benefited from the tradition that has been cultivated by the practice of yoga by Maharishi’s predecessors, the Eastern mystics, Vivekananda and Yogananda. Then, according to Coward, Hinnells, and Williams, Maharishi emphasized the practical aspect of meditation instead of its religious context.

The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake - Essay Example The Lamb is meek, vulnerable and harmless. The picture of the Lamb’s feeding â€Å"by the stream and o’er the mead† suggests God’s kindness in creation and echoes similar descriptions as seen in the Bible particularly Psalms 23, as well as the parables of Jesus. In the second stanza, Blake reminds the readers that the God who created the Lamb is also like the Lamb, considering that Jesus is known as the â€Å"Lamb of God.† The poem seems to be essentially about God’s love revealed through His care for The Lamb and the child and about the apparent paradox that God became both child and Lamb in coming, as Jesus, into the world. The image of a child is also associated with Jesus. In the Bible, Jesus shows a special preference for children. Likewise, the Bible depicts the childhood of Jesus, showing him to be guileless and vulnerable. â€Å"The Tyger† on the other hand is a poem that tells of the realities of life through the magnificence of a tiger. For generations, The Tyger has been interpreted differently but its fundamental meaning is the natural and creative energy of human life, an inspiring shape (â€Å"symmetry†) that no one should try to control. Blake’s poetry tells of the extremes of human experiences, which is richly portrayed in his poem, â€Å"The Tyger†. The tiger is fierce, active and predatory portraying the extremes of human experience. The poem encompasses the darkest forces of ignorance which are transcended by the divine, transcendental consciousness which combines both polarities of light and darkness. The questions presented in â€Å"The Tyger† are directed at the tiger as well as the reader. These are rhetorical questions because no answer is given and answers to these questions are far from obvious. Take into consideration the answer to the first question which may be â€Å"God†

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 61

Case study - Essay Example It may be difficult tocontrol the employees in the company if the recruiters fail to consider the interests of the company in their recruitment exercise. As a staffing professional in the human resources department, it is very important to represent the organization’s interest. It should be noted that each organization has its own culture and this determines factors such as behaviour of employees, their performance as well as basic values that describe the organization. Basically, â€Å"organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by the members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations,† (Robbins, 1993, p. 602). In a bid to achieve its set goals and objectives, it can be seen that there are certain key characteristics that the organization values. These shape its culture and they become entrenched it its operations. The other aim of representing the organization’s interests when hiring employees is that it helps the HR personnel to make sure that the right people are hired. The staffing officers are in a position to assess the competencies of the candidate and ascertain if they will be compatible with the organization’s culture and work ethic. Each organization has its own goals and objectives and there are different strategies that can be implemented in order to achieve these. However, this can only be possible if the organization has a clearly outlined culture that shapes the behaviour of the members within the company. There are certain values that are expected to be followed by each person in the organization and these should be represented from the onset through the recruitment and section process. The other significance of recognizing organizational culture is the element of group emphasis. This refers to the degree to which work activities are organized around groups rather than individuals (Robbins, 1993). This explains why it is important to represent the interests of the organization. Group cohesion is

Direction of the Company Avid Technologies Inc Essay

Direction of the Company Avid Technologies Inc - Essay Example From the aforementioned arguments, it is clear that the scope of the organization’s business for development is bright as the efficiency of the organization to develop digital media for not only commercial purposes but also for marketing communication opens the doors for corporate business development for the organization. This is in line with the arguments of Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes 92003)who say that the level of innovation retaining the core business strategy will leverage competitive advantage and new market development for an organization. The company’s involvement in the marketing communication and its position in the games industries are the key areas for development to accomplish for future development. The key objectives set above can be measured against the company’s accomplishment in the form of market share for the organization in the aforementioned market segments. The company generates revenue mainly through the production and distribution o f digital media to clients in the film industry, games industry and other media related commercial business markets. The fact that the company pioneers in the postproduction media management and manipulation of the video in using a computer are the key to the company’s revenue generation. The range of products sold by the company mainly depending upon the requirements of the customers and their specific needs with respect to the projects they handle like the movies and visual effects for a given movie project makes it clear that he company’s core strategy of producing, managing and distributing digital media is the generator of revenue for the  organization.  

The Baths of Caracalla Essay Example for Free

The Baths of Caracalla Essay The baths of Caracalla were enormous buildings, with huge frescoed vaults covering the massive rooms. Constructed which began in 212AD and took approximately five year to complete. The original name of the bath was called the Thermae Antoninanae. (power) The baths of Caracalla was a great accomplishment in Greek history and was shown evidentially threw the benefit for the people, novelty and uniqueness and the Architecture. The baths of Caracalla was a great project who had been all started by Emperor Septimus Severus in 206AD and then was later completed but his son Caracalla and was created because the emperor had a duty to provide entertainment for their people, baths were great for socialization purposes (power). The Roman baths have a long varied past. In early history Romans used baths for health and cleanliness. The baths that most people think of like a tub didn’t come into play until 25BC, with the First Thermae built by Emperor Argippa. Until then Romans bathed in neighbourhood baths with an average of five bath houses per block. So the baths of Caracalla were nothing new to the people. The Emperor made it only to improve on design, grandeur and popularity of the ones before him. The baths were open sunrise to sunset; most commoners went only once a day. It was normal for an emperor to use it for luxury and bath as many as seven to eight times a day. A common routine for the Romans were; easy exercise in the palaestra, then continue to attend the baths, after anoint themselves in oil and then finish by eating. unknown, The baths of caracalla) The baths of Caracalla severed as the new â€Å"ideal† baths for romans; it could hold over 1,600 people and allowed them a new place to go. It contained the grandest and most elaborately decorated buildings, and was also the last major building project undertook in Rome until nearly 100 years later. The baths differed from predecessors by its large scale and its imposin g facade, no other bath or building in Rome could compare. Much of its original building is standing, which has been destroyed by an earthquake in 847 . The bath was built on the outskirts of the southern part of the city, near the Circus Maximus and the imperial palace. (unknown, The baths of caracalla) The baths consisted of a series of massive rooms, over an area of 26 acres. It took on the shape of any normal bath house, it was rectangular and very systematically. (unknown, The baths of caracalla). Rooms that were in the bath were vestibules which acted as a lobby between the interior of the building and outer space. Apodyterium which were considered the dressing rooms , and was the first stop for bathers before getting in the water , and a slave would commonly stay on watch over belongings. The calidarium was a hot room with a pool of water at a 35m diameter, Tepiberium was considered just a warm room kind of like a sauna we have today. Frigidarium was the cold room and the opening air swimming pool was called the natatio. The outside of the Baths are covered with gardens which included statues and fountains. Other rooms where the gymnasia and the study room. The building system combined the use of baked brick with concrete called opus caementicium which was a mixture of small pebbles and sand and lime motar. The water for the baths was brought from the springs of Subiaco, 100km from Rome through the aqueducts. It was distributed by tubes, the bath consisted of three network tunnels, for facilities water, sewage and wood which was used in 50 furnaces to heat the water. The floors were covered with black and white mosaics which can still be seen somewhat today. (Zeballos) Compared today with the baths, everyday you don’t see hundred of men in a bath together, nor with women. Today we have individual baths in our homes. The discussion of policy or philosophy is all done in offices now a day , but back then it was all done by a group of people sitting in a bath together. Generally they were washed by slaves or eunuchs, instead of depending on their selves for their own cleanliness. Water was a constant for them, because it was always there for them when here now a days we have to pay for our water supply. The baths of Caracalla are looked at by people in a numerous amount of way , now what of left of it after the earthquake, is now a monument to Roman history, its persistence to benefit the people which kept them clean and the beautiful architecture that was done to make this one of the most memorable accomplishment in history today, and the way that its uniqueness and novelty has different from today’s society.

