The Decision to Implement a New Information System

The Decision to implement a new information system RE: Decision to Implement A New Information System I have been made aware that the business is looking to invest in a new information system for the handling of stock and other management activities. I would like to bring to your attention the fact that I am concerned about this new decision that management has made to implement this new system without through consultation with other managers and staff. I would like to stress that extreme caution should be made whilst considering to implement this new IS after the four million pound loss that was made during the implementation of the old IS few years back which led to the demise of the once very profitable craven comics. I would like to outline that I have the companies best interests at heart as I was present when the crisis of a few years back had occurred and would not like the same mistakes being made again. I shall delve deeper into the reasons why I believe that craven comics should be diligent and extra cautious in considering to implement a new system to handle stocks in the warehouse. I feel that there are a few key points that need to be considered. Reflection We need to look back to the tragedy that occurred a few years back and really understand why the IT system failed and learn from these mistakes. The main reason for the collapse I believe is that the company was over ambitious with what they wanted to achieve but yet were not prepared to thoroughly plan and investigate different options available. The company relied heavily on the IT consultants without really understanding the type of system they were purchasing and the implications the new system would bring. Staff and management alike were not fully aware of what the system was actually for instead fighting with the system rather than working in harmony alongside the system making seamless work of stock management duties. Stocks were being misplaced in the warehouse, incorrect amounts of new stocks were being ordered by the system along side various other problems all due to the fact that the employees could not interact with the system effectively. Both employees and management were not trained in handling the system correctly as the system was clearly the wrong choice for this business. I thoroughly recommend that our current employees have a say in what type of system integration they would find useful as a system relies on people for it to work. The staff at the warehouse must have their say as many witnessed the disaster with the old information system and it could prove very beneficial to hear their views and ideas also. We need to plan effectively and make sure that the system first and fore mostly meets the user’s needs. These will be staff in the warehouse along with the managers. So we all need to meet up and give our views and ideas on what we need this new system to do. The failure of the previous IS was due to the fact that the system didn’t integrate itself within the business. This could have been due to the lack of planning, analysis and research that went into deciding what IS was most suitable. Therefore I think it is imperative that we sit down with all the key members of staff including warehouse staff and discuss the reasons for needing an information system. Questions like: what is wrong with our current system? What improvements would like to be seen? How much costs are being incurred with this system? Will the business benefit with a modern IS?. With these questions answered we can then conceptualise and initialise the project. If we think implementing an IS is a good idea we need to develop a project plan. We can then address the question of what type of IS will be most beneficial to this business? , a tailor made one or one where the system is bought off the shelf. With the disaster that occurred with our previous system, the business chose to implement a system with the help of IT consultants. The system implemented was one that was designed initially for a different organisation but was modified to work within Craven Comics. This, I believe was fundamental to the compatibility issues that were suffered. The system failed to perform within our business as staff couldn’t really get to grips with how it really worked and the system didn’t fit in with the existing practices that the business was used to. Recommendation I Firmly believe that investing in a package that has been tailored to meet our needs from the ground up is the best option. This way we can design a system that answers all the questions asked in the planning and analysis stages. This way, the various departments will be able to have their say and a system that meets everyone’s needs and fits into the way the organisation works and thinks will be attained. This method is clearly advantages over the readymade packages that are available. Readymade packages are good at doing a certain type of job for example stock checking, but may not do everything that is needed. This can be a very quick and often cheaper method with a clarity of the costs but yields negative results most of the time. There is a very slim chance that the system will fit into the organisations existing practices and staff may need to be trained to use this type of system which may prove very expensive in the long term. I also believe that outsourcing an IS will not be beneficial. Although outsourcing allows a business to focus a greater amount of time on its core business and reduce personnel, it means that the business has less control over the system. There could also be compatibility issues and a risk of losing competitive advantage is also present as valuable information could be leaked. I recommend that the ‘prototyping’ method is used in the implementation process of the information system. We could submit a systems specification to the IT department and develop the application in-house. This will enable our IT team to work closely with everyone in the business to design a system from the ground up to meet our needs to the fullest. This method will enable staff and management to monitor the project at every stage and make key changes and decisions if the project is not working. A small working model could be developed and will invariably evolve after discussions with the staff and mangers alike whowill be using the system. This way the system will mould itself to what the business requires and the way the business works. The performance of the system could be closely monitored; is the system fast enough? What’s the user support like? How much is it costing? Is it integrating itself correctly? and so on. If satisfactory results are not being achieved then there is time available to make changes and modifications. Training time and costs will also be reduced as staff will be growing and learning as the system grows. Once the system is complete then staff should be comfortable and should fully understand the operation of the system. The prototyping method will allow Craven Comics to have full control. Project Schedule and budget The business needs to have a project schedule and budget. This is very important and wasn’t present during the implementation of the previous IS. Funds need to be split into small manageable parts, for example consultancy costs, IT management costs, Labour costs should all be budgeted. This will enable the business to see where funds are going and any cost over runs could be dealt with swiftly. Problems in the planning stages are the main reasons why most systems fails. Planning and budgeting correctly will also avoid the business in being over ambitious as was the case a few years back. The business should know how much cash is available and exactly where the cash is going. Failure to do this was a major factor in the failure of the previous IS, this disaster could have been avoided. Analysis and Resource Budgeting We also need to analyse and budget for the resources we have. For example how many staff do we have? how much space is available? The hours that will be needed? Will this impact in sales for the business? All these are key issues that need to be thoroughly monitored and carefully planned in order to minimise a fall in company revenues during the implementation process. I feel that we need all the staff to play a part in helping in the development of the information system. We need to use just the sufficient amount of space that we think we would need to accommodate the system. we should have adequate space to store the mainframe and need to look at the placement of wires and cables so as to avoid any hazards. we need to look at the placement of a backup system and the storage space for all the relevant IT technology. This will allow valuable space to be maintained for the everyday running of the normal business. Risk The concept of risk needs to be taken into account also. We need to appreciate that there is an element of risk present in this project as is with every new project a business decides to undertake. We need to understand what could potentially go wrong, and the measures that we could take in order to avoid this and minimise damage to the operation of the business. This was not done during the implementation of the previous IS as a result the business didn’t know where resources were going and how errors could be dealt with. Management Management issues do also need to be addressed. We need to look at the reasons why management failed during the last disaster and make sure that these errors don’t reoccur. I believe managements lackadaisical approach was the main issue. Management were not truly aware of what the business actually needed but were just following the recommendations of the ITconsultants. Management also failed to communicate effectively with fellow employees and just expected them to know what was going on rather than explaining to them what they were looking to do and how it would affect them. Legal issues and quality standards Legal issues also need to be dealt with alongside required quality standards. For example, data protection and health and safety issues. Project Reporting The project needs to be reported on at every stage. We need status reports, progress reports and forecast reports allowing the project to stay on track and under control. This was not present during the last IS therefore the project veered off course and we lost control of costs and valuable resources. Once we are approaching the final stages of the implementation process we should sit with all the key staff members and conduct a systems follow up. This will involve re-evaluating the systems effectiveness through discussion with top managers and end users. We should also evaluate the controls, processing and the output of the system. This will enable us to prepare a post implementation review report and make necessary revisions to the system if required to do so. This is also useful for future systems implantation as we will have crucial data of what worked well and what didn’t and the changes that were needed to be made. If we had taken the above steps during the disaster of the previous IS then this would have allowed the business to save a considerable amount of time and money in implementing a new IS. Mistakes could easily be pointed out and avoided. The fact that we didn’t keep progress reports of the project a few years back we couldn’t really see what went wrong and at what stage clearly enough. Therefore it is imperative that we evaluate the project of implementing a new information system and ask questions like, did this project achieve our scope? Did we make the correct decision in choosing to prototype? Is the quality there? did we meet our cost/timescale targets? , what were the major hurdles and what measures did we take to overcome them? . The answers to these questions will enable the business to learn from the mistakes and make sure that they don’t reoccur during any future projects. Craven Comics failed to take the above steps therefore there is no accurate record of the mistakes that were made a few years back. Final thoughts/Conclusion Overall I believe the decision to implement an information system is a good idea as the correct Information System can prove very valuable for an organisation. I also recommend looking at past disasters and the measures the firms took to overcome them. Disasterssuch as the international stock exchange (Taurus project, London Ambulance Service and Northumbria Police and so on and so forth could be looked at to gain invaluable insight. I believe a bespoke package will be the best option. This is the similar to the measures Craven Comics took a few years back. But I believe if all my recommendations are followed then this will be a very beneficial choice for this business. We need to approach the project with care and must avoid the mistakes that were made a few years back. I will grateful if you can take the time out to acknowledge the advice that I have given to you in this report. I have the companiesbest interests at heart and would not like to witness the collapse of this business again. Arif Saddiq Year 2 Accountancy and finance References Websites Library of Failed information systems projects’[online] [date unknown] ,http://www. scit. wlv. ac. uk/~cm1984/qmp/failures/NINE. HTM [accessed 20 march 2009] [accessed via www. google. co. uk and searched it failures] Wikipedia 2009, Information systems, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Information_systems [online] accessed 21 march 2009]