Kentucky fried chicken

Kentucky fried chicken Entrepreneurship: Colonel Sanders started the Kentucky Fried Chicken at the age of 65. Presently KFC is one of the leading firms in food industry around the world. Over a billion KFC chicken dinners are served featuring the Colonels â€Å"finger likin good† recipe, each year. At the age of 40 Sanders first started cooking in a service station in Corbin, KY. But soon hundreds of people started coming to the service station for food instead for car service. Soon he shifted to a hotel and restaurant that had a capacity of holding 142 people at a time. With his special cooking techniques, Sanders station became well-known and he was acknowledged for his incredible cuisine by the Governor at the time, RubyLaffoonin 1935 when he was made a Kentucky Colonel.In 1939, Colonel Sanders restaurant won the top spot on Duncan Hines â€Å"Adventures in Good Eating.† In 1952 colonel sanders got good start for his company and devoted the rest of his life in franchising business. By 1964, over six hundred franchised outlets were opened in theUnited StatesandCanadafor his chicken. The company got listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16, 1969, only 3 years after it had gone public on March 17, 1966.Then on July 8, 1971 the company was taken over by Heublin Inc, for $285 million dollars. Soon the company grew to an enormous three thousand and five hundred franchised and company-owned restaurants world-wide.But after being regularly travelling around the globe, Colonel Sanders died of leukemia at the age of 90 in 1980. Nowadays its part of a bigger company known as Yum Brands. Advantages To Parent Business 1. Financial:It is another source of income through franchise fee and royalty. Also there is increase in Cash flow, return on investment and profits. 2. Operational:There is smaller centralized control as compared to developing and having locations by company itself. It also ensures consistency, enhanced productivity and better quality. Self-motivation as franchisees invests their own money. 3. Strategic:It helps in dividing risk by having multiple locations through peoples investment. That ensures faster network expansion and a better opportunity to focus on changing market needs. 4. Administrative:With a smaller central organization, the business maintains a more cost effective labor force, no change in important staff members and better recruitment. Disadvantages To Parent Business 1. Franchisor is required to have enough resources to recruit, train and support the new franchisees. 2. Franchisee may spoil the image of the company if he is not capable of running the franchise perfectly. 3. Also franchisor has to tell all the internal information of the company to the franchisee. So, privacy of company is also at risk.† Marketing/ Advertising â€Å"The KFC Marketing team focuses fervently on delivering an unvarying pipeline of mouth-watering meals. They try to search the wants of the customers and bring new innovative products to meet the customers standards. Target market is divided on the basis of demographic, geographic and psychographic segments. The pricing strategy that they follow while entering new market is price skimming. In starting they try to price their product a bit high and target the middle and upper class people. Than after some time they start lowering their prices to focus on middle to lower class people. They do this to get to larger part of the market. The Marketing team gives more importance to Operations and Product Excellence. They try to find new ways to develop and execute new ideas, as well as assessing the input of the finance in the business. The Marketing team is the primary medium of communication between the company and the customers. The budget of marketing is divided in accordance to the media buying and advertising production to guarantee a year round calendar of innovative news to drive consumers back to our restaurants every time. Advertising strategies are the same as any other firm but they have their distinctive slogan â€Å"finger likin good† which relates to quality of food they provide. KFC usually charges advertisement fee of 5% of the gross revenue to the individual stores. KFC charges a Local advertising fee of 3% and fee equal to 2% of the gross revenue for national advertising fee. Operations Management KFC primary raw material is chicken. They are not breed in a normal way. These chickens are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to force blood and nutrients right through their body. They do not have any beaks, feathers as well as feet. Their bone structure is considerably shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is beneficial for KFC because they do not have to pay a huge quantity for their production costs. There is rarely any plucking of feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet. However this method has been disapproved of by many animal rights organizations and has been upsetting the image of the company. There have been many cases against KFC regarding the treatment of chickens in their farms. Cost Initial Investnment: â€Å" Expenditure Low High Initial Franchise Fee $25,000 $45,000 Development Services Fee Varies Varies Real Property $400,000 $1,000,000 Construction and Leasehold Improvements $575,000 $915,000 Equipment/Signage $216,000 $366,000 Opening Advertising $5,000 $5,000 Opening Inventory $10,000 $10,000 Utility Deposits and Business Licenses $7,000 $7,000 Initial Training $3,900 $10,000 Miscellaneous Opening Costs $5,000 $15,000 Additional Funds (3 months) $13,000 $18,000 Total $1,379,900 $2,391,000† The figures are taken from the KFC website. Please refer to the URL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: The franchisor does not provide any indirect or direct financing. They do guarantee any lease or obligation. KFC is one of the parts of organization named YUM brands. YUM Capital is a special purpose limited liability company structured under Delaware law, the sole member of which is YUM Capital Funding Corp a non-stock corporation in Delaware. YUM Capital issues commercial paper secured by loans purchased from YUM Capital Funding Corp and made by YUM Capital Funding Corp to franchisees in YUM restaurant brands. ROYALTY: KFC franchisees have to pay royalty fee equal to 4% of gross revenues or else minimum of $600 per month. BREAK-EVEN POINT: It is the condition of a company when they are having no profits. In other words when company is just paying all its expenses. If it has to be calculated from sales than a certain number has to be found out at which company is having no profit. An estimated amount of sales revenue for 2010 is 21926 million dollars and the estimated revenue is 1452 million dollars. So break-even point should be the difference of sales and revenue i.e. 20474 (21926-1452) million dollars. This means company has to earn At least 20474 million dollars to cover up all its expenses. Human Resource Management KFC stresses upon the fact that either franchisees or at least one of the managers should complete the training program set-up by the company. But KFC is very strict about asking for employees to complete the training process as per the companys discretion. Besides basic training if company has certain additional course work or programs they can ask the franchisee, managers and employees to do those too. The training program is generally of 4 days, each having a session of 8-10 hours each day. This kind of training technique helps in growing the efficiency of workers and managers and makes them accustomed with their work hence reducing the likelihood of errors and mistakes. But on the other hand this procedure can be time consuming and can possibly become more costly due to the excessive training that the possible employees have to go through before entering the organization. References: http://www.kfc.com www.yumfranchise.com www.ehow.com www.yum.com KFC Annual report. www.answers.com Key Takeaway This assignment helped in understanding different ways of managing a new business. It made me familiar with the concept of having a franchise business, what are the benefits of having franchise and what are the additional expenses of having a franchise business. Besides that it gave me an opportunity to review franchisees of KFC all over the world and helped me significantly in analyzing all the dynamics involved for having KFC franchise. In future if I want to start my own business I might give a preference to franchise form depending upon the kind of business I want to have.