New World Order: Impacts in Terms on Global Cooperation

As the Cold War between US and USSR reached to an end, the world witnessed a shift from bilateral to unilateral nature of power. In 1991, President Bush inoculated the concept of New World Order which aimed to increase the international collaboration, collective security, globalization, interdependence, authority and achievement of common goals. All the impacts of New World Order directly or indirectly left their marks on the nature of cooperation among nations. This paper, after succinctly introducing the concept of New World Order in general, aims to discuss the Bush Administration’s version of New World Order.The paper discusses the impacts of New World Order’s implementation in terms of cooperation among the states and later discusses its negative corollaries. After providing a critique of the established viewpoints about the impacts of New World Order, the paper ends by drawing a conclusion in favour of the concerned system as the only viable solution if internatio nal peace and security is to be achieved. Introduction Although New World Order is not a novel concept, it is often misinterpreted as one. It is largely because of various transformational phases the system has gone through ever since its inoculation.However, differences among its versions have existed. These differences are more evident due to the changing circumstances in which these versions were established. As the New World Order aimed to provide amelioration in the prevailing system, its guiding principles have varied from time to time. Giddens believes that the direct corollaries of these changes appear in the shape of forces like globalization, individualism and political agency etc (Pillay & Elliot, 2001, p. 8&9). Before analyzing the implications of New World Order in terms of cooperation across the world, it is mandatory to create a sufficient understanding of the concept.New World Order is an abstract concept that attempts to create a better world. Therefore its contents may vary from time to time based on the situation and the nature of paradigm shift required. New World Order and the United States: In the history of the United States, the term ‘New World Order’ was first introduced by Woodrow Wilson after the World War I. Marked by idealism, the concept did no prevail long. After the World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to establish the concept by making possible increasing role of international bodies like United Nations for the attainment of peace which never reached pragmatism.Both these versions of New World Order remained transient up until 1991 when President George H. W. Bush introduced the term at the time of Gulf War which marked the characteristics of post cold war era. Bush’s idea behind new world order included the abandonment of aggression against nations, collective security to guard against the aggression and increases collaboration of nations to meet such peace creating goals (Miller and Yetiv 56). Bef ore 1991, the New World Order only existed as an abstract concept.President Bush perpetuated it in the international politics (Yovanovish 3) which was practically implemented in case of the Iraq’s war with Kuwait. Concept of New World Order in the Light of Bush Administration What Bush Administration implied by New World Order was fairly divergent from the preceding concepts addresses by the other US presidents. In a nut shell, the major components of President Bush’s New World Order can be reckoned in the following except from his speech, â€Å"a new era-freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which thenations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony †¦ a world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle †¦ where the strong respect the rights of the weak† (Miller and Yetiv 56). The concerned statement passed in 1991 provide an unequivocal agenda of New World Order that included peace creation, global prosperity and a rule of law to control the world. The other aspects introduced by President George H. W. Bush included interdepence, collective security, collective action, international authorities and globalization etc. Positive Impacts of New World Order in Terms of International CooperationThe New World Order has played dual role in bringing the phase of transformation. On a positive side, establishment of this order and the end of cold war removed the threat of nuclear havoc. Similarly, the state governments shifted to a mutual problem solving approach as a result of increasing dependency arriving from globalization. Such corollaries are evident in events like General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and North American Free Trade Agreement etc (Hauss 2&3). Interdependence The end of cold war and the collapse of Soviet Union led to a unipolar environment in the world politics.As the balance of power distu rbed , the New World Order inoculated a system of interdependence providing equal opportunities for all the states by advocating the dependence of nations on one another. Related to interdependence is the preference of common interests to state interests that was addressed by the new system (Kessler 53). Therefore, the New World Order suppressed national sovereignty in favour of international authority. Cooperation To increase interdependence and through the work of international bodies, the concept of Free Trade emerged as a product of New World Order.With the lifting of trade barriers as a result of Free Trade policy, increasing flow of technology across borders, individuals from different countries are crossing their borders to enter into the other countries to hunt for opportunities and are constantly being exposed to the foreign cultures and issues. This trend has started diminishing the borders between nations thereby threatening the concept of statehood. As a result ‘gr eater economic and social interdependence seem to affect national decision-making’ thereby making the concept of state obsolete (Bertucci & Alberti, p.9). However, the whole process served to achieve an important goal of New World Order which was to increase cooperation between the nations. On social grounds, the emergence of English language as a lingua franca is largely a corollary of the New World Order. Although widely criticised to have caused languages deaths, the very transformation has brought an aspect of cooperation among the contemporary nations by providing a same medium of communication thereby enhancing better understanding (Bandura 6). International BodiesAs the interdependence among nations increased and the international bodies were given higher levels of authority, the New World Order triggered a transformation in the role of state in terms of sovereignty. The states in post cold war era experienced debilitating sovereignty as it is supplanted by the interna tional authority of the bodies like United Nations. In terms of cooperation, this shift provided better chances of cooperation by providing a rule of law and peace keeping environment for all the nations.Implementing a just supreme authority like UN above all the nations was aimed to motivate the nations in thinking globally rather than locally. The increasing role of United Nations in the New World Order was also because in the preceding times of cold war, the authority of UN remained nearly impossible because of the conflicting super powers of US and USSR. Empowering such international bodies by New World Order was aimed to protect the interests of both the strong and weak nations alike in order to maintain justice for peace and cooperation.The very fact was accentuated by Former UN Secretary-General Sir Brian Urquhart who said, â€Å"It is no longer acceptable that international action is taken only when a situation threatens the interests of the most powerful nations. † ( Holmes). Such International bodies are of varied types. One such example in economic world is that of World Trade Organization. World trade organization as a key instrument of New World Order has been using uniform trade policies for all the nations participating in the international economic trade. The developing countries are rising as a result of free trade.For the very reason the share of developing countries in global trade market increased. Consequently, on economic grounds the stronger states like US are as much dependent on the relatively weaker nations as they are on the former. Collective Security To ensure collective security, the New World Order proposed a rule of law. It also led to the UN resolution that prohibited invasions as a way of practicing aggression against other nations. In order to make possible this collective security and maintain absence of invasions, US used force against Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait.The very concept of collective security led to the UN forces to aid the weaker nations during the times of war. Although providing a great scope of amelioration, the New World Order also implies certain threats arising due to the increased collaboration and globalization. Such threats include the transcendence of national boundaries, increased nuclear proliferation and the intermingled and inseparable nature of problems facing the world etc (Hauss 5). Globalization As perceived by Waters, â€Å"If globalisation in its most complete sense takes effect then the nation-state will be its chief victim (Shaneland). †With the positive picture of new world order to have catalyzed the process of globalization, authors like John Mc Murtry also throw light on the hidden threats of such apparently favourable changes. The author goes on to consider new world order a global coup d’etat which encourages oligopolistic trade in the name of international free market (Gordana 23). According to the paper â€Å"Is there a future f or the nation-state in an era of globalisation? If so, what future? † provided by Shaneland, there are three basic challenges that the nations are to face as a result of global development shaped by rapid globalization.These include (a) a reduced ability of the state to exert influence on its economy in the times when economic transactions are increasingly taking place on a global level which is considerably due to the trend of free trade; (b) an augmentation of trans-national bodies. These bodies are political (for instance the UN), economic (like NAFTA), a combination of the two (like the EU) and even the Non Governmental Organizations and (c) the establishment of global ruling organizations.Often termed as the super-national and sub-national centres of power, they include bodies like United Nations. The same author believes that in such a scenario the role of state has shifted from being the ‘primary unit of international relations to being a provider of public goods and infrastructure to global businesses’. International Bodies Many analysts propose the existence of a global authorities leads to the process of ruling the nations by meddling in the state affairs. The instruments of such a global authority are considered to be the present world’s organizations.This means that at one hand the states are losing their role within their territories and at the other hand they are not having a considerable role in the global community (Shaneland). Nuclear Proliferation Increased cooperation and ties between nations have resulted in increased nuclear proliferation. Previously held by only a single state, many of the contemporary states are now armed with nuclear weapons which pose a constant threat to the world peace and security. A war raged in such a scenario would lead to massive destruction. New World Order – A Critique:Many aspects of the New World Order are criticized for their contrary hidden implications. Joseph Nye argues t hat the interdependence suggested by New World Order is multilevel in nature. By the term ‘multilevel interdependence’, Nye suggests the idea of multiple layers in terms of distribution of power where one layer may have bipolar structure while the other sustains a unipolar structure. The most crucial of this layer is that of military power which is clearly unipolar in favour of the US. The second is the economic layer which although tripolar still has US as a major sharer.In fact it is only the third and last layer of interdependence that shows lack of concentrated power in favour of any strong country like US (Kessler 54). According to Marguerite K. Rivage-Seul and D. Michael Rivage-Seul, the New World Order is in itself a threat to the poor states and thus a strategy used by the stronger nations like US. This might result in a third world war against the weaker nations (1). Such an assumption is based on the increasing vulnerability of weaker nations as a result of in ternational authority.For instance, to survive in the global economic competition, the weaker nations require larger investments than they can afford. Loans from organizations like International Monitory Fund increase the vulnerability of such nations. Such a threat is not faced by the stronger nations. Conclusion Every phenomenon has its differential dimensions. So is the case with the new world order. However, the importance of it in terms of increasing interdependence and cooperation cannot be denied.As an alternate course of action, if the New World Order is to be replaced, the success of the system would require benignity which in turn demands an extra ordinary amount of change on the part of the human (Hauss 4). To dwell in such an idea of change would rather be utopianism than rationalism. In short, the merits of New World Order greatly supersede its demerits thereby making it the most viable international system for the cooperation and peace creation among the nations in the contemporary world. Works Cited Bandura, Abdul Karim. â€Å"Accelerated Language Deaths in the DevelopingWorld: A Consequence of the New World Order†. Oct. 1997. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Capella University Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 11 Apr. 2009 Bertucci, Guido, and Adriana Alberti. Globalization and the Role of the State: Challenges and Perspectives. United Nations. 11 Apr. 2009, Hauss, Charles. Beyond Confrontation : Transforming the New World Order.Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996. Holmes, : Kim R. â€Å"New World Disorder: A Critique of the United Nations. † Journal of International Affairs 46. 2 (1993): 323-340 Is there a future for the nation-state in an era of globalisation? If so, what future? Shane Martin Coughlan. 11 Apr. 2009 Kessler, Bart R. Bush’s New World Order: The Meaning Behind the Words. Mar. 1997. Air Command and Staff College, USAF Air University, Montgomery, Alabama. 11 Apr. 2009

Anticipated Challenges and Planned Responses

This is also a serious matter of all food industries because its good name is at stake. Orion Foods Inc. being a competitive newcomer, will go through big paces to earn the market’s trust, which is too costly. We have to respond to regulatory authorities which provide the compulsory national framework for food or meat hygiene programmes through laws and regulations. Response Hygienic measures are to be taken during the various processing steps in the manufacture of meat products – the Meat Processing Hygiene. This is part of a firm’s Quality Management (QM) based on the following three principles crucial for meat processing operations: * Prevent microbial contamination of raw materials, intermediate (semi-manufactured)goods and final products during meat product manufacture through absolute cleanliness of tools, working tables, machines as well as hands and outfits of personnel. * Minimize microbial growth in raw materials, semi-manufactured goods and final products by storing them at a low temperature. Reduce or eliminate microbial contamination by applying heat treatment at the final processing stage for extension of shelf life of products Fig. *** Microbiological contamination in the meat processing chain Figure *** shows the extent of contamination among meat processing operations, and the possible remedies, if any. If these processes were relinquished, it would highly contaminate meat which is unsuitable for further processing. Final products could be unattractive, tasteless o r shorter in shelf life. In light of this issue, Quality Management schemes are needed. Such schemes have technical and hygienic components. The former encompasses product composition, processing technologies, packaging, storage and distribution. The hygienic aspect, related to meat processes, focuses not only for the final product, but also for the raw materials in various processes. It has two useful schemes: * Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) It follows general hygienic rules and applies recognized hygienic principles as well as laws and regulations issued by the competent authorities, referring to meat and meat products, equipment, Premises and personnel. GHP schemes are not factory specific, they apply to all types of meat plants. They are intended to establish and maintain acceptable hygienic standards in relevant meat operations. * Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) HACCP are factory and product specific strictly sanitary control schemes that shall prevent, detect, control and/or reduce to save levels accidentally occurring hazards to consumers’ health. Despite GHP in place, accidental hazards cannot be ruled out and may occur at any processing step of the individual meat product. Specifically for meat processing plants, such hazards may be provoked by failures such as: * batches of incoming raw meat materials with abnormal tissues or * heavy contamination, * breakdowns in refrigeration, * failure in cooking/sterilization operations, * abnormal pH or a * in raw or finished products, * errors in levels of application of * curing salts and other additives, * technical problems in sealing of * vacuum packages or cans with * the risk of recontamination. Anticipated Challenges and Planned Responses This is also a serious matter of all food industries because its good name is at stake. Orion Foods Inc. being a competitive newcomer, will go through big paces to earn the market’s trust, which is too costly. We have to respond to regulatory authorities which provide the compulsory national framework for food or meat hygiene programmes through laws and regulations. Response Hygienic measures are to be taken during the various processing steps in the manufacture of meat products – the Meat Processing Hygiene. This is part of a firm’s Quality Management (QM) based on the following three principles crucial for meat processing operations: * Prevent microbial contamination of raw materials, intermediate (semi-manufactured)goods and final products during meat product manufacture through absolute cleanliness of tools, working tables, machines as well as hands and outfits of personnel. * Minimize microbial growth in raw materials, semi-manufactured goods and final products by storing them at a low temperature. Reduce or eliminate microbial contamination by applying heat treatment at the final processing stage for extension of shelf life of products Fig. *** Microbiological contamination in the meat processing chain Figure *** shows the extent of contamination among meat processing operations, and the possible remedies, if any. If these processes were relinquished, it would highly contaminate meat which is unsuitable for further processing. Final products could be unattractive, tasteless o r shorter in shelf life. In light of this issue, Quality Management schemes are needed. Such schemes have technical and hygienic components. The former encompasses product composition, processing technologies, packaging, storage and distribution. The hygienic aspect, related to meat processes, focuses not only for the final product, but also for the raw materials in various processes. It has two useful schemes: * Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) It follows general hygienic rules and applies recognized hygienic principles as well as laws and regulations issued by the competent authorities, referring to meat and meat products, equipment, Premises and personnel. GHP schemes are not factory specific, they apply to all types of meat plants. They are intended to establish and maintain acceptable hygienic standards in relevant meat operations. * Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) HACCP are factory and product specific strictly sanitary control schemes that shall prevent, detect, control and/or reduce to save levels accidentally occurring hazards to consumers’ health. Despite GHP in place, accidental hazards cannot be ruled out and may occur at any processing step of the individual meat product. Specifically for meat processing plants, such hazards may be provoked by failures such as: * batches of incoming raw meat materials with abnormal tissues or * heavy contamination, * breakdowns in refrigeration, * failure in cooking/sterilization operations, * abnormal pH or a * in raw or finished products, * errors in levels of application of * curing salts and other additives, * technical problems in sealing of * vacuum packages or cans with * the risk of recontamination.

Multimedia Analysis FOR Introduction to American Politics Movie Review

Multimedia Analysis FOR Introduction to American Politics (Undergraduate level) - Movie Review Example After it was produced in 2004, the film generated a lot of controversy especially about its accuracy. However, Moore responded to the accusations by documenting the sources he used, which are quite credible as far as the film’s content is concerned. Fahrenheit 9/11 begins by explaining how the political allies and friends of George Bush from Fox News Channel prematurely declared him the president during the 2000 elections, hence, tilting the election. It also criticizes the way the controversy of the voting in Florida was handled, which is reported as an open election fraud. The film then depicts the September 11 attacks as among the darkest moments in the American history by making the screen to go black and letting the film to solely involve sounds. This is used to illustrate the actual chaos that took place on that day. When visible images resume, the film displays images of survivors, bystanders and falling debris from the world trade centre. At this juncture, Moore explains that president Bush was informed of the first attack on the world trade center as he was going to an elementary school. The film then shows President Bush in Florida, sitting with kids in a classroom. Even after he is informed of the second attack on th e world trade center and that America was sunder serious attack, Bush Continued to read a story called The Pet Goat to the kids. The film reports that he continued reading the story for about seven minutes, showing that he did not care. The film goes ahead to discuss the causes of the September 11 attacks and its aftermath, including the invasion of Iraq. It then examines a complex relationship it claims to exist between the Bush family, the government of Saudi Arabia, the Taliban and the Bin Laden family for a period of three decades. In the film, Moore alleges that 24 members from the Bin Laden family were evacuated