Culture and tourism

Culture and tourism Introduction For the course Sociology and International Developments we have chose the topic Culture Tourism. Our Tourism is increasing less the last period, because of the financial crisis that is taking place in the USA. Curacao is using our Culture as a promotion to solve this problem. The last few years they are building few hotels on Curacao (For example: The already built â€Å"Renaissance Hotel†, Hyat, Cabana Beach Resort, Jan Thiel and Caracasbaai), because 2 years ago there was a scarcity in hospitality, and also to attract tourists. We have chosen this topic, because it is a present problem which can affect our economy. This is because tourism is one of our premium Income Resource. The objective of this study is to find out solutions for this problem to prevent an economy crisis in Curacao. Research Question: Can our Culture help us increasing our Tourism? Sub Questions: Why is our Tourism increasing less the last period? Why are the investors investing in Hotels while our Tourism is increasing less? What are the characteristics of the Culture of Curacao? How can our Culture help us increase our Tourism? We will use different resources to obtain the necessary information to complete our report. Primary we intend to search for information about tourism culture in the local newspapers, then we will make an appointment with the CTB (Curacao Tourism Board) and the â€Å"Kas di Kultura†. And also we will search for information internet. The report will be divided in chapters, in each chapter a sub question will be discussed. Chapter 1 Tourism Increasing Less In this chapter we will discuss about the results that we had this last years in the tourism sector on Curacao. We will mention different reasons why is our tourism increasing less and also analyze what cause this less increasing. And we will give different ways how to increase our tourism. Tourism of Curacao stayed stabled with an increase of 1 % in the first 9 months of the year 2009 The quantity of tourist increase but the quantity of nights decreases. The numbers published by the CTB indicates that the first 9 months of the year 2009 a total of 267.968 tourists has visited our island. Compare to the year 2008 there was a increase of 1 percent. But the total nights that the tourist stayed in Curacao decreased compare to the year 2008 with 7 percent. The reason why tourist stayed less nights in our island is because of economic reasons (they spend a economic total). Analyses of the Total Arrivals of Tourists The total arrivales of tourists from europe where register with a increase of 9 precent of 98.965 tourist in 2008 to 108.123 tourists in 2009. The cause of increasing is because there where a mayor market of Netherlands that where register, 9.609 more tourist in the first 9 months in the year 2009 compare to the year 2008. And the other important European markets that increase are: belgic with 10 percent and Germany with 23 percent. And other important Markets that develop less where Sweden with a decrease of 34 percent and Finland with 24 percent. The total arrivales of the South-America markets where register with a increase of 4 percent in the first 9 months of the year 2009. This development is caused by the increase of the Suriname markets with 45 percent, Colombian with 7 percent and Venezuela with 5 percent. And other important markets that where register with a decrease where Brazil with a 19 percent and Ecuador with 41 percent. The total arrivales for the first 9 months of the year 2009 from North-America and Canada where registered with a decrease of 25 percent, the total was 30.390 tourists in 2009 and 40.329 tourists in 2008. Caribean markets decrease the first 9 months of the year 2009 with 13 percent, because of the decrease of the quantity of tourist from Jamaica with 23 percent, Trinidad Tobago with 21 percent, Aruba with 7 percent and Dominican Replubic with 6 %. This situation in the Caribean Area will stay fragil untill the Economic of North America gets better. A total of 289.878 cruise tourists visited Curacao in the first 9 months of the year 2009 which is an increase of 27.7 percent compare to 2008. Curacao is also experience the World Economic Crisis. But together with a private sector and community we can pass the negatives that this crisis brings with confident. Solutions to increase our Tourism There are many ways to increase our Tourism. But now a days tourist are very caution about their safety. That means tourists are not only aware to have a great hotel with a great room, a nice view of the beach, but also aware about the safety of the room, that means if the room has a window that can be open or if the room is safety. Thats why Curacao is planning to begin with a group of hospitality security, so they can offer the tourist a better and safer hospitality. Curacao began with this security training not only to be recognized, but to have a recognized certificate in USA. Because now a day many American tourists are very cautions about the place they choose to have a pleasurable and safety vacation. Thats why Curacao to gain more American tourist they began with this Security training. Chapter2 Why Investing in Hotels now? The past few years we have noticed that they are constructing many hotels on Curacao, meanwhile there is a global economic crises taking place. The decision to invest in constructing a hotel is not based on actual performances. An investor analyses the future possibilities of making his investment lucrative. Several factors are considered previous to realizing the investment. As a result, the decision to invest is based on the estimated future performance of the tourism sector. This sector is growing every day, which makes it very interesting for the investors. Effect of Economic Crises The economic crisis had an effect on the quantity tourists Curacao received from the North-America, it had a decrease of 25% September 2009 compared to September 2008. But its very important to know that our island have visitors from all over the world. If the economy crisis reaches a region, the people of that region will travel less or will stay fewer days at their destination. But the good news for us is that we have tourists coming from other region, for example Europe, South-America and Caribbean. September this year we had an increase of 4% in tourist visiting us from South-America (Venezuela), 9% increase from Europe and 141% from other destinations. Here you can see the decrease caused by some region will be recompensed by other region, causing an increase of 1% September this year in our tourism. In this case you will think the Hotel Occupancy rate will increase during 2009, but this isnt the case. October 2009 the average hotel occupancy was 74.92% compared to 85.18% in 2008. During October there was a decrease which led us to a hotel occupancy of 76.45% for 2009 compared with 80.57% in 2008. During September 2009 the average hotel occupancy was 74.75% compared to 85.69% in 2008. During September 2009 the hotel occupancy rate dropped to 74.15% compared with 79.74% in 2008. This is the effect of the increase of 27.7% in cruise ship arrivals on Curacao. This tourist came to visit our island, but didnt need a hotel stay causing a decrease in our hotel occupancy rate. Future vision The hotel chains who are building their hotels here on our island in first place didnt prognosticate the global crises and this situation. Maybe you think its not the right moment to invest in hotels. Youre wrong. The Curacao Tourism Board and the Kas di Kultura are working hard together promoting our island. Right now they are training personal for the tourism sector and the hotels are expanding their service. This because we are trying hard to increase our tourism, and when our tourism increase we need to have a room for every tourist. Its not only about the stay, but we have to give them the experience of their live and this we give them through our excellent service. This is why the investors are investing right now in our island. They have a future vision, where the tourism will increase drastically. Chapter 3 Mangusada Our beautiful Curacao is a small island in the Caribbean and has a population of 130,000 people. There are different cultures living side by side here on the island. There are people with culture background from Holland and Europe, Jews, Africa, Caribbean, Arabian, Syria, Madeira, China, Surinam etc. As you can see, Curacao have a Multi-culture and diversity in cultures which is called a â€Å"Mangusada† Curacaos Culture Our culture reflects its African culture background through language, music, and dance. An example of the African culture reflecting in our own culture is the music and dance of â€Å"tambu†. This music and dance was past through generation by the slaves, who carried the tradition and music of Africa. The dance is called â€Å"baila ban† (dance the drum). It is very unique, the dance consists of two people dancing but never touching each other. They moves their hips and bodies with the rhythm while leaving their feet in place. The slaves master and later the Catholic Church made this dance in the past unpermitted. But the dance had still been danced undercover, which is the reason how this dance does still exist and is an important part of our culture. Now a day it is a jewel of our culture, it reflects the past of our antecedents and history of our island. Seu There is an annual festival of â€Å"Seu† where musicians from around the island come to compete to win the title of â€Å"kantado mayo† and have their song selected as the song for the annual cultural festival called â€Å"Seu†. So you can appreciate this honored music and dance at the â€Å"Seu†. This annual cultural festival takes place a couple of weeks before eastern holidays. To understand the origin of this festival we have to go back in the history of Curacao where the slaves made a road march to celebrate their harvest. The slaves communicated true sounds of a blowing conch shell (Karko), this is why they use the conch accompanying the tambu. They also use â€Å"chapi† which is an instrument of agriculture, where they make sounds by slamming a metal peace like a nail on hoe. Now the people arent celebrating during this parade what their land gave them, but they are celebrating our culture. You will also see this at the folklore performances , Carnival and during the holiday seasons. Other origins Also other African musical instruments were used here on the island. One of them is the â€Å"bastel†, it is a horn made of a cow horn. Another example is the â€Å"benta†, which is a twig from a â€Å"karawara† tree, fastened at both end with a row, and bent to form a bow. The player places the bow in his mouth and taps the row, creating sound. This instrument is used to play the â€Å"zumbi†, which refers to zombies. Curacao has also adapted the European music and dances of the colonials and made them their own. For example the French quadrille, waltzes, and polkas were given an African flavor. Languages The original language of Curacao is Papiamentu, its a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and some African dialect. This language has been spoken for 300 years in the ABC Islands, and was intended for spoken communication not written. Along this language the residents of Curacao speaks several other languages. The most can speak 3 languages which are, Papiamentu, Dutch and Spanish or English. Dutch because it is the official language of Curacao, and because there is a high quantity of immigrants here on the island, the most people learn to speak a third language or it is their own language. Technology and Culture Technology of information and communication is a innovation which has not only technical dimension, but also cultural dimension. Basically every change has an effect on the culture. There is a variation in the way people react on the new technology, this for two factors which is acceptance and indifference. The new technology makes the difference between old and new generation. On the other hand, there are