Gender Discrimination in Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender Discrimination in Korea - Essay Example A United Nations report estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of all households in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America depend on a woman as their main provider. In addition, even in the more developed lands, an increasing number of women have had to become the main provider. This notion of gender discrimination is driven by the social development theories that explain the truth behind the existence of the capitalist idealism wherein people are more focused in gaining profit than that of providing respect to the ones that are due of the said recognition. (Peet, 1995) Rural poverty throughout much of the developing world is accelerating this trend. A husband who finds it a constant struggle to feed his family may decide to move to a nearby city or even another country to obtain work. He leaves his wife behind to care for the family. If he is fortunate enough to find a job, he sends paychecks home. But despite his good intentions, this often does not continue (Eiu-young, 1987). But difficult as it is, putting food on the table is not the only challenge women face. Why the sudden change on the role of women being at home Why the sudden direction of seeing women to becoming an epitome of a capitalist society that is better focused on the profits they are to gain than that of the morals that they are better able to establish to set a society that is able to withstand the changes of development that the modern human community itself undergoes at present. Through the theory of global capitalism, the growing difference on the gender status known to the human society and the changes happening to the status of women in connection with the recognition that they are receiving from the people of whom they are dealing with in the society that they are living in. (Peet, 1995) In Korea, this gender discrimination is indeed prevalent in the society. Moreover, this view of women has been strongly advertised through the use of media and continuous social display of discriminating attitudes. In fact, there is an implicit culture in the said country that the beautiful appearance and the physical attractiveness in women are essential stepping-stones for success. This culture really places women as a weaker gender having been able to do nothing without the existence of beauty. It is as if the talents and the considerably fine attributes of women are taken in no regard compared to their beauty. In this regard, the researcher aims to further study the issue on women discrimination existing in Korea through the use of survey. By basing the opinions of the people on how they comprehend on the theme sent out by the movie "Vanity Fair" after having them watch the said film. As said earlier, through this experimentation, the researcher hopes to evaluate the real impact of media in the society with regards to the issue of inequality, thus being able to formulate possible solutions to the said social plague. The Issues The theory of Marxian conception on the material conception of life has been the basic source of understanding used by the researcher of this paper in an aim of creating

Antigone Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Antigone - Assignment Example Oedipus kills his father during a disagreement along the road. In addition he kills Sphinx making him a darling for the people of Thebes. The reward for the win and following the death of King Laius, Oedipus is given the throne leading to the interaction with the queen (Sophocles 1117). Oedipus marries his mother and gives birth of two boys and two girls namely Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone and Ismene. The tragedy of incest leads to blinding of Oedipus and leaving the city. The complex relationship between mother and son leads to the birth of four children who are also brothers to their father. The relationship between Antigone and Oedipus is complex in definition because of the complex nature of their relationships. Eteocles fights for Thebes while polyneices fights for the rebel (Sophocles 1118). In the battle the rebel group is defeated and the new king of Thebes orders that Polyneices should not be buried creating controversy between leads to death of Antigone for defying the rul e or order of King Creon. Sophocles was born in Colonus near Athens. Colonus was a city with unique culture which is evident in the approach of used in his drama. His father owned a business that manufactured armor. Sophocles studied music and was known for mastery in music. His father was called Sophilus. He married twice and became the father of two sons named Lophon and Agathon. His career as perfect because he became a treasurer of Athena. He was also invested with priesthood of Amynos (Sophocles 173). Sophocles had an impact on Western culture and even given a tribute for his achievement. The success of Sophocles is based on the educational background. Seamus Heaney is a poet of Irish origin. He was a playwright, translator and lecture. He won the1995 Nobel Prize in literature. He was born on April 13th 1939 at Castledawson, studies at queen’s university of Belfast and St Columb’s College. He won several rewards in the literature

Interethnic Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina Research Paper

Interethnic Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Research Paper Example The Bosniacs mainly belongs to the Islamic religion, while the Serbs belong to the Orthodox tradition. The Croats, on the other hand, are affiliated to the Roma Catholic. This has seen the three ethnic communities engage each other in one of the worst ethnic violence that took place from 1992 to 1995. The war has been regarded as the worst ethnic violence ever witnessed in Europe since the end of World War II. Latest figures indicate that an estimated 100,000 people out of the country’s 4.4 million people were mercilessly killed in the war and left thousands other injured2. The massacre received wide condemnation from the international community as the war spread throughout Bosnia. The report indicates that Srebrenica was the epicenter of this ethnic violence where an estimated 70,000 Bosniac boys and men were massacred by the Serbian forces. Due to the magnitude and the number of people who died in the war, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hagu e terms the massacre an act of genocide. The report indicates that the ethnic cleansing resulted in the displacement of more than two million people. The World Bank report more than 60% houses in Bosnia and Herzegovina and more than 50% of schools were destroyed3.     Bosnia and Herzegovina are ethnically diverse states. The dominant ethnic communities in the two states include the Bosniacs, Serbs, and Croats. These ethnic communities coexisted peacefully for a very long time even though they sometimes found themselves at odds with one another or with the government. However, the peaceful coexistence ended in 1992 when civil war broke out in among the three dominant communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina4. The war began following a disagreement between the three ethnic groups on the political future of the republic just soon after the extrication of Yugoslavia in 1991. Research indicates that the Croats and Muslims voted overwhelmingly in favor of the March 1992 referendum in support of the secession from the former Yugoslavia. This led to the session of the two countries resulting in the declaration of Serbia as an independent state. A report indicates that the minority ethnic group boycotted the election and staged protest throughout the coun try. This is because they wanted Bosnia and Yugoslavia to remain one single state. The protest also resulted in an ethnic violence, which left more than 100,000 people dead, in a war, which began in 1992 and ended in 1995. Of those who died, a majority estimated at about 80,000 was Bosniacs who belong to the Islamic religion.

A Journal Review of the American Historical Review Assignment

A Journal Review of the American Historical Review - Assignment Example Since the mid 1995, the journal has had many publications handling issues of global concern. The issues handled depict many developments in different fields. The journals explore the fields of commerce, science, numbers, history and even religion. The journal has had many developments, issues and diversities concerning the occurrences in the world. In February1995, the American review journal handled issues on race, discrimination and racism in the US. Race is an exceedingly sensitive issue that affects many people around the globe. In the US, racism was one of the issues affecting the US. Racism is inequitable treatment directed to people with prejudice on the coloration of their skin. The journal was trying to sensitize the US about the need for treating all people equally. Therefore, the journal served as a revelation to the citizens of the US. In April the 1995, the journal further explored on the issues of gender in Gilberto. It explained that gender did not have to be a basis f or people to treat people with favor. This is because no person chose his gender. During the month of August the 1995, the journal publicized issues on democracy. It explained that all persons and states had the right to democracy .This meant that they could act without fear of intimidation by any person. During the same month, the publication handled the issue of Equality. It insisted that all persons ought to endure fair treatment regardless of their color and origin. As time went by, more publications talking about diverse topics hit the headlines. The publication of February the 1996, spoke about the topic of literature. The publication gave a detailed analysis of literature by explaining about the origin of literature. The origin explained about the history facing the world of literature. The fact that the journal could handle different topics revealed the developments evident in the journal. The journal has developments in handling different matters apart from the ones in its first years of publication. These developments show that the journal keeps abreast with emerging issues in the world. This is meant to show that the world is dynamic and that the issues posted in the American Journal keep changing. Still on the year 1996, the American journal review talked about the reason as to why the Indians were red. This topic touched on the topic of mythology and delusions. The journal criticized the idea that the world was full of misconceptions and that many people were living on a lie. The journal insisted that the Americans were in another century where myths and misconceptions were unheard of. Other topics discussed there after included such things as the issue of missionaries. This was during the 1997 when many missionaries spread across the globe in order to spread the gospel. The missionaries were said to be people who had different objectives. One of the objectives was that they wanted to instill western culture to the people living in the regions tha t they visited. The American review journal discussed the topic of missionary activities with a lot of intensity. The journal also explained that missionaries explored different countries with the aim of paving way for the colonizers. This is because the missionaries brought many developments in the areas that they went to carry out their work. The American review journal of the August 1997 dealt with the issue of imperialism. Imperialism referred to the activities of acquiring territories around the globe.

Conferences and conventions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Conferences and conventions - Essay Example Recently conferences and conventions have started extended facilities to delegate families and there is not a single economy which would say that it did not get benefited by conferences. "THE economic contribution of conferences to the Welsh economy is underscored in the financial results of the Cardiff Conference Bureau. This council initiative has won business for the city worth 1.7m during 2006" http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0300business/0100news/tm_headline=conference-business-boosts-cardiff-by--pound-1-7m&method=full&objectid=18363801&siteid=50082-name_page.html Another face of conferences is the advantage being gained by tourism industry. By placing conferences in far away venues of cultural, naturalistic and historical backdrops, many countries and business have given enormous facelift to the tourism industry. This has given way to business tourism, considered today as a major branch of tourism. Britain is an important country that has been benefited by business tourism, mainly because it is reachable from all directions and has well developed, affordable venues. are rumoured to be affordable. One of the UK advertisements says: "Vibrant, dynamic cities, elegant spa towns combining tradition with state-of-the-art facilities and cosmopolitan seaside resorts... Britain has it all" http://www.visitbritain.com/VB3-nb-NO/businesstourism/conferencesconventions/conferences_conventions.aspx Indian cities with luxurious five star hotels and much cheaper economy have provided some more major business tourism destinations, where many international conferences and conventions are held today. The wildlife sanctuaries, historical monuments, natural wonders, religious temples have all... Conferences and conventions have created a global industry of their own. The origins of the conference industry are quite recent and it has been connected with business tourism and leisure tourism throughout. New trend of winning through partnerships has started in the business world. Business touring workshops are setting the trend. There are many direct expenditure benefits of conferences to the local area. In United Kingdom, conferences, meetings, conventions have created tourism benefit. Many conference venues and their neighbouring towns and cities usually become tourist centres for the convention representatives. According to a study conducted by UK National Tourist Board, with detailed figures of conference spending in the year 2001, total cost direct expenditure of one conference was  £1,092,960/-. Conferences and conventions also bring benefits to human resources, and employees. â€Å"Conferences are about communication†¦.An industry has developed to facilitate the satisfaction of the objectives of face to face communication: the conference industry. Suppliers to the industry are as diverse as their clients: Conference centres, hotels, specialist intermediaries, convention bureaux, caterers, production companies, and many others – all cooperate to create the right atmosphere and infrastructure, conducive to communication†

Germans that you hold to be true and admire Essay

Germans that you hold to be true and admire - Essay Example All they want is clear and overt expression of the underlying feel that makes them say what they want. Americans are not much different either. Americans also feel comfortable making direct and straightforward speech. Both Germans and Americans prefer direct and meaningful expression, and both are quite straightforward in general. Germans are truthful in their speech. The confidence that reflects in their straightforwardness originates in their truthfulness. If they commit to someone, they do so by heart and mean it. They are not double faced people, unlike most of the people belonging to other nations. Their words are meaningful because Germans are very dutiful. Most Americans are also dutiful, though there is also a significant population in America that does not fulfill its commitments to others in various matters of daily life. Germans do not waste time. According to Germans, if a job is done correctly but has not been done within the assigned time, this goes against the work eth ics. German work ethics place huge emphasis on punctuality, and so do the Americans. Works cited: â€Å"Truth and Duty.† Culture Smart! Germany. pp. 41-42.