countries which cant maintain the speed of innovation because of scarcity in infrastructure and digital equipment. In our case infrastructure isnt a problem, but the recourse to buy the equipment and to pay for the use of the new technology. Chapter 4 Culture Helping Tourism Culture makes effect on the economy via tourism. Tourism is basically interaction of culture. Culture tourism is when people spend their time or vacation on cultural activities, either in their own country or in a foreign country. Our culture can help us increase our tourism in different ways. Cultural Tourism Cultural tourism is different of â€Å"Mass-tourism†. If mass-tourism has â€Å"Sun, Sand and Beach† as slogan, cultural tourism has â€Å"Culture, Adventure and nature† or â€Å"Travel to experience† as slogan. Mass-tourism is very dangerous for our culture, because it effects our environment and nature very strongly. Culture tourism is interested in tourist activities with culture flavour. These tourists are open to observe, experience and learn from things. In this case culture is the principal product. This product must be accessible, attractive and complete, to be effective. The tourists must be able to experience physically our product. For example, if a tourist visits the Snoa of the Hindus, they must be able to walk around and take a look and also experience a ceremony. In our case, if it is a dance of â€Å"kaha-di-orgel†, the tourist must be able to see the dance and then try the dance to experience our culture. There must be an explanation about the origin of the dance as a social activity some years ago and the influence from different cultures. Environment Cultural tourism has always culture in mind and is very environment friendly. Culture tourism is a long lasting and positive tourism, because it makes tourists today happy, while protecting and bringing new opportunity for future tourism. To maintain this tourism, we have to minimize the damage to our culture, we have to respect our community and cultural identity of our own country. We have to promote our culture and let them experience this more complete possible. The companies involved in tourism must act with a responsible identity to maintain our culture. Another example which tourism can help us is by conserving our nature area, archaeology and historic places and Traditional culture art. Tourism can be a reason to manage to conserve our environment also in a financial way which can lead to a benefit for the community, by organizing attractions with our environment. But if the managing is not well planned or managed, tourism can be a result of congesting, pollution and other kind of problems to our environment. And if there isnt a good control on the tourism this can cause a loss of economic benefits for the community. Kulturismo This year was â€Å"Siman di Kultura y Turismo† or better known as â€Å"Siman di Kulturismo† very successful. Its not only because the island is aware about the culture but also they had mixed the week of Culture with the week of tourism. This is the first time in history â€Å"Kas di Kultura† in conjunction with the Curacao Tourist Board organized from September 12 to 27, two weeks full of culture and tourism. The motto of this celebration was â€Å"Huntu desaroyando un dushi Kà ²rsou†. This project was aimed to show and remember the population of Curacao what our beautiful island has to offer and make them conscious about the values of our touristic attractions. Culture forms a big part of the tourism in Curacao, a great example is that our Center State is part of the â€Å"World Heritage List†. Thats why its better for us to know more about our Culture and Folklore, so we can offer this to the tourists. There are many places that have beaches and sun, thats why we must distinguish our self in different ways, and that can happen when we use our culture. Many companies, sponsors, voluntaries and others are working on our culture so it can be very successful. We think that a community that knows what his island has to offer and is conscious about its values, helps in the development of tourism. In other words more we know about our culture, the prouder we will be of our heritage and these will beneficiate our tourism. Relationship between Tourism, Community and Neighbourhoods Creating a responsible Tourism Tourism can bring different kind of benefits and also problems to the community or neighbour. But if its well organized it could bring very good benefits for the community, for example; Possibility for work, great income and also give small business the opportunity to participate in the economy. Tourism is a stimulation for other economic activities for example; agriculture, fishing, product industry and work of art. Tourism is responsible to make our community a better one, by given the possibility to have a better commercial circle and a new culture for our community and tourists. Involvement of the Community with Tourism This concept of involving the community with the tourism already exists for 10 years now on an international level. In the Caribbean the last 5 to10 years they are trying to fix the negative impact of the Tourist Industry. They are also trying to expand the industry around different destinations. The governors of the islands in the Caribbean were trying very hard to benefit the Tourist Industry. Meanwhile the income of Tourism has an average of 25% of the total Export on the different islands in the Caribbean. Benefits of the involvement of the Neighbourhoods with the Tourism An organized and well managed Tourism can bring sufficient benefits to the local community. Some Potential benefits are: Increase of the benefits distribution of Tourism Help decreasing unemployment, poverty and criminality To stimulate our local production. (For example: work of art, local products) To contribute to an authentic experience for the visitors And empowered the identity of the state Mayor plan of Tourism The actual mayor plan of tourism since 2005 till 2009 is to emphasis the attention in the involvement between the neighbourhoods and the tourism. This is to expand the duration of the tourism. And also the actual mayor plan is to give recommendations to begin with the existing projects for each neighbour (For Example: â€Å"Boka Sami†, â€Å"Banda Bou† and â€Å"Marie Pampoen†). CTBs management The management CTB is applying towards tourism in the neighbourhoods, is based on giving help and stimulating our own people to be more involved (as businessmen) in tourism activities. In this way not only local people are beneficiated from a durable development but on the same time our manners and ideas are conserved for future generations. Within the concept of involvement of the neighbourhoods in the touristic development, its the population who plays the key role. The involvement and participation of neighbourhoods or areas in tourism is a long term process, requiring patience. The types of projects that are being executed vary from neighbourhood initiatives to efforts in conjunction with the private sector of substantial investments, for a durable development. Necessary steps for Tourism to enter the Neighbours To ensure the process of involvement of the neighbourhoods in the development of our tourism on a durable way, some steps have been identified. These are: CTB organizes encounters with â€Å"Unidat di barrio /Plataforma di region†, meanwhile the region/neighbourhood will be evaluated for necessities and priorities. CTB will institute and lead a â€Å"Grupo di Konseho† and a â€Å"Grupo di Trabou† for tourism within neighbourhoods that will include entities from the government, the private sector and non-governmental organisations. They will work on a plan of action that contains the priorities and the plan of action that identifies the human and financial allocation of resources in the region/neighbourhoods. On behalf of the â€Å"Plataforma di region† the â€Å"Grupo di Konseho† and the â€Å"Grupo di Trabou† must prepare an action plan for the financiering of the project. Once the project is approved the â€Å"Grupo di Trabou† will determine how the guidance and implementation will be. â€Å"Grupo di Trabou† will control on the moment of implementation. An external entity will perform an analysis/evaluation of the impact on the region/neighbourhood. Pilot project: Boca San Michiel One of the first neighbours that introduced the concept of tourism in neighbours was Boka Sami. As a result of this project different activities have been revived. Such as the celebrations of â€Å"Bati Huda†, â€Å"San Juan†, â€Å"San Pedro†, â€Å"Parke di Lus†, â€Å"Dia di Boka Sami† and â€Å"San Miguel†. Different positive changes surged at the Sami Sail, vacation excursions have been organized. Excursions for the elder, social activities are being organized and the week of culture and the week of tourism are also being celebrated at Boka Sami. Boka Sami has a lot of potential to develop a durable tourism, an interesting point is that the neighbourhood is communicating more and more with the tourists. The inhabitants of the neighbours are more conscious that tourism contributes to a durable development. Finally there was an interest of hotel investors that were interested in buying large pieces of ground at Boka Sami, this all thanks to the cultural development of the area. Guarantee a Durable Development We must keep the inhabitants informed about the benefits when implementing tourism within the neighbour and the inhabitants must be conscious about the risks and costs related to the development. A profile must be made of the potential tourists that will visit the neighbour, in this profile we would address the manners and the expenditure patrons of the tourists. The inhabitants must be thought that some common gestures and actions could improve the possibility to receive tourists in a successful way. Finally we must identify the possible obstacles that must be surpassed to guarantee a durable development of the touristic product within the neighbourhoods. Conclusion As we can see culture can help us increase our tourism in different ways. This year was â€Å"siman di kulturismo† of Curacao very successful. Its not only because the State is aware about the culture but also they had mixed there week of Culture with the week of tourism. Culture forms a big part of tourism in Curacao, a great example is that our Center State in the â€Å"World Heritage List† appear. Thats why its better for us to know more about our Culture and Folklore, so we can offer this to the tourists. There are many places that have beaches and sun, thats why we must distinguish our self in different ways, and that can happen when we use our culture. Many companies, sponsors, voluntaries and others are working on our culture so it can be very successful. Culture makes effect on the economy via tourism. Tourism is basically interaction of culture. Culture tourism is when people spend their time or vacation on cultural activities, either in their own country or in a foreign country. They are other methods to increase our tourism. For example: Curacao began with a security training in hospitality to have a recognized certificate in USA. Now a day many American tourists are very cautious about the place they choose to have a pleasurable and safety vacation. Thats why Curacao to gain more American tourist they began with this Security training. Methodology Different resources have been used to obtain the necessary information to complete our report. First of all we started searching for information about tourism culture in the local newspapers; La Prensa and Vigilante. Then we made an appointment with Ms. A. Meulens from CTB (Curacao Tourism Board), we have obtained statistics with information about the total tourist visiting Curacao. Afterwards we mailed â€Å"Kas di Kultura† in search for information about our culture and the effects of culture on our tourism. But at the end we went personally to obtain the desired information. And also we search for information on the internet: www.chata.org, www.ctb.an, www.kasdikultura.an and www.ctb.an

Metaphor in Hamlet Essay -- essays research papers

Metaphor in Hamlet In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act III scene 1, Hamlet’s soliloquy of â€Å"To be or not to be† is full of metaphors that bring the various themes of the play together. One of the primary themes of the play is Hamlet’s uncertainty of action and inability to decide how to cope with the problems he faces. In Hamlet’s soliloquy, Hamlet metaphorically discusses his indecisiveness about the importance of continuing his life and asks himself â€Å"whether ‘tis nobler of the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing them, end them.† Hamlet wonders whether it is worth facing all his problems (â€Å"slings and arrows of outrageous fortune†) or to commit suicide (â€Å"and by opposing them, end them.†) Hamlet metaphorically comp...

The Truman Show :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites â€Å"The Truman Show† is a profoundly disturbing movie. On the surface, it deals with the worn out issue of the intermingling of life and the media. Examples for such incestuous relationships abound: Ronald Reagan, the cinematic president was also a presidential movie star. In another movie (â€Å"The Philadelphia Experiment†) a defrosted Rip Van Winkle exclaims upon seeing Reagan on television (40 years after his forced hibernation started): â€Å"I know this guy, he used to play Cowboys in the movies†. Candid cameras monitor the lives of webmasters (website owners) almost 24 hours a day. The resulting images are continuously posted on the Web and are available to anyone with a computer. The last decade witnessed a spate of films, all concerned with the confusion between life and the imitations of life, the media. The ingenious â€Å"Capitan Fracasse†, â€Å"Capricorn One†, â€Å"Sliver†, â€Å"Wag the Dog† and many lesser films have all tried to tackle this (un)fortunate state of things and its moral and practical implications. The blurring line between life and its representation in the arts is arguably the main theme of â€Å"The Truman Show†. The hero, Truman, lives in an artificial world, constructed especially for him. He was born and raised there. He knows no other place. The people around him – unbeknownst to him – are all actors. His life is monitored by 5000 cameras and broadcast live to the world, 24 hours a day, every day. He is spontaneous and funny because he is unaware of the monstrosity of which he is the main cogwheel. But Peter Weir, the movie’s director, takes this issue one step further by perpetrating a massive act of immorality on screen. Truman is lied to, cheated, deprived of his ability to make choices, controlled and manipulated by sinister, half-mad Shylocks. As I said, he is unwittingly the only spontaneous, non-scripted, â€Å"actor† in the on-going soaper of his own life. All the other figures in his life, including his parents, are actors. Hundreds of millions of viewers and voyeurs plug in to take a peep, to intrude upon what Truman innocently and honestly believes to be his privacy. They are shown responding to various dramatic or anti-climactic events in Truman’s life. That we are the moral equivalent of these viewers-voyeurs, accomplices to the same crimes, comes as a shocking realization to us. We are (live) viewers and they are (celluloid) viewers.

The Role of Foreshadowing in the Prologue of Harry Mulischs The Assaul

The prologue of a novel plays a crucial role in introducing the setting of the story. The prologue also sets the tone of the tale and can sometimes hide vital information from the reader. The art of foreshadowing is often used in the prologue, and after reading through the story, reverting back to the prologue can help connect the many themes and motifs that are prevalent throughout the narrative. A high-quality example of a prose with a prologue that is riddled with underlying foreshadowing is The Assault, by Harry Mulisch. By analyzing a single passage of the prologue and comparing it with other small potions of the text, the foretelling of events in the prologue of The Assault by Harry Mulisch can easily be related to how Anton believed the killing of his family was a simple affair, when in reality, it was a more complicated incident than Anton could have fathomed. During the prologue, the narrator spoke of when Anton used to hang out near the canal. It was at this point when Anton was ?lying on the grassy bank and staring in to the distance? that a numerous amount of foreshadowing occurred (Mulisch 5). The last thirteen lines of the prologue in The Assault, when the motorboat created a ripple effect, corresponded to how complicated the killing of Anton?s family really was. Anton saw the motorboat do the following: Pitching, their prows would tear the water into a V shape that spread until it reached both sides of the canal. There the water would suddenly begin to lap up and down, even though the boat was already far away. Then the waves bounced back and formed an inverted V, which interfered with the original V, reached the opposite shore transformed, and bounced back again-until all across the water a complicated ... ...d and left. Mulisch?s use of foreshadowing in the prologue allayed to how the rest of the novel would play out. His hints gave a broad scope of how that fateful night seemed so simple, yet the underlying complexities led it to be a burden upon many people. The parallelism of the waves created by the motorboat and the cause and effect relationship of the night when Anton?s family was killed was prevalent throughout the novel. What Anton thought was a night that only affected him, in actuality affected many different people throughout the story. By reverting back to the prologue after the novel has been made and making connections throughout the book, the foreshadowing that Harry Mulisch used was clearly present. By analyzing a short and seemingly simple, yet deeply insightful, passage of the prologue, The Assault by Harry Mulisch can be understood at a higher level.