Importance of Internal Communications Essay Example for Free

Importance of Internal Communications Essay Importance of Internal Communications for a company and two case studies. Internal communications is considered a vital tool for connecting people within the company. It does not refer only to those few â€Å"official† channels of communication in a company, it is also the strategic management of information flows to ensure the optima level of employee engagement. (Civicus, 2001) This business context of communication is a dual listening process. It is a top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communication harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff. Maintaining a good internal communications within a company could reinforce the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal and external audiences. Internal communications aims to ensure that employees in the company work together towards the same goal, know what they should be doing and by when. Internal communication has evolved various ways of communicating internally. Traditionally, it started off with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings where usually the ‘the boss’ would communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees. Lee, 2006) In this case the message is mostly communicated in one way, it does not include feedback from the message recipients. When print materials were introduced, it was then involved for formal, top-down transmission, for instance, company annual report. Internal communication then evolved to the digital era where Internet was highly used as a communication tool. When email was in troduced into the business settings and with it the nature of communication has radically changed. Lee, 2006) As the digital technology advances, internal communication has evolved to the point where not only can employees and employers freely email each other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole conversational trail), and forward those messages outside of the corporate walls, but also employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance procedures, litigation and dismissal. (Lee, 2006) It is seen that internal communication has undergone deliberately change and will continue growing. Today’s internal communication practitioner is focused on challenging and stimulating employees, managing change and gaining employee engagement and commitment. (Chalmers, 2008) The aim has moved from controlling and directing people, through providing information, making announcements and supporting industrial relations, to supporting the development of a flexible work environment which adapts to change, seeks improvement, shares knowledge and know-how, generates ideas and involves people in achieving strategic goals. Chalmers, 2008) Most of the people understand the significance of internal communication but very few could manage it efficiently. Many people think that internal communication is one of the functions that they think they can do well. In fact, when it comes to real situation on handling employees, certain strategies and techniques are needed to communicate and tackle. In talking to many individuals at very different levels in very disparate sectors, what has come across as crucial is the need for internal communication to be championed at the very top of the organization and also for senior management and the boardroom to respect the expertise of the specialist tasked to deliver, be they internally or externally placed. Smith, 2008) A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find that ‘communicating with employees’ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ‘engagement’ – the propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company. (Lee, 2006) Gauri Deshmukh, head of HR at SAS India states that internal communication is important for a company as it provides information and encourages sharing by driving and supporting the organisation’s short-term and long-term goals and objectiv es. In addition, Deshmukh also mentions that with effective internal communications, it ensures that knowledge-sharing and communication processes are part of the daily workflow across all functions of the business. By having good internal communication, a company ensures that in between employers and employees they are constantly updated with information. In fact, a good internal communications not only affects organizational and operational success, but it has a considerable impact on external functions such as marketing, community and government relations, nd investor relations. (Brown, 2002) Internal communication is significant in any company because it is the building block of the organisational culture. (Civicus, 2001) Furthermore, internal communication is important so that employees become advocates for company. It is important to create a ‘common purpose’ across the company – creating the sense of a team where everyone feels ownership in their roles and in a chieving the company’s goals. (WK, 2010) In this way employees feel accepted and being part of the company. Likewise, internal communication is one of the key ‘intangible’ factors leading to high performance. (WK, 2010) For instance, if communication in a company is managed well employees are more confident and clear with the company mission and vision thus makes excellent financial as well as business. Not only that, having good internal communication helps build out company’s brand internally as employees are the best ambassadors, and internal perceptions should mirror what the company is telling the world. Trout, 2012) When the company is communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, be it employees, management or volunteers, programmes and departments share more resources and information resulting in less duplication of work and stronger impact as a whole company. (Civicus, 2001) Without an effective internal communications, a company allows others to determine what information (or disinformation) is communicated to employees about their company. Brown, 2002) Smart employers realize that in environments where employees are able to move from one employer to another with relative ease, it is in the company’s best interests to retain the smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to communicate with them, inform them, influence them and enter into some sort of psychological contract with them is a wise move. Lee, 2006) Besides, without effective internal communications, the crisis of confidence in businesses and corporate leadership could hurt sincere efforts to build a positive corporate culture and to enhance employee morale and productivity, and devastate the overall image of an organization. (Brown, 2002) Case Study I: Nokia is one of the top mobile phone manufacturer favoured by many people. In order to compete with other mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is constantly improvising and upgrading their gadgets to serve people needs these days. The reason Nokia has been so successful is no doubt its creation on mobile phones, as well as the strong team in the company that has made where it stands today. In a technologically savvy company like Nokia, it’s no surprise that they’ve been successfully implementing social media into their internal communications. (Kass, 2012) Nokia’s motto is connecting people and exploring ways to enhance communication. (Kass, 2012) In order to realize that vision, Nokia uses a number of different vehicles for two-way and push or pull communications; social media plays a big part with fitting into that strategy. Nokia’s Social Media Communications team was established in early 2008, aimed to improve inter-company communications and engaging employees. The objective of the team is to: encourage the use of social media internally to bring out the company’s unique authentic voice and to engage in social media externally on behalf of Nokia, and contributing to product and service announcements by opening up a dialogue and driving online engagement. (Kass, 2012) Nokia has 125,000 employees around the world. It is the company’s utmost important task to engage all employees in order to achieve company business goal. There are a few platforms in Nokia allowing employees from global to connect as if they work in a small company together. According to Molly Schonthal who worked on the companys Social Media team in North America, the BlogHub is Nokia’s most powerful and effective social media tool that is used internally. It has been said that BlogHub lowers the barriers for employees to find conversations relevant to them. In terms of interaction, employees are allowed to communicate freely via BlogHub. They could make comment on posts, share ideas and knowledge on issues that have been mentioned. In addition, BlogHub serves as a useful search engine for employees to seek out information relevant to them. From a management point of view, through BlogHub feedback on various issues are gained quickly and track the conversations that are happening inside the company. Voting and ratings on posts are enabled as well for employees to be part of the decision team. Nokia has also introduced Nokia Conversations blog where latest Nokia product news would be posted. Through this blog employees could find a big overview of all the topics going on in Nokia. Similar to any other company that is engaged on social media, Nokia has its very own YouTube and Twitter account. Other than that, VideoHub has grown increasingly popular with employees allowing for postings to be updated on a daily basis. Besides, Nokia’s Infopedia wiki allows employees to share knowledge inside the company. If someone needs to quickly check a piece of information, Nokia’s effective internal communication channel, Instant Messaging (IM) is available for employees. It claims to remove the barrier of more formalized communication in between employees. For global company like Nokia, in order to save cost and time, Nokia has it’s own video conference channel where annual communication meetings and real time conversations could be held. Considering people do not check their mailboxes as much anymore Nokia has slowly cut down prints publications in an effort to become more environmentally aware. In fact Nokia in North America has completely eliminated print publications. Newsletters are now kept to an electronic HTML format, which is e-mail so it is more easily distributed. Similar to every other company Nokia uses intranet communications as well. It is the center of where people go to get information on benefits or organization charts. Furthermore, to reach more employees, Nokia regularly posts relevant company announcements on plasma screens around regional offices, usually in cafeterias and breakout rooms, with its promise on going environmental friendly. At North America, leadership also encourages employees to speak directly with their line managers to better understand organizational strategy and what role they can play in that strategy. For all of Nokia’s Web 2. 0 tools, Schonthal is quick to point out that â€Å"social media is never a replacement for high touch engagement. † (Kass, 2012) Instead, it can contribute to various company events and other in-person initiatives. â€Å"Social media complements these things but doesn’t take away from the ability to internally engage and share ideas,† she further explains. Nokia provides many platforms for employees to stay engaged, all for one clear identified goal – connect all the people in the company. For such global company I believe Nokia in different countries or branches could decide on which channel they prefer but I believe as a whole, all the employees in Nokia stay connected via BlogHub. After reviewing how Nokia strives to engage the employees I could see that the management team work hard on receiving feedback as well. They listen to their employees. They make changes. All these actions give employees feel accepted and belonged to the company. The end result is the employees are clear with the goals, mission and procedures of the company, which can result increase their work effort and efficiency and boost business. Case Study II: â€Å"We were driven to connect the organization with itself, and realized enterprise social networking was the solution. I can truly say after more than two years that we have achieved an official internal communications channel. Socialcast lifted the boundaries and made our organization transparent. We connect daily with people from India, China, the US, and Brazil. Without Socialcast it would not be possible,† says Dennis Agusi, Global Internal Communications Officer, Royal Philips Electronics. Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of â€Å"sense and simplicity†. Philips Case Study 2012) In 2010, Philips began to explore how the company should help its employees spread around the globe to feel engaged, work like a small team driven by shared goals. On the way of researching, the Corporate Communications and IT department discovered that approximately 1,600 employees were actively using a free tool they had found on the Internet to communicate and collab orate. Knowing two platforms for collaboration would not be a great idea so the team took initiative to introduce a new platform to these early users. These early users provided positive and valuable feedback and recommendations on how to improve the enterprise social experience the best it could be. Then it led to a successful launch of an enterprise social network. The company adopted â€Å"Connect Us† and the network was launched with wide support. On launch day, Connect Us had 400 members. Within two months, 7,000 employees had joined the community. Through Connect Us they allow employee-to-employee exchanges as well as management-to-employee communications. Employees are allowed to post freely, share knowledge to make work easier. Connect Us helps to remove barriers between departments as well. Through Socialcast Reach, employees are allowed to share information and data in between departments resulting a more seamless flow of work. In addition, a new idea can be communicated more broadly, increasing sense of connectedness and engagement across the company. From management perspective, through Connect Us, the Communications and IT team could monitor what’s happening in the company, check trending topics or people, at real time. According to report, Connect Us has enabled new and sometimes unexpected forms of employee engagement. All Employee Jam† was a crowdsourcing project designed to bring to life the company’s new, refreshed Mission and Vision statement through dialogue, discussion and debate. This exercise has successfully drawn employees who had not yet joined the social community into Connect Us. According to feedback, employees who participated in this exercise were found to be far m ore aware of and aligned with the Philips Mission and Vision than those employees who did not participate. This resulted Philips truly believes that enterprise social networks help companies increase employee engagement and retention. I liked the idea of how Philips tries to maintain the communication channel as one, which is Connect Us. I believe there are other platforms available for instance intranet but Connect Us is actively used by people in the company. From not knowing employees are using free online tool to communicate to introducing socialcast network, Philips has come a long way into realizing the importance of internal communication. The All Employee Jam has definitely demonstrated the power of enterprised social networking. It encouraged the employees to share knowledge, to stay connected which resulted in a greater identity with the company. In this two case studies, both companies Nokia and Philips selected appropriate channels for communication according to its needs. Nokia has different communication platforms serving different purposes. For instance, BlogHub allows employees to find information they need and Instant Messaging is a tool for quick and easy communication. On the other hand, Philips focus mainly on Connect Us, from searching information to accelerating ideas to sharing data it is all done on Connect Us. However, on my opinion, Nokia has too many platforms it might be tough to engage all the employees in one platform, as the users are free to choose which platforms they get information from. Whereas Philips uses Connect Us, most of the employees are part of the community and anything they need require can be found on Connect Us. I think this is one of the advantages of having a focused channel. Likewise, the tools and tactics, both companies chose to be focus more on information technology. In terms of interactivity, both companies engage their employees as well as welcoming their feedbacks. The employees are encouraged to utilise these channels to feel more accepted and being part of the company. For instance, Philips Connect Us not only allows employees-to-employees exchange, as well as management-to-employees communication. In this case it removes barriers between management and employees so work can be done easier. As for Nokia, feedbacks are valued through voting and ratings on posts and comments, allowing management to understand the employees better. Besides, both case studies reviewed the importance of evaluation on internal communication. In order to improve, the management team has to constantly measure the effectiveness of the communication tools and find ways to improve. Nokia and Philips monitor their employees through these platforms to find out what is really happening in the company. This way they could make sure the employees are on par with company’s goals. In conclusion, internal communication has never been so important. Many people know what internal communication is and they think they know how to function this but they might not know the true meaning behind it. Effective internal communication does not mean to have a lot of communication platforms, spending big budget on this function but utilizing the appropriate communication tool for employees get involved. If you want to build brand for your company first you have to build your brand internally. After all employees are the representatives of your company, they are the brand. Internal communication comes a long way to build, it might need more time and effort to achieve the effective result as desired but the end result is always proven satisfaction, that I am sure. A combination of strong communication, teamwork and camaraderie framed within trusting relationships will help achieve remarkable results in times of large-scale change and uncertainty, writes University of Nottingham chief executive Peter Homa. And finally, in my own words, you cant communicate with your audience until your internal message is crystal clear.