Cardiovascular Disease Information Essay

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in over half of the people in this country. It affects all aspects of the heart function, from the arteries that supply the blood to the valves to the heart muscle itself. Heart and blood vessel disease- cardiovascular disease – includes numerous problems, many of which are related to a process called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition that develops when a substance called plaque build up I the walls of the arteries. This buildup narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through. If a blood lot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke. Some of the symptoms associated with cardiovascular disease are chest pains, sudden numbness of arms or face, strokes or congestive heart failure. Cardiovascular disease can be managed by following a lean strict diet, keeping your cholesterol down, not smoking, maintaining your blood pressure and exercising regularly. It is said that if you exercise for about 30 minutes a day every day, that will keep you healthy and your heart pumping. Congestive Heart Failure refers to a poorly pumping heart that causes a fluid back up in the heart, lungs and other organs. The symptoms are shortness of breath, swelling in the body and debilitating fatigue. It is said that congestive heart failure is the most common cardiac condition among the elderly. Heart failure can start from an unnoticeable condition, which can progress to a debilitating disease. The way to check to see if you have a heart problem is by having an Echocardiogram which monitors your heart and makes sure everything is functioning properly. This disease can also be controlled by maintaining a healthy diet, not smoking, controlling your weight, and following a good exercise regimen. Maintaining your weight is also an important factor.

Successful implementation of ERP Systems: issues and obstacles

Introduction: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are packaged (but customizable) software applications, which manage data from various organizational activities and provide a fully integrated solution to major organizational data management problems. It integrates all data and processes of an organization into one single and centralized system. These systems comprise of many components of hardware and software, in order to achieve integration from various departments in the organization. With the development of new technologies it’s an essential part of their long-term competitive strategy. ERP software applications can be used to manage product planning, purchase, inventory, interacting with suppliers, customer relationship management service, and order tracking.Discussion: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages touch many aspects of a company’s internal and external operations. Consequently, successful deployment and use of ERP systems are critical to org anizational performance and survival. This paper presents the results of a study of the problems and outcomes in ERP, a project which was conducted under the sponsorship of an ERP systems vendor. Enterprise systems (or enterprise resource planning systems – ERP) have been instrumental in advancing efficiency in organizations throughout  the world.However, David Hebert of the Hackett Group stated, â€Å"Only a select few companies have gotten value out of their ERP implementations, and those are world-class companies†. Many companies are radically changing their information technology strategies to maintain a competitive advantage, become more responsive to change markets, and deliver better service at lower cost by purchasing off-the-shelf integrated ERP software instead of developing IT systems in-house. [1][2][3]ERP System: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are software packages that use relational database technology to integrate various units of an organ ization's information system. ERP systems provide several separate, but integrated modules, which can be installed as a package for any organization [4]. Many large corporations use several different and separate information systems, often because they have merged with and/or acquired other companies with varied systems. An ERP system integrates these separate information systems and results in improved data reliability and processing efficiency.ERP systems quickly became popular with large corporations that needed a seamless integration of their business, but are now frequently used by small to mid-sized companies. The excellent ability of ERP systems to simplify business transaction processing, eliminate work that adds little or no value, and simultaneously improve customer service are the main reasons for the outstanding success and popularity of these systems [5] ERP Model:Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are off-the-shelf software packages that support most of the key functions of an enterprise, such as logistics, sales, and financial management. These systems are generic, and the functionality they provide can serve a large variety of enterprises. ERP is a critical strategic tool to achieve business goals. However, ERP adoption is not always successful despite using substantial amount of time and human and material resources. To prevent ERP failures, proper adoption processes and selection criteria should be considered to minimize possible losses. To explain the ERP Fig: Modelin an easily understandable format you have to know about the 4ps marketing  model. Usually the 4Ps marketing model was a general marketing model where the 4Ps originally stood for people, product, promotion and price [6]. Over the years, this model has been changed to become a business model and was modified by replacing promotion and price with process and performance [7]. The modified 4P business model was created to architect the ERP Conceptual model because several people working in management are familiar with the concept of the 4Ps.The ERP model is made of 4 components that are implemented through a methodology. This figure demonstrates the integration between the components. Methodology encircles all four of the components to illustrate that each component is addressed and implemented in an integrated manner. [7] [8]ERP System implementation: With the development of new technologies many companies now consider technological improvements an essential part of their long-term competitive strategy, and consequently try to apply these technologies. Computer technology has brought about many benefits in helping the construction industry meet increasingly complex challenges. It has achieved a wide range of successful applications at the project level such as engineering design, project estimating, scheduling, planning and control, and integrated project management.H. Klaus and G. Gable analyzed the concept of ERP, in order to explain its origin. T hey consider that the designation is not related to the role and characteristics of this system. The integrated system of type ERP is not focused on the resource management and it is not very developed within planning area, as its name may suggest it. It is rather focused on the integration of all organization departments, functions and processes within a single computer informational system, capable of supporting all these areas, with their individual and specific requirements. [8]Design of Evaluation Model for ERP System: ERP allows employees to share information, query data, and run reports. This eliminates the need to store duplicate information in more than one place and reduces the amount of work necessary to gather and analyze information  [9]. ERP systems increase efficiency by freeing employees from performing time consuming, manual work. For example, legacy systems often require hours or days to run reports. With ERP, reports can be produced in seconds. These efficiencie s allow employees to spend time on other tasks; reducing operating expenses. Here’s a proposed evaluation design model for ERP system-The proposed ERP evaluation model [8]Issues in Implementing ERP: A Case Study: Information technology/systems play a major role in improving the competitiveness of organizations. There are numerous enterprise information software packages available in the market. One of them is enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP can provide signiï ¬ cant improvements in eï ¬Æ'ciency across a company, but only when implemented correctly. Otherwise, an ERP system could be a curse and drag the whole enterprise into spiraling ineï ¬Æ'ciency.Planning for ERP systems and their implementations requires an integrated approach to meet the requirements of various functional areas. With a brief overview of ERP implementations, this paper describes some experiences of an ERP implementation in a water corporation. The case study reveals some of the intricacies duri ng the planning and implementation stages that may occur in any company in any part of the world. Suggestions are oï ¬â‚¬ered in resolving the issues of implementing ERP.The criteria for success (and failure): Whether a system is branded as a success or a failure is a judgment, usually made at some point in time by one or more people with the benefit of hindsight. Most people, for example, consider that the new system at Heathrow airport’s Terminal 5 was a failure when it opened in 2008. Now, however, that same system (more accurately, system of systems) is operating successfully with few reported problems on a day-to-day basis.[10] The judgment of whether a project has ‘failed’ is not a simple yes/no decision. It is common for systems that initially did not live up to expectations to evolve over time to deliver useful services. However, management usually regard a project tends as a success if it meets three high-level criteria:It should be delivered on time It should be delivered within budget It should deliver the expected functionalityIn addition to these should be added the considerations of the users, to make sure that the system fits in with their everyday working: It should be acceptable to the users (and hence used).If a project fails to satisfy one or more of these criteria when it is deployed, it is likely to be labeled a failure. If we closely examine the causes of system failures, we see that most of them are not attributable to failures of the technology. Instead, they are failures of the socio-technical system, often arising because the social and organizational aspects either have not been appropriately considered, or have been separated from the technological aspects.It is important that the social and technical aspects of the overall system are developed in parallel, because they are often interdependent. If they are developed separately, any mismatches may not be detected until late in the project when they are invariabl y expensive and time-consuming to correct, and can even lead to the project being abandoned.The most important problems of ERP system implementation: There are several studies dealing with difficulties in enterprise system implementation. The researchers use different concepts, which have various scopes and meanings. As a result, comparing and integrating their findings is difficult. The number of recognized categories of problems and issues experienced by companies adopting ERP system varies from two through three to five. The identified groups cover issues of various nature and scope, e.g., technical, operational, legal, business/economic, organizational, managerial etc. The respondents opinions regarding the problems observed in ERP system, divided into the described categories, are presented in Table 1. Within each category, various difficulties are listed together with a short description. [11]Table: Problems occurring during ERP system implementation [11] ProblemDetailsOrganiz ational problems: Project goalsLack of clearly defined goals of the implementation project; incorrectly defined goals; lack of prioritiesCompany’s conditionPoor company organization; unclear organizational procedures; unclear strategyCommunication Problems with communication and information flow; different understanding of the same ideas by different departmentsDecision makingProblems with decision making (e.g., regarding personnel); indecisiveness of company representativesPersonnel availabilityKey employees unavailable; workers’ lack of timeConflicts Conflicts between a company’s departments; conflicts during organizational changeImplementationMistakes in project management; lack of risk management; lack of implementation tasks’ coordinationmanagementOrganizational and ownership changes during the project; changes in requirements;Changes in a companychanges in company organizational structure imposed by the introduced systemTrainingInadequate training p hase of a project; cutting trainingSocial problems: Employees’ knowledge and educationLack of management competence; lack of personnel computer literacy; lack of knowledge about company operations, enterprise systems and their implementationTop managementLack of top management support and involvement; lack of project understanding by top managementImplementation teamLack of implementation team members’ commitment; inadequate composition of implementation team (e.g., too few people, people not empowered to make decisions)MotivationLack of employees’ motivation to perform implementation tasks and learn new skillsResistance to new systemResistance of middle management, IT staff, and system users; people avoiding implementation dutiesResistance to changePeople highly accustomed to existing solutions and unwilling to changeProject managerLack of a project manager; inadequate person appointed as a project manager; necessity of sharing time between implementation tasks and organizational dutiesSystem provider’s competenceConsultants lacking competence, knowledge, and experience; problems with the availability of system provider’s servicesProject acceptancePeople not convinced about the project; lack of general acceptance for the project; problem with project acceptance by people not involved in implementation dutiesPersonnel’s fearFear about possible consequences of implementation project: loss of job, position, and statusUsers’ responsibility Lack of responsibility and care among people entering data into the systemTechnical problems: DataProblems with completing and organizing system data; problems with transferring data from legacy systems to ERP systemSystem efficiencyUsers unable to enter data on-line; problems with customer and provider order handlingSystem drawbacksImplementers unaware of program’s errors and shortcomings; lack of efficient application testing;Economic problems: High costsInadequate finan cial budget for the project; loss of financial resources; lack of financial flexibility and resource allocationThe problems discovered in Table 1 refer to practically all stakeholders involved in the project: employees, implementation team members (who are functional departments’ managers in enterprise X), and top management representatives. Next, the organizations suffered from the high costs involved and problems connected with goals definition.Conclusion: There is no silver bullet that can be used to kill off the potential for failure of ERP system development projects. The proportion of failures remains stubbornly high, even though several of the factors that are associated with failures appear to be known. A quick look at several of the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Top 10† style lists of factors associated with failures (and successes) reveals that no two lists are identical, although there are several factors that recur on many lists.The lack of agreement suggests that the analyses of the reasons for failure may be overgeneralising, by treating all failures as being more or less the same, whereas there are really different types of failure that arise through different combinations of factors. Reference 1. Markus. L. â€Å"learning from adopters’ experiences with ERP: problems encountered & success achieved†, online journal , available at- http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.farrell-associates.com.au%2FBPI%2FPapers%2FERP%2520Research.pdf&ei=fWEdUPOyGIWIrAez_oGwAg&usg=AFQjCNFh8bwBuLBbiHMbCVvoLWoej1TJOQ&sig2=Oe695TrVDvjagLr3jWUNbA , accessed on 26th July 2012. 2. Marnewick. C. and Labuschagne. L. (2005),†A conceptual model for enterprise resource planning (ERP)†,Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 144 – 155, available at- http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09685220510589325 , accessed on 1st aug 2012 . 3. Hooks, A. (2002), â€Å"Change management: how to reduce the risk of change†, available at: www.internext-group.com 4. Bae. B. 2004. â€Å"Implemantation of ERP Systems† Journal. 5. Gibbs, Jeff. â€Å"The power of enterprise computing.† Internal Auditor . Feb. 1997. 6. Alexandrou, M. (2002), â€Å"Supply chain management (SCM) definition†, available at: www.marialexadrou.com/glossary/scm.sp 7. Marnewick, C. and Labuschagne, L. (2005),†A conceptual model for enterprise resource planning (ERP)†,Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 144 – 155 8. Bryson, K. amd William E. Sullivan, (2003),†Designing effective incentive-oriented contracts for application service provider hosting of ERP systems†, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 9 Iss: 6 pp. 705 – 721. Available at- http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14637150310506648. Accessed on- 25th july 2012. 9. D.P. Goyal, Gurbinder Randhawa, (2007),†Design of evaluation model for ERP systems: an empirical study of Indian Industry†, Journal of Advances in Management Research, Vol. 4 Iss: 1 pp. 63 – 73 available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/972798108000125. Accessed on 28th july 2012 10. Kakouris, A.P. and Polychronopoulos.G, (2005),†Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System: An Effective Tool for Production Management†, Management Research News, Vol. 28 Iss: 6 pp. 66 – 78 11. Joseph R. Muscatello, Michael H. Small, Injazz J. Chen, (2003),†Implementing enterprise resource planning(ERP) systems in small and midsize manufacturing firms†, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23 Iss: 8 pp. 850 – 871