Creating a Personal Development Plan

Creating a Personal Development Plan Personal development plan can be defined as the development of the skill of a person which is very much important for personal career and also professional career of that person. This plan also indicates to the advancement of the personality of individual person. It helps a person to make him capable and confident in his profession. The development of a persons characteristics and professional development is considered as important aspect of the career of a person. Therefore, having a personal professional development is very much required for a person. In accordance with the requirement of Task 1, it is needed to identify and analyze the SMART objectives of personal and as well as organizational and also along with for the purpose of achieve these objectives, the required skills are also analysed and explained on this task. After that the audit on the skill is conducted in relation to the purpose of organization and the objectives of personal and organizational. Personal objectives: In focusing towards the acronym of SMART, my personal and organizational objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and bounding within time. That means the objectives whether it is personal or organization should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and bounding within time. The specific objective means the feature objective is concretion, well definition, detailed and as well as focused. Not only this, the specific objective is mainly action oriented, the outcome and straight forward. The objective should also be measurable. In relation to the measurement of objective, it should be needed to ensure the identification of the source of measurement and action is tracking for the purpose of objective progress. Objective is measured for the purpose of making comparison to determine standard performance. The other feature of objective is that the objective should be achievable. If the objectives which are determined by the person are not achievable then the person doesnt feel interest and never motivated to achieve these objectives. And when the objectives are not achievable by the person then he feel frustration and lose motivation. If the objectives are not achievable, it also not is realistic. That means the source of achieve objective should be specific and available. For the purpose of achieving the objectives there are required some resources for example: skills, money, equipment etc. The objectives should also be achievable within a time limit that means a fixed deadline is needed for achieving the objective. Time management is very necessary in order to achieve the objective. In relation to the acronym of SMART, my personal objectives are: 1.To achieve PGD degree from the London School of Accountancy and Management. 2. To complete MBA degree. 3. To be a good manager in an organization. Organization objectives: In focusing towards the acronym of SMART, as an organizational manager, there are five objectives which should be achieved by the manager: Forecasting and planning: → clear vision setting in relation to the SMART objectives such as: achievable, measurable, specific, realistic, and time boundary. Organizing: → structure build up. → task is divided or apportioned → resources should be considered for example: human, monetary, technology and materials → sensitivity and security ensuring Command → activities are maintained in between the personnel. → hierarchy reporting → activities are controlled among the manager and work force Co-ordination → all activities and efforts are unifying and harmonising → co-ordinated management supervise and harmonise the activities and efforts → provide support → Motivation Controlling: Rule is established and command is expressed for the purpose of conducting the managerial activities in relation to check the work efficiency of the personnel. Time management strategies: For using time more effectively and efficiently, there are some ways of managing time such as: managing time for a week. For doing this, time can be divided into small unit. In case of a business organization, it is noticed that majority of the time that is spent on different activities of the organization is not productive and in many times time is wasted by the employees because of ineffective time management. There are some strategies of time management: 1. Establishing objectives: For achieving profit maximization, make a plan to use the time with the way which is realistic. Time management helps a manager or an entrepreneur to achieve organizational objectives more effectively and efficiently. 2. Evaluation of spending time: The way of spending time in working place is very much necessary to determine. The working hours or the availability of mine also has to be calculated. The amount of tasks and number of activities which a person can do in a week should also be calculated. Except these strategies, other strategies are: 1. Assess the difference between utilising of the actual and ideal time. 2. Give priority the task of work. 3. Give importance towards the urgent and important work. Requirement of skill for achieving personal and organization objective: For the purpose of meeting and achieving the each and every goal and objective of personal and organizational, some skills are needed such as: the skill of communicating with other peoples, skill of IT, problem solving skill, skill of working with team, self performance and learning skill. These skills are considered as basic skills which are very much important for achieving personal objectives. But for the purpose of achieving the organizational objectives, four skills are needed to contain by the manager such as: planning, organizing, leading, coordinating etc. Task 2: Personal Development Plan Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 Column 7 SKILL Existing PROFICIENCY Proficiency of target Scope of development Judging success criteria Time frame proof No 1. Priority Skills of presentation To be able to give presentation in classroom but feel nervous and cant give presentation as the standard of professional Classroom presenter as confidently Be able to give presentation in the group of tutor I want to achieve A grade in my project by giving successful presentation in the class. Till the academic year ending By giving successful presentation in the class No 2. Priority Skills Of writing The description as technical is good but critical thinking of mine seems to be difficult to present Descriptive writing is good and critical writing is satisfactory To college writing fellow, I can show my work and also in relation to business studies I can make better assignment 2.1 achieving by me in relation to the business studies and assess my skill in accordance with my teacher feedback. I can achieved confidence to make better assignment Till the year of 2nd By making successful assignment in relation course studies No 3. PRIORITY Awareness as commercial I have interest in the issue of business but lack of the awareness as practical Knowledge as practice To participate on the training program for achieving commercial awareness Complete the program of training program for achieving commercial awareness Till the year of 3rd By achieving commercial awareness No 4. PRIORITY Skills Of Team working Cant adjust to work with the team member and cant appreciate other works and also hate to appreciate other ideas Goals are understood by me greatly in order to achieve objectives I appreciate the other team member roles and activities Team progress can be monitored by me in order to meet the difficulties and overcome these difficulties Till the year of 3rd By lead a team successfully No 5. PRIORITY Skills of leadership Not confident and cant lead or motivate other people with my own word Achieve confidence to lead the team and also delegate with others Working as a team leader on a group project. Group is satisfied with me, project is considered as most successful and I can achieve confidence at the best level Till the year of 3rd Working as a team leader on a group project. Task 3: Professional skill: For answering this task, here I choose three organizations: Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer. The definition of professional skill can be provided as the skills and knowledge which are achieved for the purpose of personal development and along with the advancement of career. The opportunities of learning as facilitated are encompassed by the personal development which is related with the range of formal work, conferences and the practice of the opportunities of learning as facilitated. The features of the learning opportunities are intensive and collaborative which are related with the evaluative stage. Personal development includes of several approaches for example: consultation, coaching and practice of communities, study of lesson, training, supervision as reflective, and the assistance of technology. Personal skill: Personal skill is also considered as the interpersonal skill of the person which is consisted of the algorithm of mental and communicative which is applied for the purpose of conducting social communication and interacting with other peoples in order to identify achieve specific effects or outcome. In order to being a successful manager, he or she should has to contain some professional and personal skills such as: leadership, time management skill, meeting running, presentation making, management of stress etc. The importances of these skills are now evaluated: Leadership skill: Leadership skill is considered as the managerial skill which is used for the purpose of motivating the peoples of the group in order to achieve the common goal. In this competitive market, it is very much needed to contain the skill of leadership by the manager through which he or she can lead the organization effectively and efficiently. Leadership is mainly related with the capacity where leader contains the capacity to listen others opinion and observe the activities of employees. Not only is this, in the decision making areas, the skills very much needed for the manager of an organization. One more thing is that if the employees are not motivated to do their works then the business cant be run and the manager with leadership skill can be greatly motivated to the employees of their works and try to give their best. Time management skill: The definition of time management skill can be given as the process and tools of developing the skills in order to enhancing the efficiency and productivity. Time management skill is considered as the personal skill which is directed towards the using the valuable resources within the time frame. For the purpose of managing time, the manager should be more organized, efficient and as well as happier. The skill of personal time management is consisted of the activities of setting of goals, planning, prioritizing, make the decision, delegating and scheduling. By using time management skill, wastage can be eliminated, make preparation for attending the meeting, excessive workload refusing, project progress can be monitored, plans can be made for each day and each week efficiently and effectively. Stress management skill: The definition of stress can be provided as the reaction of nervous system of the body towards the specific events. Stress management can be defined as the system with the aim of stress reducing and along with the person who contains this skill can be facilitated in order to adjust with the specific situation. Stress management skill is very much needed for manager for the purpose of attending the meeting and represents the meeting, on that time the manager should control the stress. The above skills such as: leadership skill, time management skill, stress management skills are very much needed for the manager to be successful in his professional life and as well as personal life through which he or she can meet the personal goal and as well as achieve the organizational goal. Recommendation: There are existed several methods of that are appropriate for the purpose of advancing the skill of professional and personal such as: leadership skill, time management skill, stress management skills are very much needed for the manager to be successful in his professional life and as well as personal life through which he or she can meet the personal goal and as well as achieve the organizational goal. For the purpose of developing these required skills, some ways can be adopted and these ways are described below: The approach as structured are used for the purpose of solving the problem Provide training program Create the link in between the problems and try to solve it Create relationship in between solving the problem and making decision as well Problem can be solves through get support from the people by taking their opinion and as well as use the required resources on developing the problem skill Here, training program and practice to develop the professional and personal skill as by own are considered as the most practical method which is used for the purpose of developing the personal and professional skill. The program of training is mainly related with the process of learning which consists of the knowledge acquisition, skill sharpening, attitudes and behaviours changes, in order to employee performance enhancing. Not only this, by practicing as by the person own, one person can achieve the required skill such as: by practising, the person can manage the time, can solve the problem. Task 4: Personal development plan: The definition of personal development plan can be provided as the persons skill development which is considered as significant thing in relation to the development or establishment of personal and as well as the professional career. For the purpose of developing the individual personal personality, making the plan for personal development is very much needed. In order to achieve capability and as well as being confident in the professional life, personal development plan provides support to the person. In relation with the building up a career, the two main aspects are personal characteristics development and as well as the characteristics are developed for making good professional life. So it can be said that a person should have to make a plan of personal development. Here, in relation to the personal and professional and as well as organizational objectives, the Kolbs learning style is used through which it is possible to find out the way of learning along with suitable method ca n also be identified to for the purpose of achieving the objectives of personal and professional and as well as organizational objectives. There are existed several methods of that are appropriate for the purpose of advancing the skill of professional and personal such as: leadership skill, time management skill, stress management skills are very much needed for the manager to be successful in his professional life and as well as personal life through which he or she can meet the personal goal and as well as achieve the organizational goal. For the purpose of developing these required skills, some ways can be adopted and these ways are described below: The approach as structured are used for the purpose of solving the problem Provide training program Create the link in between the problems and try to solve it Create relationship in between solving the problem and making decision as well Problem can be solves through get support from the people by taking their opinion and as well as use the required resources on developing the problem skill Here, training program and practice to develop the professional and personal skill as by own are considered as the most practical method which is used for the purpose of developing the personal and professional skill. The program of training is mainly related with the process of learning which consists of the knowledge acquisition, skill sharpening, attitudes and behaviours changes, in order to employee performance enhancing. Not only this, by practicing as by the person own, one person can achieve the required skill such as: by practising, the person can manage the time, can solve the problem. Task 5: Skill audit: There are the questions which consisted of the pointed value: Strongly disagree 1 disagree 2 agree 3 strongly agree 4 TEAMWORK 1 2 3 4 1. Can adjust to work with the team member à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 2 Goals are understood by me greatly in order to achieve objectives à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 3. Responsibilities of me is indicated towards the goal of the team work à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 4. I appreciate the other team member roles and activities à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 5. Team progress can be monitored by me in order to meet the difficulties and overcome these difficulties à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 6. It is very pleasure for me if I get the scope of leading the team à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ PROBLEM-SOLVING 1 2 3 4 7. I break the task which is the part of my job and distribute it in managerial section à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 8. For solving the problem, I may ask for the help from other à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 9. In order to solve the problem, challenges motivate me most to do this work à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 10. For the purpose of accomplishing the new task, I create the ideas by using brainstorming à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 11. I can anticipate the possible result in order to do a task à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 12 I can also anticipate the alternative solution in relation to the problem of question à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ Time management: 1 2 3 4 13. Tasks are organized by me as per the deadline of each task à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 14. I link in between the work progress and as well targets à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 15. In order to target meet and plan, I evaluate my strength and weakness à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ 16. For solving the problem, I may ask for the help from other à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯ à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯

Benefits of Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

Benefits of Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Evidence Based Practice, also known as EBP according to (Liamputtong, 2013) is a â€Å"process that requires the practitioner to find best empirical evidence about the effectiveness or efficacy of different treatment options and then determine the relevance of the evidence to a particular client’s situation†. EBP values, enhances, and builds on the clinical proficiency, knowledge of the disease mechanisms, and pathophysiology. It involves complex and conscientious decision making built not only on the available evidence but also on patient physiognomies, circumstances, and preferences. It also recognizes health care as an individualized and ever changing that involves uncertainties and probabilities. Ultimately EBP is the formalization of the care process that the best clinicians have practiced for generations (McKibbon, 1998). Effective evidence based practice takes time, extensive research, proper understanding and is dependent on its five steps. The first of these is formulating a searchable clinical question or questions which than needs to be answered to satisfy the health carer or other specific needs of the patient. The second step involves the retrieval of best evidence such as textbooks, verified journal literature/article etc. to answer the questions. Appraising the retrieved information to help make a clinical decision forms the third step. The fourth steps involves applyingthe evidence with clinical expertise, taking the patients wants/needs into consideration and the fifth step involves the evaluatingtheeffectiveness and efficiency of the process. (McKibbon, 1998). Evidence based practice is vital, demanding and highly respected amongst health care disciplines because of its ambitions to provide the most effective care that is accessible, with the aim of improving patients outcomes. It promotes an attitude of inquiry in health professionals and gets them into thinking about questions such as: Why am I doing this in this way? Is there evidence that can guide me to do this in a more effective way? Therefore, facilitating their practice into professional accountability. Evidence based practice also plays an important role in ensuring that health resources are used wisely and that relevant evidence is considered when decisions such as funding health services are made (Hoffmann, Bennett, Mar, 2010). Most health professionals use both individual clinical expertise and the best available external evidence as a guidance to their decision making. Without clinical expertise, practice risks becoming tyrannised by evidence, for even excellent external evidence may be inapplicable to or inappropriate for an individual patient. Without current best evidence, practice risks becoming rapidly out of date, to the detriment of patients (McKibbon, 1998). Clinical Expertise is important as it depends on the knowledge and skills of health care professionals providing care. The clinical expertise of a health professional depends on his/her year of clinical experience, current knowledge of research/clinical literature and educational preparation. The stronger the health professional’s clinical expertise the better his or her judgement in using the best research evidence in practice. Extensive research is needed to develop sound empirical knowledge for synthesis into the best research eviden ce needed for practice. This research evidence might be synthesized to develop guidelines, standards, protocols and policies to direct the implementation of a variety of health practice interventions (Burns Grove, 2010). Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves is an essential component when practicing in any health care setting. Published Evidence based articles indicates that wearing of gloves in infection control practice can reduce the incidence of healthcare associated infection and exposure to communicable disease among healthcare workers (Olsen, et al.). Therefore, the correct use of gloves is vital in the healthcare environment. To make sure gloves are effective evidently on the health practice the 5 steps of evidence based practice can be implemented. The first step can involve developing a clinical question regarding the gloves such as what kind of gloves are relevant and effective in my practice which can then be answered i.e.- Non sterile single use medical glovesto satisfy the health professional. The second step can involve the retrieval of best evidence such as verified journal literature/article about the Non sterile single use medical gloves. The third step can involve appraising the information from the journal literature/article regarding the gloves to help make a clinical decision. The fourth step can involves applyingthe Non sterile single use medical gloveswith clinical expertise whilst taking health professionals wants/needs into consideration and the fifth step involves evaluatingtheeffectiveness and efficiency of the Non sterile single use medical gloves. Once these measures has been taken, the effectiveness of the specific gloves can be taken into account and if satisfied can be used for the practice. While implementing the five step of EBP in the gloves, the major facilitators that are most likely to be found are organization and communication whilst the barriers while implementing the EBP are most likely to be lack of time and lack of autonomy to change practice (Kitson, Harvey, McCormack, 1998). Thus, implementing Effective EBP requires time, energy, knowledge and authority and without these vital components, there is always bound to be barriers and proper EBP cannot be achieved. In conclusion, the emergence of Evidence based practice has been rapid, dramatic, spreading in popularity amongst many health care disciplines and is changing the way health care is undertaken. The dependence on the partnership among hard scientific evidence, clinical expertise, individual patient needs and choices is the reason why evidence based practice is vital, demanding and highly respected amongst health care disciplines (Hoffmann, Bennett, Mar, 2010). Despite this, Evidence based practice does have limitations and therefore, research is always needed to improve retrieval methods for EBP information and this is the reason why health professionals need to constantly develop and retain their research skills durable. References Burns, N., Grove, S. (2010). Understanding Nursing Research: Building An Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences Division . Hoffmann, T., Bennett, S., Mar, C. D. (2010). Evidence based Practice-across the health professions. Elsevier Australia. Kitson, A., Harvey, G., McCormack, B. (1998). Enabling the implementation of evidence based practice: a conceptual framework. Qual Health Care, 7(3), 149-158. doi:10.1136/qshc.7.3.149 Liamputtong, P. (2013). Research Methods in Health (2nd edition, 2013 ed.). Oxford Uni Press (OUP). McKibbon, K. A. (1998). Evidence-based practice*. Health Information Research Unit, 396-401. Olsen, R. J., Lynch, P., Coyle, M. B., Cummings, J., Bokete, T., Stamm, W. E. (n.d.). Examination Gloves as Barriers to Hand Contamination in Clinical Practice. doi:10.1001/jama.1993.03510030074037 Page 1 of 5 HLSC 122 ASSESSMENT 1 ARPAN PANT S00173785

Shakespeares Presentation Of Claudius In Hamlet Essay -- William Shak

Shakespeare's Presentation Of Claudius In Hamlet 'Hamlet' opens with the death of Old King Hamlet, Father of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The new king, Claudius, brother of the previous king has married Gertrude, the dead man's widow and has taken the throne. Shakespeare presents Claudius as the plays 'damned smiley villain' although he does allow him some redeeming features; leading an audience to view him as a complex and contradictory figure within the play. After Old King Hamlet dies Claudius is crowned king of Denmark and talks to the people as though he has sympathy and is saddened by his brother's death 'and that it is us befitted to bear out hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom to be continued in one brow of woe.' However, he comes across as insincere as he marries his brother's wife so soon after the funeral. Claudius is sly and clever as he counters possible opposition to his marriage by flattering his court; thanking them for their better wisdoms, which have freely gone with this affair! For the same reasons he turns his attention to the threat of invasion by Fortinbras and shows himself to be an excellent king: knowledgeable, organised and efficient in dealing with the imminent attack by diplomatic means. The king's treachery is revealed when the ghost of Old King Hamlet appears to Hamlet who talks very much of his hate of his brother, Claudius 'The serpent that did sting thy fathers life now wears the crown.' Referring to Claudius as a serpent who plays around beneath you, very deceptive and sly. Claudius has committed two crimes of murder, Fratricide- murder of his brother and Regicide- murder of the ki... ..., I am but hurt.' Hamlet kills Claudius by forcing him to drink the poison his mother has drank. Hamlet is not an unprincipled murderer and traitor, Claudius is! Claudius has manipulated Laertes and deserved to die by Hamlet, as it was an act of revenge and justice for the murder of his father. Claudius is the obvious villain of the play presented by Shakespeare as a contradictory character with clear strengths and weaknesses. He possesses excellent leadership qualities, is diplomatic, determined and clever but beneath this impressive public image he is cowardly, deceptive, murderous and duplicitous. He is therefore presented as a complex character throughout the play. Shakespeare's presentation of Claudius allows him to explore human nature and the themes of corruption, appearance and reality and political intrigue.