Idiots

Virus was threatened by Ranchos talent and free spirit that he tried n a number of events to ruined the friendship of Rancho with Farman and Raja. In contrast, Virus model student was Chatter Rambling. Rancho humiliates Chatter by substituting obscenities into the text as Chatter read his speech. Later, Rancho began dating Virus's pretty daughter Pip and they fell in love to each other. A conflict came when the three students were drunk and went in Virus's house to allow Rancho to propose to Pip. After that, Virus threatened Raja that he would be expel if he will talk to his best friends.Raja became paranoid and confused so that he decided to commit suicide because he didn't know what to choose and what to do. Raja recovered with the help of his family and friends. After that Farman decided to pursue his passion in wildlife photography as his profession while Raja took a job interview where he passed. Virus was so heartless that he planned to fail Raja in his final exam but Pip confr onted his father about it. She told Rancho about it and gave him the key. Rancho and Farman went in Virus's house to steal the questions and gave it to Raja but he refused to cheat.Virus caught the trio and expelled them on the spot. However, Rancho gradually gained the deans respect by helping Mona to deliver her baby. Flashing back to the present day, Farman and Raja uncovered some previously unknown facts about their old friend that led them to question everything they ever thought they knew about him. Characters: Ranchos Shameless Chanced/Cheat/ Punish Waning- He was an extraordinary, unique and intelligent student who Incurred the wrath of Dry. Virus by daring to propose radical theories that directly contradicted his teacher's lessons. Humbly of his excellence. He fell in love with Pta. His real name was Punish Waning who was a famous scientist. Pip Casehardened- She was the youngest daughter of Dry. Virus and the sister of Mona. She was a doctor who helped Rancho to take Raja 's father in the hospital. She also instructed Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room via Voice over ‘P. She was pretty and fell in love with Rancho. Farman Queries- He was the one who narrated the film. His passion was for wildlife photography but his father forced him to be an engineer even though it was not his freewill.But later, he convinced his father to pursue his passion as his profession with the help of his friends. Raja Ratios- His best friends were Rancho and Farman. He came from an impecunious family with a paralyzed father who was a postman and mother who was retired teacher. He tried to commit suicide by Jumping from the third floor of the building because of confusion about whom to choose between betraying his friends or letting down his family. Fortunately, he was able to survived and recovered with the help of his friends. Dry. Virus Casehardened- He was the director of ICE.Students called him Virus Just like a computer virus. He was the most c ompetitive man they had ever seen that he couldn't bear anyone getting ahead him. He owned the pen that he gave to Rancho because of being an excellent student. He was the father of Pip and Mona. He was he school's uptight and heartless dean. Later, he learned from his own mistakes. Chatter Rambling- He was also known as â€Å"Silencer† and he had a difficulty speaking in Hindu. He was the model student of Dry. Virus. He was born in Uganda and completed his schooling in Benedictory.He popped pills from a local quack to sharper his memory. He always farts and blamed others for the output. He always CT of the students, ironing their clothes and many more. Presently, he works as a faculty member in Ranchos school in Lady. Comes in second rank. Man Moan- Better known as â€Å"Millimeter†. He was assigned to do chores in the amp's such as doing project Mona Casehardened- The eldest daughter of Dry. Virus and sister of Pta. She was Borneo her baby with the help of Rancho and friends. She was a very supportive sister and she liked Rancho for Pta. Hen his accessories got messed. He didn't deserve Pip because he only valued and treasured material things and wealth. Mr.. Queries- He was Franc's father. He wanted his son to be an engineer but later he agreed on the decision of his son. He was a loving father who provided the needs of his son. Ranchos Shameless Chanced- He was the real Rancho. He was sent to London. He was not able to study and Cheat was the one who fulfilled his father's dream. Shambles Chanced- He was the father of Ranchos Shameless Chanced. He sent Cheat in school because he discovered his intelligence.Joy Lobo's father – He was a loving father who was very happy for his son was soon-to- be a graduate. Joy Lobo- Machines were his passion like Rancho. He committed suicide because Dry. Virus didn't give him an extension for his project. Who is/ are the protagonist/s? They are three protagonist in the movie namely Rancho, Farman and R aja but for me I considered Rancho as the main character among them because as we can see in the vie the story is focus with Rancho. I would say the he is the protagonist because he is the savior and hero in the film. He always do the right things and find for everyone's rights.He is an extraordinary and he is a role model for me. Who are the antagonists? The antagonists are Chatter Rambling and Dry. Virus Casehardened. Chatter was the mortal enemy of Rancho in academics but he always get second place. He was very boastful. Dry. Virus ruins the lives of his students. He is very cruel and strict. He is heartless that he doesn't feel pity for every students he screwed. He makes lives miserable for the protagonists. How did the movie make you feel? When I watched the movie, I felt disappointed because it only revealed the harsh realities of our education system.It used mockery and humor to display the dark life of every students. But inside that humor, it made me felt hopeful that it a lso gave us an opportunity to analyze the underlying issues that need reforms. But at the end the movie made me felt that â€Å"All is Well†, Just think positive always because however What aspect of the movie did you most engage with? What will you remember? For me they were two aspects of the movie that I engaged most. First was when Mona as going to deliver his baby. In that part, I will remember that we must be united, have trust with each other and everything will be fine.

Competency, Alliance Building, and Character

â€Å"Competency† is technically defined as â€Å"the behaviors that employees must possess or must obtain to input into a situation to be able to complete high levels of performance† (Le Deist et. al., 2005). â€Å"Alliance Building†, on the other hand, is technically defined as â€Å"the ability to work with other members of the workforce† (Competency.., n.d.). Explaining further, an employee should be able to: 1) exhibit capabilities within the group; 2) respect or value other co-employees or co-workers in spite of cultural and individual differences; 3) assume multiplicity of tasks and functions while working with other people; 4) listen, contribute ideas, show inventiveness, acknowledge other peoples’ inputs/involvement/contribution; 5) identify and describe group responsibilities; 6) accept constructive criticisms; 7) distinguish conflict;8) utilize â€Å"conflict management skills† including: identification of conflict, knowing the iss ues, taking into consideration other employees’ points of view, thinking of solutions, brainstorming the results, explaining the resolution process appropriate to the job, justification of the option selected, application of the choice picked, as well as, reflecting on the result/effect; 9) etc (Competency.., n.d.). â€Å"Character†, however, technically refers to â€Å"the positive characteristics that an employee should possess to be able to carry out his or her task and functions excellently† (Competency.., n.d.). These positive characteristics include the following: 1) confidence; 2) willingness to accept responsibilities; 3) capability of working realistically; 4) ability to develop great beliefs consequently reflecting an excellent character; 5) capacity to relate with other employees who â€Å"show signs of character†; 6) honesty; 7) tolerance; 8) wisdom; 9) â€Å"selfless service†; 10) hardworking; 11) concerned with others and not just him self or herself (Tartaglia, 1999).â€Å"Competency†, â€Å"alliance building†, as well as, â€Å"character† contribute largely to success (Tartaglia, 1999). All the aforementioned are needed in order for a person to succeed in any given endeavor (Tartaglia, 1999). Let us take for instance, in the workplace, specifically in a restaurant, an employee should possess competency so that he or she will be able to perform at his or her best (Tartaglia, 1999). He or she should always strive to cook and serve the best dishes (Tartaglia, 1999). Furthermore, alliance building should also be included in his vocabulary, because if for instance, he or she feels that he or she is always right or blames/resents others, he or she is impatient or intolerant, he or she is a fault-finder, then he or she does not have the capability to work with others (Tartaglia, 1999).In addition to that, if he or she has excuse for every mistake or failure he or she commits, then he or she does n ot have the â€Å"character† to make it or to succeed in his or her chosen endeavor (Tartaglia, 1999). Similarly, if he or she is dishonest, as well as, if he or she is unwilling to go the extra mile to serve others, for instance, he is only willing to work during his or her schedule and does not voluntarily help others especially if he or she feels that his or her work is already done for the day, then he or she does not have the â€Å"character† needed to succeed in his or her chosen career (Tartaglia, 1999).Another field where â€Å"competency†, â€Å"alliance building†, and â€Å"character† is necessitated is in the â€Å"Research Consultancy Firm† (Tartaglia, 1999). Here researchers should have competency to perform very well; this in not only to keep their jobs but to be promoted as well (Tartaglia, 1999). They should be able to satisfy their clients with their research works, thus competency is really required (Tartaglia, 1999). Allia nce building is also important in the Research Consultancy Firm, for instance, the researchers need statisticians to do statistical analysis for them to be able to complete their research works so they really need to be flexible enough to work with others (Tartaglia, 1999). Last but not least, doing research takes a lot of time, energy, and patience, thus â€Å"character† is needed in order to succeed in it (Tartaglia, 1999). Also, since satisfaction of clients is very important in this field, it is important that researchers learn to accept constructive criticisms, negative feedback, and great understanding to be able to improve, if not perfect, their work (Tartaglia, 1999).ReferencesCIPD. (2007). Competency and Competency Frameworks. Retrieved September 1, 2007 fromhttp://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/perfmangmt/competnces/comptfrmwk.htmCompetency-Based Performance Standard for Ability to Work with Others. (n.d.). RetrievedSeptember 1, 2007 fromhttp://www.ed.state.nh.us/education /doe/organization/adultlearning/Guidance/rubrics/work-others.htmLE DEIST, F.D. and WINTERTON, J. (2005). What is competency? Human ResourceDevelopment International, 8(1), 27-46.Tartaglia, L.A. (1999).   The Seven Marks of Character. Retrieved September 1, 2007 fromhttp://home.earthlink.net/~denmartin/fla.html